The Doctor

12

The week passed with Anna not getting time to talk to Stella at all. They waved to each other in the hallways, but it was always so busy they never got a chance to talk. Anna felt lonelier than ever, especially during the day when she was waiting for her shift and Stella was at her own house sleeping. Anna would wake late, eat a small breakfast and then go for a walk, rugging up and walking to a bar, drinking until she couldn't remember any demons from her past. She knew it was bad, that she shouldn't have to do this to forget about the face of her dying brother, but she was too busy and too tired to go see someone and she knew just how much to drink to appear sober on the outside and be able to do her job correctly. If someone at work so much as smelt a drop of alcohol on her breath, she would at least be fired and at most be put before a jury, but Anna knew her limits and when to stop. A little part of her had hoped that once Stella was in her life she wouldn't feel the need to drink, but it'd only been a week, maybe she was being too hard on the fact that nothing had changed and even when she was with Stella, she'd see her brother's dying face. 

Anna had told no one about Stella, only Joey, most of her other friends worked at the hospital and because of Stella not wanting gossip to be spread, Anna felt it would be risky to mention it to any one of them. They were good friends, but she knew well enough that the words 'you mustn't tell anyone' were rarely obeyed and too often repeated till it got out of hand and there wasn't anyone left who didn't know. So, Anna left the bar early and went in search of her other friend, desperate to tell someone about how madly in love she was. She walked down a busy street and into a lonely alleyway before coming across the place she wanted, a small park with a lone park bench where an older lady sat. The lady waved when she saw Anna and smiled, gesturing to the space beside her.

"Hello, Anna," she called as Anna approached. "You haven't been to visit me in years!"

"Now there, Julie, it's hasn't been that long," Anna said lightly and sat down beside the old lady, folding her legs and looking out across the grass.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten my routine!" Julie patted Anna's leg fondly.

"How could I forget? Writing til lunch on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, catching the subway for half the day on Wednesday to some unknown destination and back in time for dinner. Yoga after lunch on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday after lunch is the secondhand market and book hunting, Saturday is your day off or with your grandchildren and Friday you sit in the park all day," Anna recited from memory, turning when she had finished and smiling at Julie, the old eccentric writer, an unknown famous type in the world of fiction. Julie's most famous novels were published before authors put their headshots in the back and so she can do many regular things without getting noticed, Anna shuddered to think what too much attention would do to her, she was already quite batty.

"Hmp, maybe you haven't forgotten me," Julie said stiffly, wanting to be right.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around to see you lately, or been here, I've just..." Anna was going to say 'busy', but really she wasn't, she was being lazy. "No, I'm not going to make an excuse, I've just been so lazy and feeling sorry for myself."

"Why's that, dear?"

Anna sighed, she was full of alcohol, enough of it to keep the thought of that man or her brother out of her mind, but not enough if they were brought up.

"Just something at work... it brought up a lot of things."

"Work!" cried Julie suddenly, making Anna jump. "Such ghastly business! Work, work, work. It's all we're expected to do. I've been writing all my life, yet no one thinks I should have a break, not even my own mind! Always creating new ideas but giving no advice on how to conquer such ideas."

Anna nodded slowly, Julie was comforting to be around although not everyone thought that. She tended to get on people's nerves with gibber about nothing at all, Anna found it nice to try and decipher the sense in the gurble instead of thinking about herself.

"Still haven't got far on the new book, Julie?"

"Far? My dear, if far is how we are measuring, do be specific."

Anna frown, she didn't know how one measured the amount of writing.

"A page?" she suggested slowly.

"But my child, that could mean anything. So many different fonts these days, and even then you can change the size," Julie said more to herself, but she turned to Anna. "To answer your question, I've got ten pages." They went back to silence, Anna was waiting for questions about herself, they always came. "So, how are you?" Julie said finally.

"I'm really good," Anna said and smiled widely thinking of Stella.

"How is saving lives? Still working out for you?"

Anna nodded.

"You know I'm not really saving lives though, right? It's more fixing broken arms and concussions and drunks that come into emergency."

"You're too humble." Julie smiled at Anna and took her hand. "I won't forget that you saved my life."

Anna blushed. When she first got to America, she was walking along a street and Julie had fallen over during a protest. People were gathered all around her and blood was gushing out of her head pretty severely, Anna jumped into action and though she'll never admit it, saved Julie's life. Anna drifted back into the crowd when the ambulance got there, the blood on her hands reminded her too much of her brother and the cost of saving Julie's life nearly ended her own. 

"It was nothing," Anna mumbled.

"I often wonder why you're on the emergency ward, you could be in a clinic, you're wasted in there."

Anna nodded, she partly agreed, she didn't hate the emergency ward but she wanted to specialise in something.

"Maybe one day."

"Do you have a new boyfriend?" Julie said with a little bit of hope in her voice, she personally thought that Anna was the prettiest thing that had walked the earth, but no man ever seemed to be able to handle her. "What about Joey? He asked you out once, remember?"

"I'm dating someone, yes," Anna said with a big goofy grin on her face.

"What's his name!" Julie said, bursting with excitement.

Anna faltered, she had no problem with telling Julie, but it would be the first official time she'd 'came out' and she didn't even know Julie's opinions on this.

"Well," Anna started slowly, "her name's, Stella."

Julie clapped her hands together and smiled, eyes lit up.

"That's wonderful!" she cried. "Oh, that's really terrific. Can I meet her? Oh, please? I'll behave."

Anna laughed, she felt - even more - happier if that was even possible. 

"Of course you can."

"What's she like?"

"Well," Anna thought to herself, she'd really had to explain Stella before to anyone, "she very, very pretty, but she can look scary and I was a bit scared of her at first, she's also a doctor, you see, worked the shift after me so I've been seeing her for a full year, it never clicked. She's opinionated and caring, but she's really kind and she's a little bit nervous about everyone finding out."

"This is really wonderful," Julie whispered. "If only I knew earlier, my daughter's a lesbian, I could have set you up."

"Really? You've never told me this."

"About Fiona? Of course, I have," Julie said certainly.

"What? Fiona's not a lesbian, I've met her, she has kids and a husband."

"Mm," Julie mumbled as if she knew a big secret, "she's married to a man, but I myself would much rather her with a pretty girl like you, I think she'd rather it too."

Anna laughed.