"I like what a duo can do. The combination is greater than the sum of its
parts." - Daisy & Violet Hilton [Side Show]
*
Chapter 2: "Hating Her"
"I wish I could get my hands on Chloe and slap some sense into her. She's so damn selfish! You know, she always used to say she didn't want to be anything like our mother - they'd get into these huge fights and she'd storm into our room, slam the door and say, 'God, Suz, I hate her. I'm never going to be like that. Promise me you won't be, either.' And I'd promise. But now Chloe is just like our mother. No, actually she's worse. At least our mother never left us on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night." Susan yanked a paper towel from the dispenser with such force that an entire handful followed. She tried to stuff them back in the slot, but several fluttered loose and glided across the slick tiled floor like little brown bobsleds.
Abby bowed her head, her bottom lip tucked in as if she might be ready to laugh and wanted to quell the reaction. Instead, she bent down and gathered most of the paper towels off the bathroom floor, conveniently overlooking a couple that had landed in a suspicious puddle adjacent to the stalls.
"I mean, what kind of parent just walks away from her child?" Susan was gazing in the mirror now, smoothing back a few wayward hairs her comb had apparently missed before the mad dash to work this morning. She and Suzy had slept through ten whole minutes of alarm-buzzing and probably would have went right on snoozing if a helpful - or really annoyed - neighbor hadn't pounded on the wall.
Susan had dressed so hastily that she ended up wearing a pair of jeans, which didn't exactly meet the ER dress code, and a blouse that five seconds before they entered the hospital Suzy noticed was inside out. Leaving her niece at the admittance desk to be entertained by Frank, Susan had darted for the ladies' room to right herself and get a much-needed potty break, dragging a stunned Abby along with her. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind them, Susan's ranting had begun and, five minutes or so later, was still going strong.
"It happens," Abby said, pitching the trash she had collected.
The matter-of-fact statement caught Susan off guard, killing her desire to verbally bash Chloe in front of Abby. She hadn't met her friend's mother, but what little she knew about the woman and Abby's childhood was eerie in its similarity to the way Chloe was raising Suzy.
Abby glanced up from washing her hands and saw Susan's apologetic expression reflected in the mirror. "Go on, I don't mind. I agree - it's a crappy thing to do to a kid. Makes you wonder what's so wrong with you that your own mother doesn't want you." She turned off the faucet and flicked excess water from her fingers, a smirk in her voice and on her lips. "Why do you think I became an alcoholic?"
"I just figured it had something to do with men." Susan placed a paper towel in Abby's waiting palm. "That's my excuse for drinking."
The women silently exchanged looks, then broke into laughter that concluded with a deep sigh from Susan. She had been avoiding her emotions so well until just then, until that brief snippet of humor from her friend, which wasn't all that funny once you thought about it. It was really quite sad. A little girl should never have to question her mother's love. What kind of emotional turmoil was Suzy going to be saddled with when she grew up? Worse yet, what kind was she experiencing now?
"I don't know what to tell her," Susan blurted tearfully, her features crumpling in on themselves. She put her hand over her face, embarrassed to be weeping in front of Abby. They were close - Susan had begun to regard Abby as one of her best friends, and not only at work - but so far their relationship was built around laughter. Abby's sometimes stoic nature left Susan feeling unsure of how to display grief when they were together. She was supposed to be the cheerful one who cracked jokes to take Abby's mind off of family crises, not the one crying in the bathroom because her sister was an idiot.
Still, it felt good to get it out. Susan hadn't allowed herself much time to mull over the last big incident: Chloe leaving her daughter outside a crack house for some whack job to kidnap. She needed to mull now, preferably out loud. Abby's sympathetic brown eyes and comforting hand stroking gently back and forth between Susan's shoulder blades was all the persuasion that was needed.
"It was easy when Suzy was a baby and Chloe pulled this kind of thing," Susan sniffled. "Suzy didn't understand what was going on then. But now... what do I say to her?"
"Let her know how much you love her and how much you enjoy having her with you," Abby said soothingly, reaching for a paper towel. The stack Susan had crammed back into the dispenser came loose again, but this time Abby left them on the floor and handed her friend the makeshift tissue to dry her eyes. "It won't fix everything, but it will help. If things are that bad with Chloe then Suzy probably wants to be with you, anyway. She'll miss her mom no matter what, but at least with you she'll know she has someone she can depend on. Trust me, it's better this way."
"Better?" Susan scoffed, blowing her nose lightly into the paper towel.
"Yeah. She's got you to give her some stability and she's not alone. It could be worse. She could have nobody." Abby gave Susan's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Tell her she's got a mom who loves her so much she wouldn't leave her with anyone else but you because you'll take the best care of her."
Susan smiled gratefully, though with flushed cheeks and eyes puffy and red from tears she looked rather forlorn. "You should work for Hallmark," she said, an amused snort taking place of the chuckle her stuffy nose wouldn't permit.
"Nah. I wouldn't get to hang out in the bathroom with you anymore... Suz."
"If you call me that, I'm calling you Abs," Susan warned, fixing her friend with a playful glare.
"Susan it is."
Before they headed back to the chaos of the ER, Susan went with her instincts and pulled Abby into a warm hug. "Thanks. I... I don't mean to unload any burdens on you. I just needed to talk to someone."
"Talk to someone about what?" said a new, inquisitive voice. Jing-Mei Chen had slipped in unnoticed by the other two women and stood in front of the diaper-changing station on the wall, hands tucked neatly in the pockets of her spotless lab coat. Her sleek dark hair was swept back in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck and disapproval was etched on her face, punctuated by one highly arched, perfectly plucked eyebrow.
"Susan's air conditioner is on the fritz," Abby said earnestly.
Wow, Susan thought. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't even own an air conditioner, she might have believed that was something she had actually mentioned to Abby in their conversation. Chen, however, eyed Abby with unmistakable distrust then cut her gaze quickly to Susan for affirmation. Only a profoundly imperceptive person wouldn't have been able to tell that moments ago Susan had been crying.
"Yes. And it's very hot." Susan pinched the front of her blouse and flapped the gauzy material back and forth, working up a breeze for emphasis. She had no plans of filling Chen in on what was really going on. They were colleagues and occasional drinking buddies, but Susan found it difficult to warm up to the woman. Whatever the female equivalent of a ladies' man was, that would be Chen. She didn't... mesh too well with members of the same sex. In fact, Susan always got the impression she was in some weird competition with Chen when they were together. Like they should be tallying up who had had the most sex ever or who knew more about kama sutra.
"Oh, I see." Chen nodded curtly and moseyed over to the long mirror above the sinks. She took out a tube of lipstick and applied a fresh coat of beige to her bee-stung lips. "Did either of you see that little girl at the desk?" she asked casually, drawing them into a discussion that included her. She paused long enough to blot her lips on a paper towel, rolling her eyes at the mess directly below the dispenser. "I can't believe people are still bringing their kids to work, can you? Hello, get a babysitter already. Ever heard of daycare? Or school??"
"It's summer," Abby pointed out quickly, sneaking a wary glance in Susan's direction.
Susan thought about adding a snarky response of her own, but she wasn't in the mood for a cat fight today. Better to keep things light and funny, otherwise work would be a pain in the ass. She didn't need that at the moment, even if Chen was getting under her skin. "Well, there's always adoption," she quipped.
Chen blanched. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Bewildered by the sudden hostility, Susan simply lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "I was kidding." Eager to get away from Chen, she strode toward the door and cast a meaningful gaze at Abby, who fell into step beside her. "Would you like to meet my niece?" Susan asked, a bit louder than necessary. "She's waiting for me at the front desk."
"Love to," Abby replied, letting the bathroom door slam shut behind them.
*
Chapter 2: "Hating Her"
"I wish I could get my hands on Chloe and slap some sense into her. She's so damn selfish! You know, she always used to say she didn't want to be anything like our mother - they'd get into these huge fights and she'd storm into our room, slam the door and say, 'God, Suz, I hate her. I'm never going to be like that. Promise me you won't be, either.' And I'd promise. But now Chloe is just like our mother. No, actually she's worse. At least our mother never left us on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night." Susan yanked a paper towel from the dispenser with such force that an entire handful followed. She tried to stuff them back in the slot, but several fluttered loose and glided across the slick tiled floor like little brown bobsleds.
Abby bowed her head, her bottom lip tucked in as if she might be ready to laugh and wanted to quell the reaction. Instead, she bent down and gathered most of the paper towels off the bathroom floor, conveniently overlooking a couple that had landed in a suspicious puddle adjacent to the stalls.
"I mean, what kind of parent just walks away from her child?" Susan was gazing in the mirror now, smoothing back a few wayward hairs her comb had apparently missed before the mad dash to work this morning. She and Suzy had slept through ten whole minutes of alarm-buzzing and probably would have went right on snoozing if a helpful - or really annoyed - neighbor hadn't pounded on the wall.
Susan had dressed so hastily that she ended up wearing a pair of jeans, which didn't exactly meet the ER dress code, and a blouse that five seconds before they entered the hospital Suzy noticed was inside out. Leaving her niece at the admittance desk to be entertained by Frank, Susan had darted for the ladies' room to right herself and get a much-needed potty break, dragging a stunned Abby along with her. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind them, Susan's ranting had begun and, five minutes or so later, was still going strong.
"It happens," Abby said, pitching the trash she had collected.
The matter-of-fact statement caught Susan off guard, killing her desire to verbally bash Chloe in front of Abby. She hadn't met her friend's mother, but what little she knew about the woman and Abby's childhood was eerie in its similarity to the way Chloe was raising Suzy.
Abby glanced up from washing her hands and saw Susan's apologetic expression reflected in the mirror. "Go on, I don't mind. I agree - it's a crappy thing to do to a kid. Makes you wonder what's so wrong with you that your own mother doesn't want you." She turned off the faucet and flicked excess water from her fingers, a smirk in her voice and on her lips. "Why do you think I became an alcoholic?"
"I just figured it had something to do with men." Susan placed a paper towel in Abby's waiting palm. "That's my excuse for drinking."
The women silently exchanged looks, then broke into laughter that concluded with a deep sigh from Susan. She had been avoiding her emotions so well until just then, until that brief snippet of humor from her friend, which wasn't all that funny once you thought about it. It was really quite sad. A little girl should never have to question her mother's love. What kind of emotional turmoil was Suzy going to be saddled with when she grew up? Worse yet, what kind was she experiencing now?
"I don't know what to tell her," Susan blurted tearfully, her features crumpling in on themselves. She put her hand over her face, embarrassed to be weeping in front of Abby. They were close - Susan had begun to regard Abby as one of her best friends, and not only at work - but so far their relationship was built around laughter. Abby's sometimes stoic nature left Susan feeling unsure of how to display grief when they were together. She was supposed to be the cheerful one who cracked jokes to take Abby's mind off of family crises, not the one crying in the bathroom because her sister was an idiot.
Still, it felt good to get it out. Susan hadn't allowed herself much time to mull over the last big incident: Chloe leaving her daughter outside a crack house for some whack job to kidnap. She needed to mull now, preferably out loud. Abby's sympathetic brown eyes and comforting hand stroking gently back and forth between Susan's shoulder blades was all the persuasion that was needed.
"It was easy when Suzy was a baby and Chloe pulled this kind of thing," Susan sniffled. "Suzy didn't understand what was going on then. But now... what do I say to her?"
"Let her know how much you love her and how much you enjoy having her with you," Abby said soothingly, reaching for a paper towel. The stack Susan had crammed back into the dispenser came loose again, but this time Abby left them on the floor and handed her friend the makeshift tissue to dry her eyes. "It won't fix everything, but it will help. If things are that bad with Chloe then Suzy probably wants to be with you, anyway. She'll miss her mom no matter what, but at least with you she'll know she has someone she can depend on. Trust me, it's better this way."
"Better?" Susan scoffed, blowing her nose lightly into the paper towel.
"Yeah. She's got you to give her some stability and she's not alone. It could be worse. She could have nobody." Abby gave Susan's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Tell her she's got a mom who loves her so much she wouldn't leave her with anyone else but you because you'll take the best care of her."
Susan smiled gratefully, though with flushed cheeks and eyes puffy and red from tears she looked rather forlorn. "You should work for Hallmark," she said, an amused snort taking place of the chuckle her stuffy nose wouldn't permit.
"Nah. I wouldn't get to hang out in the bathroom with you anymore... Suz."
"If you call me that, I'm calling you Abs," Susan warned, fixing her friend with a playful glare.
"Susan it is."
Before they headed back to the chaos of the ER, Susan went with her instincts and pulled Abby into a warm hug. "Thanks. I... I don't mean to unload any burdens on you. I just needed to talk to someone."
"Talk to someone about what?" said a new, inquisitive voice. Jing-Mei Chen had slipped in unnoticed by the other two women and stood in front of the diaper-changing station on the wall, hands tucked neatly in the pockets of her spotless lab coat. Her sleek dark hair was swept back in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck and disapproval was etched on her face, punctuated by one highly arched, perfectly plucked eyebrow.
"Susan's air conditioner is on the fritz," Abby said earnestly.
Wow, Susan thought. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't even own an air conditioner, she might have believed that was something she had actually mentioned to Abby in their conversation. Chen, however, eyed Abby with unmistakable distrust then cut her gaze quickly to Susan for affirmation. Only a profoundly imperceptive person wouldn't have been able to tell that moments ago Susan had been crying.
"Yes. And it's very hot." Susan pinched the front of her blouse and flapped the gauzy material back and forth, working up a breeze for emphasis. She had no plans of filling Chen in on what was really going on. They were colleagues and occasional drinking buddies, but Susan found it difficult to warm up to the woman. Whatever the female equivalent of a ladies' man was, that would be Chen. She didn't... mesh too well with members of the same sex. In fact, Susan always got the impression she was in some weird competition with Chen when they were together. Like they should be tallying up who had had the most sex ever or who knew more about kama sutra.
"Oh, I see." Chen nodded curtly and moseyed over to the long mirror above the sinks. She took out a tube of lipstick and applied a fresh coat of beige to her bee-stung lips. "Did either of you see that little girl at the desk?" she asked casually, drawing them into a discussion that included her. She paused long enough to blot her lips on a paper towel, rolling her eyes at the mess directly below the dispenser. "I can't believe people are still bringing their kids to work, can you? Hello, get a babysitter already. Ever heard of daycare? Or school??"
"It's summer," Abby pointed out quickly, sneaking a wary glance in Susan's direction.
Susan thought about adding a snarky response of her own, but she wasn't in the mood for a cat fight today. Better to keep things light and funny, otherwise work would be a pain in the ass. She didn't need that at the moment, even if Chen was getting under her skin. "Well, there's always adoption," she quipped.
Chen blanched. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Bewildered by the sudden hostility, Susan simply lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "I was kidding." Eager to get away from Chen, she strode toward the door and cast a meaningful gaze at Abby, who fell into step beside her. "Would you like to meet my niece?" Susan asked, a bit louder than necessary. "She's waiting for me at the front desk."
"Love to," Abby replied, letting the bathroom door slam shut behind them.