Hi everyone! I hope I didn't lose any followers or people who were interested in my developing story. I finally managed to write this chapter in the time that I had available. I am free from midterms and homework assignments for the time being so I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts before finals begin!
I think I have found the style that I am most comfortable with and that I found works best. I enjoyed including some of the other characters' inner monologues in the previous chapter but I felt that it disrupted the flow of the story. Besides, the show only presented Emily's inner thoughts so I think I will stay true to that!
Thank you for sticking with me, I truly do appreciate everyone who takes the time out of their day to read my story. Or in this, Emily's story :)
Enjoy this chapter! I made it extra long so I hope it was worth the wait.
It is always wondered as to why people go crazy. Instead, you should wonder why people don't go crazy. Life can get hectic at times and in the midst of everything, what is it that keeps people holding things together? What keeps you sane and in control?
After another restless night, Emily decided to make breakfast for once. She didn't want to brag but she was actually quite the cook. If there were only more hours in a day so Emily could prepare meals properly without constantly being on a time crunch. It was early still. She let Tyra sleep in her bed last night while it was her turn on the couch. Emily had started feeling guilty ever since Tyra had been living with her for several weeks now and also putting up with Emily and her OCD habits, as Tyra would call them.
It's not my fault if I like to wipe and rinse the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher! Is that really too much to ask?
Emily chuckled to herself at the moment when she had to tell Tyra about her routine for washing the dishes. She knew that Tyra, though puzzled and surprised by Emily and her ways, accepted her anyways and that's what she loved and appreciated.
So the two began rotating between the bed and the couch. Emily really did not mind at all, she found herself actually happier than usual. It was nice to have company after having lived alone for a majority of her life.
I hope she likes mushrooms and spinach in her omelets. As Emily was flipping the frying pan, moments before sliding her culinary concoction onto the plate, Tyra had walked in, rubbing her eyes. Followed by a yawn, she immediately sat down at the dining table.
"Mmm, that smells amazing Emily! You know we could have just eaten cereal and I would have been completely fine with that."
Emily finished by adding parsley as garnish on Tyra's omelet then grabbed some utensils for the both of them. She walked towards Tyra and placed the plate of food in front of her. "Bon appetit!"
"Did you also happen to make coffee?" Tyra asked, with her eyes widening at the sight of food. It looked as if she hasn't sat down for a home cooked meal in who knows how long.
Emily laughed at Tyra's eagerness to eat. "Of course I did, would you like me to bring you a cup?"
Before Emily had finished asking, Tyra had already gobbled half of the omelet.
"This is delicious! Even though I hate onions, I don't care that they're in this because it's amazing regardless," Tyra managed to say as she inhaled the food.
Emily grabbed two mugs and poured coffee into them. She grabbed her plate of food and sat across from Tyra. Wow, she really liked that! I haven't even started on mines and she's nearly done. Oh, and note to self: refrain from using onions on Tyra.
As Emily started to finally eat, Tyra got up to rinse her plate and then placed it in the dishwasher.
"I will never understand why you insist on me doing this. That's the dishwasher's job." Tyra grumbled. She sat back down at the table and continued, "So Emily, you haven't gone on your long tangents about Will. Or Micah now that I think about it. Now that's weird. Spill."
Emily coughed and slightly choked on the piece of omelet she was chewing on. She drank her coffee to clear her throat.
"Uh, er… There's nothing that's going on between any of us. We're all just –" Before Emily could finish, she thought about her word choice rather carefully. She didn't want to lie to Tyra, but she had promised Will that she wouldn't tell anyone about their little arrangement. As for Micah, she hasn't talked to him aside about work-related things. She didn't know what to do or say so she came up with her best answer, "Just friends. That's it. Aren't you tired of listening me talk about them anyway?" Emily hoped this would be a good enough distraction to get Tyra off her case.
Tyra laughed at Emily's remark, "Why, yes I am. Thank you for being so considerate of my feelings." She drank the rest of her coffee. "Now about me… I think I'm going to try to talk to Hot Molly today."
For the second time, Emily choked on her food again.
"You okay there? Maybe I should wait till you're doing eating to say something. I don't want to have to perform the Heimlich on you," Tyra teased.
Emily smiled and cleared her throat, "It's okay. Anyways… really? What made you decide to talk to her again? I mean, she did blow you off and from what I remember, it was pretty harsh. And, you two have been giving each other the cold shoulder since then. Not to mention you both avoid any means of interaction with each other." She was curious to what Tyra would respond with.
Tyra groaned, "I know, you don't have to remind me." She started doodling with her index finger on the tabletop. "I still feel attracted to her you know? I thought it was going to be a fling-type thing but I think there's more. As least, I hope there is. Emily, I haven't felt this way about someone before. Wanting to fight to be with someone. I usually just shrug it off and move on to the next person to have fun with."
"At least you're going to try this time. That's really big and brave of you Tyra," Emily tried her best to encourage her friend.
Tyra got up, took Emily's finished plate and mug and took them over to the sink. When she finished putting them in the dishwasher, she walked on over to Emily and gave her a side hug.
"Thanks for just listening and not over analyzing my situation." Tyra glimpsed at the clock above the T.V. "Time for work again."
AJ was on his way to pick up Micah from his apartment. When he arrived, he pulled out his iPhone 5 and texted Micah to come out. Within a few minutes, the young doctor appeared and rushed to get inside the glossy black BMW.
Micah buckled up and thanked his friend, "Hey, thanks again for picking me up and taking me to work. I can't believe I got another flat tire; I just changed it last month. Just another messed up thing I need," he muttered before letting out an exasperated sigh.
As he leaned back in the passenger's seat, Micah closed his eyes. He was physically and emotionally drained. After all, Micah has been going through more than he has led on. His mother had changed her mind again about the clinical trial because it meant that she would have to move to Minnesota. Liz had also been staying with Micah and was driving him up the wall, unlike any other time before. He felt that his sister was a constant reminder of the potential lengths he was willing to go to try to save his mother, even if it meant lying to the one person he cared about so much in the world. If there was anything that Micah hated more than the very disease killing his mother, it was dishonesty.
"It's no problem at all. It's the least I can do for my best friend," AJ flashed him a smile but Micah didn't respond. AJ looked over his left shoulder to check if the lane was clear. "Micah, you okay?" He glanced over at his friend who was slumped over and had his eyes closed.
AJ noticed how tired and weary Micah had been for the past several days. With Joyce's condition worsening, the unexpected visit from his sister, and something obviously wrong with him and Emily, AJ couldn't help but feel helpless because there wasn't anything he could do. He only knew so much about what Micah was going through. Micah just wouldn't let AJ or anyone else in.
He made another attempt to get Micah's attention but AJ was met with a shrug and a plea to let the tired doctor get a few minutes of shut-eye before their shift. He let out a sigh and made no further attempt to find out what was going on with Micah.
"Guess it's just you and me, Adele," AJ said as he flipped through his Pandora stations.
With a little over fifteen minutes to spare, Emily and Tyra stopped by the coffee cart outside the hospital. That one cup of Joe back at home wasn't enough to keep the two interns awake for the day. As they waited in rather long line, they were almost next. Suddenly, someone they didn't expect to see turned around and immediately caught their attention: Dr. Bandari.
Emily's eyes grew large at the sight of her attending. I didn't realize Bandari was coming back today. Wait, it's been that long? Maybe her vacation was cut short - Emily's thought was interrupted as Tyra nudged her.
What seemed like a really long and awkward silence, Dr. Bandari said something first, "Dr. Owens, Dr. Dupre. I'll see you during the consultation. Don't be late. Oh, and it's good to see you two." She held her coffee cup and grabbed a sleeve for it before heading towards the hospital.
This time, both Emily and Tyra's jaws dropped after Gina had walked away. When the two interns finally picked up their jaws from the ground, they looked at each other as they quickly paid for their drinks.
"Did Bandari just say, 'good to see you?' to us? Me, Tyra Dupre, and you, Emily Owens?" Tyra asked as she sipped on her vanilla soy latte.
Emily replied, still in shock, "Yes, she really just did. Is it just me who lost track of time but wasn't Bandari supposed to be away longer?" What if something happened between her and her husband? That could explain why she's back. Emily, stop! It's her business, don't end up like the other gossiping monsters in the hospital.
The two interns started making their way towards the entrance of the hospital and to the intern locker room.
Tyra threw away her drink in the recycling container and continued, "Yeah, I think she was because I remember Micah saying she was coming back next week. Seriously, she said it was good to see us? I thought she openly despised you Emily and only remembered me as the Chief of Surgery's deranged daughter," Tyra managed to get a laugh out of herself and Emily.
Emily then glared at Tyra and defended herself, "Hey! She does not despise me. I think the best I can say is that she tolerates me, even more so now that I am her research assistant. Anyways, she's back and everything will just go back to normal."
For some reason, Emily didn't believe what she was saying. Nothing was going back to normal. As least, not for me anyway.
Her friend answered with a shrug and the two dropped the Bandari conversation. They finally made it to the locker room and began changing into their light blue scrubs.
"It's about time Dr. Bandari's back. No offense to Micah but he's no Bandari, that's for sure. I can finally resume my proper education and training with the best of the best," exclaimed Cassandra a few lockers away from Emily. As Cassandra walked past them, she whispered to Emily, "No more special treatment for you."
Emily rolled her eyes as her arch nemesis left the locker room. Tyra patted her back and simply said, "Ignore her. I always do." She gave Tyra a slight smile and they closed their lockers before walking to the consultation room.
As the rest of the first year interns gathered around the bed of a frail and rather disheveled woman, the room immediately grew quiet.
Micah was standing next to Gina as he usually does. He was glad to see his attending but rather confused as to why she was back from her vacation so suddenly. He disregarded those thoughts and handed the patient's chart to Gina. However, she gave it back to Micah.
"Dr. Bandari?" Micah asked as he looked at her.
Once more, Gina surprised him by giving him a small smile, something she ordinarily doesn't do.
"Yes Dr. Barnes? Aren't you going to choose the intern to present the patient for today?" She paused to observe the rest of the room. Everyone was looking at her in shock, completely taken aback by her change in attitude. "Listen, just because I returned from my vacation does not mean every thing has to change. Dr. Barnes has been doing a fantastic job taking over my place from what I've been told and I do not see any problem with letting him continue. Does anyone have a problem with this?"
Everyone in the room, the patient included, shook their heads no. There was still that fiery, intimidating flair Gina had when it came to grabbing everyone's attention and speaking as well.
"Alright then. Dr. Barnes," Gina motioned for Micah to step forward and choose.
As tired and worn out as Micah was, the moment he looked at Emily, every problem and worry he had seemed to dissipate instantly. Emily returned his gaze by subtly smiling at him.
He was aware of how long they have gone so far without really talking to each other. After all, Micah's intuition keeps hinting that something was going on with her and Will. He hated the very thought of Emily and Will together so he tried his best to avoid her and remained diligent and focused on his mother and work.
He had made his decision.
"Dr. Owens, please present." Micah handed the young blonde doctor the patient file.
Emily was feeling flushed as she found herself surprised yet again. First, running into Bandari now Micah's kind of acknowledging my existence again? What's next, this patient isn't really sick?
She opened the manila folder and began to scan the document.
"Camille Manning. A 36-year-old female who went collapsed and went into respiratory distress this morning when she was at the grocery store with her husband. Preliminary analysis and labs showed that Mrs. Manning suffered a pulmonary embolism, which originated from a larger clot found in her right leg." Emily stopped to look at her patient, who was shaking and growing restless with the amount of people in the room. Micah nodded for Emily to continue.
She took in a breath and began again, "Toxicology screening also indicates that her blood alcohol level was 0.12% when she arrived in the ER. Lastly, Mrs. Manning was diagnosed several years ago with schizophrenia."
Gina gave Emily an approving look at her presentation and proceeded to ask her, "Good, Dr. Owens. What is the recommended course of action we are going to take for Mrs. Manning?"
"We are going to start Mrs. Manning on heparin to make sure the clot goes away." Emily turned to face the husband with the concerned look on his face, "Mr. Manning, we are going to keep your wife overnight for observation. Clots have a tendency to grow bigger and we don't want to risk another event like this morning."
Mr. Manning replied, "Please, call me Al. Do whatever you have to do to make sure she gets better." He reached out to stroke his wife's hair, only to be met by Camille hitting his hand to go away.
Emily winced at the poor woman's rejection of her caring husband. She couldn't help but think of Will treating her the same way.
Gina stepped in, "Al, we're going to keep a close eye on her and make sure she gets better. The pharmacy will be sending up the required medication to treat Camille momentarily. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."
The interns began to move out of the room and to their other assigned patients while Gina, Micah, and Emily remained outside of Camille's room.
Emily thought to herself, Who am I working with today? It's usually Micah overseeing two interns who are assigned to a patient then Gina supervises him. She continued to wonder about what was going on and remained quiet as Gina started to talk.
"Dr. Owens, again, good job on the presentation and prognosis. I'm sure you are wondering who you will be working with today."
Both Emily and Micah's ears perked up and they both turned to look at the intimidating doctor.
"Who would you like to work with you today on Mrs. Manning's case?" Gina simply asked.
Almost simultaneously, Emily and Micah's eyes widened with curiosity and confusion as to what just happened.
Did Dr. Bandari just ask me who I wanted to work with today? What in the world is going on? Emily stood there, stunned while trying to figure out what to say and who she wanted to work with.
As for Micah, he had never witnessed Gina ask an intern on what they wanted. It was usually them carrying out her orders, with no questions asked. He, too, was at a loss for words. Micah waited for Emily to say something since she was the one who was asked the question.
"Dr. Owens?" Gina asked again.
Emily snapped out of it and preceded to answer, "Sorry Dr. Bandari, but I would be more than happy to work with anyone you assign me with."
"There isn't someone you have in mind at all?" Gina seemed confused this time. She knew she was scary and almost everyone in the hospital feared her in some way. They steered clear of her most of the time as well. However, she wasn't oblivious as Emily was to Micah's obvious infatuation for the young and quirky intern. She also knew of Emily's unrequited love towards Will Collins from rumors that have spread throughout the hospital. Gina was certain she would have picked Micah or Will to work with.
"No Dr. Bandari," Emily timidly replied. Micah was standing there, still speechless.
Gina knew what she was going to do.
"Dr. Owens, you're going to be working with Dr. Barnes today. This is a delicate patient and she requires a more experience doctor like Dr. Barnes along with a bright, young mind such as you. Feel free to page me if anything comes up. Other than that, you can go tend to your other assigned patients. Have a good rest of your day." She managed to turn around to walk away but she had realized she forgotten something. Gina turned to face Emily, "Dr. Owens, make sure you find out why the patient's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit this early in the morning. That is all." Gina left the two doctors.
For the first time in weeks, Emily and Micah were together again thanks to Dr. Bandari.
Emily knew she missed Micah and she hated the thought of lying to him but she felt this loyalty towards Will so she couldn't break her promise. She figured it was for the best if she avoided Micah to prevent her from telling him the truth. But she noticed Micah was growing increasingly distant from her as well. What I would give to not be in this situation right now… She continued to miss Micah, but selfishly kept herself in check for Will's sake even if it meant hurting Micah.
Micah, on the other hand, was initially looking forward to working with Emily. He was well aware of how little they were speaking to each other, especially after Liz's arrival to Denver. Usually Emily is easy to read so Micah was able to figure out that something was going on with her but she remained quiet all this time. "Fine," was the answer she always gave him so he gave up temporarily. He wasn't the type to pry but he longed for her company and their conversations. Micah needed someone like Emily more than ever now but all he could think about when he saw her was Will. Anger and feelings of rejection began to overwhelm Micah, on top of every thing else that was going on with him. Now, he wished he wasn't paired up with Emily.
Micah's tired eyes met Emily's glistening blue eyes and immediately, she could see only sadness and pain in them.
"Micah," was all she could muster up the courage to say.
"Could you go check the nurses' station to see if the heparin arrived? If it hasn't, please stop by the pharmacy and check on that order. It's imperative that Camille gets administered that medication immediately," Micah bluntly said. "Page me if you need me." He turned around and left, with no destination in mind. All Micah knew was that he had to get away.
Emily just stood there, dumbfounded at what just happened with both Bandari and Micah. Off to the nurses' station I go. Or to the pharmacy.
Will walked out of his patient's room with Cassandra. After their breakup, there was always a mixture of awkwardness and tension that followed the two every time they were near each other. It was also a deadly silence that neither one of them broke.
All this time, Will had missed her and concocted some kind of plan to win back Cassandra. To him, she was the love of his life, not Emily as he regrettably led her on to believe. So he was the first to talk.
"So, how have you been? Everything's good with you?" Will couldn't think of what else to say. They hadn't held a conversation for more than two seconds in passing.
Cassandra was surprised that Will was actually making an effort to talk to her this time. As proud as she was, Cassandra wasn't going to be the one crawling back to him. But then, she wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him again. Will had broken her heart by picking the one girl who seemed to better than Cassandra in every possible way. It was not just with Will, but with the other interns, staff members, and Dr. Bandari especially that seemed to prefer Emily over her.
She decided to be civilized and reply. "I've been the same. Nothing's new with me. I'm just glad Bandari's back. I hope she lets me scrub in with her one of these days, she seems to be in a rather good mood."
Will was hoping that Cassandra would be a little less cold towards him but the fact that she was talking to him meant everything.
"Yeah, she is, isn't she? That must have been some vacation she went on.
Cassandra looked down at her wrist to see what time it was. It was time to leave this awkward conversation.
As they reached the elevators, she went on to say, "Well, I'm heading onto the OB/GYN floor. I'm supposed to be assisting Dr. Hamata today." Cassandra pushed the up button and waited for Will to leave.
With nothing else left to say or do, Will said he would see her later. He left to go take the stairs.
Cassandra shrugged it off, determined to get over Will. She needed to get back on her A-game if she was going to become the best doctor she could possibly be.
While sitting at one of the desktop computers at the nurses' station, AJ was almost done finishing up his charting for his patients that he had seen so far. He had heard that Gina was back and that she was in a shockingly good mood. Consumed with thoughts about how many text messages and voicemails he had her before and during her time away, AJ couldn't help but feel upset and hurt as to how Gina was treating him and how messed up the situation was.
He stopped charting and glanced over at the main desk where Gina was standing, reviewing the patient files that she had left in Micah's care. Though he was infuriated with the woman, AJ couldn't help but stay in love with her either. But this time, she was coming to him. Not the other way around. AJ resumed his charting and he had just missed the moment that Gina was looking towards his direction.
Gina continued to gaze at the handsome doctor as he was charting away. She knew how wrong it was for them to have been together in the past while she was married. However, Gina couldn't help but feel something towards AJ. She wasn't able to put her finger on it ever since he returned to the hospital, asking for his job back. As angry as she was with him, Gina wanted nothing more than to be with him that very instant.
As Gina continued to look through each of her patients' charts, she suddenly stopped due to her thoughts wandering off about her husband Evan.
She was so excited to finally spend quality time with her husband. It was much needed since her dedication to her work kept her away from home and him for the past several years. Gina knew how much it strained their marriage but they still stayed together. She thought it was going to be different this time, as she was putting in more effort. She hoped that Evan would notice and not be so angry and disappointed by her.
Gina had booked a two-week trip to the Bahamas, where their honeymoon took place. Hopeful about rekindling their relationship, Evan came into the bedroom with a blank expression on his face. Gina played the moment over and over again, how he said he couldn't go on the trip because it didn't feel right to him. Then he went on to suggest that they separate and that it wasn't a divorce. He said they both needed to work on themselves before they could be together. The newly separated doctor decided to go on the trip anyway, as the tickets weren't refundable. The entire time, Gina was miserable. She found herself crying herself to sleep every night she was out there in the beautiful tropics as she couldn't bring herself to face the reality of the situation that she and her career had ultimately put her in.
A tear managed to appear out of Gina's eye and she quickly wiped it away. She sighed, trying to avoid any thoughts about the last several weeks.
Finally, Gina had finished reviewing the files. She wasn't surprised that everything was fine because she left them in Micah's care. Micah really was her favorite doctor that she has come to mentor and work with.
She decided to sneak another glance at AJ but this time, both their eyes met. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Gina walked on over to AJ.
AJ stopped typing and turned his chair towards Gina as she made her way over to him. He picked up his patient charts and got up to leave. Gina stopped, confused as to what he was doing.
Just before AJ was about to pass Gina, he frankly said, "Nice to have you back Dr. Bandari," and left in the opposite direction, leaving her stunned.
With her arms crossed over her chest, Emily was patiently waiting for the heparin order for Camille. She changed to a less irritating position by placing her hands and arms down by her side. Emily didn't want to come off as annoyed or unapproachable. Apparently, the pharmacy was backed up and they had kindly asked her to wait as they tried to organize the chaos inside.
Tyra was standing outside the laboratory, which was across the hall from the pharmacy. She was trying to come up with the courage to somehow talk to Hot Molly. Tyra then spotted Emily waiting outside the pharmacy and decides to pay her a little visit rather then try to talk to Molly at that moment.
"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Tyra asked as she walked up to Emily.
Emily greeted her with a smile, "Oh hey Tyra. I'm waiting on the heparin order for Camille. It wasn't at the nurses' station so here I am, waiting." She laughed a little before her face turned into a slight frown.
Of course, Tyra knew something was up and waited for Emily to say something.
Followed by a sigh, Emily continued to talk, "So after everyone left the consultation room, Dr. Bandari asked who I wanted to work with today on Camille's case. I told her I would be happy to work with any one and she pairs me up with Micah," Emily's eyes showed the pain and guilt she was feeling as she was talking. "He's still being short with me and… it feels like the whole Kelly situation all over again." There was more to the story but Emily stopped herself from say anything else.
Tyra attentively listened but she tried her best to stay calm and collected, knowing how dumb and obvious Emily was being.
"Maybe you should ask Micah if you two can talk in private. That way, you'll be able to assess the situation and understand where he's coming from before jumping to any conclusion," Tyra advised.
Little did Tyra know, Emily was scared to even approach Micah, let alone talk to him. She knew she had to do something because it was straining their professional relationship, as well as their friendship, which she cherished so much.
Tyra's pager went on. She turned to Emily and said, "Listen I gotta go. I'll talk to you at lunch or sometime later in the day. Just try talking to him Ems," She rubbed Emily's arm as a supportive gesture and disappeared into the hospital.
The pharmacist finally gave Emily the heparin order and apologized numerous times about the delay.
As Emily began to walk briskly to Camille's room, she contemplated about talking to Will first before she talked to Micah. Deep down, she wanted to be honest with Micah because the guilt was slowly but surely eating away at her. Micah of all people deserved better than what Emily was doing to him. She reached for her phone and sent a text to Will, asking to meet in the locker room before lunch.
Micah had rushed to get to his mother's room because a nurse had paged him. When he finally arrived, he was surprised to see Liz sitting in the chair beside their mother.
"What are you doing here? Never mind. Mom, a nurse paged me. Is everything alright? Are you experiencing any –" Micah worriedly asked before Joyce interrupted him.
"Micah, everything is fine. Actually, everything is better than fine. I called you both here today to share some news with you," Joyce paused as her children looked at her, waiting to see what she was going to say.
"Spit it out mom, what is it?" Liz demanded.
Micah shot his rude sister a disapprovingly look but remained quiet, anxious to hear their mother's news.
Joyce took both Micah and Liz's hands in hers as she began to speak. "I have made a decision. With everything that is going on, especially the baby…"
At the sound of the word 'baby,' both brother and sister flinched because they knew it was one, big fat lie.
"… that's on its way, I need to be here for my children and grandchild. Micah, Liz. I've decided to go through with the clinical trial at Mayo."
Micah and Liz jumped to hug their mother, with tears streaming down their faces. They were so happy that she was going to keep on fighting for her life.
After being smothered by the hugs, Joyce coughed, prompting the two to retreat.
"Now, now. I know you both wanted this and I'm doing it because I love you both so much. Micah, I know you said it started already but is it too late to participate?"
Joyce wiped her son's tears away from his face. He composed himself and managed to get out a few words, "Mom, of course you still can! I'm going to make some phone calls right away so you can get started on the trial." Micah hugged his mom again.
Relieved to see that her children were happy, Joyce held onto Micah as he continued to hug her.
"Micah, Liz. Now, I know that this trial is at Mayo. Correct me if I'm mistaken but isn't that in Minnesota?"
Liz looked at Micah, wondering what their mother was talking about.
"Micah Mouse, what is mom talking about? What's in Minnesota?" Liz asked.
The doctor stood up and answered his mom and sister, "Yes, the trial is going to be taking place at Mayo. Mom, Liz, it's one of the top medical institutions in the country. You're going to be receiving around the clock care and you'll be under the care of some of the best doctors in the U.S.!"
Micah was trying extremely hard to sound convincing but he knew what this meant: someone had to go be with their mother.
Liz began pacing in the room, "You did not tell me this! I thought the trial was going to be here! I friggin' packed up all my things and moved here to be with you and mom! Now she's going to be moving to Minnesota?! Is she even stable enough to go after she's had surgery?!"
Micah knew Liz was furious with him but she knew that this was the best option for their mom, even if it meant that she had to move yet again.
While Micah was trying to figure out the right words to say to calm his sister down, Joyce chimed in.
"Elizabeth! Do not raise your voice with your brother. He has done nothing but help me through this and right now, you're not helping the situation by yelling at him," Joyce gave a stern look at Liz, which quieted her down. "Now that everyone is calm, we can discuss this like the adults we all are. Am I making myself clear?"
"Yes mom," Micah and Liz said in unison.
"Alright. Like I said, I have made my decision to go through with the trial. However, I also decided that I will be going by myself. I do not need to uproot my kids for my sake. I can do this on my own," Joyce's voice did not falter.
Both brother and sister looked at each other, speechless.
Micah was the first to speak. "Mom, you can't be serious. One of us has to go with you and it's going to be me. You can't go by yourself. I can make arrangements. I know the chief resident there and I'm sure Dr. Bandari and Dr. Dupre will put in a good word for me. I'll get started on my transfer to Mayo."
Liz shoved Micah and yelled, "Micah! You can't leave! It should be me that goes with mom. Haven't you done enough already?" Her eyes glared with fury at her older brother. Deep down, she continued to blame him for their mother's worsening condition.
Micah didn't say a word.
It was completely quiet in the room.
Emily went to go check on Camille, as well as give her the heparin that she needed. She was greeted by Al, who remained faithfully by his sick wife's side.
"Hi Dr. Owens, is that the heparin you're giving her there?" he shyly asked.
Emily returned with a smile, "Yes it is, we're going to be closely monitoring her while she's on this drug therapy."
Oh shoot! I forgot, Bandari asked me to find out why her blood alcohol was so high. Ok, you can do it Emily. Just ask!
"Hey Al, may I ask you why Camille was drinking so much this morning before she was admitted? It's really important that we know this kind of information. It could be relevant to the case," Emily asked as politely and gently as she could.
Al looked down at the floor before making any eye contact with Emily. Camille was still staring at the ceiling.
"Dr. Owens, you gotta understand. It's the only thing that keeps her down. I mean, it keeps her calm you see? I only give her enough to keep her calm. If she's sedated or-or if she takes her psychotic meds, she just isn't the same. She's not my Camille…" Al quietly started sobbing, covering his face with his pudgy hands.
Emily went over to comfort the crying husband. She reassured him that neither he nor Camille were in any kind of trouble but she informed him that consuming that much alcohol would be damaging to her liver.
"I understand what you're doing has the best intentions but there are other means of calming Camille down. It doesn't have to be alcohol."
Al wiped his nose after Emily handed him a tissue.
"I know, I know but trust me. I've tried everything. Nothing seems to work…" Al managed to say.
Emily went over to the supply cabinet to grab some supplies to obtain blood samples.
"Al, I'm going to draw some of Camille's blood to run some additional tests to see if we missed anything." Emily informed him as she made her way to the patient. "Camille, hi. I'm Dr. Owens. I'm going to be taking some of your blood right now. I promise it won't hurt and it'll be really quick."
Suddenly, Camille started thrashing in bed, hitting Emily in the middle of her tantrum.
"No! No! I won't give you my blood! You're going to use it for something bad!" Camille screamed. Her heart rate was increasing as indicated by the beeping on the heart monitor.
Emily yelled out towards the door, "SOMEONE COME IN HERE AND HELP ME PLEASE!"
Several nurses came in and gathered around Camille's bed to hold her limbs down to prevent any additional injury to the staff.
Emily freed herself long enough to grab the correct dosage of Haldol, an anti-psychotic medication and rushed over to inject Camille in the arm. Immediately, Camille stopped moving and all was quiet in the room.
Al was seen, sobbing in the back corner of the room. Emily walked over to him and said, "Al, everything's fine now. Camille's calm and no one did anything to hurt her. This was for the best, ok?"
He didn't answer the doctor. Al left to go sit beside Camille and grabbed her hand and held it in his.
I need to talk to Micah and Bandari. Something's not right making sense here, Emily thought to herself. She left the room after asking Al if he needed anything. Emily paged her two superiors and waited near the nurses' station.
The two doctors rushed over to where Emily was, wondering what she had paged them about.
"Dr. Owens, is everything alright?" Gina asked first.
Emily answered immediately, "Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. After I found out why Camille's blood alcohol level was so high, I went to draw some blood from her. She threw a fit and kept saying that we were taking her blood to do something bad. Once I had received some help, I gave her Haldol to calm her down. Al, the husband, was furious and upset with me. He told me that Camille was different when she was sedated or given anti-psychotic medication so that is why she came in with such a high blood alcohol level. Al gives her alcohol to keep her calm. He says that he only gives her enough and he watches her carefully."
Gina nodded at the revelation of patient's condition and allowed Emily to continue.
"I figured that since she was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago, Al has been letting her drink for a while. Her liver could be damaged at this point. I suggest we take her for an x-ray and see what else we are dealing with," Emily had finished with what she had to say.
"Good Dr. Owens. Dr. Barnes, do you agree?" Gina turned towards Micah.
Micah was caught off guard and quickly nodded his head, with no further comment.
"Alright then. Dr. Owens, schedule her to get an x-ray immediately and page me when you get the results," Gina and Micah both left Emily to deal with the radiology request.
After Emily submitted the x-ray request, she returned to Camille's room to check in on her once more after what had happened earlier.
She saw Al was still there, remaining faithfully by Camille's side. Emily walks over to him and asks, "Hey Al, everything is okay for now. How about I relieve you for a little bit so you can grab a quick bite to eat? I'll be with Camille the entire time you'll be away, if that is what you're worried about."
Al gave her a weak smile, told his wife he would be right back and left the room to go to the cafeteria.
As Emily takes her seat next to the bed, she tries to find some kind of conversation starter. What should I say? 'Sorry I had to give you some meds that is better than alcohol in terms of calming you down?' Nope. That won't work. The weather. I can always ask about the weather. It's safe. Wait, she probably has no clue about what the weather is like. Geez Emily, can you be any less sensitive?
"Hi Camille, it's Dr. Owens again. I just wanted to see how are you currently feeling. Al left to go get some food so he should be back in ten minutes or so." Emily waited for a response.
Camille turns to face Emily and opens her mouth to talk. "I think I'm doing okay. I don't feel the same inside but I never feel the same for a while now. Everything changed. It's different," the poor woman was certain with her thoughts.
"What's different Camille if you don't mind telling me?" Emily was determined to understand her patient.
"I don't know. I don't know. I was never crazy. All my life things make sense. I'm stuck feeling like this and I don't know. I miss my husband. Did Al come back with food yet?" Camille scanned the room for Al but became disappointed seeing that he wasn't here.
Emily observed the woman and thought about the possibility that Camille isn't really crazy as everyone is making her out to be.
What if Camille was misdiagnosed? She seems capable of holding a conversation and she is aware of her husband's presence. She also keeps saying she feels different and that things are different. But what's different? Is it the alcohol that she needs? Or the medicine that Al warned them not to give her?
Emily continued to over her thought process and what Camille had just revealed to her.
All of a sudden, a scream breaks out into the room.
"I can't see! I can't see! Where did my eyes go! I can't see!" Camille was panicking over her eyesight.
Emily tries to calm her down but next thing she knows, she is covered in bloody vomit. Camille had just thrown up blood all over her light blue scrubs.
"I need help in here!" Emily cried out, hoping someone would come in. She couldn't hold Camille down in bed any longer and she continued to throw up, all while screaming her head off when she was able to.
Sunny and Martha, the two nurses, come in. Sunny helps Emily hold onto Camille while Martha paged Micah and Gina.
Camille suddenly collapses and starts gasping for air.
"I think she's having another pulmonary embolism!" Emily ordered, "Martha! Call the OR, tell them to prep for surgery! We need to remove the clot, NOW!"
Emily sees Al enter the room and he drops his coffee and sandwich.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Across the glass, Emily could see Camille being prepped for the emergency surgery. After calming Al down and trying to reassure him that the surgery was necessary and that there is a low risk associated with the clot removal, Emily was still nervous about her patient. It wasn't just about the clot anymore but her overall diagnosis. However, at the moment surgery was important so what she thought can be dealt with later.
Emily continues to scrub away at her hands, moving up her arms. The door swings open and in comes Gina and Micah.
"Dr. Owens, report to me what just happened," Gina demanded.
Emily stops scrubbing and answered, "Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. After I had submitted the x-ray request, I went back to Camille's room to check on her. During our conversation, she began vomiting up a huge amount of blood. This was after she screamed out about how she couldn't see. So there's a new symptom on the table: loss of eyesight. As I tried to stabilize her, Camille collapsed again which indicated that another piece of the clot made its way into her lung."
Micah and Gina began to scrub as well.
"Thank you Dr. Owens, go ahead into the OR. We'll be with you shortly," Gina said in a cool and calm tone.
As Emily excused herself, Gina began to ask Micah a question.
"Micah, from one colleague to another, I must ask you as to what is bothering you? You aren't acting the same and you're rather quiet, which means something has happened or something is bothering you."
Before Micah could think of something to say, Gina continued, "The reason I ask is because I do not want an impaired surgeon going into my OR. I need someone that is stable and ready to handle anything that may happen. If you can at least reassure me that I can depend on you, I will say no more about this matter."
Gina held her clean hands in the air and turned to face Micah, awaiting his reply.
Micah finished up washing his hands and turned to face Gina now. "Gina, I appreciate your concern and your observation of me but I assure you that I am not letting my personal matters affect my ability as a surgeon at this moment. I am here for you and the patient, and that is all I will say. Shall we?" Micah walked towards the door and opened it with his back, allowing Gina to enter first.
"I need better visualization please," ordered Gina.
Emily was standing across Gina and Micah, observing as they proceeded to remove the clot from Camille's lung.
"Dr. Barnes, please take the lead here. I will be standing beside you, supervising."
Micah did not hesitate. He took the catheter from one of the surgical nurses and began the procedure.
"Alright. Inserting the catheter into the groin."
On the computer screen, they could see the little tube, slithering up the blood vessel and making its way towards the lung. Within a few minutes, Micah had reached the clot.
"The clot has been detected. Removing… it… now." Micah slowly pulled the catheter out and the clot was no longer in Camille's lung.
Both Emily and Gina's eyes showed Micah that he did a great job. He was glad about the successful surgery but even this was not enough to make him forget about his mother and the situation he found himself stuck in.
All three doctors walked out of the OR and removed their gowns and masks as they entered the washroom.
While the two older doctors had already begun washing up, Emily decided to bring up her own thoughts and opinion about Camille's diagnosis.
She cleared her throat, getting both doctors' attention.
"Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. I would like to discuss about Camille and her diagnosis. Actually, misdiagnosis."
Micah and Gina stared at the young blonde doctor but only Gina spoke. "What do you mean, misdiagnosis?"
No, do not let her question intimidate you. Just tell her what you think and go from there!
Emily paused and took in a deep breath before answering, "I don't think she's actually schizophrenic. It doesn't add up. She was only diagnosed with it a couple of years ago. The onset of schizophrenia is in the late teens to late twenties, not at the age of 36. If we look at this psychosis instead as a symptom, it could explain the other symptoms that she displays like the liver cirrhosis, blood clots, and loss of eyesight. I don't believe they are independent of each other." She inhaled another deep breath as she finished, wondering as to what the doctors would think.
Gina was amazed that Emily was thinking outside the box. She had never thought of it the way Emily had put it. It was worth investigating further.
"Dr. Owens, you made some excellent points. It is plausible that her symptoms are in fact related. Now, we need to think of what disease encompasses all of these symptoms. Perhaps there are other symptoms we may have missed. Dr. Barnes, what do you think?"
Micah answered with a simple agreement. "I suggest you first check out the eyesight problem and see if it is temporary or permanent. We need to be able to assess that damage and work with her other symptoms from there. Good job Dr. Owens."
Emily was relieved that she wasn't spurned for speaking her mind. Gina instructed Emily to examine Camille once she was awake. Emily left, not before she had thanked Gina and Micah for letting her accompany them in the surgery.
Gina was able to leave as well but Micah had tugged at her arm, causing her to turn around.
"Yes Micah?"
Micah swallowed a big gulp before telling Gina what was going on. He was scared to but he knew she would be the person he had to talk to before anyone else.
"What you said earlier, before we went into the OR… Yes, there is something on my mind. My mother had just informed me that she wants to go through with the clinical trial."
Gina was so happy for Micah! She knew how much Micah was struggling with his mother's cancer and she commended him on staying strong for not only her but for himself as he continued to work hard every day.
"Micah, that's wonderful news!"
"Well, the clinical trial at Mayo so –" Before Micah could finish his sentence, Gina interrupted. She knew what he was getting at.
"So you are thinking about moving to Minnesota to be with her. And now, you are asking what I think and if I can get you to transfer residencies."
Micah weakly smiled, again amazed at his mentor's ability to understand and read his mind. He could only not because she took the words right out of his mouth.
"If this is what you truly want, I will do everything in my power to get you to Mayo." Gina confidently stated.
Before Micah knew what he was doing, he immediately pulled Gina into a hug, "Thank you, thank you so much Gina! You don't know what this means to me! I know I just found out today but this is one less thing I have to worry about. I know it's a long shot because it's Mayo for crying out loud but with you on my side, I just… wow. Thank you Gina. This means the absolute world to me."
Gina found herself hugging Micah back. If anything, she knew that Micah knew that he was her favorite, ever since his first year. There wasn't really anything she wouldn't do to help him, even if it meant losing one of the brightest and phenomenal doctor that she's had the pleasure to mentor and work with. She smiled but she pulled back from the hug.
"Micah, don't celebrate or thank me just yet. There are bunch of hoops and whistles we have to go through but I think it's possible. But let me ask you this, are you positive that this is what you want to do? The last thing I want to do is to talk you out of going to be with your mother but think about your career and what you have accomplished so far at Denver Memorial."
Micah stood there, trying to make sense of what she was saying. He was also trying to find the answer within him as well.
Gina continued, "Don't think of this as being selfish but you need to take some time to absorb what just happened today with your mother and what help I'm extending to you. I cannot make any promises but I want you to know that this is a huge decision to be making, especially since this is your fifth year into residency. If you do finally decide to move, make sure that you are doing it for yourself. No one wants you to regret your decision and to have you resent yourself and your mother. So before you make any rash decision, find out when she has to leave and we'll take it one step at a time from there."
Micah was speechless. Speechless at how much Gina cares for him. Speechless as to how much bigger this situation really is. Speechless about the hesitation he's now having with moving now.
Tyra was sitting alone in the cafeteria yet again. Emily was no where to be found and Tyra realized she didn't really have any other friends at the hospital. Or people that she could tolerate being with at lunch. Tyra was starving so she was not about to wait for Emily to respond to her texts and to meet her for lunch.
As Tyra shook the salad dressing packet, she saw her crush sitting alone as well in the corner of her left eye. After chickening out earlier back at the pharmacy with Emily, Tyra was running out of opportunities to talk to Molly. Even though she was scared to be shot down by Molly again, Tyra didn't want to let her irrational fear of rejection keep her from getting what she wants. She put down her salad dressing, grabbed her tray of food, and walked over to where Molly was sitting.
Molly looked up from eating her tuna sandwich and saw Tyra walk towards her. She was surprised and looked around to see if she was in fact walking towards Molly and not Emily or someone else sitting near her.
Tyra finally made it over to Molly and she spoke first, "Hi Molly, can I sit here with you?"
After what happened last time, Molly was still hurt and upset over what Tyra had done. She started to get up out of her seat to leave, not wanting to say a word to the curly haired woman.
Tyra set down her tray and stood right in front of Molly, stopping her in her tracks.
"Look Molly, can't you see that I'm really trying here? We've been avoiding each other all this time but the truth is, I don't want to ignore you anymore. I really do miss you and I just want another chance. That is, if you don't totally hate me right now." Tyra finished as confidently as she could, awaiting to see what Molly's reaction would be to her little confession.
Molly was not expecting Tyra to be this sensitive or emotional with her. She realized that Tyra was indeed trying and that it wouldn't hurt to give her another chance. Even though Molly wouldn't admit it, she missed Tyra's company as well. Molly sat back down, prompting Tyra to sit down as well in the seat across from her.
"One date. We can figure out when our schedules work but one date and we'll see where this takes us." That was Molly's final offer and Tyra was sure going to take it.
"Let's finish our lunches, shall we?"
Molly smiled at Tyra and they both continued eating but in silence. Somehow, they were okay with it.
Emily had waited for Camille to wake up from her surgery but she was still out of it. She asked Al to have her paged as soon as Camille wakes up because she had to conduct a necessary examination regarding her eyesight. Emily informed the nurses in charge of Camille to do the same.
Everyone reacts differently to anesthesia so this could take a while.
Her phone went off. She received a text message from Will.
Will: U still want to meet in the locker room? I'm free now
Emily texted right back.
Emily: on my way see u there
She sprinted over to the locker room, anxious to talk to Will because she needed to get a lot of stuff off her chest. She wanted to get these feelings of guilt to go away so she was hoping her and Will could see eye to eye for once.
Emily entered the intern locker room and saw Will sitting on the bench, scrolling through his phone.
"Hey Emily. I got your text earlier. What did you want to talk about that it couldn't seem to wait till later?" Will laughed.
She walked over and sat next to Will. "Hi. There's something I've been meaning to ask you and it's about Micah."
Will's expression suddenly turned sour. Even though he admired the bright doctor, Will couldn't stand him for the reason that he and Emily have such a great relationship together. Oh, and the fact that Micah is totally in love with her as well.
"What about him?"
Meanwhile, after the thought-provoking conversation he had with Gina, Micah couldn't help but wonder if this was what he really wanted. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved and cared for his mother and that he wanted to be with her during the clinical trial but he had to stop and think about what was best for him. He is the chief resident of the hospital and he has accomplished so much and worked with some of the best doctors in the country as well. Micah knew the chances of success for residents who transfer hospitals late into their careers and he couldn't imagine starting at the bottom again. He had worked so hard to get where he was and to throw it away.
Micah stopped himself. He couldn't believe that he was questioning his intentions now. He needs to be with his mother and if he has to start over, he was more than willing to. If he learned one thing from his mom, it was her unrelenting work ethic. She has never given up on anything, not even the pancreatic cancer. There was no way that Micah was going to give up.
Micah was sitting in the break room as he was thinking about his situation and his mom. His mind then wondered off to thoughts about Emily. He had worked with her for most of the day but he had barely said anything to her. Micah knew how understanding Emily was so she probably did not think of his silence as a big deal. But then again, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.
If there was the possibility of Micah leaving, one of the first people he wanted to tell was Emily. If he was going to really leave, he had to talk to Emily and make things right. That's what his mother would tell him to do. The least Micah could do was be honest with her because she deserved that much.
Micah pulled out his phone and texted her asking where she was. When Emily didn't respond, Micah set out to go look for her.
He stopped by Camille's room, who was still knocked out. He ran into Tyra and Cassandra and both did not see or know where Emily was. Micah decided to check the rooftop because he knew that was her favorite place in the hospital. Emily wasn't there so he went to go check the locker room.
From where Micah was coming from, he was closest to the back entrance to the locker room and proceeded to enter. As he opened the door, Micah heard voices. He was able to distinguish one of the voices to be Emily's. He could now hear Will's voice rather clearly.
Micah stopped in the middle of the doorway and heard what they were saying.
"C'mon Will, please try to see where I'm coming from. Micah's one of my best friends. I can't keep this up anymore. This lying and sneaking around with you, it's not right. I told you about what happened between me and him. And I just feel so guilty about everything. He deserves to know the truth at least. He has to know that we spent the night together."
"I didn't ask you to tell me what happened with you and Micah! You told me on your own and as a matter of fact, I didn't care then and I don't care now! Micah doesn't need to know what we slept together. Are you going to tell him the details of that now? Damn it Emily, when are you going to realize that you can't please everyone?"
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Micah felt dizzy and sick to his stomach about what he had just walked into. He grabbed his chest where he felt a burning sensation of what seemed like his heart shattering into a million pieces. Micah turned to face the door to leave but ended up hitting his head in the doorway. Micah groaned in pain, which caused the two interns to notice that someone else was in the locker room.
"Hello? Is somebody there?"
Micah bolted out of the room and tried to get away as far as he could while applying pressure to the bump that was slowly forming on his forehead.
Emily and Will got up to see who was in the room with them but there was no one to be found.
Will was pacing back and forth, obviously frustrated at what Emily wanted to do.
"Emily, I really can't stop you from telling him but just think about what it would do to the poor guy. He loves you okay? You're just going to break his heart. What you're feeling now is nowhere near what you'll be feeling after you break the news to him. I'm trying to do what's best for you Emily. What's best for us in the long run." Will tried to convince Emily not to say anything to Micah.
Emily was torn between Micah and Will. He had made a valid point about Micah's feelings. She knew that it wasn't his business to begin with but that she would be doing them all a favor by keeping Micah out of it. It was already complicated as it was and Emily would just make it worse.
As Emily was about to make her decision, she slowly but surely came to her senses.
Why is Will so adamant about me keeping us a secret? Was he ashamed of me? Micah wouldn't encourage this kind of behavior, all this lying and sneaking around. He always said honesty was the best policy. That's what I believe to or so I thought. No. Will is wrong. Micah has the right to know. He doesn't need to know the gruesome details but I have to be honest with him. He's been honest with me. Ok, I'm going to stick it to Will now!
She took in a deep breath, prepared as to what she was going to tell Will. "Will, I –"
Emily's pager went off. Camille was finally awake. She made a frustrated face and apologized to Will, "Will, I'm so sorry but I gotta go. It's my patient. I'll talk to you later ok? This conversation isn't over yet."
Emily rushed out the door, leaving Will worried as to whether or not she was going to spill the beans to Micah.
When Emily finally arrived to the room, Al ran up to her and hugged her, thanking her for the surgery going well and for Camille feeling better.
Emily hugged Al back but she had to pull away. She couldn't waste any more time because she had to conduct her examination to figure out what was causing Camille's blindness.
"Hey Al, I really appreciate the hug but I have to look at Camille right now. It's really important."
Al loosened his grip on the doctor and let her go.
Emily took out her ophthalmoscope, the device that shines light into the eye, and went over to Camille.
"Hey Camille, it's Dr. Owens again. I hope you're feeling better now. Your surgery went perfectly and you did great. Now, is it okay if I get a closer look at your eyes?" Emily waited for Camille's response. She didn't want to upset her and cause another outburst like earlier.
Camille nodded her head and pulled herself up in bed for Emily. She was staring forward with a blank expression, further indicating her loss of eyesight.
Emily positioned the device near Camille's left eye and looked into it. The answer was staring at her, right in the eyes!
There's a copper colored ring around the iris. Okay, Emily think. Think about what you had told Bandari and Micah after the surgery. Think about what has all her symptoms….
Emily thought about it for several minutes before having her 'EUREKA!' moment.
"Wilson's disease. It's Wilson's disease!"
Al stood up from his seat next to Camille and asked Emily again, "Wait, you figured out what's wrong with Camille? You figured out what's wrong with my wife?" He eagerly awaited for the doctor to respond.
Emily was grinning now, happy that she was able to piece all the information together and figure it out.
"Al, I have to consult with Dr. Bandari and Dr. Barnes and see what they think. But right now, Wilson's disease is the only one that could explain all of Camille's symptoms. I'm going to page them right away and we'll be back in here shortly." Emily asked Al if there was anything else he needed. He hurried her to go make the call so Emily left the room to go do so.
After Gina and Micah both examined Camille's eyes, they too saw the copper colored ring around the iris. Gina ordered another blood test, this time testing for copper levels and the tests came back positive, showing extremely high levels of copper in Camille's system.
Gina allowed Emily to give the prognosis to Camille and Al as she was the one to figure it out.
"Dr. Owens, please proceed with the prognosis," Gina motioned Emily to step forward and provide the treatment for Camille.
"Camille, Al. The blood tests came back showing that Camille has a very high level of copper in her system. We were able to piece together all of her symptoms such as the psychosis, liver damage, temporary loss of eyesight, and the frequent blood clots, where we were able to properly diagnosis her with having Wilson's disease," Emily confidently informed the husband and wife.
Al looked confused but relieved at the same time. "Okay, that is just great news! Wow honey, they did it! You can get better now! Dr. Owens, what is this Wilson's disease that you're talking about?"
Emily answered as simply as she could. "To simply put it, Wilson's disease basically messes interferes with the body's mechanism to eliminate excess copper in the body. This results in the body accumulating high and potentially dangerous levels of copper that led to all of the symptoms that presented."
Al nervously asked, hoping that it was true. "You said that the psychosis was a symptom. Does that mean this disease caused her to have schizophrenia?"
Emily looked at Gina and Micah but only Gina met her gaze; Micah looked away. Gina nodded and Emily knew how to answer Al's question.
She smiled, knowing what she was going to say would be extremely good news. "Yes, you're correct Al. Camille was wrongly diagnosed with having schizophrenia. Her psychosis was indeed a symptom of Wilson's disease so after treatment and some time, your wife should be back to normal. Back to who she is in no time."
Al began hugging his wife, crying at the sound of the news he just received.
"I knew it, I knew she wasn't crazy! My Camille is coming back to me. Camille? Darling? Everything's going to be okay. Everything is going back to normal."
The three doctors couldn't help but feel the true love between the two couple. After all they had been through, Al was faithful to his wife and stayed with her when she was at her worst.
Gina finished up the conversation by stating what the treatment would be.
"We are going to give Camille a maintenance dosage of zinc which will block the body's absorption of copper. We are also going to administer penicillamine, which is a copper chelator. Basically, it will cause your wife to urinate out the excess copper in her system. Dr. Owens is going to get this going right away. If there aren't any other questions, we will take our leave so you can be with your wife now Al."
Al and surprisingly Camille also thanked the three doctors and continued to embrace one another.
Gina was thoroughly impressed with Emily and congratulated her on a case well done. She finished signing off a prescription and documents for Camille and left Micah and Emily at the nurses' station.
Micah was able to also take his leave but Emily stopped him.
"Micah, wait. Can we talk? Not here obviously but somewhere more quiet and private? I need to tell you something. It's pretty important. And I wanted to ask you about the text message you sent."
Micah looked at Emily with hateful but pained eyes and he brushed her off. He continued to walk away.
Emily couldn't believe what pain she saw in his eyes. She didn't know where it was coming from but she still had to talk to him anyway. Emily ran in front of Micah, stopping him from moving.
"You need to get out of my way right now Emily."
Emily wouldn't budge. "No Micah, not until you tell me what's going on or let me tell you what I wanted to tell you."
Micah turned around and started walking the other way. "I don't want to talk to you or see you right now. Just… leave me alone!"
Micah had never raised his voice to Emily before and she knew this as well. She stood there in the middle of the busy hospital floor, trying to process what just happened. In her gut, Emily knew something was terribly wrong and Micah was pushing her away.
While all of this was happening, AJ had turned in the rest of his patient charts for the day as his shift was almost over. He saw and overheard part of the heated conversation between the two star-crossed lovers in denial. He walks over to Emily.
"Hey, are you alright? What just happened between you and Micah?" he asked.
Emily still stood there frozen but managed to get a coherent sentence out. "I don't know. I was trying to talk to Micah about something but he just got so angry with me and stormed off. I've never seen him that way before. AJ, I don't know what to do!" Emily was on the verge of tears.
AJ brought his hands to her face and looked into her blue eyes.
"Shhhh. Hey, hey. It's okay, don't cry on me with those beautiful blue eyes now! Just calm down and relax. I for one do not know what's going on with Micah either but I will get to the bottom of this. You should sign out for the night. You look exhausted. In the meantime, I'm going to find Micah and try to figure some things out with him. I'll let you know if anything comes up," AJ reassured the scared doctor.
Emily nodded and sniffled. She wiped some of the tears that formed away and took a deep breath in.
"Th-th-thanks AJ. Just let me know how he is. After that, I don't think we'll be talking for a while. I just want to know that he's going to be okay. Is it okay if I have your number so I can text you later?" Emily asked quietly.
AJ smiled, causing Emily to smile weakly as well. "Yeah, of course. My number is 720-968-3412. Text or call, whatever you want. I'm gonna go now. You're going to be okay right? I'd hate to leave you right now too like this."
Emily laughed and waved him off to go find his best friend.
"Go, I'll be fine. Tyra's waiting for me anyway. I'll see you later."
"Ok Emily. Have a goodnight."
As AJ began to rush towards the same direction Micah stormed off into, Emily called out to him, "Thanks again AJ." He turned around to acknowledge her gratitude and left to go look for Micah.
AJ had tried looking everywhere in the hospital. Micah was in the break room, the secret physician sleeping quarters that only the cool doctors knew about, the locker room, or the rooftop. AJ racked his brains about where else he could have been. He took Micah to work so AJ was his only ride back home. Then, a light bulb went off in his head. He had remembered how Micah was telling him about showing and taking Emily to one of his favorite spots to relax in: the medical records room.
And off AJ went, rushing towards that room, hoping that Micah was actually there.
AJ opened the door and looked in several of the aisles of the room. Finally, he found Micah, sitting on the floor in the back corner.
"I guess you were paying attention to me after all when I told you about this and Emily," Micah said sarcastically.
AJ wanted to laugh but he held back. "You know I listen to you. I just choose to only remember certain things." That was the best thing he could think of to say that wasn't totally seriously.
Micah scoffed at his best friend's remark. "It really is quiet in here. Gives you a great place to think and reflect."
AJ started to worry. He wanted to ask Micah directly, but couldn't figure out the right words to say without sounding too insensitive.
"I bet you saw what happened out there with Emily. And I'm guessing she told you because you went up to her."
He was right. Micah was always right. "Are you going to tell me what went down? She was really scared man. Hell, I'm really scared right now. Micah, tell me what's wrong. It's just me here, no one else."
Micah sighed, contemplating whether to spring the news to AJ or not. Micah decided to tell him anyway because he needed to. They were best friends.
"My mom's going through with the clinical trial at Mayo."
"That's awesome man!"
Micah paused.
AJ could tell that he wasn't happy by that reaction.
"Why do I get the feeling that you aren't thrilled about it?"
"No no I am. I'm really glad she came to the decision on her own even after Liz and I begged her to go. What I didn't really consider at the time was that the trial is at Mayo."
"Minnesota?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, go on."
Micah took a deep breath, hesitant on what he was going to reveal to AJ next.
"I might be going there to be with my mom, which means I may be transferring to Mayo."
AJ didn't know what to say. He was so surprised by the news that he sat down right next to Micah on the floor.
"Geez."
"I know."
AJ placed his hand on Micah's shoulder.
"That's really good news Micah. It's Mayo! Your mom's going to kick that cancer in the ass and you're going to be the best new doctor in town."
Micah couldn't help but try to stifle his laugh. AJ knew just the right things to say to make Micah feel better and to lighten the mood.
"Is that a laugh I hear that's trying to come out? C'mon Micah! I'm really, really happy for you. I'll be sure to visit you. Minnesota shouldn't be that cold. I mean we're out here in Colorado. It snows here too man!"
Micah smiled at his friend's comments. He knew AJ was trying his best to make Micah feel better in light of the situation.
"Don't get me wrong, I want to be with my mom wherever she is but I feel so guilty."
"About what?"
Micah tried to find the right words to say. "I feel guilty that I'd be leaving just for my mom and not for myself."
AJ waited patiently for Micah to continue.
"I mean, my mom is doing this for us you know? For me and Liz. It's the least I can do right? To go be with her by moving to Minnesota. I had talked to Bandari about it briefly and basically, it got me thinking about if I was doing this for the right reasons or not. Let's be honest here, how many success stories have we heard about residents who transfer, let alone the ones that transfer during their fifth year?"
"That's true."
"Well, I can't help but think about my career and what I have here in Denver already. My friends, the hospital, Bandari, you…"
"And Emily."
Micah stopped to think about what AJ just said.
"It used to be Emily but that ship has sailed."
"What are you talking about? If I'm not mistaken, Emily is still here. She cares for you. Deeply that is."
Micah shook his head. "You don't understand AJ…"
"Then make me understand. Micah, I'm trying so hard here to understand. I want to understand and every time I try, you shut me out. Ever since you found out about the clinical trial and with Liz coming into town, you kissing Emily, your mom's new decision…" AJ paused. "You know I care for you so much right? You're like a brother to me and I can't stand to see you hurting like this. Please, just tell me what's going on Micah. Tell me so I can help you in whatever way that I can."
Micah was touched by AJ's sincerity. AJ was not the one to get emotional or 'mushy' so Micah knew he was serious and that he meant it.
"Here it goes then. After I had talked to Bandari about the potential transfer, I decided that I wanted to tell Emily about it. I tried looking for here in the hospital and I tried the locker room. Well, guess who was there?"
"Will and Emily."
"Yes of course. Why am I not surprised? Anyways, I could hear them talking and I was able to catch part of their conversation."
"And? What did you hear?"
"She slept with him."
If AJ was speechless before, he was now truly at a loss for words. He knew how in love Micah was for Emily. For him to have found this out in this way must have been torture for Micah.
"Micah, I'm so sorry…"
"What do you have to be sorry for? You didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. You see? That's the problem? I stood by, with my head up in the clouds, hoping that my chance for Emily would magically come. I didn't do anything. Wait, I actually did. I practically drove Emily to Will. And now that I might be leaving, she's never going to know how I feel about her. How I truly feel about her. This is really my fault and no one else is to blame."
AJ tried to hug Micah but with the way they were sitting, only an awkward, one arm hug was possible.
"Don't lose hope yet. There's more to Emily than meets the eye. Have a little faith and just give her the benefit of the doubt for now."
Micah didn't respond.
"Well, misery loves company."
Micah chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.
"What do you have to be miserable about? You're AJ. Nothing bad happens to AJ Aquino."
AJ sighed, not wanting to talk about himself this time.
"Even when you're emotional like this, you still managed to crack a joke or two huh?"
The two best friends laughed it off. AJ was glad that his comment distracted Micah so he wouldn't be able to answer. This was Micah time, not AJ time. Plus, AJ's problems were nowhere near as complicated and unfortunate as Micah's.
AJ got up and put out his hand in front of Micah to grab. Micah grabbed it, and pulled himself up.
"Dude, how long have been sitting like that? My legs are all tingly and numb now." AJ tried shaking his legs but he only winced in pain.
"Ah, not the stabbing needles feeling!"
Micah was amazed that he was still capable of laughing in the midst of everything. AJ was glad he could still make Micah laugh after what he just told him.
"Alright, let's take you home to Liz now. I'm sure she's going to greet you with a nice, warm welcome."
Micah groaned. He didn't really want to see his sister now, especially how they ended things earlier with their mother.
"Hey AJ, is it okay if –"
AJ stopped Micah. He knew what he was going to ask.
"You can crash over at my place tonight. Aren't you glad you persuaded me to get that couch that cost me an arm and a leg? It was made to be slept on!"
Micah smiled. He was comforted in knowing that he could always depend on AJ to make him feel better, even if it was only temporary.
After Emily had finished taking a shower, Tyra was waiting for her while sitting on the bed. It was Emily's turn tonight to sleep on the bed. Her bed actually.
As Emily was drying her hair with the towel, she asked Tyra "Hey, what's up? You know it's my turn for the bed right?"
Tyra smiled, "Yes, I know it's your turn. I happen to like the couch, FYI. Anyways, I have news to tell you! But wait, you have to tell me what happened today. You were a hot mess when I saw you as we were leaving to go home."
Emily really wasn't in the mood to talk about her ordeals at the moment but Tyra insisted so Emily gave in. She went on to explain how her day went, and how she decided to talk to Micah only to be yelled at by him. Emily started to cry because she was not only hurt by what Micah did but hurting also by what she was keeping from him.
Tyra knew she couldn't talk about her good news tonight. Emily needed her full and undivided attention so she gave it to her. Just when Tyra had news to tell, it was never the right time for anyone to know. Tyra had the tendency to put the people that she really cares about before her.
After Emily had said everything she could say, Tyra did her best to comfort her crying friend by reassuring her that things were going to get better and that Micah was probably have an off day. She was afraid that Emily wasn't going to buy her excuses. Emily just wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be ok and Tyra did that for her.
"Tyra, what was your good news? I'm so sorry, I'm always coming to you with my stupid problems. I never hear about what's going on with you. I'm all ears now." Emily sniffled then blew her nose into the tissue Tyra handed her earlier.
Tyra hesitated before answering, "Nah, it's not big deal. I can tell you tomorrow or something."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Tyra stood up from Emily's bed.
"Hey Ems. Is there anything you need right now? Tea? A sleeping pill? Chocolate?" Tyra joked.
Emily ended up laughing a little and shook her head no. "Thanks but no thanks Tyra. I'm ok, much better now thanks to you. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night Emily. Try not to think about it too much. You had a long and hard day. It's best to sleep as much as you can." Tyra left Emily's room.
"Night Tyra."
It was almost 1 o'clock in the morning. She didn't realize how long the two were talking for. Emily turned off the lights and set her alarm for 6 o'clock.
Only five hours of sleep. That's several hours more than I usually get.
Before she even thought about sleeping, Emily decided to text AJ to see if Micah was okay.
Emily: Hey AJ it's Emily just wanted to see how Micah is doing sorry to wake u ttyl
Within a couple of minutes, Emily heard the text message sound from her phone.
AJ: Emily now's not a good time but Micah is a survivor get some sleep c u tmrw
Emily didn't know how to decipher that message but she took it as a good sign if AJ said Micah was a survivor.
I don't think you're born crazy. I don't think you go crazy out of the blue either. I think that if you don't have good people in your life like a devoted husband, an encouraging mentor, or a concerned friend to confide in, then I would imagine you're more likely to go crazy. Crazy because life comes at you in unexpected ways. Crazy because everything is so hectic. Those good people keep you grounded. They keep me sane and I'm glad I haven't gone crazy yet.
After a last few thoughts, Emily then drifted off into a deep and much needed sleep.
After AJ had sent the text to Emily, he went into the living room to check in on Micah. He was fast asleep. AJ was glad he was able to sleep right away when they came home.
AJ on the other hand couldn't sleep. He was used to it by now. Some days he'd sleep for hours while others, like tonight, he didn't feel like sleeping.
His phone showed that he received a text message. He hoped it wasn't Emily trying to find out more about Micah. He glanced at his phone and did a double take. Was he seeing things?
Gina B: hey it's me. I was hoping if we could talk if you're still awake.
AJ stared at his phone, wondering whether or not he should reply.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It took me several days to finish. I don't know if you can tell but I published this chapter at 4 in the morning. I really wanted to get this chapter in for you guys. As I was finishing it, I didn't really proofread that closely so I apologize for any grammatical errors haha.
Please leave a review for me to read! I love reading them and I would love to know what you think about the story and if you have any comments or suggestions about what I should do or shouldn't do.
Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of the week!
xoxo
