Emily Quartermaine's spikes dug into the dirt as she shortened her stride but increased her cadence and passed the leader just as they crested the final hill. Her legs burned but she resisted the temptation to slow down and lengthened her strides as she coursed along the wood chip lined trail. It was only six hundred meters to the finish line. She figured she could do almost anything for two minutes.
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Dr. Alan Quartermaine held his youngest daughter on his shoulders as they stood at the mouth of the trail head. Once the runners passed them it would be only one hundred meters to the finish.
"I see Emily!" Katelyn said from her perch. "Go Emily!"
"Good job, Em! Finish strong!" Alan called as his daughter sprinted past him on her way to victory.
As they waited for the rest of the Emily's teammates to emerge from the woods Alan remembered the first time she had asked if she could go running with him during the hard period leading up to her mother's death. At the time Alan had suspected she had just wanted out of the house. She had admitted as much the previous summer.
They hadn't gone very far that day, he had been concerned that her gym sneakers perhaps weren't suitable for lots of miles and she was ten and got tired. After she had "escaped" on a few more runs with him he had taken her to the local sporting goods store and bought her a pair of her own trainers. She had picked a pair of Asics because they were purple, her favorite color. There had been a brief awkward moment when the salesgirl referred to him as her dad but after a few tears he had taken her to Guptils an ice-cream, candy, and frozen treat shop across the street where they had both gotten grape Popsicles because she assured him it was the best. There they had sort of reached an uneasy truce that he wouldn't ever try to take her father's place in her life. After Paige's death their runs became more frequent. They didn't talk. In fact, it was almost an unspoken rule that they wouldn't talk. But they were together and somehow that had kept Emily anchored in the world, in their family.
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Dr. Monica Quartermaine wrapped her arms around her middle daughter as she emerged victorious from the chute at the end of her cross-country race. "Good Job Emily!"
"Umm, thanks," Emily said only slightly breathless.
"Wow Emily, you did awesome! Your team is going to do well too because it looks like Amy is third and here comes Lisa and Gee Sung." her elder daughter Allison said as she joined them.
Allison's words were quickly drowned by loud cheers."Go Gee Sung! Goooooooooo!"
With a shudder, Monica realized that the Yoos were also in attendance at their daughter's cross-country meet.
Almost twelve years ago when she had first returned to PCGH after cardiology fellowship she had met Gee Sung Yoo and repaired her ventricular septal defect in the cath lab. The procedure had gone very well. Her parents, Geon Wu and Saiko Yoo, who owned a Chinese restaurant in the Asian Quarter, had been grateful and appreciative. At the time Monica had been a bit embarrassed by their praise but she remembered then Chief of Staff, Dr. Steve Hardy, reminding her that sometimes you had to take your wins when you could so she just assured them that she was glad that the procedure had gone well.
Years passed. The Yoos remained steadfastly gracious at every follow up appointment. Then, Emily ended up making the Varsity track team as a seventh grader and Monica ran into both of the Yoos at a track meet. She supposed that she should have known Gee Sung was running, Mrs. Yoo had scheduled a special appointment just for her to fill out her sports physical forms but she was a little distracted by everything with Jason and they had caught her off guard with their onslaught of hugs. She had tried to go with it. Eighteen months later she was ashamed to admit she tried to avoid them at meets.
Unfortunately, Monica accepted, as she made eye contact with Geon Wu Yoo, today was not going to be a successful avoidance day.
"Dr. Quartermaine, what a pleasure to see you again," Geon Wu Yoo said as he joined them.
"Gee Sung ran very well, you should be proud of her and her hard work," Monica suggested.
"I am; but please understand that Saiko and I both know that none of this would be possible without your help years ago. We know that is a debt we can never repay."
"I wouldn't say that. I think we all have our place in this world and our own callings to help. My calling is medicine, but we all have a role and a contribution to our greater community," Monica suggested.
"I suppose that is one way to look at it. Thank you again," Mr. Yoo said as he went to reunite with his own daughter.
"You know, Mom, that is a good way to look at it. We do all have our strengths and our gifts. I can see how for some physicians, medicine can be a calling. I think it has been for you and dad, even if some other people chose medicine for the wrong reasons," Allison said.
Monica had a pretty good idea what physician might head her daughter's list, the late Dr. Pierce Dorman. She wasn't sure how to address that. Perhaps Allison sensed that.
"I really just meant, I think you and dad are pretty amazing," Allison said.
"Thank you. Your father and I are pretty partial to both of you and your brothers and sister as well. I know this past year has been hard for both of you. Your father and I are very sorry for all of the aftermath and how it has impacted you. We just want you to know that we both believe in both of you and we want to be there," Monica said as she pulled both daughters close to her and hugged them.
As Emily and Allison reciprocated the hug an ear-piercing sound came from her purse, her cellphone. Apparently, her calling was calling.