Chapter 2 – Mission Defined, or Meet Emily

Dr. Marcus Brady was frustrated beyond belief. Emily Haas had the potential to become a brilliant specialist, one who would bring acclaim - and donations – to Mercy General Hospital. But, as the chief of staff groused in frustration, the young woman had no interest in becoming a "poster girl" for the hospital and it's fundraising. The other day she had even disappeared half way through a shift. Mind you it had been the third double shift she had worked in the last ten days. It was the principal of the thing.

Two things stopping Dr. Brady from taking disciplinary action against the Dr. Haas were that on the one hand, Emily Haas was a truly gifted doctor. And on the other, or, perhaps he should say in the other hand, was a donation from Jefferson Tracy for the hospital building fund. It would have taken quite the fundraiser for a donation of this amount. Instead, the impulsive act of one young doctor in delivering a baby had assured a financial windfall.

As Marcus Brady thought over what to do about the complex problem that was Dr. Emily Haas, a young blond haired, blue eyed man walked into the lobby of Mercy General. Dr. Brady, fifty something, balding, with a noticeable paunch couldn't help the slither of envy that passed as every female eye from eight to eighty turned to look at the man. A runner's build combined with a gentle smile made even the starchiest nurse in the facility sigh. Suddenly, Dr. Brady realized that the receptionist was pointing the young man in his direction.

The smiling young man was suddenly in front of Marcus. "Dr. Brady? My name is John Tracy."

"Tracy? Tracy as in…Ummm…" Dr. Brady made a gesture with the check in his hand.

John smiled even wider. "I see you got my father's small donation." (SMALL??? Marcus gasped in his head, keeping his face stoic.) "It's just his way of saying thanks for Dr. Haas coming to the island and delivering my nephew. But I had some business here in Auckland and wanted to say thanks to Dr. Haas one more time."

Thoughts of any future donations in mind assured that Dr. Brady would personally escort one of Jeff Tracy's sons to where he knew Emily Haas would be.

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Emily Haas was frustrated. Paperwork. She hated paperwork. If doctors had such lousy handwriting mayeb it was an avoidance technique for all the paperwork modern medicine created. And it seemed as if most of the paperwork in the emergency room made its way to her desk. Hearing someone approach, she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Dr. Brady approaching. Sighing, Emily buried her nose deeper into a report, hoping he would walk past. No such luck. Sensing him stopping next to her, Emily swallowed a bigger sigh and looked up. She had been prepared for a whole new lecture on a) decorum, b) the need to utilize all resources for the good of the hospital or c) the fact that Emily had threatened to kick the new neurosurgeon in the crotch if he ever laid another hand on any staff member who did not, in triplicate, state her desire to be touched. Emily was not prepared to see John Tracy again.

Years ago, Emily's Grandpa had taught her to love the stars. When she had left New Hampshire, grief-stricken after his death, she had pulled into a Barnes and Noble Bookstore off the highway, wanting to lose herself for a few hours. In most coffee shops, people wanted you to talk. In the Starbucks in the bookshops, Emily could grab a book she wasn't even interested in and be assured time to herself. Emily had grabbed a book in a display and an iced cappuccino, found a corner chair and tried to forget for a moment.

Four hours later, the manager let her know they were getting ready to close. The book "A Century among the Cosmos" by John G. Tracy had fascinated her. Few authors had the gift of making you feel as if they were talking to you, but this man could. He was probably some old professor, well-loved by his students. When Emily got back to New York, she had opened up her laptop and gone to to see if he had any other books. Emily ordered the other two he had written, pre-ordered one he had coming out and finally clicked on the author's link. To her amazement, it was connected to Tracy Industries homepage. He was the son of Jeff Tracy. Well, that explained why he loved the stars…

Somehow, reading the work of the handsome blond astronomer inspired Emily to strike out and move across the country to Los Angeles. When three thousand miles wasn't enough to rid her of her family's obnoxious influence, Emily packed her bags, her five John Glenn Tracy books and moved to New Zealand. Three days ago, the only other blond Tracy son – though Emily didn't know that at the time – ran into the hospital. Soon she had delivered an ex-boyfriends cousin's baby, who was also John Tracy's first nephew. And she had met John. Emily had been sure she would never see him again. Yet here he was.

Well, she was smiling at him. But Dr. Haas wasn't saying anything. Then again, John thought, he seemed unable to say anything either. Finally, sucking in his breath, drawing on an amount of courage they would need to face The Hood, John blurted out, "Can I buy you lunch?"