I suck at updating these days – I will be the first to admit it. In my defense, we did just move to a different apartment and have been living out of a suitcase for a few weeks with little spare time for writing!

This chapter was written a few weeks ago after receiving some much needed feedback and a quick pep talk from a reviewer… Thank you for that btw (you know who you are)!

It is a filler chapter as it was meant to be – life isn't all sweet kisses or alarms going off, sometimes life is just, well life…

Chapter 17 – Reunion

Emily's POV

The last time I spent the night at the hospital had been a hell of a lot nicer than this one. Instead of embracing Naomi, I had fallen asleep draped across my desk and I woke up with a pen attached to my face, it leaving quite a painful mark on my cheekbone. After a quick shower, I hurried to join my equally exhausted team for a run-down of last night's unfortunate fatality as well as the general follow-ups of each patient.

Before climbing the spiral stairs, I ran to the Starbucks across the road to grab two trademark cappuccinos. I took my seat next to JJ, who was leaning his elbows on the table, head in hands and eyes closed. He had been up all night performing the autopsy and looked worse for wear.

He lit up when I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, gave him a little squeeze and placed the steaming capp in front of him. He was too tired to speak, so he answered with one of his crooked, shy smiles before joyfully putting the cup to his lips.

A minute later, everyone was seated and Kieran finally entered the room carrying a thick file containing the autopsy-results and the fact-sheets from the infusions. He started with back-tracking each of the nine patients before closing with Selma. There was nothing different about her injections and infusions, so Kieran seemed satisfied in knowing that there was no way for us to predict her passing. He gestured to JJ and vacated his position at the whiteboard as the exhausted young man rose from his seat and approached.

"Thank you, Sir", JJ started anxiously, not yet brave enough to pull his eyes from the floor. He took a large gulp from his capp before determinedly placing it on the table. "Right!", he clasped his hands together and finally raised his eyes to our level. "We suspected Mrs. Clarke had a coronary episode but I didn't want to lose sight of my objectivity, I started with the standard x-rays before opening her up…"

JJ quickly and efficiently laid out a long list of possible CODs as well as his reasons for excluding them. The first thing of interest in regard to our trial was of course her kidneys, however, the abrupt nature of her death made it unlikely that acute renal-failure was the culprit. I let out a silent sigh of relief when JJ ruled it out as a possible COD. He then went on to explain that her liver, despite the many metastases, was also viable at her time of death, effectively removing the last of my concerns about the commencement of the trial. Nothing we had subjected Selma to had killed her and when JJ explained that he had discovered a rupture in the old woman's aorta upon examining her heart, we all let out a loud sigh. Regretting it instantly, I schooled my expression and noticed the rest of the team doing the same. We had still lost a patient, a lovely 78-year old grandmother leaving behind four children and eight grandchildren.

JJ concluded his presentation by adding that he had found previously unknown mets in her brain, one of them pressing dangerously down on her brainstem. He gathered that she would have lost control of everything from the neck down in a matter of weeks, depending on how fast the tumor was growing. At that, he allowed Kieran to take over and took his seat next to me.

"Thank you, JJ." Kieran nodded in his direction before turning to our two BMA's, going over the results of the latest bloodwork. Relieved that we were not at fault in Selma's death, I allowed myself to relax and naturally, my mind immediately drifted to Naomi. I knew I had a lot of work to before I would get the chance to wrap my arms around her but that didn't stop my mind from imagining it and my body to react. A wide smile formed on my lips in sync with a warmth in my cheeks as my stomach did the slightest little flutter.

"Are you excited about doing the calculations?", JJ whispered excitedly, leaning close to avoid disturbing the rest of the group. The smile on my face turned into a frown as my mind raced to understand what JJ was referring to.

When it finally dawned on me that he was, of course, referring to what I should really be focusing on – the trial – and sent him a smile, "Yes, extremely." He seemed content with my answer and leaned back in his chair, his focus returning to our boss. I did the same but had a slightly harder time focusing on what Kieran was describing. I knew my tasks for the day and had now come to the sad realization that they would keep me from Naomi until the late afternoon – apart from the time I would have to question her as a patient.

"And Emily, I'm afraid I'm going to need your data by this evening." I almost jumped out of my seat at the mention of my name. Kieran was eyeing me expectantly, probably annoyed that my attention was seemingly not in the same room as my body.

I cleared my throat and nodded in what I hoped was a determined, reassuring manner, "You'll have it by seven." Kieran did little to acknowledge my statement and instead moved on to give orders to the BMA's. Everyone was prepared to work through the weekend but as the trial went along, there would be less of a stress factor after each cycle. This first cycle needed to be assessed as quickly as possible in order to decide how –and whether – to move forward. I sighed quietly and leaned back into my seat again. By seven? How is that even possible? I shook my head once to shake off my doubts. I would simply have to work fast and not waste too much time getting sidetracked with things like food, coffee and rosy lips that deserved attention. This is going to be a horribly long day.

Naomi's POV

It was nearly half eleven before they finally came to my room. I had seen several nurses walking to and from the other rooms all morning but they kept stalling about when to get me. Selma's death had shaken everyone up it seemed and even Emily couldn't tell me much about what had happened last night. She had offered some reassuring phrases that I don't think she believed herself and told me to be patient. Patience never was one of my virtues…

The nurse, Jen, pushed my wheelchair through the doors separating the isolation ward from the rest of the nuclear medicine department. Cook and Mum were waiting for me, both of them sporting wide smiles when I spotted them. Mum looked more than happy though, tears rimming her eyes as she stepped forward to embrace me.

"You're glowing less than I thought, Naomikins", Cook joked before placing a kiss on my cheek before thanking the nurse with a wink and proclaimed that he would take over the wheelchair-pushing duties for the day.

"Just you wait till they turn the lights off", I retorted, causing Cook to tilt his head back and laugh earnestly as he whisked me away.

I thought they were taking me back to the room I had been staying in before the isolation period but Cook navigated us expertly to a different part of the department and stopped in front of a nurse's station.

"Why are we here?" I demanded to know, hating feeling out of the loop.

Mum kneeled down in front of me and patted me on the leg. It felt oddly patronizing and I started to wonder when I had last been annoyed with Mum. It has definitely been a while. "They said to bring you here for tests before we can get you settled again." I sulked and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I really should have been listening to Kieran yesterday when he dictated my schedule but I had been too busy being impatient for him to leave so I could get Emily back on Skype.

They only kept us waiting for a few minutes before taking me into an examination room where JJ was waiting with a team of nurses and technicians. Quickly and painlessly, the nurses drew blood from my veins before the technicians placed me in another scanner. They didn't inject me with any contrast fluid like they usually did which seemed odd, so I made a mental note of asking Emily about it later.

Lying immobile on your back in a scanner is never much fun and it seemed like I was in there forever. My stomach actually started growling, which was another oddity since it hadn't happened in months. This morning I had woken without the slightest hint of nausea and was actually eager for the dry, cold toast, cheese and fruit that they atrociously deemed 'breakfast' here. Scared the nausea might return, I stuck to the fruit, a mistake I was sorely regretting at the moment as my stomach growled loudly once again. The hospital meals were plentiful and despite never actually finishing a meal, I hadn't felt hungry since coming here. I had always gathered that the reason I never had much of an appetite was because I was ill and not because the meals were too rich and many for me to devour.

JJ entered once he was satisfied with my scans and smiled warmly as he helped me into the wheelchair. He heard my stomach complain at its emptiness and called over a nurse. "Can you call down and have a lunch tray brought up for Miss Campbell to room 758? Thank you." He connected the morphine pump to my catheter again and patted my arm like Mum had done earlier. Although, nothing JJ ever did or said seemed patronizing – only an honest attempt at reassurance – so I couldn't help but respond with a thankful smile.

Cook once again took the wheel and entertained me with a story from his latest tour while he rolled me to the mysterious room 758. Apparently, he had been instructing a young soldier on how to use the toilet facilities when a grenade went off seemingly quite close to their camp and the young man had soiled himself – badly. Cook burst into laughter at the memory of the shamed look on the soldier's face as the smell of his soiled underwear hit everyone's nostrils but to me it all sounded horrible. My best friend was basically telling me that he had gotten so used to being in life-threatening situations, with grenades and bombs going off every so often, that he didn't even react to one going off a few yards from where he slept every night. I mean sure, you have to distance yourself from the danger somehow and under different circumstances, the situation was probably amusing. However, at some point during the last stages of my disease, I was going to do just that – soil myself – on a regular basis no less and there was nothing funny about that. The thought and the story left me in a dreadful mood.

I couldn't blame Cook though. After all, I encouraged him to talk about the war and his experiences. Before he returned from his first tour, I read a book about identifying PTSD and how to make the transition from war and back into society. It had clearly stated that you should talk about everything as often as possible. So I gladly listened to every story he had to tell and besides, I was quite curious about his being out of touch for months only to return early. It seemed like it was going to come back and bite him in the bum but I could once again, not blame him. After all, I had been longing for his company and been miserable without him for the past few months. I wasn't going to allow anyone to take him from me, not until I was the one who left.

As promised, a lunch tray was waiting for me in front of room 758. I eagerly filled my complaining stomach with a surprisingly delicious chicken-noodle soup but we still had to wait an additional thirty minutes before the door to room 758 opened. My annoyance evaporated as soon as I noticed an angel appearing in the doorway. Okay, so not an angel per se, so much as my angel, also recognized to the rest of the world as Emily Fitch, PhD. I felt a goofy grin spread on my face and I was powerless to stop it.

She sent me one of her passionate smiles and started walking towards me without breaking eye contact. I knew exactly what was on her mind and honestly, it was on mine too. She came to an abrupt stop upon realization of what she had intended to do and how utterly inappropriate it would have been in front of so many witnesses. She schooled her expression and smiled warmly at me instead as she closed the rest of the distance between us. She squatted down in front of me and put her hands on my knees in a seemingly friendly, platonic gesture of reassurance. It seemed everyone was trying to reassure me today.

"Naomi…" She started, her voice failing to hide her affection upon speaking my name. I felt my cheeks blush at the look of complete devotion in her eyes and reached out to take hold of her hands to give them a quick squeeze.

"Emily…" I didn't even attempt to hide my pleasure at seeing her and having her close again. Neither of us seemed to have the ability to construct full sentences and the silence grew long, Cook finally interrupting our little hand-held, albeit wordless, reunion.

"Yeah, yeah and I'm Cook and this is Gina. Everyone's acquainted. Where do I park?" He started pushing the wheelchair, forcing Emily to let go of my knees and move out of the way. Now I actually got a little annoyed with Cook. There was no need for him to be unpleasant and he of all people knew how much it meant to me to have Emily close. Mum, of course, was as clueless as always and in retrospect, Cook's unpleasantness might have been an attempt at helping us conceal our affections from her.

"Just in here, by the desk, thank you, Cook." Emily motioned toward an almost empty desk at the far side of the room. As Cook pushed me through the doors, I got a better look at the room. No less than three desks were cramped in there, the additional two a mess with stacks of paper and binders left and right. Huge bookshelves lined the walls facing away from the door, all filled to the breaking-point with more binders and a variety of thick books. The shelves, unlike the desks, seemed well-organized and almost symmetrical.

Cook locked my wheels in place and gave me a quick peck on the top of my head before sending Emily a wink and closing the door behind him as he left. He really wasn't being a prick then…

Emily moved to sit behind the desk and where I was suddenly dawned on me. "This is your office!" The statement burst out of me like a child spilling a secret after having withheld it for too long. Emily nodded and smiled as she stretched out both arms and performed a little, adorable twirl.

"Isn't it justgrand?" She asked, emphasizing the last word. Still adorable when she thinks she's being funny…

She stopped twirling and gave me a funny look before rushing to my chair and placing her lips on mine with crushing force. The wheelchair tilted backwards slightly at the impact of her attack and a little squeak escaped me as I grabbed onto Emily to keep myself from keeling over. Her hands quickly found the armrests of the wheelchair, preventing it from actually capsizing. Relaxed, the wheels secured on the floor again, I smiled into her kiss and Emily's hands moved up to gently cup my face. Spending hours on end on Skype watching her exquisite smile or worried frown had only added to my affections for her and I had been longing desperately for her. Now that she was finally close enough to touch, I felt overwhelmed and stunned. Her hands ran through my short hair as she sweetly deepened her kiss. She once again amazed me by somehow conveying immense passion while still retaining that sweet innocence that was so irresistible, with a mere kiss.

She regrettably pulled away and rested her forehead against mine as she let out a loud groan. "I hate this, I really do." Not following her and assuming she wasn't regretting kissing me, I simply frowned and let go of her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Emily straightened and towered above me, odd since she was puppet-sized otherwise. It took her a second to realize how wrong her words must have sounded for anyone who isn't a mind reader and she started shaking her head profusely. "Not kissing you, obviously. I mean, I hate that I have to work." I acknowledged her statement with a nod and let go of any stubbornness that might have been building. "I literally only have ten minutes with you if I don't want to work until midnight and it takes that long to get through the questionnaire."

I leaned back in my seat and nodded determinedly. "Let's get on with it then, I have great plans for you at midnight, so I can't have you working then." I sent her a wicked smile and was rewarded with a giggle and a growing blush. Oh how I wish I had my old strength and stamina back…

Emily paced us through the questions and I almost forgot to ask her about Selma as she began to usher me out of her office. She stopped in her tracks at my question and when she slumped down in a chair next to me, I saw the hurt in her eyes.

"I'm not supposed to give you any details yet other than it wasn't related to the treatment or the trial." Emily sighed and hid her face in her hands. "So I'll break yet another rule of my profession if I tell you but it doesn't sit right with me since you were there and saw some of it." I reached out and took hold of her hands, pulled them to me and pressed my lips gently against them. "We were scared she might have suffered a heart attack as a result of the stress we put on her body. But JJ found a rupture in her aorta and signs of weakened aortic walls."

I'm quite clever, if I say so myself, but not a medical professional so I didn't really follow all of it. I didn't want to press Emily for more details, knowing she wasn't allowed to reveal anything at all. She couldn't stop herself though and continued, "She was basically a ticking bomb. The rupture would have happened at some point and could easily have happened before she entered the trial."

"So you will keep going? With the trial, I mean." I asked, earnestly wanting to know what my short future would look like. The nausea hadn't been pleasant but aside from that, I was feeling oddly rejuvenated and was deeply hoping it was a result of the treatment and not just my elevated state of mind and growing affection for the gorgeous creature sitting next to me.

My question seemed to snap Emily out of her confession and she sent me a strained smile. "I'm not sure yet – that's why I have to work so hard today. I have to perform some pretty hard statistical calculations and assemble the data for Kieran, JJ and myself to look over before we make any final decisions. If I get it wrong, it'll be my neck." The severity of her statement was evident in her tone and her fear of failing was written on her beautiful face. I wanted nothing more than to reassure her, to let her know that whatever she did, it would be enough and would be the right thing to do – but I really had no idea about what it meant to have that type of responsibility, deciding over people's lives like that, so I held my tongue. She got to her feet and gave me a quick kiss before opening her door and gesturing to Cook.

Cook diligently wheeled me around for a few additional hours to even more tests and a quick chat with JJ and Kieran about my preliminary results which seemed a complete waste of time since they were indeed preliminary and offered nothing new. I knew they were anxious to hear from Emily so I could hardly resent them for trying to keep us calm in the gloomy light of losing one of only nine subjects.

I was exhausted at having been stuck in that fucking wheelchair all day being poked every which way – none of them good – and it being almost seven, I was getting hungry again, which I almost forgot to reflect on due to the exhaustion. When I noticed we were finally heading down towards my room, I was ready to cry out of sheer relief.

Cook paused in front of the door but made no attempt at opening it. I looked up and over my shoulder with a questioning eyebrow raised but he only grinned at me and gestured with his head toward the door. As if on cue and by magic, it opened and the room beyond was hidden in complete darkness until he pushed me in and a switch was flipped.

The first thing I noticed was the crimson velvet fabric gallantly draped over and along both my bed and the spare one. My bed was in the same position as it had been before but the spare bed had been aligned to mine by 90 degrees, placing it along the wall next to my bed. There were large, incredibly soft-looking pillows in a variety of colors placed along the wall and two were resting against my headboard. Thick, black curtains covered the windows, denying the evening sunlight passage to my room. Needless to say, my jaw was somewhere down by my wheels and in my state of wonder, I couldn't figure out how Mum and Cook had managed to create a scene so true to life. Then I noticed Effy standing next to Mum over by the window wearing a conniving smirk. 'She creates the most beautiful things…' Emily's words repeated in my head and my understanding was quickly replaced by sheer gratitude and heartfelt appreciation. Mum had her hands clasped in front of her mouth and looked like she was about to implode into a supernova of tears and excitement.

Cook helped me into bed and that's when I noticed the second thing; a very large, white thing more precisely. A huge, white canvas was covering the back wall facing my bed. Having an inkling regarding what the canvas was going to be used for, my eyes went in search of a third thing and, rightly so, found it on a shelf above my head. Jen entered the room, a proud smile on her face as she adjusted my catheter and set the evening dose for the morphine pump. Apparently, the whole staff was in on this, or at least Jen the nurse. They would have to have had some inside help though – they couldn't carry that thing in here unnoticed, surely.

"I suppose this is your doing?" I asked Effy as she walked up to the bed and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, her smirk turning into a genuine smile. She shrugged and her eyes drifted to Cook before answering me using real words instead of mere facial expressions.

"What can I say – I had a vision… " Her eyes drifted again and this time they lingered a little longer on my best friend.

"But how?" I was so truly and honestly touched that I was failing desperately at hiding it.

Effy smiled, her eyes still locked with Cook's as she answered, "Cook told me you'd be back today and that he wanted to do something special for you." She finally shifted her gaze from Cook and onto Mum as she nodded in her direction, "And your mother provided some much needed details on some of your more 'current' past-times."

"Ah", I simply stated as I remembered that Effy was supposedly an old friend and should of course know a little something about my interests. Seeing as we had never actually met until a few days ago, that was of course impossible. She must have used the excuse that it had been so long since we had been close that she was afraid that what I used to like, I had grown out of. Of course I hadn't – Heat! and binge-watching old movie classics were still included in my favorite past-times. The whole thing was amazing. The room not only had the feel and look of a classic movie theater but even the smallest details were present, even down to the impromptu beverage-holder that had magically been attached to the bed railing. I stopped caring about appearances and my stubborn sense of propriety and allowed tears of joy to stream down my pale cheeks. "Thank you, thank you so much…"

Gina's POV

I had of course expected Naomi to be appreciative of our little surprise but honestly, the streaming tears and a more than a few sobs were nothing short of astonishing. I highly doubt that my daughter has showed that degree of vulnerability or emotion to more than a handful of people in her entire life and I knew that Effy wasn't one of them. I'm not sure why they felt they had to continue their lie but I respected their choice and played along as best I could. The moment I saw Emily interact with my daughter, I had my suspicions regarding the young woman's interest in my daughter and with that in mind, I took one look at Naomi and immediately knew her heart. When we had walked in on the two of them intertwined and ignorant of the world around them, I can't say I was surprised. Kieran naturally had a completely different reaction to the scene and before Naomi took the blame for the incident, Emily was in serious danger of losing her job. We heard Kieran yelling at her and up until the moment Cook walked in with Effy, I honestly didn't think Kieran was going to let up. Effy played the part brilliantly though and I suppose there was a small chance that her and my daughter had at some point been acquainted, friends even, but I highly doubted it. Had Kieran been less fond of Emily, he would have seen the truth as well. On some level, it made me appreciate the doctor even more knowing how gullible he was willing to be in order to keep Emily on.

I checked my watch for the fifth time and glanced toward the door. There was still no sign of Emily and it was nearly half past seven. Still, the food would keep for another hour and there was no need to rush things. Despite the redness in her eyes, a result of the recent sobbing, Naomi looked energized and, dare I say it, glowing. The joy of once again having Cook by her side, added to the attention and affection she was receiving from Emily had had a major impact on her spirit and it was shining as bright as day.

Cook and Effy had climbed into the spare bed and were sharing a laugh over Naomi's recollection of how the bathrooms worked in the isolation ward. Apparently, there was a monster of a collection container where all of her 'remnants' were kept until the activity was gone. Emptying the space-toilets, as Naomi had deemed them, was not an occupation I envied anyone having.

The door creaked and everyone's eyes shot toward the door, scaring an exhausted-looking Emily.

"Effy? What on Earth are you doing here?" Emily was seemingly too tired to keep up appearances that Effy and Naomi were old chums.

The beautiful young woman with the radiant eyes simply shrugged and leaned against Cook's shoulder, "Why, Ems, I didn't know you had patented reminiscing about our wonderful teen years?" She ended her statement as a question but the tone was slightly scolding, as if to remind Emily of the game they were playing.

Emily frowned at Effy before she finally took in the room and noticed me sitting in one of the chairs opposite Naomi's bed. The frown transformed into a shy smile and a slight blush spread on her face as she walked toward Effy to give her a quick squeeze.

"I'm assuming you had more than a little to do with the design and decor of our movie theater then?" Emily took a quick look around the room, "No offense to you and Cook, of course, Gina, but this has an unmistakable 'Effy'-vibe to it." The young woman smiled warmly at me before turning back toward my daughter, passion and affection evident in her eyes.

I watched my daughter's hand twitch as she suppressed the urge to touch Emily's cheek. Her eyes flickered briefly in my direction and I knew it was time to leave. It was entertaining, watching their little game play out and a few months ago, I would have tormented my daughter a little before obliging her. The thought put a smile on my face and I pestered them for another thirty seconds before rising to my feet.

"I trust you're all hungry then?" Happy nods answered me and I felt my own excitement grow. "Right, I will just head out and find us some utensils then." I walked around Naomi's bed toward the door and the hopeful look on my daughter's face did not escape me. "Back in five…"

Thank you for reading! It was longer than usual and with less Naomily-interaction than I would normally prefer... I hope you enjoyed it in spite of that fact and will continue on with me!

I wholeheartedly promise more Naomily in the following chapters – after all, don't they deserve some privacy after being kept apart?