Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm starting to get the hang of writing now. Still working out some kinks. I was writing chapter 1 in the wee hours of the night so when I read it again after I had published it, I caught so many grammatical errors haha. Opps! I'm sorry about that and I hope it wasn't too distracting.
A heads up! I'm trying my best to be as accurate and realistic with the medical stuff in the writing. I'm doing some research but I'm not a medical student or doctor of any kind so please don't take the medicine TOO seriously. Also, I would appreciate it if you do find a mistake or don't think something's plausible, please try to refrain from correcting me or calling me out on it. I'm trying mostly to focus on the story of the characters where the medicine and surgeries complement them :D
Another note, I am taking my time on developing Emily and Micah's relationship so if you are expecting them to get together immediately, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm on Team Micah, don't worry! Haha I believe all the characters are interesting and have their own story to tell and I am here to help move that along.
Thanks again and stay tuned for the next chapter! I have so many ideas so I'm trying my best to organize my thoughts : )
"When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. I guess that saying is meant to make us think about making the best of any situation and how complex life truly is. So lemons are obstacles. To make lemonade means to tackle it head on and hope everything turns out the way you wanted it to. It brings up another important point: everything happens for a reason, whether it's good or bad. You wouldn't be dealing with this particular problem if you weren't capable in the first place to handle it, right? As doctors, we're equipped with the ability to take facts and concepts and figure out new medical problems. It's important to think on our feet since life will throw you lemons when you least expect it."
Emily was trying to remember how to breathe properly during her yoga session with Tyra. She had convinced her to try Bikram yoga but she failed to inform Emily that it was going to be a heated and sweaty session! Sweat continued to drip off her body. "I'm sweating in places I didn't know it was possible!" thought Emily. She sighed and switched into the new position as the instructor moved on.
"I'm trying to get you to sweat out all your Will and Micah problems. You'll thank me for this Emily. Maybe not now, but some day," Tyra said in a soothing voice with her eyes closed. She was extremely focused on finding her balance and core.
Emily stuck her tongue out at Tyra. Her problems were certainly still there, perhaps in her sweat somewhere. She groaned in pain as she was in the new yoga position. She wasn't the most flexible or athletic person. "Remember when you tried to run those 3 miles with Will and Cassandra? Seriously, what point were you trying to prove?" Emily grimaced as she thought about that memory.
"Thank you class, I hope you enjoyed this session and you leave today feeling invigorated!" the yoga instructor cheerfully exclaimed.
"I'm so invigorated right now! I feel that a nice, long, and cold shower is in order," Emily said to Tyra sarcastically. The two laughed it off and gathered their stuff in the women's locker room. Emily had finally stopped sweating but her clothes were soaked. "I feel pretty gross right now."
Tyra smiled, "Admit it. You feel good right? I know it hurts and it's hot but you get used to it eventually. How else do you think I maintain this rockin' body?" She began strutting down the locker room aisle as if she was modeling for a runway show. Emily did a double take at her, playing along. Their laughter filled the room, prompting other people to stare at the two women, wondering what was so funny.
"Shoot. We're going to be late. Emily, we can't take a shower!" Tyra looked at her clock and started running towards the exit and to Emily's car.
Emily stammered, "Wait, you can't be serious right now." Her jaw dropped.
Tyra shrugged at Emily's comment, "Just put on some deodorant and body spray or something. Tie your hair up in a bun. It'll be fine. We can take a shower during our lunch break! C'mon Emily, my dad's going to kill me if I'm late again!" Emily rushed to the car and they were finally on the way to the hospital, drenched in their glorious sweat and all.
As everyone was changing in the locker room, Emily couldn't help but feel that everyone was staring at her. Or smelling her. Whichever one it was, she started to turn red.
"I hate Tyra so much right now. I reek. I look tired and worn out. I just want to shower…" Emily hated being the center of attention. In this case, it wasn't for a good reason. Emily sighed, looked at her face and hair in the little mirror in her locker. She found a hair tie in her bag and attempted to get her hair in a bun.
"Ew, no. I can't pull off the bun look. My face looks even more square and masculine without any of my hair down." Emily thought to herself. She settled with a single braid and pinned back her bangs. "That's much better."
Cassandra walked past Tyra and Emily and commented on their current condition.
"Hey Pits, forgot to shower this morning? You're starting to live up to your nickname even more," Cassandra snickered. She laughed and left the locker room.
Emily glared at Tyra and gave her an 'I-told-you-so!' look. Tyra shrugged it off and motioned Emily to just go meet up with the other interns.
Micah was still in charge for Dr. Bandari's assignments. She was scheduled to return in a few days from her vacation with her husband. In the mean time, Micah resumed the consultations with the first year interns. The interns began piling into the room but Micah could only see Emily.
"She looks different today. Her hair's braided and out of her face. I've always thought she was beautiful. You can really see her piercing blue eyes now." Micah caught himself smiling like a goofball but immediately erased that smile. Emily and Tyra stood behind him. "Thank god she didn't see that, I hope…"
"Hmm, Dr. Dupre. Step on up and please present." Micah asked, knowing she was behind him. Tyra grabbed the patient's chart out his hand and proceeded to talk. It's been a while since she last presented a case. She felt a little rusty and unsure of what to say. Tyra took a deep breath and began talking.
"This here is Joseph Contreras who's 23 years old. Uh, it says here he was transferred from a clinic to the hospital a few days ago after presenting with a persistent cough, fatigue, night sweats, and unintentional weight loss. So far, there has not been any blood that has shown up during his coughing nor has he experienced any chest pain. Oh, he is also HIV positive."
Emily looked over at the brown-haired boy with green eyes. He looked happy, despite being sick with such a horrible disease. He saw Emily staring at him and smiled at her.
"Shoot! He caught me staring. Look away Emily. Wait, smile first so he doesn't think you're rude!" she returned the smile and focused on Tyra but her eyes wandered over to where Will was who happened to be standing next to her arch nemesis.
Micah nodded in approval of Tyra's presentation. He followed up with, "Dr. Dupre, what do we do now?"
Tyra flipped through some of the papers in Joseph's chart. Her heart was racing for some reason. She felt nervous and scared that she would say the wrong thing. "Crap! I don't know, what do I say? Holy crap, Micah's going to think I'm this incompetent, idiot intern. He's never going to let me present again and I'll never see another surgery –" Tyra looked over at Emily for some reassurance.
Emily could tell when Tyra was nervous. She took a deep breath, hoping Tyra would do the same and that it would calm her down. Tyra did exactly that and she felt more at ease.
"Dr. Dupre?" Micah was concerned with why Tyra wasn't answering.
"Sorry Dr. Barnes. From here, we should check Joseph's lymph nodes for any swelling and listen to his breathing. Because Joseph's immune system has been seriously compromised from having HIV, we should take that into account. I'd also recommend additional blood tests to rule out any toxins and environmental agents."
Tyra let out a quiet sigh of relief after Micah smiled at her correct recommendations. Emily also smiled at Tyra, happy that her friend was able to overcome her nervousness.
Micah turned to the patient and asked, "Joseph, do you have any questions about what's going to happen next?" He waited for Joseph to speak.
"I'm actually okay for now. You're just going to test my blood now?"
Micah motioned to Tyra to answer his question. "First, we're going to conduct a physical examination to rule out a possible infection. Then we will obtain a blood sample for testing."
Joseph nodded to demonstrate his understanding. Micah contemplated about who would work with Joseph today. He looked around the room at the different interns and finally decided on Will. "I hope Will doesn't think I'm holding a grudge against him for having a thing for Emily or whatever it is. I have to be impartial and as professional as I can be."
"Dr. Collins, please assist Dr. Dupre with Joseph for today. That is all everyone, go on with your assignments." Micah said.
After hearing who she was going to be working with today, Tyra sighed once more. "Are you kidding me right now? Of course this would happen. Me and Will. We're probably each other's least favorite person. The only thing we have in common is our friendship with Emily. I hope I don't snap and kill Will for jerking Emily around." Tyra kept a straight face, hoping her disdain for Will wouldn't be so obvious.
As everyone was leaving Joseph's room, Emily stayed behind to get a quick word in with Tyra. She whispered, "You did good today. Remember to breathe, okay?" For a second, Emily forgot Will was still in the room.
"It's been forever and a day since Will had really talked to me. I'm being thrown for a loop here. Maybe Tyra's right, he's just stringing me along after his break up with Cassandra…." Emily's face began to frown but she changed into a small smile when Will greeted her.
"Hey Emily."
Did Emily dare to look at Will in the eyes when all this time, he's been avoiding her like the black plague?
"Hi." That was all she could say.
Tyra sensed Emily was uncomfortable. As awkward as she could get, Tyra loved Emily's awkwardness and innocence. "I'll see you later?" She then whispered in Emily's ear, "Showers during our lunch break!"
Emily was so consumed with her dilemma with Will, she had forgotten about her smelly self. She laughed and waved bye to the two doctors.
Still concerned with how she smelled, she tried to sneak a whiff by lifting up her arm. "Okay Emily. Just raise your arm a little. Don't make it obvious that you're trying to smell yourself. Uh oh! Dr. Putnam alert!"
Emily tried to walk as quickly as she could out of his sight but like the predator he is, Dr. Putnam caught up to Emily.
"Dr. Owens, haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been all my life?" He flashed his million-dollar smile said to make girls swoon. Or so Emily heard.
Emily groaned and turned out to acknowledge the preda—Dr. Putnam.
She smiled back, "Hi Dr. Putnam," Emily ended up awkwardly laughing, "Oh you know, I've been here and there. How are you doing?"
"I forgot to kill Tyra about testing my hypothesis for my social experiment. I thought he was finally off my back after Will had saved me from him. That whole bookcase thing. Oh my gosh, he's giving me that I'm-going-to-get-you look!"
Kyle couldn't help but feel attracted to Emily. He always had his way with women and most would have killed to have the chance to go on a date or to go home with him. However, he was intrigued that Emily seemed unaffected by his good luck and charms.
He answered, "Oh, I'm feeling kind of sad at the moment. You see, there's this girl I've been trying to grab drinks with but she keeps turning me down."
Emily caught on and began feeling flushed. "Prepare to get caught. That's what he said right? I can't believe I'm in this situation right now. Someone please save me!" Emily laughed nervously again, uncertain as to what she could say to Kyle's comment.
Suddenly, Emily's pager went off and it was from Micah. "Thank you Micah for saving the day!" she felt so relieved.
"Dr. Putnam, uh I'm sorry. I have to go! I hope your situation gets better," Emily turned and pretty much sprinted towards the stairs.
Kyle laughed and shook his head as he turned his attention to his patient charts. "She's going to get caught one of these days." He gave a smile to the nurse at the nurses' station and within a few seconds, the cheeky nurse was pinker than Emily had turned earlier.
"Hi, Sunny is it?"
Sunny laughed nervously at the gorgeous doctor talking to her, "Yes, I'm Sunny!"
"Why, yes you are," Kyle began to flirt with the nurse.
Micah was pacing the hallway outside his mother's room. He was still dealing with his mother's decision about not participating in the clinical trial he had worked so hard to get her in. Micah had to use some of his best connections to pull those strings but he ultimately knew he had to respect his mother's wishes.
"Where's Emily? I haven't talked to her alone in what feels like ages. Why do I feel so nervous all of a sudden?" Micah questioned himself. He saw Emily walking quickly towards his direction out of the corner of his eye.
"Micah.. I mean Dr. Barnes… I'm…so…sorry…I was—" Emily was out of breath. She had climbed up five flights of stairs because she wanted to get out of Dr. Putnam's radar as quickly as she could. Emily didn't want to wait for the elevator so here she was, tired and out of breath. She was also still sore and tired from this morning's yoga session. "I can feel my armpits getting wet again. Oh no…"
Micah weakly smiled at her, still trying his best to give her space and not seem so clingy towards her. "Dr. Owens, are you okay?"
Emily replied after taking a deep breath, "Yes, yes. I'm alright. You paged me. What's up?" She kept her sentences short because she didn't have enough energy to talk.
"Albagetti needs an extra hand in the ER today. Are you assigned on anyone's service as of right now?" Micah asked.
Emily took another deep breath and answered, "No, I'm not with anyone today."
"Alright, head on down to the ER and help Albagetti in any way that you can. I had paged Kopleson too so she should be down there already. You'll be working alongside with her today. That'll be all." Micah waited for a few seconds to see if Emily had any lingering questions before he went into his mother's room.
Emily said bye and left quietly.
"What that girl does to me…" he sighed and entered the room to visit his mother for the day.
Tyra continued to dread the rest of her day as she was supposed to spend it with Will. Maybe that was her arch nemesis, what Cassandra was to Emily. She dismissed the idea and tried her best to get through the day without murdering Will or something like that.
Will was busy with the physical examination as Tyra waited to draw blood from Joseph. He started feeling Joseph's lymph nodes located at the neck than proceeded to the underarms.
"Hmm. Dr. Dupre? There seems to be swelling in the lymph nodes."
Joseph's ears perked up after hearing that. "What does that mean Dr. Collins?"
Will smiled and answered, "that means you might have an infection which may be the reason why you're coughing nonstop and losing weight."
Tyra stepped in and felt the lymph nodes to make sure they came to the same conclusion. "Yup, they're swollen alright. Okay, Joseph I'm going to draw your blood now."
After learning Joseph had HIV, everyone who was to interact with Joseph had to be extra precautious when it comes to dealing with bodily fluids. Tyra had gowned up and doubled up her gloves. Will stood near the door, waiting for Tyra to finish.
"How are you feeling right now Joseph? Are you feeling any pain anywhere or any discomfort?" asked Tyra.
Joseph smiled and told her he felt fine at the moment. He coughed a few times and Will handed him a cup of water.
"If there isn't anything else, we'll be back in to check on you and we'll have your test results by then," Will informed Joseph. He nodded and started to close his eyes to sleep. He had a long day. A long few weeks actually.
The two doctors left Joseph's room and started to head towards the lab to drop off the blood sample.
Will had never really worked alongside Tyra before. He hasn't engaged in a real or long conversation with her before. They had always said hi in passing since she was always with Emily.
"Emily. Crap. At this point, she probably knows that I've been avoiding her. Will, you're so stupid! Why did you go over to Emily's and sleep with her?" Will was replaying that night in his head. He smiled about what a great time he had and how amazing Emily was in bed. "Stop it! She's like your best friend. You can't think of her like that! You still like Cassandra, not Emily. She's only your friend. Your best friend that is. If Cassandra found out, there really will be no chance of getting back together. I can't stand how she's acting. Cassandra is acting like nothing is wrong and nothing happened between us. I need to figure out how to get her back… but I have to deal with this Emily situation. Ugh, what did I get myself into?"
Will was thinking about how he could approach Emily. He began imagining how the conversation between them would go.
The two doctors continued to walked in silence. Tyra hated it when it got quiet when she was with people. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what to say to Will that didn't involve cursing and yelling at him.
"So…" Tyra started, "How have you been?" That's all she could think of.
Will was surprised that Tyra started the conversation. He answered, "Uh, I'm doing fine. Nothing new really."
"You liar! You're such a pig Will Collins! If only I could give you a piece of my mind…." Tyra stopped herself from looking angry.
"Oh, that's good to hear," was what Tyra said.
They had reached the lab and there Hot Molly was. Aside from Will and her dad, Hot Molly was the last person she wanted to see at that moment. Tyra hid behind him. "It's a good thing he's so tall. Okay, I'll give you a brownie point for that Will," she thought to herself, hoping Molly wouldn't see her pathetic attempts to hide.
Will was confused at what Tyra was doing so he whispered, "Why are you hiding behind me?"
Tyra pointed to Hot Molly and pleaded with Will if he could deal with dropping off the sample and then later picking up the results.
Will smiled at her. He was surprised that Tyra could act this way. He always saw her as a confident, sometimes obnoxious girl. The complete opposite of Emily.
"Okay, I'll meet up with you later?"
Tyra gave him a quick squeeze, surprising herself and Will for what just happened. "Thanks Will, I owe you!" Tyra quickly said before disappearing into the hospital.
Emily finally arrived in the ER. She sometimes liked being down there. She didn't think Albagetti liked her after the way he made fun of the whole, 'drug addict's fake penis' incident she was unfortunately involved with. Emily had spotted Cassandra at the receptionist area.
"Hey Pits, what took you so long to get down here? We're jam packed down here today."
Emily nodded and apologized. Albagetti saw Emily and grabbed her.
"Owens, go over to bay 4 and try to get that patient on their way. Empty as many beds as you can. As you probably noticed, we're super busy down here and there's a shortage of beds right now." He pointed over at bay 4 and Emily rushed over there. She pulled the curtain to the side and closed it immediately.
A small Korean lady was sitting there, with a large gash on her hand. Emily could see glass embedded in the flesh.
"Hi there uhm…" Emily grabbed the patient's chart and couldn't make out the name that was written, "What is your name?"
The lady tried her best to talk, "My name… Yoona." Emily could tell she was not fluent with English so she made sure she talked slowly and annunciated everything she said.
"I see you have a big cut on your hand. How did that happen?"
Yoona looked confused, as if she was trying to understand what the doctor has asked. "Cut. Uh it small accident."
Emily smiled and reassured her that she was going to clean the wound and give her stitches. She excused herself to obtain a suture kit from the supplies cart. With in a few minutes Emily had returned with the kit and began picking out the glass fragments.
After maybe 30 minutes, Emily was done stitching up Yoona's injury. Yoona thanked her many times which Emily was really appreciative of.
"It's no problem, really. Please keep your hand as clean as possible and come back in a few days so I can remove the stitches," Emily informed her little Asian patient. "Okay, if there isn't anything else, you are free to leave. Remember to come back Yoona!" Emily began cleaning up and clearing the bed for the next patient.
Yoona didn't leave, which confused Emily. "Did she need something else? Emily, go ask her silly!"
Emily walked up to Yoona and asked, "Yoona, what's wrong? Do you need something?"
Yoona was at a loss of words. Her limited English kept her from trying to tell Emily that she needed her for something else. "I- uh. Outside. Please."
"After you," Emily said. Yoona grabbed Emily's hand and began to walk towards the exit of the ER. She wasn't sure what was going on but there was something up and she was going to do her best to help Yoona.
They had made their way into the parking lot and there, Emily finally understood what Yoona wanted. Her daughter was sitting in the car, with a large gash across her forehead and few scrapes on her face.
"Yoona, bring your daughter inside. I will take care of her the same way I took care of you." Emily tried to open the car door and Yoona stopped her. She shook her head no and tried to talk to Emily once again.
"My daughter… Mi-Yun. No hospital please. Help here." Yoona made a gesture, which seemed to resemble a rectangle or square shaped. Emily realized what she was scared of: her daughter wasn't a citizen, she was an illegal immigrant.
Emily tried to tell Yoona that they will treat her and they should not be scared of getting deported because that wouldn't happened. Yoona insisted to stay where they were.
She sighed and said, "Be right back, stay here." Emily went back to the hospital and grabbed another suture kit and cleaning supplies.
"Pits, what are you doing with a suture kit and some gauzes and isopropanol?" Cassandra had startled Emily.
"Crap! Please Cassandra, not now. I don't have time to explain myself to you. I have to hurry." Emily groaned and turned around to face her.
"Cassandra, I have another cut to stitch up in uh… bay 2. Albagetti's instructions." Emily laughed nervously, hoping she wouldn't be caught lying.
Cassandra glared at Emily, "Pits, I was just at bay 2. I've known you for how long? I can totally tell when you're lying. Tell me what you're up to. Albagetti might blame me for whatever you're doing and I definitely do not need that," she scolded Emily.
Emily sighed and decided to tell her the truth about Yoona and Mi-Yun. "I hope she doesn't tell Albagetti on me. Please please please don't…"
Cassandra's facial expression softened and that surprised Emily. "Oh, is that all? Alright. I'll cover for you before Albagetti comes back asking where you went. Try to hurry ok Pits?" she gave Emily a small smile of approval before disappearing to bay 6.
Emily didn't have time to process what had just happened. She quickly left the ER and returned. Emily began working on Mi-Yun's cut and disinfecting the rest of her wounds.
When Emily was finally done, she told the mother and daughter to return so Emily could check on how the wounds were healing.
"Here, I will give you my pager number and cell phone. You can call me and I will come out to meet you. I just need to make sure the cuts are ok."
Yoona continued to thank Emily and even gave her a hug. She was so grateful for Emily's help even though they had struggled communicating with each other. Mi-Yun said goodbye to Emily and Yoona got into the car and drove away.
Emily stood in the parking lot, happy with how things turned out. "Cassandra acted more humanly today and it was towards me! Maybe she's turning over into a new leaf." She stopped overanalyzing the kind deed and rushed back to the ER so Cassandra and her wouldn't get in trouble.
Will had gotten the lab results back and paged Tyra.
Tyra just finished taking her much needed shower. Emily never texted her back. She figured she was busy since she last saw her heading towards the ER. Tyra met up with Will outside Joseph's room so they could discuss the results.
"So, what did they say?" Tyra asked.
"They came back clean. Pretty much inconclusive. We're back at square one now. Still don't know what's wrong with him," Will seemed discouraged about the news.
All of a sudden, the two heard Joseph yell out.
"SOMEONE! HELP! There's blood coming out… Ahhh!My chest hurts!"
Will and Tyra rushed in and saw blood coming out of his mouth. Will moved quickly to grab towels and a container. Tyra was busy putting on a gown, mask, and gloves. The blood was infected with the HIV virus and they had a protocol to follow.
"Will! Stop what you're doing right this minute! You need to put on some protection before touching Joseph!" yelled Tyra. She was fumbling with the gown ties.
"I'm okay! Don't worry! We have to stop this bleeding!" Will reassured Tyra. He began wiping Joseph's mouth and gave him the container so something could catch his throw up and the blood.
Something happened that Tyra was afraid of: Joseph sneezed and coughed in Will's face as he was wiping him down. Both Will and Tyra's eyes grew large.
"Will. Get away from Joseph right now."
He knew better than to defy Tyra this time. There was a different tone in her voice this time. Will still wasn't able to process what has just happened.
"Did that just really happen?! OH MY GOD. I might have AIDS now. God, why do I have to be stubborn and stupid? I can't stop freaking out now. Holy shit holy shit!" Will punched the wall which startled Joseph and Tyra.
"Dr. Collins, page Dr. Barnes immediately and call the nurses to come in here!" commanded Tyra. Will listened and tried to wipe the blood from his face and scrubs.
"Damn it Will. You should have listened to me! Ugh. Okay, Tyra focus. Prop Joseph up at 90 degrees and go from there." She thought to herself, trying not to panic as she was actually worried about Will as well.
"Dr. Collins, I cannot believe you did not follow protocol! They are there for a reason! They're for your protection! It was made perfectly clear to everyone else that Joseph has HIV and you are required to gown up before entering the room, especially since he coughs…" Micah continued to lecture Will in the employee health office.
Will couldn't focus on what Micah was saying. All he could think about was that his life may be over. He was doomed. Everything was spiraling down for him. "First Emily, Cassandra… my patient with the antidepressants… now this," He groaned which prompted Micah to raise his voice even louder.
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?! I am your chief resident! I am solely responsible for you and all your actions! It is not only a reflection of you but of me as well!"
The nurse had finished drawing blood from Will so they could quickly have it tested to see if he had contracted the virus.
15 minutes later, the blood test had came back negative.
Will sighed, never having felt this relieved in this entire life.
Micah placed his hand on Will's shoulder in a reassuring, friendly manner. "It's not completely over yet. We have to get you tested again in a week or so just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?" Will nodded in agreement with Micah.
"Am I really comforting him right now? He's basically my competition! He's the reason why I'm invisible to Emily. He's the reason why Emily is so screwed up when it came to relationships and guys." For a second, Micah felt as though Will was being punished… "NO! MICAH! YOU ARE HORRIBLE. You are a doctor, You are a human being. You do not wish bad things to happen on to others. No matter how you feel about Will Collins, no one, not even him, deserves to get sick."
Micah actually began feeling so disappointed in himself for thinking something that terrible. "The crazy things that you do when you're in love."
After the craziness has settled down in the ER, Emily and Cassandra could finally breathe again.
"Pits, you're starting to smell even funkier. Please do us all a favor and take a shower!"
Emily decided it was time for her lunch break. But rather than eat, she was going to take a quick shower. "23 text messages and 6 missed calls from Tyra. What does she need to talk to me about?"
After Emily showered, she never felt better or cleaner. She towel dried her hair and braided it again. Tyra busted in the locker room shower/bathroom and walked towards Emily.
"What's the point of having a phone if you don't answer?!" Tyra was on edge for whatever reason.
"Geez Tyra, ok I'm here. It was so busy in the ER and I really had to take a show—" Tyra interrupted her.
"You'll never guess what happened to Will today."
It was pretty horrific news and Emily could feel her stomach drop to her butt. She wanted to do nothing but go to Will and comfort him. "That's my best friend. Who knows what's going through his mind? I can't believe that happened! I really need to talk to him,"Emily frantically thought to herself.
"Tyra, where is he now?"
Tyra was sitting down on the locker room bench. "I saw him last with Micah. I think they were at employee health, getting a blood test." She could see the worry in Emily's eyes and how badly she wanted to go to Will.
Emily could only think about how Will and Micah were together. "Can my day get any better? The two people that are the root of my problems and my guilt… I have to see them together. I don't know what to do or say. What if Micah thinks something? I mean something may be going on between me and Will. Stop right there! Stop thinking about what's going to happen with Micah. You can deal with him later, Will needs his best friend right now." Emily left to go find Will
She braced herself, just in case she were to run into Micah as well.
Tyra was unsure what was wrong with Joseph. "What is causing all of his symptoms? If Emily was here, she'd say something that'll make us both think and it'll just come to us. Ugh, where is she when you need her?" She knew Emily was probably with Will after his ordeal.
She flipped through his charts as she was eating sushi on the rooftop. There was always something missing.
All the results came back negative for everything they tested for. Tyra then reviewed Joseph's immunization record. The last time he had a TB test was two years ago.
Quickly, Tyra remembered in one of her classes that it was common for people with HIV to contract TB because they were so immunosuppressed from the virus. She paged Micah and ran down the stairs to see Joseph.
Joseph had gotten worse. It was to the point where he was transferred to the ICU.
Micah and Tyra walked to where his new room was and entered.
Joseph had his oxygen mask on because he was having trouble breathing now. "Hey Dr. Barnes, Dr. Dupre," he barely said in a whisper.
Micah smiled at him and said, "Joseph, we know what's causing all your symptoms and why you have gotten so sick. Dr. Dupre, proceed."
Tyra had received permission to speak, "Hey Joseph. We discovered that you weren't up to date with your TB tests. Were you aware that you should be tested every year?"
Joseph shook his head no, he wasn't aware of that.
She continued, "Well, it was two years since you were tested for TB. The fact that you also have HIV has made your immune system very weak, as you already know. We had tested you again for TB and it came back as a false negative. That could be due to the virus complicating things. Your sputum was collected and tested for the TB bacteria. You also got a chest X-ray. All in all, you tested positively for active tuberculosis."
"And the prognosis?" added Micah. He just wanted to make sure she didn't forget to tell Joseph what the road to recovery for him was like.
Tyra smiled at Micah, "While testing for what kind of TB you had, you have somewhat of a resistant strain. That means it'll be harder to treat, but it's not impossible. We're going to be giving you several drugs at once to treat this particular strain. We started you on Isoniazid and Rifampin. You should be back on your feet in no time. All your night sweats, weight loss will diminish and your coughing will cease. I know that was a lot to take in, but everything's going to be okay! Do you have any questions for us Joseph?" The doctors waited patiently.
Joseph was happy that they figured what was wrong. However, that didn't change the fact that someone else may have been infected with this horrible disease raging through his body.
"Uhm, I don't really have any question about myself but I was wondering if you could tell me how Dr. Collins is. Is he okay? I can't help but feel responsible for that happening…" Tears began to form in Joseph's eyes and his voice began to break.
Micah shushed Joseph, "No no no Joseph. Don't feel that way, it is not your fault. I'm happy to tell you that Will is okay at the moment. So far, his blood test came back negative but we're going to closely monitor him for a few weeks to make sure he didn't contract the virus. Please Joseph, do not blame yourself for this. Things happen. All we can do is hope for the best right?" Micah smiled at the boy with the green eyes.
Joseph thanked the doctors and waited for his family to come visit him.
Tyra and Micah walked together in silence.
"Oh c'mon. Not this awkward silence crap again," thought Tyra.
"Today was quite… interesting."
Micah answered her, "Yeah, it was, wasn't it? That just goes to show, things can happen and change in an instant." He started thinking about Emily again.
"Easier said than done huh? Who knows what the future has in store for me? Who knows if I'll end up with Emily or not? I really don't know at this point… but I have to remember that things always change. There's still hope for us." Micah was lost in his thoughts which caused Tyra to snap him out of it.
"Alright then, it's been a long day. Time to clock out! I'll see you tomorrow Dr. Barnes."
Micah said goodbye to Tyra and away they went.
"Where is that Emily? I need to sleep or drink right now…" Tyra quickly texted her.
Emily and Will were sitting on the rooftop together. It was actually quiet between them for once.
Will had spilled to Emily about how he felt throughout the entire day after he was exposed to the infected blood.
"I was so stupid Emily. Why do I always rush into things? Why do I always have to be the guy who tries to save the day?" Will couldn't stop regretting his actions and blaming himself.
Emily listened to her best friend attentively. It was one of her better traits, she was a great listener.
She gently reassured him, "The tests came back negative. They're going to continue to be negative. You just have to be patient. This is another lemon that life is throwing at you Will." Emily couldn't believe she just referred to this ordeal as a lemon. Boy, did she regret that last comment.
Will looked up at her and started laughing. "Thanks Emily haha. I needed that. This is a lemon, I guess. Gotta make that lemonade right?" He knew what Emily was trying to say and he appreciated it so much from her.
"What is it about Emily that drives me up the wall? One minute, I'm crazy about Cassandra and hell bent on getting her back. The next, I'm wanting to be with Emily. To kiss her. To hold her. To be with her…" Will stopped in the middle of this thought process as he noticed Emily looking into his eyes. Those piercing blue eyes that could see into his soul.
"Not those eyes. Ugh, I can't do this to her or to Cassandra… Or to myself. She deserves better than this. Will, man up! Tell her how you really feel! You want Cassandra, not her! Nip it in the bud right now!" Will continued to debate with himself in his mind.
Emily couldn't read Will's face. Usually, he was easy to read but tonight, he was different. She couldn't put her finger on it but all she knew was that she wanted to be with him. Emily took a deep breath. "I'm gonna tell him what's on my mind. Emily, you can do it."
"Will, can I talk to you about something?"
He nodded and waited to hear what she had to say.
She started to look down at her feet, trying to find the right words.
"Will… what happened between us? I mean that one night between us… that happened and ever since then, you've been avoiding me. You can't even look me in the eyes… You're doing that right now," Emily frowned, realizing what he was going to say.
"Emily… I care for you a lot, you know that. I just don't know if things would work out between us because we're such good friends, right? I don't want to jeopardize our friendship because you're important to me," was all Will could say.
She started laughing to herself because she has been so stupid, all this time.
"Emily, c'mon. Why are you laughing?"
She scoffed and prepared to get up to leave him. "Shame on you Emily, you have been so stupid. You just won the stupidest person alive award. Aren't you proud of yourself?"
"Emily, stop. Where are you going? Come here." Will got up too and grabbed Emily and embraced her.
She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and for once, she was at a loss of words. She gave into Will. Emily hugged him back.
Will stroked her hair and held onto her tightly. "Emily… you mean so much to me," he sighed and continued, "Let's see what happens okay? We can't force anything right now. We'll take it a day at a time."
Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Will had officially chosen her, Emily Eileen Owens. Her tears quickly turned into happy ones as she continued to hold onto Will.
"We should get going now. It's getting late and you're kind of getting smelly again Emily," Will stifled a laugh which ended up causing Emily to laugh as well.
He couldn't believe what happened. This was not what he expected the conversation to go. "Way to go Will. You did the one thing you WEREN'T suppose to do: lead her on! Cassandra's never going to get back with you..." Will started to regret what just went down. "You dug your own grave, prepare to bury yourself in it."
They walked down the stairs together but parted ways as they walked to their cars.
"10 messages, 12 missed calls from Tyra. Oh crap, I drove today. She is going to kill me… I think I better not tell her what happened between me and Will just now. Another time will be better. That is, if I'm alive by the time I get to my car." Emily smiled to herself at what Will had said, what Will had done.
Emily finally made it to her car and there, she was greeted with an furious Tyra. She could practically see steam coming out of her nostrils and ears.
"EMILY OWENS! I cannot believe you made me wait for you for almost an hour. I could have walked and made it home by now! Ugh, I should have driven today…" Tyra continued to yell and complain as they got into the car.
Again, Emily didn't care about anything at that moment except Will.
"Why are you smiling? Emily, this isn't funny! I could have frozen to death, waiting for you. Are you even going to tell me what kept you from answering your friggin' phone? You're impossible, you know that…" Tyra went on and on about Emily but she had tuned her friend out.
Emily smiled at the thought of her new relationship. Love. Whatever it was. She just knew that she was happy.
"Life keeps giving you lemons. These lemons can be pretty much anything. A revelation. A blessing in disguise. A favor. A best friend. A terrible disease. The love of your life. An accident. Whatever the lemons may be in your life, remember it is important to make that lemonade. Let's just say, my lemonade had just gotten sweeter."
