Fourteen

Emily was distracted the next few days. Work was a long stretch of twelve hour shifts and some on-call days over the next few weekends. She was barely home, and when she was, she made a point of supervising the twins’ homework, making home-cooked meals, and generally trying to provide as much of a normal life for them as she could. Ellen, as always, was her saviour, and if she noticed Emily’s lack of focus, she remained tactfully silent.

At work, however, where chaos was the norm, it was much more difficult to concentrate, and the staff in the emergency room noticed. Finally, Sarah pulled Emily into the deserted staff room one afternoon, about three days into her stretch of shifts. The department was quiet, and they each poured a cup of coffee and sat with their feet up on a low table.

“What’s up?” Sarah asked pointedly.

Emily decided to play dumb for a minute, to buy herself some time as she decided how to answer. “What do you mean?” she answered, pretending not to understand.

Sarah and Emily had been friends for years. They went through high school together, and briefly went in separate directions during their university years, but never lost touch. Sarah, Emily had to admit, was a big part of the reason she’d applied for Forest Glen as her first residency option. They were both thrilled when she’d been hired permanently, and adjusted to the demands of working together quite easily. Sarah was the maid of honour at Emily’s wedding to Thomas, and had even been her labour coach during the births of her twins. She’d been her silent supporter since the moment of Thomas’s diagnosis; a provider of hope and realism as each had become necessary.

Emily knew she could trust Sarah implicitly.

However, she could also predict Sarah’s reaction to her ‘news’ before she even opened her mouth. Sarah would flip if Emily told her there might be a man, and the entire department would know before the hour was out if Emily confessed who it was. All week, Emily had been debating whether or not to confide in Sarah, knowing the support of her best friend would help her sort out all the confusion in her head. There was, though, the fact that she hadn’t heard from him yet, and it had been nearly a week. Mildly disappointed, but realistic, Emily kept telling herself not to act like a teeny-bopper and sit, pining, by the phone. He was probably busy, she reminded herself. She’d taken a risk, giving him her number, and she knew that risk didn’t always pay off. And besides, they made no promises to each other. He never said he’d call. Still, she couldn’t get the memory of his disarming grin out of her head as he left the car that afternoon. He was the one who looked like the boy who’d just got his first date. And remembering that smile, those dimples, she felt a little stung, as much as she hated to admit it.

“You know what’s up,” Sarah tucked a foot under her and turned to look Emily square in the face. “Come on, girl. Cough it up.”

Emily thought for a moment. Yes, it would help to spill it to a friend. She didn’t have to tell Sarah who it was she was interested in; she could keep it all hypothetical and get Sarah’s opinion. A girlfriend was the only way to put this in perspective, and perspective was exactly what Emily needed. She took a deep breath.

“Okay, it’s a man.” She confessed, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug and blowing on the steam, to keep from grinning.

Sarah’s reaction, though enthusiastic, was more subdued than Emily had feared it might be, and Emily let out the breath she found she’d been holding.

“Who? How long have you known him? Is it anyone I know?” The questions spilled from Sarah’s mouth faster than Emily could answer them. “Wow, Em, that’s great. It’s ab…” she broke off, and looked suddenly uncomfortable.

“What?” Emily asked.

“Sorry. I was going to say that it’s about time, but then I decided it wouldn’t be very supportive.” Sarah looked at Emily sheepishly.

“Well, maybe it is,” Emily said, and was shocked to realize she meant it. She sent a silent apology to Thomas.

“Who?” Sarah asked.

“Someone I met a few weeks ago,” Emily answered evasively. “He doesn’t live here.”

“And? Details, girlfriend. What’s happened so far?” Sarah gushed. She seemed genuinely happy for her friend.

“Not much, actually. Some emails, and we’ve had coffee a couple of times. I gave him my phone number the other day, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”

“Hmmm,” Sarah said. “Are you worried?”

“Maybe a tiny bit,” Emily confessed. “But I’m sure he’s just busy. And I’ve barely been home, so…”

“Any plans to see him again?” Sarah asked.

“No, not really. I need to take this slow. I haven’t even told him about Thomas, or that I have kids,” Emily replied.

“Ooh,” Sarah said, in a warning voice.

“What?” Emily asked, mildly alarmed.

“You need to tell them these things right off the bat,” Sarah advised. “You can’t surprise them with stuff like that.”

“It hasn’t come up!” Emily said defensively. “Besides, we haven’t talked that much. He’s just someone I’m kind of interested in, that’s all. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, well, no loss.” As Emily spoke the words, she knew in her heart they weren’t true. She was already over her head. She shook her head to clear the thought. Not ready, she thought again, and pushed away the idea that she might get hurt.

“Okay,” Sarah said skeptically. “Well, can you at least tell me his name, so I can refer to him as something other than ‘Mystery Man’?”

“Trent.” Emily, distracted by the realization that she was maybe already halfway to being in love with this man, spoke before she realized that she had revealed perhaps more information than she had wanted. She looked up at Sarah, alarmed, but saw that she hadn’t made the connection yet. Emily relaxed a fraction, and that was when Sarah figured it out.

“Oh. My. God,” she said dramatically. “Not…” It was as if she couldn’t bring herself to say his name.

Emily grinned, blushing furiously, and nodded.

“Oh my God, you have his email address? You gave him your number?” Sarah’s face was flushed and her hands were shaking. Emily was surprised. It was just a guy, after all. She nodded.

“Holy shit!” Sarah said. “Oh my God, Emily, I have been in love with that band for years! I am so jealous! How the hell?”

“I don’t know, hon. It just happened,” Emily said, knowing Sarah wasn’t hearing a word. “Actually, nothing happened. I don’t know how the hell. I don’t know if the hell.” She shrugged and held up her hands, palms up, in a helpless gesture.

Just then, the ambulance drove up, lights flashing. Another nurse slammed the staff room door open and hollered, “We’ve got a hot MI rolling in.” Sarah and Emily were on their feet and meeting the ambulance in a second, and the conversation was over. A patient having a heart attack took precedence over advice on one’s love life.

They moved the patient from the stretcher to the ER bed, and Sarah climbed on to the bed and started CPR. Emily heard her mutter, “Holy shit, Trent Buchanan,” again. She smiled and wondered at the turn of events that caused her best friend to be envious of her.