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Day Seven

She felt a little foolish, filling out the request form. Instead of ordering food she was ordering companionship. After the few moments holding Edward's hands yesterday, she realized she'd been experiencing a drought of human contact. No wonder there were people you could pay to hug you. It had been a week since she left her assignment, and in light of the crisis, there wasn't a lot of non-medical touching going on. Even the random hookups, which were rare to begin with, were non-existent this trip. No friendly hugs or even the usual kiss to both cheeks. No one wanted to be infected or to infect anyone. The vast majority of MSFers were fine, but why take a chance?

She'd seen Emmett the day before she left. That had been her last hug, and it hadn't been a good one. Emmett still resented that she was, in his words, "throwing away vacation time" to volunteer. Meanwhile, he was leaving for a long golf weekend in Palm Springs, which was why she needed to get a cab to go to the airport. All his little trips added up—she'd only seen him twelve days of the month before she left. He looked at her like she was crazy when she suggested that he come along and volunteer. There were plenty of jobs for non-medical personnel. It had never bothered her before that he had so little interest in this organisation that was so important to her. This wasn't new information, but why was it bothering her so much now? Maybe this place gave her too much time to think.

She was really looking forward to lunch. She and Edward made their plans on their walk yesterday. They would eat in her room, having discovered they both loved the sushi from Kono. She giggled as she filled in the order at 11:00, edamame to start and an ocean roll for her. He wanted three rolls, spicy tuna, eel and Philadelphia. They argued about a Philadelphia roll being real sushi. She pointed out that very little cream cheese was eaten in Japan, and he pointed out that if it was rolled up, it was a roll and that was good enough for him.

She wondered if this was what teenage dating was like, joking and holding hands. She'd hopped right over that activity, straight into the mid-twenties dating scene which generally involved a nice dinner, top shelf alcohol and a trip between the sheets sooner than later. She didn't want anything to distract from her studies so she didn't date until she'd graduated medical school. Not to say she was a virgin until then; that's what the on-call rooms were for. Some quick stress relief, then on with your shift. Which made her think of Edward.

She kind of missed what her friends had gone through; long phone calls, playing mini golf, necking on a parent's couch and waiting ages before they 'did it'. Can you be nostalgic for something you never had? A first date that didn't involve comparing careers and condos? She caught herself. Today was not a date. She'd been clear, even when he gave her those puppy eyes. Not a date.

She felt herself blush. She had to admit there was an attraction. He, jokingly but in every joke is a kernel of truth, gave every indication that he'd be up for some stress relief. She needed to make it clear that she was only interested in someone to talk to. Even if he had a great smile, laughing green eyes, and those hands. They were real man's hands. He had a strong grip, tough skin, scars on his knuckles and short fingernails. In comparison, Emmett's hands were big but soft, nails buffed…she was pretty sure he moisturized and had regular manicures, something she got for herself only if she had an event to attend.

She and Edward had compared MSF placements and realized they'd just missed each other in Haiti. He told the story of how he rigged a basketball hoop out of a loop of scavenged copper pipe and wood, to occupy the healthy children while siblings or parents were being treated. She remembered seeing the rickety set up, kids and doctors playing basketball with a soccer ball whenever they had a break. She smiled to think she and Edward had been so close. What would have happened if she and Edward...

Emmett Emmett Emmett...Emmett was her boyfriend! Shouldn't she be thinking of the man she'd been with for years instead of the man she'd know for days?

Enough! At this rate she was going to raise her temperature and it would all be off. As long as their vitals were fine this morning, it was on. And, she was embarrassed to admit, she really wanted it to be on.

-21days-Day 7-

"Yes!" Edward shook his clasped hands over his head like a price fighter, "And the winner, with a perfectly normal temperature is, Edward CULLLLLLLLEN." He said his name like a boxing announcer, then cupped his mouth to make the sound of a crowd cheering.

The nurse shook her head. "Someone's in a good mood."

He answered, "I have a date." He thought, that came out of nowhere. It wasn't a date; they were having lunch together. She'd been very clear about the boyfriend, about the importance of sharing medical information. Nothing had sounded less romantic. But then there was that argument about the sushi. She'd smiled, and he could see her holding herself back so she wouldn't laugh out loud. Correction, Bella smiled. She told him to call her what her friends called her. Bella. He could get used to saying it. And to think they'd just missed each other in Haiti in 2010. What would have happened if they'd met back then? Would they have connected? He wanted to think that maybe things would have been completely different, but the reality was he'd met plenty of doctors and nurses and the most that had happened was exchanging email addresses.

After only a few hours together, he felt like there was something between them. He wasn't sure what but he had two weeks left to find out.

Ben knocked on his door, giving him the thumbs up. Edward followed, not touching anything, as Ben led the way down the hall. Not so subtly, Ben also mentioned that there were no surveillance cameras in the rooms. If you showed signs of the virus you would be moved to a medical unit and be watched 24/7, but part of the negotiated patient's rights was that they have as much privacy as possible. And related to privacy, as Ben not so subtly pointed out, every bathroom contained a comfort package with all the necessities. Who did Ben think he was talking to? On the first day Edward had dismantled and examined every bit of the comfort package like an ape in the zoo with a stolen backpack. The government had provided, in addition to a sewing kit, lotions, shampoo and dental floss, a box of tampons and condoms. Three condoms for three weeks. Clearly they didn't mind them having fun, just not too much fun.

Edward was pretty sure he wouldn't have to worry about privacy or using up his three lowly condoms. He really was looking for company, not some desperate hookup. He was twenty eight not eighteen, he could hold on for another two weeks. Of course if he went through with his plan to end things with Tanya, it would be longer than another two weeks. Speaking of Tanya, she hadn't contacted him at all after her over-sharing with the pictures yesterday. He wondered how the rehearsal dinner went. He wondered what happened after the rehearsal dinner. He wondered where Tyler had spent the night. The odd thing was that he was curious about it, but he didn't care. Part of Edward wanted her to hook up with this Tyler jerk so she would then break up with him, saving Edward the chore and the tears.

Bella's room wasn't far, down the hall, through a secure door and around the corner. Ben nodded at the woman stationed by Isabella's room, then with his gloved hand, opened the door for Edward, closing it behind him with a wink.

Edward took a quick look around and couldn't hold back his snarky comment. "Love what you've done with the place." The room was identical to his.

"Thanks." She looked up and down his light green scrubs, identical to the ones she wore. "Can I get the name of your tailor?"

"Sure. Uncle Sam."

AN: for the non-United States readers, Uncle Sam has the same initials as the country, U.S. He's sort of a patriotic mascot.

POSTING SCHEDULE: I will post Day 8 in 'real' time, about 9:00 EST, Thanksgiving Day, so some of you will experience that rare thing from me, a double post in one day. Day 9 will go back to my evening posting. I didn't do many review replies this time, in the limited time between baking pies I thought you'd prefer the chapter to a review reply