After an uneasy night, they get a happy announcement. Tim and Shelby say they are getting married.
The girls descended on her in a giggling, hugging wave. The men shook hands with Tim. He grinned proudly.
"Not right away," he added as an after thought. "We want to do it right, plan it carefully. We're gonna make sure you're all invited. You've all given us so much support. I never would have had the balls to ask her if it hadn't been for what I've learned here."
Shelby and Tim kissed. The others joined them, hugging and kissing cheeks. Eventually, Molly got their attention to remind them they had dirty dishes to deal with. They hustled around, loading up the dishwashers quickly before starting the rest of their chores. Emma was cleaning the bathroom when Carlos popped his head inside.
"Dr. Abernathy wants to see you."
"Me? Why?"
"No idea, babe. Don't look so worried. She's nice. I was just talking to her." He put an arm around Emma's neck, leading her to Dr. Abernathy's office. It wasn't far from Dr. Stewart's, but down a different arm of the hallway. He tapped on the doctor's door.
"Yes? One second." She answered a few moments later. She tried to smile, but there was sorrow in her eyes. "You must be Emma. I'm Doctor Abernathy. Please come in. Thank you, Carlos." She squeezed his hand, nodding to him.
When the young Latino left, Dr. Abernathy gestured toward the chairs and couch in her office. "Take a seat anywhere. Door open or closed?"
Emma was a little surprised by the question. "Closed is fine, thank you. No one ever asked me that before." She settled on a soft pouf in the middle of a cluster of chairs. She faced the desk, but Dr. Abernathy took a seat near her, putting her feet on an ottoman. She kicked off her high heeled shoes with a sigh.
"Thank you. I hate wearing these shoes, but I'm tired of being a foot shorter than everyone."
Emma smiled. She was average height, but often felt small among all the very tall men around. "I get it. But they are so cute!"
Dr. Abernathy laughed. "I had a professor who said you could tell a lot about a woman based on the shoes she wore." She glanced down at her red, pointy toed pumps with the small bow on the back and the stiletto heels. "I hate to think what he'd say about me, if he saw them."
Emma held her head to one side. "You're a sexy minx with a side order of masochist." She winked.
Tossing back her head, Dr. Abernathy laughed. "You have no idea how close you are to right. I'm convinced all shoe designers are misogynists. But that's a conversation for another time." She turned serious, her smile fading. "I'm going to be your therapist for a while, if that's okay. Dr. Stewart personally asked me to take you on. We don't think that Dr. McNulty has quite the right approach."
Emma shivered at the other man's name. "He makes me really nervous," she whispered. "Thank you and please tell Dr. Stewart I said thanks."
"Of course. Are you okay? I know the whole incident has been pretty frightening."
Nodding, Emma pulled up her knees, arms wrapped tightly around them. "It was awful. So much blood!"
"You saw? Sam said he—"
"I didn't have to see it to know. Sam turned pale and started shaking. I knew it was bad, so I didn't try to look. Poor Sammy, he does so much to keep me safe. It's my fault we were down there in the first place. I just wanted someplace quiet where we could be alone. It's been too long since we had some alone time."
"You're very fond of him, aren't you."
"He's my rock. I love him more than life. If anything happened to Sammy—"
"What would you do?"
"I'd kill whoever hurt him and then I'd kill myself."
©2020 Dellani Oakes
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