One month before the wedding
Things were slowly getting back to normal. Amy hadn't heard anything form Lindsay since she had stopped by the hospital. Her routine went back to normal, she'd go to work, spend her free days with Emma and occasionally go out on dates but nothing concrete. As for Lauren, she had been traveling back and forth to New York. The last couple of trips she'd bring Emma along with her to have her flower girl dress fitted. Lauren and Karma were closer than ever, they would do sleepovers in Amy's condo when she would visit. Karma always looked forward to their visits because she would have an excuse to be away from Liam's whole family.
"There's my favorite sister." Lauren said as she saw Amy walk into the kitchen. Amy had just got home from work. Amy gave her a strange look as she was sitting in one of the stools. "I made you some homemade donuts." Lauren beamed.
Amy's eyes went straight for the donuts halfway through her first bite she stopped. "Wait," Amy looked at Lauren. "What do you want?"
"Alright fine. You got me." Lauren caved. "Please tell me you don't have plans for tonight?"
"I was planning on going out to dinner with a girl that asked me out." She replied.
"Where did you meet her? Wait let me guess, at the grocery shop?" Lauren joked.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny, but no as a matter of fact I met her at your shop." Amy had dropped by today to grab a late breakfast." Amy informed her. "Why something wrong?"
"Matt just got promoted from senior partner to name partner and Matt's boss is throwing him a dinner at his house. I was hoping you didn't have anything for tonight so you could watch Emma. But its okay I'll call her sitter." Lauren told her.
"Way to go Matt." She praised. "I can cancel the date Lauren, I'll stay in with Emma."
"Amy you shouldn't be canceling dates because of Emma. Its okay, really." Lauren mentioned to her sister.
"Trust me I don't mind." Amy insisted.
"Are you sure?" Lauren said making sure Amy was okay with it.
Amy nodded. "Besides this date was going to be a dead end anyway. I'll just spare us the unpleasant conversation." Amy smiled.
"Thanks Amy I don't know what would Emma do without you." Lauren said sincerely. "You know you can't blame this women for trying to date you. They see you as a challenge."
"A challenge?" Amy didn't understand.
Lauren assented. "They see you as this young accomplished doctor which happens to be good looking plus has this charming personality. The only thing missing is someone for you to share it with and these women want to attempt be the one who made the incredible Dr. Raudenfeld fall in love." Lauren concluded.
Amy contemplated what Lauren was telling her. She had nothing to say. Amy couldn't believe that what Lauren was telling her made sense.
"Have you ever thought about settling down?" Lauren quizzed Amy. Amy gave her weird look. "You know, being stable with a person. Eventually moving in, you getting down on one knee and proposing her to spend the rest of your days with that person. Maybe having some children." Lauren was envisioning this for Amy. Lauren was the romantic type.
Of course Amy had thought about this. Who doesn't? But truth is, Amy never really considered settling down with any of these women. "Not since four years ago." Amy revealed. Lauren gave Amy a sympathetic look.
"With Karma huh?"
Amy simply nodded. "I always saw myself doing all of those after we'd both finished our studies." Amy lowered her head. She regretted not doing everything she had planned before. Maybe if she had done it Karma would still be around.
Couple of hours later, Matt and Lauren had left the house. Amy had been binge-watching documentaries with Emma by her side. She truly enjoyed spending nights like this. They were weeks were she couldn't spend any time with her niece. That's why any chance she had to share with Emma she takes it without second guessing it. Around midnight they had watched around 5 documentaries, Emma was fast asleep in her aunt's chest. Amy was glued to the TV when she heard a buzzing coming from her phone. She moved as slowly as she could she didn't want to wake Emma up. The incoming call was from her work. She thought they needed an emergency anesthesiologist. Amy rose from the couch leaving Emma there.
"Raudenfeld." She answered the call.
"Sorry to disturb you but I was instructed to tell you that you need to come to the hospital as soon as possible." The nurse on the other end said.
"What's this about?" Amy asked curiously.
"There's been an accident. Your sister and her husband were involved."
Amy's jaw dropped to the floor. "I'm on my way." She said before hanging up.
Amy immediately went upstairs and prepared a to-go bag with all of Emma's stuff. She had called Bruce and they had agreed that she was going to swing by and pick him up. Farrah was going to keep watch of Emma until they knew the condition of Lauren and Matt.
They arrived at the hospital as fast as they could.
"We are Lauren Collins family. She and her husband had an accident." Amy said to the nurse at the front desk.
The nurse typed in the computer searching for names of the patients. "You can sit in the waiting area a doctor should come out shortly to speak to you." The nurse spoke to Bruce and Amy.
"Can you tell me, who's the doctor that's on call tonight?" Amy inquired.
"Doctor Sheppard."
"Thank you." Amy left the counter and sat down next to Bruce. "Don't worry they're in good hands." Amy took hold of one of Bruce's hand trying to comfort him. He had been silent all the way.
Every 5 to 10 minutes Amy would circle back to the counter interrogating the nurse to see if there had been any change.
"Lauren and Matt Collins." The doctor came out with papers in his hands.
Amy turned her head and walked towards him. "Were they're family." Amy greeted her colleague.
"I didn't know." Sheppard said.
"How are they?" Bruce got to the point.
"They were hit from behind, drunk driver." He specified. "Both of them came in unconscious. From what we can see both of them have severe concussions. We're going to get X-rays done and an MRI to make sure there are no serious brain injuries." Sheppard finished. Amy and Bruce nodded processing all the information that had been given to them. "I'll let you know when were done." He said looking at Amy.
"Thanks Tim." Amy said and he returned inside.
2 more hours had gone by and they hadn't heard any update from the doctor or nurses. "Hey, I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee from the cafeteria do you want anything?" Amy asked her step-father.
Bruce shook his head, "Thanks but I'm good."
When Amy was returning from the cafeteria with her cup on one hand she saw Bruce talking with a woman. She was too far to be able to make out who the person was. As she kept advancing she immediately recognized who it was. Karma. Amy's expression changed completely. It had been four years since they last saw each other. She didn't quite know how Karma found out about the accident. "Maybe Lauren had her in her emergency contacts," Amy thought. Her heart was beating rapidly; she didn't know how to approach the situation.
"Any news?" Amy asked facing Bruce. The minute Karma registered Amy's voice it had the same effect it caused when Amy saw Karma. Karma's eyes were wide open staring at Amy she didn't even care that Amy noticed her eyes were glued to her. She was taking the moment in. It had been four years since she last saw the person who she loved more than anything in the world.
"No, not yet." Bruce replied disappointed.
"I'll see if I can get someone to tell me." Amy told Bruce. She tried her best not to look at Karma but it was inevitable. It was like a force that attracted them to each other. All the time apart seemed like nothing right now. Amy walked to front desk and Dr. Sheppard came out.
"Hey Tim. Everything okay?" Amy questioned. Bruce and Karma directed her way to where the doctor was.
"We finished all the x rays. Everything came out okay considering the case. Mrs. Collins has a concussion and some bruising around the neck that was caused by the seat belt. Now Mr. Collins has a two broken ribs, but with the right amount of rest he should be fine in a couple of weeks. Both of them need their rest. You can see them in the morning." The doctor explained. "Any questions?"
Amy looked at Bruce and Karma waiting for them to answer. "No, thanks a lot Sheppard." Amy thanked him and he left.
Karma was about to exit the hospital. "Hey, um Karma. I know it's not my business. But where are you staying?" Amy called out to her.
Karma was a bit startled when she heard Amy talking to her. Karma shrugged her shoulders. "I was going to check in a hotel nearby."
"If you want you can stay at the house. It has 2 empty guest rooms." Amy debated whether to offer the invitation but she went with her gut.
"It's okay I don't want to impose." Karma said.
"You're not. And besides Lauren will kill me if she found out I didn't offer you to stay in her house." Amy countered. She extracted her house keys and handed them to Karma. "You can head out first. I'll be there shortly."
Karma grabbed the keys and nodded as she continued to exit the hospital. She arrived at the Collins residence and entered the house. Karma went upstairs to settle down her stuff in one of the guest rooms. Walking down the hallway she passed by a room it didn't take her long enough to acknowledge it was Amy's room. The door was open, she fought with herself about if she should look around, but being the nosy person Karma is, she went in. She began taking it all in. Amy's room looked like the one she had in college. She always kept it very neat. Karma sat on the bed and grabbed one of Amy's pillows and brought it to her face. The room had Amy's scent. Karma didn't know how much she'd miss her clean soft smell. God she missed all of Amy. Karma left the room and placed her suitcase in her temporary bedroom. She continued to explore the house and she walked into Emma's room. It was so beautiful. It had this tranquil vibe. She saw all of her toys, "Lauren wasn't kidding when she said that Amy spoiled Emma with a bunch of toys." Karma thought smiling. She heard the bell ring; Karma lowered the stairs and opened the door. Amy had Emma wrapped in her arms. The little girl was sleeping. Right after Amy dropped her off, Farrah gave her a bath and changed her into her pajamas. When Karma saw Amy with her niece her heart melted. Amy looked so maternal in Karma's eyes. She never thought she would get to see Amy like this.
"Do you need any help?" Karma asked her.
Amy shook her head and continued to make her way to Emma's room. Karma followed her and watched how gently Amy placed Emma in her crib. Amy turned away from Emma and left a little lamp on in case she got scared.
"I was looking for towels." Karma said to Amy as she closed the door.
"Sure thing." Amy went to the closet where they stored all the bathroom essentials and retrieved a towel. "Here", she handed to Karma.
"Thanks." It was all that Karma could say. Both of them kept quiet.
"I'm going to bed. Is there anything else you need, let me know." Amy said as she began to make her way to her room.
Karma stood in the hallway before leaving to her room as well. This had been the most awkward and stiff conversation between the two of them. But although they didn't say much to each other, Karma felt satisfied because she got to talk to Amy after all this years.
A/N: Hope you guys like it. More Karmy coming up next. I want to remind you guys that this story will have its up and downs before everything runs smoothly. Peace.