AN: I know. I know. It's a short encounter, but there will be plenty more to come, of course! Thanks to my reviewers and readers. You all make this an enjoyable experience.

Chapter 6. Unexpected Encounters

Leah drove slowly, looking at the forests she passed on the way to the hospital, and wondering how she had ended up in a place like New Albany.

"Because of Will," Leah answered to herself with a smile.

Still with Will at the time, she had wanted to be nearby to him. She had been living with him in his home, earning money by babysitting a family and then allowing her name to be spread around the closely knit town by word of mouth. Upon taking some kids she babysat for a walk, she had ran into Mrs. Hendrickson whileshe pruned the rose bushes in front of her home. Dressed in a floral dress with a white straw hat shading her welcoming face, she had felt immediately at ease conversing with the old woman. Telling her of how she was still looking for a place to rent, she had offered to board her in one of her extra guest rooms and Leah, after receiving the first letter, was reluctant to be left alone and moved in with Mrs. Hendrickson.

Now, driving to the hospital, Leah thought of the same man who now lay sleeping on her sofa.

Both had finished the meal and cleaned up the kitchen, replacing the light of the candles with one of the fireplace in the family room. Sitting on the sofa, they had fallen asleep conversing late into the night until they sat in silence, watching the flames dance in the brick fireplace.

Leah remembered waking up, finding her head resting on his shoulder, the only sound in the room being her rapid heart beating and Will's steady breathing. The thought she had spent the night with him and fallen asleep on his shoulder had her tremble while driving down the road.

Walking up the stairs of the hospital and down the hall to Mrs. Hendrickson's room, Leah felt the feeling in her gut that reminded her so much of her own experience in the hospital. The overall atmosphere brought her back to her first visit, just a teenager peeved at being stuck at here with a broken finger, of all things in the world.

"You here to see Mrs. Hendrickson?"

A young man with curly brown hair and chocolate, caramel eyes held out a hand with a welcoming smile. Clad in a doctor's coat, Leah stared at him in perplexity over how a man of this stranger's age could possibly have become a doctor so early.

"How is she?" Leah shook his hand and sat down at the chair beside his. "Has she improved?"

"The same as before," the man laughed. "Although the doctors still haven't figured out what triggered the attack."

"Any ideas yourself?"

"Not at all," he crossed his arms over his chest. "But being a medical student, I'm not likely to solve it before my more experienced colleagues."

"You must be the Gordon's son."

"And you must be the stable girl."

"If that's what you want to call me," Leah grinned, remembering her times at the stables. "I love working there. It is so relaxing and the horses… I could spend my whole day there… I feel so lost in the atmosphere."

"Being in college, I rarely have time to indulge in my old sports," he leaned back. "It's a pity though. I miss my horses. My parents aren't as passionate about riding as myself, but they maintain the stables for my sake because I would if I had the time outside of school. But someday I'll go back to it."

"I just graduated," Leah told him. "I don't know how you can last through all those more years of college. I barely made my way through my four years."

"I heard from Mrs. Hendrickson you were quite the scholar."

"I was lucky."

"Give yourself a bit of credit, you must have done something to graduate with top marks."

"Somehow found my way to do the work and that was basically it," Leah shrugged, standing up. "I would talk more, but I should go. I… well… I'll just stop by at a better time for Mrs. Hendrickson."

"Are you free for the afternoon?" he stood up as well, subconsciously tossing back his curls.

"Free?" Leah laughed. "When am I not?"

"So a cup of coffee or something sound good to you?"

"I guess," Leah couldn't prevent herself from smiling when he locked arms with her, grinning as if he was some love-struck teenager who finally got to go out with the school beauty.

Ethan slowly inched his way to the exit on crutches, the padding burning into his underarms in a way that had him scowling. On the edge after a restless night, he had had to sit in his bed waiting for the doctor to give him the okay to leave all morning. And now, with lunch almost over, he was finally free to escape the realms of the hospital.

His long hair fell in front of his face, brushing against his cheekso that he was lefttossing back his head like a wild horse as he continued his approach towards the exit. Irritated to the point he would hit the next moving thing that might cross his path, when a man opened the door for him, he didn't even bother saying thanks.

"Ethan?"

He stopped in his place, half-way through the door as the voice registered in his head. Though much more matured, he would know her voice in a chaotic crowd. Turning around, he felt his breath catch at the sight of her.

Leah stood before him in a white dress that seemed more suited for Marilyn Monroe than her. Her hair, grown to her elbows, was pulled half back in a clean white ribbon, making her seem like a school girl reporting to her grandparents. The most beautiful girl he had remembered her to be had somehow managed to become breathtaking to the point he felt he might collapse from getting the wind knocked out of him.

"I'm assuming you both know each other?" the man by Leah's side broke the silence after he realized neither one was bound to say anything, preferring to stare all day long if given the opportunity. "Leah?"

"Oh… hello," Ethan grinned at how her face went red as she introduced the man beside her. "The lady I am staying with, Mrs. Hendrickson, had a heart attack, and he happened to be the one to find her."

"Lucky for her that I'm a medical student," he bared all his polished teeth to Ethan in a smile.

"Well… what are you here for?" Leah laughed as soon as she said it. "Broken leg?"

"How did you know?" Ethan surprised himself at his own joke and how he could find humor at a time like this.

While Ethan stood with his heart pounding, wondering how Leah could stand there like she was without hearing his heart crying out for her, Leah stood there thinking the exact same thing. Biting down slightly on her bottom lip, Leah stared at Ethan, waiting for him to say something else, put forward the usual chaste talk that she had remembered.

"How have you been lately?" Ethan asked softly.

Leah felt her stomach tightened as she remembered her letter. She did not want to have to explain her situation or her reasons for writing. Not now, in front of a complete stranger, or in any public place, in fact. Taking a deep breath before proceeding, Leah laughed awkwardly at the tension that hung in the air, suffocating the both of them.

"I'm… doing quite… fine." Leah managed between laughs as she silently cursed this sudden uncontrollable laughter.

"That's good," Ethan nodded, not wanting to intrude further as he bowed his head. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Leah."

"Yes… a pleasure."

Stopping in her tracks, Leah watched Ethan board the bus and she realized the last thing she wanted right now was to go out with some other guy. Looking at her neighbor, she smiled and made an excuse, saying she had forgotten some appointment. He was completely understandable, suggesting another day, although she was confident that he knew she had just lost all interest.
"When you called and said you were a wreck, you sure weren't kidding." Jay remarked when she found Leah sitting in front of the fireplace in a tank top and underwear, throwing in the flowers from the previous night into the flames. "You going to tell me what's wrong this time, or do you want me to go out in the garden and pick some flowers for you to feed the fire?"

"I ran into Ethan today," Leah set down a flower to wipe a falling tear. "I was a complete idiot, Jay. You have no idea how badly I blew this one. I mean, here he was and here I was, and we were just staring at each other. No talking. No communication whatsoever. Just this blank stare!"

"The dreaded stare!" Jay gasped in sarcasm and immediately softened as she sat down and wrapped an arm around Leah. "Don't worry, Hun. We're tough ones, these broken-hearted girls. Don't you get all down on me now because you didn't know what to say to the fellow. It takes two people not to talk to one another, and from what I just heard, it didn't seem like your friend was all eloquent either."

"I wrote him a letter," Leah lowered her head as she hugged her knees. "And when he asked how I was doing, I could feel in my gut that he must be referring to my letter. It was my moment of truth. The time for me to tell him everything and this chance to make amends and clarify everything, but of course I don't do it! After all this time, I just stare at him and give him this answer as if we're engaging in small talk! Small talk of all things! As if we were only acquaintances… after all we've been through! It's ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous. It's maddening. I think… I will… I…"

"Dear, I don't know how you can form a coherent thought with you in such hysterics." Jay hugged her friend tightly, staring into the fire as Leah cried on her shoulder. "That's it. Just break apart right now and Jay will put the pieces back together for you. Don't you worry, Hun. If anyone knows a remedy to heartache, I must be the one."

"He didn't even say anything to me, Jay." Leah sniffled. "All these years. Sure, I've thought about him. I had so many thoughts running through my head that I couldn't pick just one to say to him. I had my one opportunity to see him again, and I wrecked it up terribly. I'll probably never see him again. It seems everything is going downhill."

"It'll only go downhill with a mindset like that," Jay got up to retrieve the quilt on the couch and wrapped it around Leah. "First, I'm going to save you from dying tonight from pneumonia. Second, I am going to cook you a warm dinner because you are disappearing on me, Leah. Third, you are going to eat the dinner I cook without making too many snide comments on my lack of culinary skills. And then I will make us both a cup of hot chocolate and we'll have a nice chat in front of the fireplace about guys and our future and all of life's little problems. Sound good to you?"

It was amazing how fast her sorrow drained at the sight of her friend with her hands on her hips, thinking only of Leah's health and happiness. Forgetting the sadness of the day, she smiled, wrapping the blanket tighter around her before holding out her hands to the flames.

"It sounds perfect to me."