You Captured By Me

Chapter 21

How to select the perfect
engagement ring, Lisa typed on
Google.

For the last couple of days she had
been constantly browsing online for engagement rings during her breaks and spare time. She knows it's too soon; It's only been two months since she and Jennie started dating each other but Lisa had never been this sure in her life.

I want to spend the rest of my life with Jennie.

She was halfway between three
different web articles about the
carat and quality of diamonds when a knock came on the door of her consultation room at the hospital. It was one of the nurses, advising her that she was being summoned to the office of the hospital's executive director. Her body tensed with worry. It can only mean either extremely good or extremely bad news.

"Good news," the director shook her hand when she entered the room and was invited to take a seat on the lavish yet cozy couch inside the room resembling a hotel suite.
Lisa tried to smile despite her anxiety.

"Our hospital finally secured that
prestigious invitation to the medical exchange program in Cleveland Clinic at Ohio. Can you believe it? We waited for almost a decade already, and
now, we are already being granted
the chance to participate."

The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio is ranked as the number one institution for caridiology and heart surgery in the United States and they've been hosting a topnotch, highly-coveted medical exchange program which chooses the most qualified candidates
and representatives from hospitals all over the world.

"It was a unanimous decision by the board of directors, and frankly, I really think there's no question that there is no one more qualified to be our representative than you,"

No---

The hospital director handed her the letter of her appointment and a file folder containing the details of the exchange program. It's an intensive and elite training popular for its use of state-of-the-art facilities and breakthrough medical procedures a year-long residency and practical experience only being offered to the best of the best.

One year.

"Congratulations, Dr. Manoban."
Lisa's feet dragged as she walked back to her office, her heart dreading the conflict and the inevitability of having to choose between staying or leaving.
When she opened the door to her room, she found Jennie waiting for her. She still has fifteen minutes left to her mid-shift break. Her heart hurt when she saw her face light up with a smile upon her arrival. She got up to give her a hug and a kiss.

"Sorry I'm late. Did you have dinner already?"

She nodded silently, even though she hasn't really eaten anything yet.

"Good. The wedding collection fashion show took forever to finish because it started half an hour late.

"I'm really sorry, love."

Lisa placed the letter and documents at the far end of her table and led Jennie to sit on her lap. She started to kiss her slowly, becoming more tender and aggressive every second. They
paused to breathe. Jennie felt that
there was something wrong but she
also understood that she didn't want to talk about it yet. So she just continued telling her about her day to fill the blanks of silence between them.

I'm sorry I'm not in the mood to talk, Jennie. I just can't find the words right now.

"I remember my beauty queen client. Remember her? I still don't know how she arrived at the decision not to push through with the decision not to push through with the wedding just because she couldn't decide about the gown, but I admire her"

Lisa looked at her curiously, not
completely comprehending what she meant.

"Maybe all of our choices count, no
matter how big or how small it is or
even if it's the right one or the wrong one. I just realized, that every single one of our decisions
are so important, Lisa."

Lisa hugged her tightly, leaning her
head on her shoulders and kissing the crook of her neck.

"I would still choose you, Jennie.
Again and again. My promise still
stands: I would give anything to be
the woman at the end of the aisle waiting for you, even if you choose to wear a white t-shirt instead of a wedding dress," she finally spoke.

She laughed.

"Forget about me wearing a wedding dress. We don't talk enough about how you' look like when you wear a white suit. Dang, love. You would look so hot," she told her, her eyes shining with hope.

A knock came on the door again.
An emergency. Alice was having a
seizure. She hurriedly kissed Jennie
and left the room, promising her that she will be back in 15 mins.

Jennie waited in her office for two
hours before she finally decided to
leave.

When Lisa came back to her empty
consultation room, she felt like a
dreadful omen had punched her in
the gut. The letter of appointment was not on the same place where she left it.

She has read it. She knows.

On the monitor of her PC, Jennie left a post-it note message for her. Lisa's heart clenched with overwhelming sadness.

A white t-shirt looks good on you,
but a white suit would look better. Someday, Lisa. Right now, you look the best with your white doctor's coat on..

Go for Ohio, love. I will wait for you. No matter how long it takes.

Jennie.