Standing on the corner of 5th and East Avenue, Helen rubs her hands together, cold and exhausted. Lauren was gracious enough to arrive early at the Dam with a pair of jeans and a black blouse for her to wear. Not particularly what she would have went for, but it beats staying in the same clothes for a third day in a row. She watches the crowd of people move around her as if she is a rock in a stream and the people are the water, rushing around her without care nor worry. Suddenly a hand is placed on her shoulder and she turns around quickly- panicked.
"It's alright, Helen. I'm Joe." She looks up at the towering 6'5" black man in front of her and feels dwarfed in comparison. His face is clean shaven and his own dreads come down around his shoulders with a black baseball hat cover the top of his head. He's rather handsome, she'll give him that. If she wasn't completely in love with Max- she would totally be with Joe.
"Nice to meet you, finally." He puts a hand in between her shoulder blades and starts walking slowly, leading her along.
"Have you brought all you needed?"
"Yes. Have you?" Joe nods and smiles down at her.
"Didn't know I was gonna be in the presence of a beautiful sister, like yourself." He has a bit of a southern twang and she wonders about his back story.
"Where are you from originally?" She asks and he smiles, his pearly white teeth catching the February sun.
"Alabama- not the most welcoming of states, but ya learn to get by. How about you? Which part of the U.K?"
"That obvious huh?" She jokes and he laughs deeply.
"Quick fire. I like it."
"I grew up a kilometer up the road from London. Went to Cambridge for Uni and then moved here." She watches him process the information, his mind an obvious machine for calculating and storing every bit of information he's given. "How did you and Max meet?"
"At college, before I went to military school. He needed help fixing his laptop before a class. So I got under the hood and made it happen. I had put up a sign in the courtyard saying that I'd fix any electronic for $5. Phh, needed money to eat man. So, he called me- I fixed his computer and he had lost his wallet. So I figured he scammed me. Later that day, he came strolling up to me and gave me $15 dollars. He said 5 was for the work I did and 10 was for not kickin' he ass cause I was a big dude." Helen and him laugh. She can hear the exact conversation coming from Max's mouth. "He such a good guy. Love that man. He's been there for me, when many haven't. Seen me through a lot of tough times. Between racism and everything else- that dude really is a life saver."
"He is very spectacular. Although, I'm the one who does the frequent saving." Joe looks at her and analyzes her frame and posture. She's small, but he can feel the fierce force inside her.
"Is that because Maxy Pad is weak? Or because you don't allow him to save you?" He has her number and she knows it.
"I decline to comment." She looks away from him and they stop at the street corner.
"Course you do. Cause you have more pride than anyone else I met. You're fierce. Strongwilled. Stubborn. Girl- you sexy as hell, but what are you doin' leaving ya boy in the cold? Dude's white- you'll lose him in a snow drift." Helen bursts out laughing and Joe does as well. They cross the street and he can't stop smiling at her. He sees why Max likes her so much. The way she carries herself and the way she speaks- so polite and refined.
"You are sooo out there aren't you. You just say what you feel- don't you?"
"Ain't no point in hidin'. The truth always comes out eventually. If every single person was honest for just one day- imagine how wonderful the world would be. Would there be people upset? Sure. But imagine all the happiness it would bring people as well." He makes a fair enough point, but Helen isn't one for imagining something that will never happen.
"Is that an implication from what we talked about last night? Or are you just theorizing?"
"Ya quick. Damn. Listen, ya boy Max is a great guy. Truly. Matter of fact. However, if you love him and never try to get there- where will you end up? Ya'll so worried about making someone else happy, but you never consider yourself in that equation." Sighing and looking away, she knows he's correct. "Think Helen- where will you be if Max and this other girl hit it off like you want them too?"
"I don't know. Hopefully, some place with a view...and scotch." Smirking, she continues to walk and they make it to the FBI head quarters. Going up the steps and in the building, Joe shows his ID badge to the guard and they step through the metal detector.
"Thanks Frank." He says to the older guard and leads Helen to the elevator. They ride it all the way to the 9th floor and step out. Helen is surprised at how many desks and cubicles there are. She figured there'd be a lot, but not this many. There has to be at least forty in this cramped area. Walking across the floor, Joe goes to an office and knocks on it. A woman opens the door and Helen instantly notices how Joe reacts to her presence. The blond haired, skinny framed woman is very gorgeous and she isn't in the least surprised that Joe finds her attractive.
"Joe. So nice to see you again." She shakes his hand and then extends it to Helen. "Emilea Rose. Nice to meet you Dr. Sharpe."
"Oh, hi. Nice to meet you as well."
"I watched all your appearances on Ellen and Operah. Thoroughly impressed with the work you do. Shall we?" She steps aside and allows them to enter her office. It's quite nice and posh, but Helen doesn't know if shed like an office surrounded by glass. She feels like a fish on display at the aquarium. "Oh, let me get the blinds."
Taking out her phone, Emilea opens up her screen and then presses an app. Once opened, the blinds go down over the glass and Helen is impressed.
"Very cool, huh?" Joe leans down and whispers to her.
"Indeed." She replies and they each have a seat in their proper places.
"So, Helen, Joe has informed me of everything. I already started the investigation process with Hannon, Wilson, Penthaki, Jackson, and Castro. All have been detained and we are just waiting for your evidence against them." Emilea smiles promptly and Helen is a bit concerned about handing over the files. However, if Max trusts Joe and Joe trusts Emilea- what does she have to be afraid of. "I know you must be overwhelmed and confused and worried about who you can trust. Right? Let me show you what we have and then if you feel comfortable, you can share what you have."
Pressing another button on her phone, a flat screen tv comes out of the cupboards behind her and she switches on the monitor.
"This real feed of my men taking in the suspects early this morning. Here's Hannon at 5:34." The screen shows her guy's body cams and they approach Hannon's front door. Mark Hannon's wife opens it, they show her their badge and suddenly, they spot Hannon getting in his car and backing up drastically. The two FBI agents pull their weapons and shoot out Hannon's tires. The car stops and before Hannon can run away, the FBI agent tackles him to the ground. "This is Wilson at a cafe on Broad Street at 6:38."
They watch as two men enter the cafe, IDs up and they see Wilson throw his coffee at the one and then takes off running. The one officer pursues out the back and the other one runs around the front and trips him and then cuffs him.
"Next we have Jackson at 7:05 leaving the police station after a double shift." The men approach him with their badges and Jackson pulls out his gun and shoots at the one officer. The body cam that was first displayed goes black and the other officer's cam catches him shooting Jackson in the upper thigh. He drops and the officer detains him. Helen jumped as the bullet hit the one officers vest and Joe and Emilea understand her fright. It's scary watching first hand someone getting shot. "The next one is a bit...graphic to say the least. Here is Penthaki at his home in Harlem 7:24."
Helen glowers as she watches the officers approach his apartment door. She watches them climb the stairs to his apartment- an apartment she remembers so well from their brief time dating. The officer pounds on the door, Akash opens it up, backs away and runs towards the back bedroom. The officers kicks in the door and heads to the on-suite where the video captures the exact moment that Panthaki cutting his throat, but he obvious didn't go deep enough, because he's still standing and the blood is slowly coming out. Helen doesn't flinch as she sees this. She wishes she could have been the one to cut him.
"Obviously the injury he sustained wasn't life threatening, but he is being held at Baptist under strict watch by my men." Helen doesn't move. She wants to see Castro's take down. "Valentina Castro is pretty illusive. It took us a few minutes to catch up to her, but here we have our officers pulling over her car on the Brooklyn Bridge."
Helen watches as Valentina flees the car, gets up on the guard rail and jumps over the edge. Helen doesn't move or breathe. You the see the officers get back in their car and drive off the bridge and down to the water. They search and soon a boat comes by and they get on it. They comb the water and find her, floating on her back, the wind knocked out of her from the fall and gasping for air. She starts to sink and the one officer dives in and grabs her. They pull her up on the boat, and check to see if shes okay and then detain her. Helen glares at the screen. She hates Castro and wishes the fall would have just killed her- but she wants justice for her patients and Mo.
"As you can see, we have all of them in custody. Because they ran or did something stupid- they are already proving themselves guilty of something. Innocent people don't run." Emilea comments and Helen slides her the original files across the desk. Emilea opens up the folder and leafs through all of the pieces of paper. From the experiment notes to Akash's letter- to the hundreds of pictures of patients and victims and herself and Max. She watches as Emilea nods and becomes frustrated and disgusted with what she finds. She then looks at Joe, who hands her a very tiny flash drive that is clipped to one of his dreads. She smiles at the clever hiding spot and looks at both of them. "This will send them all to jail for a very long time, if not the rest of their lives. Thank you both so much for doing this. You've saved a lot of lives today. The court system may call you in for questioning on the stand to get your story- but other than that, you can go home relieved and safe. This fight is ended."
"Thank you so much for everything." Helen thanks her and the woman stands up and smiles at the doctor.
"No, thank you. You have done New York and the country a great deal of service." They go to leave and Emilea grabs Joe's hand. "Hey, one more thing...do you...maybe want to get a bite sometime."
Joe looks at Helen, who franticly nods up and down and Joe turns back to the FBI agent and smiles while blushing slightly.
"Absolutely. Text me when you're free." The blond woman nods and then goes back in her office. Helen does a fun little hoppity hop happy dance and the big guy just shakes his head. "Don't. Don't do that. You're embarrassing."
"Ooo, I knew you liked her! Hmm, ma' boy has a date!" She tries to use and American accent like how he talks and it is far off. And hilariously terrible.
"Now you're just embarrassin' yourself." They exit the FBI building and walk back towards 5th and East. Joe looks down at Helen and wonders what she's thinking about. "You gonna call Max? Or you still avoiding him?"
"Well, I have to tell him it's safe now. So yeah, I'll call him." She watches the cars pass on the street and wonders what she should say.
"You gonna tell him you love 'em too?" Helen snakes her head. Why doesn't this guy take a hint?
"What's with you and my love life?"
"You mean lack there of."
"Phhh, listen you- Max means a lot to me and I won't lose him over something he doesn't reciprocate. Sleeping dogs are better left undisturbed." She points a finger at him and he takes her whole hand in his huge left mitt and holds it tightly as they walk. She's so confused by this. He says nothing and frankly, she doesn't know what she'd say to this. Yet the feeling of this big, strong man holding her hand - no matter how awkward the height difference is- makes her insides twist and turn. When they get to the cross roads, they stop and he lets go of her hand. She blushes like mad there in the cold February air. Her brown cheeks turning a light pink hue as he looks down at her.
"Feel that? That's what happiness feels like. That's what you could also feel like- if you allow yourself to be honest with yourself and others." He bends down kisses her forehead before leaving across the street. Helen's eyes widen and she feels completely taken by him, but also confused. Was he hitting on her or proving a point? She isn't too sure, but the whole way home she dwells on the tall man's hand around hers and the kiss he left her with. It boggles her mind. Her phone rings and she picks up. "If you're wondering what I was getting at, it was provin' a point. Don't think 'bout fallin' for me. I got a unique snowflake of my own. Bye Sharpe, good working with ya."
She doesn't get to say anything before he hangs up. She stares at her phone and wonders if he is psychic of something. Most likely not, but he is a bit illusive.
**Max- The Dam**
Making his round this morning, Max is extra cautious about the people he talks to. He knows he should watch his back, but he's too worried about Helen's. Yet why should he care, when she doesn't need nor want him around. She broke his heart last night. Just snapped it in half like a chicken wing. As he enters the elevator, his phone goes off.
"Hello?"
"Hey man. Want you to know that Helen and I did the deed." The way he says it makes Max feel like they did something other than working on Castro's mess. "Went to my FBI friend, turned everything over and she has apprehended all involved. Good work."
"That's great." He says un-enthusiasticlly.
"Dude, what's the matter man?" Joe already knows, but he loves the drama.
"Nothing."
"Maxy Pad, I know you brother. Something is bothering you. Or should I say someone is bothering you." Max steps out of the elevator and heads towards the E.D.
"I'm fine. Helen's safe. That's all that matters."
"Is it though?"
"Dude, what do you want from me? She made it very clear that she doesn't want me around. That she doesn't need me. She never has. So I'm just gonna continue on with my life- even if it sucks." He hangs up before Joe can give him words of wisdom and stuffs his phone in his pocket. It's frustrating, feeling this shitty. Max doesn't know why he's even surprised by Helen's comment last night. She obviously has felt that way for a long time if it flew out of her mouth so easily. She doesn't need him like he needs her. Phh, was she right about that? He always needs her, but hasn't she needed him as well? Yesterday morning she was begging and pleading for him. She ran to his office and said she only trusts him. Then she turns around and states she doesn't need him. What a farce. What a lie she's telling. Entering the E.D, he finds Bloom and Kapoor talking privately by the nurses counter.
"Oh, hey! Any news from Helen?" Lauren asks and Max passes her.
"What's his problem?" Kapoor asks and Lauren shakes her head.
"Not a clue, but whatever it is, it's not good when Max is silent." She walks over to him as he checks in on an elderly patient they are going to admit into their Palliative wing. Lauren waits for him to finish and follows him around like a lost puppy. "Max, is everything okay?"
"Everything is how everything always is. There's sick people on this side of the room and people who should be helping them, right there." He points to her and walks off. Lauren isn't one to lay down and take it, so she follows him out into the hallway.
"Max, what's going on with you? Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?" She tugs on his arm and he turns rapidly and she nearly runs into him.
"If you must know, I am unneeded, unwanted, and unimportant to more than half the people in this hospital- so I am going to my office, where I will remain until I find a use for myself." He storms off and Lauren is confused and also shocked by the manner in which Max just spoke go her. Kapoor peeks his bald head out from around the door and looks at Lauren.
"What was that about?" He asks and Lauren shakes her head.
"I have no idea...but this isn't good." As he storms off to his office, Max feels his blood boiling. Can't people just leave him alone? Can't they understand that he has nothing to offer them? The last person he ever wants to see shows up and he inwardly growls.
"Max!"
"Karen Brantley, why am I not surprised to see you this morning?" He drones and Karen is slightly offended, but then again, everything offends that woman.
"I heard about Castro. Her position has been terminated and Dax Wilson is no longer on the board."
"Sounds like a real conundrum." He sarcastically says.
"I need a new head of Oncology today and a new board member with enough money to fund us." Max stops like he did with Lauren and Karen runs into him slightly- shock in her eyes.
"Here's a thought- maybe you shouldn't have demoted the best damn Oncologist in the State of New York over something so trivial. Then none of this would have happened and you wouldn't be up my ass complaining about the problems you helped cause!" His voice echos through the hallway and everyone stops. Looking passed Brantley's shocked face, Max sees Helen standing there frozen, having obviously heard what he has said about her. Karen Brantley stutters and can't find any words to rebuke what he shouted at her. "There she is now. You better get back the best person you lost before she realizes she doesn't need you."
Helen's lips part and she feels how hurt he is in his voice. She watches him walk down the hall and then open his office door and slam it shut behind him. It echoes through the hallway and Brantley turns around and finds Helen standing there. She walks up to her and is about to say something, when Helen walks passed her.
"Save it." She says as she passes the old woman and makes her way to Max's office. She flings open the door and shuts it behind her. "What is the matter with you? Shouting in the damn hallway like a child. I get your mad at me, but you can't take it out on other people!"
She chastised him and he leans against his bureau staring at the floor in front of her.
"Max! Look at me." He slowly raises his head, one eyebrow up, angry. "Last night, I said what I said to..."
"To what? Make a point? Well you made it loud and clear Helen."
"I wanted to save you the trouble of getting hurt." She says seriously and he grits his teeth.
"Well...what a terrible job you did. Get out." He says and she just looks at him.
"Max, you're taking this out of context..."
"Am I? Because you have always made it quite clear that you don't need me nor want me. So why keep denying it? Just go Helen. I don't want you here." She huffs a breath out of her nose, hurt by him. He thinks she's terrible for what she said, she didn't want him to get killed, but he says that to her! He doesn't want her here? What a shitty thing to say to someone you consider your friend.
"Fine..." She goes to leave and then stops and speaks before opening the door. "You wanted to know if I found a reason to stay? You were that reason, Max. You're the only reason I do anything."
She walks out the door and slams it behind her, the sound jarring him. He is the reason she stayed? Then why does she push him away? Why does she ignore his pleas of love? If he's the reason she stayed...does this now mean he's the reason she goes?
Walking down the hallway, hurt and crying, Helen enters the stairwell and just slides down the door crying. That was so hurtful of him. He didn't even let her explain herself or her reasoning. He just told her he didn't want her here. She was right when she said he'd never feel the same way for her. The only problem is, is she still lost him, even when she didn't get the chance to have him.
**The Next Day**
His normal routine is disturbed this morning by the missing piece to his puzzle. Helen Sharpe. Normally they wait for one another in the atrium and proceed to their offices together, but this morning, Max is not surprised to find Helen missing from her post. He stewed all night about her and well into the dawn on his morning jog with Luna in her cart. He is angry and hurt, but even during that time in his office, he still loved her. So why didn't he just let it go? It's a question he's been asking himself the whole way to the Dam and now as he stands in the atrium, he realizes the answer.
Because Helen Sharpe hurt his feelings first.
Letting his blood start to boil again, Max trudges through the hospital, up to Ped's to drop off Luna and then back down to his office. Maybe he's being childish or maybe he has a good reason to feel so hurt and frustrated by her words. True, he didn't take the high road himself, but it wouldn't have made a difference. He said something worse than she did, but the the fact of the matter is, she tried to explain herself and he didn't even give her a chance too. Then she told him that he's the reason she stayed and the reason she does anything. Now that has made him more angry and upset- but not with her: with himself.
"Max! Hey! So I have a few things to discuss with you about a patient of mine." Iggy comes running up to him and Max slows down a bit for the psychologist to catch up.
"Okay?" He sounds less enthused than normal. Iggy makes a mental note.
"So my patient is exhibiting hostile behaviour. Erratic meltdowns, and is over all causing many people to be concerned about their mental state." Max stops and looks at Iggy, furrowing his eyebrows at him.
"If you think you're being funny- you're not." He starts walking again and Iggy tries to keep up.
"People are worried about you, man. Yesterday you were popping off on every one, slamming doors, yelling at the Head of the board of directors. That's not like you Max. Your friends and colleagues are concerned about you." They get to Max's office and before Iggy can enter, Max shuts the door in his face and locks it. Leaning against the door, Max pounds his fist into it and then drops to the floor. Clutching his knees to his chest, he wishes he wasn't so angry with everyone. The only person he should be angry with is himself. How stupid is he? How immature? Feelings are the worst thing in the world, especially when they get hurt. He stays there, hunkered in his office, hating himself and the position he's been put in.
Why couldn't Helen just need him? Why did she have to push him away? She always pushes him away. She toys with his emotions all the time and doesn't seem apologetic about it. He wishes he understood her. He wishes he was what she wanted and needed. She simply protects him because she feels sorry for him. She's always felt sorry for him. His cancer, losing Georgia, being a single father with a lot on his plate- she pities him and nothing more. She finds him inferior to other men and makes him feel useless. Yet even now as he thinks all of this stuff about her, he still loves her. Why can't he let her go? What makes her so special?
The answer is so simple it hurts.
She is the only person who makes him feel like he's doing the right thing. She takes his side in arguments. She ensures he's a great dad. She laughs at his jokes- even if she finds them completely ridiculous and not even funny. Helen makes him feel alive and thankful for it. Helen is the one person he wants to be with. He loves her because she is everything he is not. Fierce, strong, brave, powerful, sexy, intelligent, intimidating, amazing, and cool. She is all of those things and he isn't.
**Helen**
Rolling in late for work, Helen avoids the atrium this morning. She doesn't have time to see Max. She doesn't want to see him at all if that's possible. His hurtful words still play in her head like the record machine has been broken.
I don't want you here!
The look on his face was as genuine as his words. Max Goodwin could careless if Helen ever comes back to the Dam. It's as plain as day. Crossing the breezeway, she finds Iggy, looking concerned and confused about something.
"You okay?" She asks and he makes an odd face.
"No, I'm concerned about Max." Helen flicks her eyebrows up quickly and starts walking away. Max Goodwin is the last person she wants to discuss. "Helen, what do you know? What's going on?"
"What's going on is Max doesn't want me here any more and I'm well on my way out." Iggy jogs in front of her and stops her in her tracks.
"What? What do you mean?"
"He told me he didn't want me here. So I'm leaving. Going back home after the Gala next Friday...if I even go." Her whole posture looks tense and slumped. Typically Helen carries herself high and with dignity. This is not like her.
"He probably didn't mean it that way."
"No he did. He shouted it. Wouldn't let me explain my reasoning, but had so much time to explain his." She starts walking again and Iggy is on her tail.
"Okay, wait, hold on. What happened? Two days ago, you two were normal, leaning on each other for support and now..."
"Now I'm done with this conversation." Skirting away from him, Helen gets in the elevator and the doors close before Iggy can get on.
"What is going on around here?" He asks himself.
Getting to her office, Helen sets her purse down on her desk and looks at the stack of mail she's received. The first thing on top was a summons from the courthouse. She's thoroughly surprised that the ball is rolling so fast. She suspected that it would take months before a trial would happen. Yet here it is. Her summons to appear in court to testify. Perfect.
"Hello, Dr. Sharpe." Karen fucking Brantley. Why is she at Helen's door?
"Morning." Karen slowly walks in and sits in a seat across from Helen.
"Good morning. I was wondering...if you would take back the seat as Head of Oncology?" Rolling her eyes back, Helen wants to just punch the old hag in her face. How demoralizing that the person who voted for her to lose her chair and titles, is back at her feet asking her to come back.
"Are you serious? You voted me out over something trivial and now you want me back because it's convenient for you?"
"Helen, it isn't like that..."
"Then explain it, because as far as I see it, no one wants me in this hospital and frankly, I don't know if I want to stay." Karen's eyes go wide and she swallows hard in her throat.
"Helen, I made a mistake and I'm sorry. You have every right to feel attacked, but hear me out. Max is right. You are an amazing doctor. We couldn't find a better one for the position." Karen smiles and Helen is becoming more upset.
"Oh spare me the arse kissing."
"Helen, I just want to help you..."
"Help me? Help me! Now you want to help me? Well you know how you can help? By packing up my office. Now if you don't mind. I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to you beg." Helen stands up, takes her clip board and leaves her own office- Brantley sitting stooped in her spot, confused and frankly disturbed.
Helen rampages down the Oncology wing and then tries to calm herself. She can't be angry with everyone, just Max. So turning around, she goes back to her office and finds Karen still sitting there with a look on her face that says that whole thing was unexpected. Helen slowly walks in and Karen is concerned that the angry woman is going to attack her. Going to her desk, Helen sits on the edge of it and sighs.
"I'm sorry, Karen. I'm not mad at you. I'm frustrated with something else. I apologize for my out burst." Blinking a few times, Karen nods her head respectively.
"That's alright. We all have those days I guess. I should know. I'm constantly on the fritz with Max, when it's not his fault. He does good work and so do you. You two are the best tag team of doctors I've ever met. This hospital wouldn't run without you two." Helen glances down at her feet and feels a little proud of that statement. "To be honest...I lost my sister...Holland... four days ago to drugs. She had been an addict for years and I iced her out after her 4th overdose. It didn't mean I didn't love her, she just loved drugs more. When I found out you took your patient to a safe injection sight for heroin- I didn't think of how it was safer for that woman. I just thought of my sister and how she shot up. Lord knows none of her stuff was clean and the drugs she had probably were cut with something deadly...but I feel like, now, if you would have done that with Holland- maybe, eventually she could've found help..."
Helen sits there and watches Karen Brantley lose all sense of her as she starts crying right in front of Helen. Pushing off her desk, Helen hands her some tissues and sits beside her in her other arm chair.
"I just can't believe she's gone. I wish I wouldn't have given up on her." She sobs hard into the tissue and Helen kindly places a hand on the old woman's back and rubs up and down. She never thought Karen Brantley had actual emotions- other than anger. Guess Helen knows why now. She can't imagine losing a sibling to drugs. Knowing that they would rather take the chance of dying to get high instead of feeling loved by their family. It's overwhelming for anyone and there's really nothing you can do but pray they want to get better. Helen thinks about Lauren at this moment. She is the closest thing to family she has here in the States. She was so scared and nervous that she was going to lose her to her addiction. Now, Helen is so thankful that she over came it and is still around for her. Helen couldn't have walked away. She couldn't have stood by and watched her friend slowly kill herself.
"It's not your fault. I know you feel guilty for the time you missed with her and letting her make her own decisions...but sometimes that's how you love them. They become their addiction, it doesn't mean they stop loving you or vice versa. I'm sure Holland knew you loved her through it all. You're not to blame or the problem, Karen. Unfortunately, Holland couldn't find you as the solution either. Opioids, heroin, meth- all of it- is so hard to get sober from. I honestly don't know anyone who's defeated it. I have a friend who was addicted to Ritalin. She would pop it every so often at work and it came to the point where her coworker was covering for her mistakes. I sent to her rehab. She hated me for it, but I'm glad it worked for her. She's sober now from everything and still has her job...but her problem wasn't the stronger drugs, but bit by bit she would've ended up there. She wanted to get help. Many drug addicts can't think that way. It's just how the drug weakens their ability to think clearly."
"I know you're right...but it still hurts." Helen does the one thing she thought she'd never do- she hugs Karen Brantley and holds her as she cries. They stay like that for a good 15 minutes before Karen starts feeling better. Holding her hands, Helen looks at her with a smile.
"You will get through this heartache. Trust me and if you can't do it alone...call me." Karen Brantley has never felt so cared for in her life and of all people it's coming from a woman who she knows has never cared for her before. Yet in this moment, everything has changed. She started feeling a little lighter and less angry and upset. It feels great having someone reassure her after so many years of being a pent up, cranky old prude. All the pain from harboring such a heavy burden feels slightly lighter now that she opened up about it.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Sharpe."
"You can call me, Helen." They share a smile and Karen wipes a stray tear from her eye.
"I really do hope you stick around. The Dam needs you. Losing you would be the worst thing to happen to this hospital. Please take your chair back. Be Deputy Medica director- the world needs you- but we need you more." Helen contemplates all of this. She should say no and deny her offer merely on principle, but she would also regret leaving her true home because of Max Goodwin.
"I need to think about it." Helen says shyly and Karen nods.
"Well, let me know by next week. You can tell me at the Gala. Speaking of which, I have so much to plan and not so much time to do it. So I'll be off." They hug one last time before she leaves and Helen feels good about making a new friend. However, she still feels terrible about the one she's lost.