Cross the Line

Part Three

Stephanie called that evening to let her know that they’d arrived in Miami; the surgery was planned for the next day. It’d still be a few days after the operation that they could even think of transporting him. But Steph informed her that they were looking at bringing him home on a stretcher as it would be days until he could sit comfortably for more than a few minutes.  The insurance companies were battling over the pros and cons of staying in the US of travelling. Both were extortionately expensive and she was hopeful that they would be home sooner rather than later.

Happier knowing that things were in motion, Naomi called Emma and invited her around for dinner, the added fact that she’d got Bridesmaids on DVD convinced Emma to leave her home for her friend’s house.

                “So how was it with Hunky?” Emma asked, after arriving, she’d dived in and helped herself to a large bowl full of Chilli con carne. “Wow this is good!” she added scooping a fork of food into her mouth before accepting a glass of wine and looking at her friend patiently. The previous evening they’d debriefed for a long while by phone and Emma had tried to help her salvage some sort of professional grace out of the whole debacle.

                “By Hunky I presume you mean O’Neill? He was ok. I did think it might be a bit awkward after yesterday, but he seems to have remembered how to be civil and grown up!”

Emma laughed out loud, “you’re not exactly the most rational person, and you lead with your bloody heart and have been known to jump the gun yourself. So take a breather, ok?”

Naomi laughed, “a rose-tinted insult?” she waggled her eyebrow and Emma laughed.

                “Whilst I’m eating this divine chilli? Nope you’re a legend!”

They watched the film and chuckled all the way through it, and Naomi finally started to forget the trauma of the recent disruption 

Naomi managed to scrape through the next week without really being alone with Conor for any great length of time. Thought when they were together she did spend a lot of time watching him. When he wasn’t looking. She hated that she found him fascinating, he was a pig, she knew that, but there was something about him that intrigued her. He asked questions, demanded files, and finally seemed to realise she was actually valuable in some way. Gloria was planning to start coming back to work as soon as she could walk, but that was still a few weeks away. The end of the week saw three different cases have court time, so Conor was actually out of the office most of the time, and all too soon it was the weekend.  

Steph called the following Tuesday evening to say Simon’s op had been a success. She was still petrified, but getting the insurance details had been a great relief. The following evening another late call revealed he was being flown home to a local hospital. Despite all the family and friends who’d been lining up to see him, Stephanie insisted that Simon was desperate to see her, Naomi wanted to see him too, just to see for herself that he was recovering. So after taking down the details, she headed for an early night, hoping to make it to the hospital as soon as he got back.

Saturday morning he was home. It took ages to find the orthopaedic ward in the huge City teaching hospital. Eventually she found Steph outside a closed door drinking coffee.

                “How is he?” She asked as she was devoured in a hug by the woman who’d become a good friend.

Steph eventually stepped back, “it was a long journey. We’re both shattered...he’s getting more feisty so you can tell he’s feeling more himself. Go in if you like; he’ll be really glad to see you.”