Disclaimer: I own nothing but a half eaten box of crackers and a statue of a snowman. The characters in this story with the exception of Jules Archer and Maxwell Shepard do not belong to me. They are the intellectual property of Ken Corday and Days of Our Lives.
Chapter 3: Old FriendsChloe's departure from Salem had been gradual. She had broken the ties to her hometown one by one. After graduating from high school, her friends had rallied around her to help fight the leukemia. They had visited regularly, held a bone marrow drive, celebrated her triumphs, and wept at her defeats. Chloe always imagined her life filled with these people: Belle, Shawn, Mimi, Phillip, and Brady. Once she was on the road to recovery, however, everyone had felt safe to resume his or her life again. Time, as it is want to do, began to separate them.
Phillip was the first lost. He had been so passionately overwhelming in his love for her. Their relationship had never been a smooth road, but in the calm times Chloe would have sworn that she loved him. Chloe, when healthy, had been able to overlook the shortcomings, but the illness had pulled them into the light. One time after a nasty altercation between Phillip and Brady, Chloe had realized that Phillip didn't want to love her so much as he wanted to control her. His whole life seemed to her to revolve around the selfish upkeep of his ego, and his image of her as the perfect girlfriend was part of that ego.
The leukemia took away his control over her. Phillip couldn't control the way she became emaciated, the loss of her hair, or the lethargy that kept her from doing the simplest of tasks. The emotional changes the disease wrought on Chloe were more confusing to Phillip than the physical changes. Chloe became less dependent and more determined to live life on her own terms. Her personality became softer and more philosophical, and her dreams became more humble and altruistic. These changes had been too much for Phillip. He had left, and their parting had been harsh and bitter.
The truth be told, Chloe was glad to be rid of the yoke that was Phillip. She had not realized how oppressive their relationship had been until he was gone. Phillip tried to bring in his own doctors, he complained loudly about who visited her and when, and he flooded her with gifts trying to buy her affection. Sadly, she did not know much of anything about Phillip's life after that first summer. All she knew was that he had bent to his father's will and gone to Harvard. She imagined that he now worked for Titan and was happy there.
The loss of Belle and Shawn had been less dramatic than Phillip's leaving. Belle had been without a doubt her best friend in high school. They had been as close as sisters that summer Chloe was sick. However come fall, Belle had gone to Columbia while Chloe had remained in Salem recovering. They had maintained contact through email and long telephone conversations, but the time between those conversations began to grow longer and longer. When Chloe finally made it to college a semester late, different interests and new friends drew them farther apart. Finally, the insane schedule Chloe maintained in medical school had severed almost all interaction between them. Except for Christmas cards or the random letter, she never heard from Belle directly. With the loss of Belle, she had lost Shawn.
Through Craig and Nancy, she kept abreast of what Belle and Shawn were doing. Belle had graduated from Columbia with a degree in broadcast journalism. She had worked briefly with an NBC affiliate in Salem before becoming the fashion editor at Basic Black. It came as no surprise to anyone that Shawn had gone on to become a police officer and now worked along side his dad. Belle and Shawn were married three years ago, and their union had already been blessed with a baby boy, Victor John Brady. Chloe had been invited to the wedding but had been unable to attend due to finals.
Surprisingly, Chloe had remained in close touch with Mimi longer than Belle. Through some strange happenstance of fate, Mimi and Chloe ended up at the same undergraduate college. They had never been, and would never be, the best of friends, but Mimi became her most dependable of acquaintances. Throughout her first four years of college, Chloe could always count spending time with Mimi around campus. They rented movies together, went shopping together, and generally looked out for one another.
Chloe's friendship with Mimi had always been out of sight, out of mind. When they were together they got along, and when they were apart, neither spent too much thought on the other. It did not surprise Chloe at all, or upset her, that once Mimi disappeared from her life after receiving her degree in English literature. Of course Chloe knew what became of Mimi, everyone did. Mimi, the most underestimated student of Salem High, became a New York Times best selling author. When she wasn't writing her next work of literary genius, she was jetting around the world promoting her books. Chloe applauded Mimi's success and cherished the signed copies that Mimi always remembered to send her.
It was perhaps the loss of her friendship with Brady that puzzled Chloe the most. Belle's older brother had been an even closer friend to her than Belle. They were so much alike in their make up, real kindred spirits. During her sickness, he had been the only one on whom she felt she could pour her deepest fears and thoughts. He had been wonderful during that time: visiting her everyday, cheering her up when she was blue, and taking an active roll in her treatment. Even though he had always pushed her to become the Diva, Brady was the only one who ever really understood why she had given up singing in favor of medicine. He helped her move into her college dorm, he barraged her with emails and phone calls, and visited her almost every weekend. During her first summer vacation, they had practically lived in each other's pockets. It was during that bliss-filled summer that their relationship had gone beyond just being friends. Their affair had been passionate if brief. They never had officially dated or made a commitment to each other, but they had an unspoken agreement. Looking back, Chloe guessed that the intensity of their bond had scared both of them.
Chloe returned to school, and Brady moved to London to kick off a European version of Basic Black. They remained in constant communication and even managed a few brief romantic rendezvous, but the distance and their careers got the best of them. By the time she took the first part of her Medical Licensing Exam, it had been almost a year since the last time they had spoke. The break up happened so gradually that she didn't notice when exactly they parted ways. Chloe still often wondered if Brady had stopped talking or if she had stopped listening.
Returning to Salem had brought all her old friends to the forefront of her mind. Chloe knew that Belle and Shawn made their homes here, but what about the others? Every night before going to bed, she made a vow to contact them. Every morning, she forgot that vow as the day's tasks gobbled up her time. It might have gone on like that indefinitely, if Chloe hadn't literally ran into Dr. Evans at the hospital.
"Oomph," Chloe grunted as she collided with someone in the hallway. "I'm sorry," she murmured reflexively before recognizing the person she had practically mowed down. "Dr. Evans!"
"Chloe!" Marlena replied equally delighted. She caught the young woman who had practically lived in her house in an embrace.
"What are you doing in the ICU?" Chloe asked.
"Just consoling one of the patients who is having a rough time of it," she replied.
"You must mean Mr. Overby. I thought he was having trouble accepting what the doctors were telling him," Chloe sighed. Not wanting to discuss patients in the hallway, Chloe drew Marlena off to one side. "It's so good to see you! I can't believe that we haven't run into each other before."
"John and I were out of town on a little vacation. When we got back, I heard that you had started your residency here. I was planning to track you down earlier, but you know how it gets around here," Marlena smiled.
"I completely understand," Chloe replied rapidly, "My schedule has been so hectic that I haven't hardly had time for anything else. I've wanted to catch up with Belle and Shawn since I've moved back."
"Well they will certainly be glad to hear from you. Did you know that they are expecting another child?" Marlena asked.
"No," Chloe replied, "I hadn't heard that. When is the baby due?"
"September," Marlena answered.
Before either could continue, a series of alarms went off from inside one of the rooms. A group of nurses and doctors rushed towards the source of the noise. "I'm sorry Dr. Evans," Chloe apologized, "I've got to go. I'll stop by your office later." With a quick wave, Dr. Wesley disappeared into the ICU.