HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINA!

I had planned to share something else as your gift this year but I wanted you to have something brand new and unseen to show you how much I adore you. While this is only the start of the story I have planned for you, I hope that every time this piece updates it will bring you a little joy in the darkness that's currently enveloping the world. Thank you for all you're doing right now! Love you. X


"I need your help!"

"Good morning to you too, Dr. Swan," Ruby teased, as her friend threw herself down into the seat opposite her own around a small table at the back of the room.

"I'm on hour ten of this shift and this is the first time I've sat down all day," Emma warned, taking a sip from her coffee. "I really need your help right now, not your sarcasm."

Ruby offered her friend a small smile of apology before gesturing for Emma to explain what was on her mind.

"I'm breaking things off with Walsh -"

"What? Why? I thought you guys loved each other."

Emma shot her friend another warning look and Ruby quickly closed her mouth. "I thought we did too, but these last few months he's been really pushing the idea of me becoming a stay-at-home, kept wife. And that's just not me! I keep trying to explain that to him and he keeps telling me I'll feel differently when we're married and I'm pregnant. Last night, I was speaking to this patient's husband. He was telling me about his wife and how well they had supported each other's hopes and dreams throughout their marriage. How their love had grown as a result of that. It made me realize that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with a man constantly trying to change me. I want to spend it with someone who loves me for being me. So… I'm gonna break things off with Walsh. But before I do that, I really need a place to stay. I can't be dealing with his passive-aggressive bullshit after I finish a twelve-hour shift. Please tell me you know someone who has a spare room I can rent until we can sort out what to do with the apartment?"

Ruby remained silent for a moment as she thought over Emma's request. Normally, she would have offered her best friend the couch or the spare room in her own home, for as long as Emma needed it. But Dorothy's mother was currently staying with them after having surgery on her hip. The apartment already felt painfully crowded with three adults and a toddler living in it, she wasn't sure they had the room for another.

"Leave it with me," she eventually declared. "I'm sure I can find something for you. And if it comes to it, we'll make some room for you at Casa Del Lucas."

"Thanks, Ruby. You're amazing," Emma praised, relaxing back into her seat for the first time all day. Of course, that was the moment the small pager on her left hip began beeping again. "Ugh. Typical," she muttered, standing from her seat and pulling the device from her scrubs. "I've gotta get back but we're still set for Friday night, right?"

"Absolutely. See you then."

Emma left with a small wave over her shoulder. Ruby watched her go, leisurely sipping her own cup of tea before she headed back down to the nurses' station in oncology – and the mountain of paperwork waiting for her attention.


Thanks for reading.