Originally, Emily had kind of hoped she wouldn't have to see Dawn again – not because she didn't want to see her, but because it was clear Dawn didn't want to see her. She simply wasn't that lucky, though, it seemed, her plan being thwarted by failing to consider the follow-up visit the FBI required...
She was waiting in Dawn's office, picking at her nails in anticipatory anxiety and seriously debating just fleeing the almost definitely awkward meeting because, God, nothing was worth this aggravation...when Dawn burst in the office looking harried.
Dawn's normally professionally precise appearance looked rather worse for wear, like she'd been caught in a localized tornado. Her appearance was echoed by the stack of folders in her arms which was spilling haphazardly and threatening to overflow the safehold of her grip.
Mouth hanging open for a few moments, Emily was about to ask what exactly was the source of the consternation, when she was given the answer in the form of an announcement: "Your attention please. If I could have your attention. In accordance with public health regulations, Hope Zion is now under quarantine. I repeat, this hospital is now under quarantine. All patients and staff must remain where they are. All movement is fully restricted – do not leave your room."
The two women locked eyes, both at a loss for words as they simultaneously came to understand the repercussions of the announcement.
"Are... Are we stuck here?" Emily was the first to speak, asking the obvious question. "Together?"
"It would appear so," Dawn said, appearing none too thrilled about it either.
She nodded, tongue flicking out over her lip. "For how long?"
"Indefinitely, apparently."
"Well, fuck," Emily muttered under her breath.
Dawn raised a brow. "Well, don't be so thrilled about it."
Emily winced, smiled apologetically. "I didn't mean it like that. But you and I both know this is...awkward, to say the least."
Dawn settled behind her desk, drummed her fingers on the spare inch of space not covered by files. Then, she huffed, dropped her hands to her lap, clenching and unclenching her fists, before finally bursting out and declaring, "You know, this is all your fault!"
"How exactly is any of this my fault?"
Dawn rolled her eyes, obviously irritated. "You left!" she snapped, standing and slamming her palms on the desk. "You left me behind and broke my heart – I spent five years trying to fill the void you left!"
"Are you implying that your failed marriage is my fault?" she asked.
She seemed to realize how histrionic that sounded, but was in too deep to backpedal now. "Well, I would never have married him if you hadn't left," she pointed out.
Emily pursed her lips, attempting to hold back the many barbs poised on her tongue. It was a losing battled, though... "Well, why didn't you just tell him you're a lesbian?" she snapped. "No, wait, you're too fucking scared to be yourself!"
For a few moments, Dawn sputtered, stammered, as she searched for a response.
"If you were so fucking happy with me, the way you claim, then why were you so anxious to hide?" Emily posited. "Why was it some big secret?"
"It wasn't!" Dawn retorted.
Raising a brow, she said, "And yet, you had a really hard time telling Charlie the truth, apparently, since you married him!"
Dawn seemed to take special offence to that. "You don't know a damn thing about my marriage!"
"So, enlighten me," Emily challenged. "Tell me all about this marriage that's my fault." Dawn seemed to suddenly clam up as if reluctant to share. "Tell me!" Emily demanded again. "You want to have a fight, well, let's fucking fight!"
"Fine! I tried so damn hard to make the marriage work, but you were like this ghost always haunting me and nothing I did could get rid of you. So, he fell in love with someone else and now I have no one."
Something in Emily seemed to waver at that and she was suddenly at a loss for words.
But Dawn seemed too far into her venting to stop now. "I tried to have a baby to fix things and I ended up carrying a dead child inside me for two months, so excuse me if I have no sympathy for whatever happened on your CIA-funded vacation."
"Vacation?" she repeated incredulously. "I almost died on like six different occasions..."
There was a moment of bitter cold silence as they seemed to have reached an impasse.
Then, because she couldn't resist tearing things apart, Emily demanded, "Why did you come to my apartment?"
"What?"
"Why did you knock on my door in the middle of the night begging me to sleep with you?" she repeated. Then, without giving her a chance to answer, she said, "Because to me, it looked like you were using me..."
Dawn gaped for a moment as if stunned. "I would never..."
Emily raised a brow in challenge. "Really? So, it's just a coincidence that it was your ex's wedding? That had nothing to do with it?"
"Just come out and say it, Emily!"
"You knew that I'm still in love with you but you wanted to forget about Charlie moving on, so you decided to treat me like some fucking toy!" she accused. "The question is: did you ever really love me or were you using me the whole time?"
She whirled around, eyes blazing with fury. She shouted, "Never loved you? I never stopped loving you!"
The two women stared at each other, fury palpable between them.
"What?" Emily rasped at length, barely breathing.
"I love you, Emily! And if you never left, I would have married you, but you did leave – you left me to pick up the pieces. So, yeah, maybe I made some bad decisions, but I never would've done any of it if I just had some God damn hope!"
Emily didn't seem to know how to react. Things were simple when she thought Dawn was being cruel on purpose, that she was trying to get back at her. When things were black and white.
Dawn let out a shaky breath. "All I wanted was you and I thought you were dead, so I moved on. You do not get to be angry about that."
She nodded, swallowed thickly. "Where... Where does that leave us?"
Tongue flicking out over her lip, Dawn said softly, "It leaves us two ex-girlfriends trapped together with an elephant neither of us wants to acknowledge."