Part II, episode 4: SYZYGY
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Today was a disastrous day for Homer. Nina Azarova escaped. Rachel was transferred, but never seemed to arrive at the new clinic. Dr Percy was nowhere to be found the whole day, so he had to answer every emergency. If that wasn't bad enough, he spent the evening with this date and would not even get laid. Some days are just so bad.
After he left the restaurant alone, he wanted to call Emily. She was such a good friend, always there for him. Since her wedding, he felt they drifted apart a bit. She was still married to his boss. Homer needed time to wrap his mind around it. He took his phone out of his pocket, resist the envy to swipe right on his app, but clicked on his contact. Emily Walker. Still hadn't change it to Emily Percy, but it felt like this was the old Emily from uni. He hit call.
"What's up with you, Homer? You never call this late, is everything all right?" Emily said.
"Yeah, just needed to talk to you. Is it a good moment? Were you sleeping?"
"No, I couldn't sleep. Hunter hasn't come home yet. He must be loaded with work. I know he is not always on his phone, but he didn't call yet. Was he still at the clinic when you left?" Emily said.
"Yeah…" Homer lied. He not only felt bad for Emily, but had a strange feeling. Dr Percy wasn't at the clinic the whole day, and clearly wasn't home either. Where was he? Sometime, he would disappear and no one would know where he went for hours. This behavior was so strange in the last few months.
Hearing her concern in her voice, he did not want to add his own concerned. He tried to change her mind by telling her all about his failed date. She wanted to know everything and they analysed every details, just like they used to do before. They talked about getting back together for brunch tomorrow before they hung up.
He went back to the clinic, needing to speak to Scott once again. They went for a walk outside. Maybe Dr Percy was right, the link they seemed to have would make him speak the truth in an informal context.
"How'd you meet Dr Percy?" Scott asked.
"Oh, I got benched my sophmore year. Cracked radius. Never played in the big game. I got more serious about school after that. Read Dr Percy's book, Quantum Psychotic. Blew my mind. That's when I knew I wanted to go into clinical psychology. Then, one day, he just shows up to my class. He was doing a study, I was his student. He found me. A twist of fate."
"How do you know Emily?" Scott wondered.
"How do you know I know Emily?"
"She was there, with us. Before. In the other dimension."
"We studied together in university. Both of us interviewed for the internship with Dr Percy. But when they met, it was like magnetic. They could not leave each other and got married this earlier this year."
"Don't tell me a twist of fate again," Scott said as he rolled his eyes. "See them moths up there? They use stars to guide them, but they get distracted by the artificial light. It's too much for 'em. They get lost in it. You gotta open your eyes, man. Find that real light again before it's too late.