Where to start (4/?)
The next morning Erica was the first one to wake up. She went to the bathroom, took a quick shower and got dressed quickly as well. She wanted to be ready when Laura got up. And she didn’t want Julia to see her in Callie’s old pj pants again.
Erica made her way to the kitchen quietly passing Laura, still sleeping on the couch. She entered the kitchen and turned on the water to wash her mug. She started to wonder what to make for breakfast, but her thoughts quickly changed tracks and in a few seconds she wasn’t thinking about eggs and cheese, but Laura, and what she was going to tell her when she woke up.
For Erica it was obvious that she didn’t want to be with that girl. She was smart and funny, but most of the time she was just annoying for her. Erica respected self-confident people, but only those who didn’t use it against other people. And what was more important, she simply wasn’t interested in Laura that way.
After leaving Seattle, she wasn’t even thinking about who she might like or not. She just wanted to get away from that city and try to forget what had happened at SGH and with Callie. She accepted Chief’s Braddock proposition which, by the way, she had postponed because of Callie. All she wanted to think about, was her job. Just like before SGH. That’s why she chose work, not personal drama. She didn’t want to waste time with it.
“Do you know that you just killed one polar bear?”
Erica jumped at Laura’s voice behind her.
“What?” Erica asked and noticed that the water was still running. “Oh. Yeah, right.” She turned it off and faced the younger woman.
“I’m sorry about last night.” Laura said quietly.
“I am sorry too. I shouldn’t have left like that and…”
“Can I just say something first?” Laura asked cutting the older woman off.
Erica sighed. That was one of the many reasons why she found Laura annoying. She couldn’t stand people who interrupted someone in their conversation.
Laura didn’t wait for Erica’s reply.
“I wanted to say that I shouldn’t have broken into your house. I should’ve just followed you after you left the club. I am sorry I didn’t take things slow with you. Sean told me that you didn’t look gay and maybe I’ve read your signals wrong.”
“What signals?!” Erica thought. “Alright I’ve kissed her one time but later I told her that I didn’t want to. Isn’t it a clear signal for NO?!”
“First of all you should stop listening to your friend, because I am sorry but he is just stupid. Second of all, I already told you that I don’t want to do it slow, because I just don’t want to do anything. I am sorry Laura.” Erica leaned her left hand on the counter top. “I am sorry for all that’s happened, but I just don’t see us like that.”
Laura covered Erica’s palm with her own. “I know you’re scared and you probably have no experience…”
“Oh, my God! Which part of NO don’t you understand?” Erica was clearly pissed and she wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible, but Laura was making it too difficult.
The younger woman took a step back and looked at Erica, surprised.
“Laura, listen to me.” Erica said calmly now. “I like you. You are nice… when you are not so insistent and so damn cocky.” She took her hand away from Laura’s. “I am not scared, nor is that the reason I don’t want to be with you. Do you understand?” Erica herself could barely understand anything right now.
Laura had been watching her for a few moments like she was counting on Erica changing her mind, but nothing like that happened. She blinked a few times and swallowed slowly.
“Yeah.” She looked around. “Umm… can I call for a cab?”
“I’ll drive you.” Julia walked into the kitchen and smiled a little to Erica. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Erica replied.
“What are you doing here?” Laura asked surprised.
Julia laughed a little. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
Laura walked out of the kitchen without looking at Erica. “I’ll wait outside.”
Erica sighed deeply as she left the kitchen.
“That bad?” Julia asked.
“I…” Erica started and shook her head. “Kevin is going to kill me.”
“Nahhh… he knows his sister very well. So do I. And I know it’s not easy with Laura. She’s great as a friend, but I’ve never met someone as difficult as her.” Julia smiled. “Don’t worry. She’ll be alright.”
“Thank you for taking her home.” Erica smiled a little.
“No problem. Thank you for letting me stay the night.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Ok, I’d better go. Thanks again.”
Erica just nodded and watched her leaving the kitchen.
Later, at the hospital, Erica happily jumped into a pool full of emergency surgeries and post op rounds. Just as she was going to her office, her phone rang. She looked at the screen and smiled widely.
“Alice!” She laughed. “What happened this time? Did mom start to move your furniture again?”
“Very funny!” Erica’s sister stiffly said.
“So, how are you? Is everything alright?” Erica asked while she entered her office.
“I thought I should warn you that mom and dad want to visit you. Actually they want to come for Christmas.”
“It’s September now.” Erica said surprised.
“Yeah, but mom wants half of our family to come.”
Erica froze. “What?”
“I’m telling you. She asked uncle Michael and aunt Judith to come, and of course…” She paused. “Erica, are you there?”
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly her sister started laughing. “I was joking!”
“What?”
“It was a joke. We are even now.”
“What? How come?”
“Your last joke about dad moving into my apartment wasn’t that funny.”
Erica laughed. “It was. Ok, now seriously. How are you?”
“Great. I just sold my new project. Trip to Nepal. It’s wonderful. You should see it.”
“That’s good. Congratulations.” Erica smiled. “And how are the parents?”
“Mom is offended by you. And dad is pissed with his last client.”
Erica sighed. “Why is mom offended?”
“She said that you never call. Not even to tell her ‘Kiss my ass, I don’t have time to make calls.’” Alice chuckled. “But seriously, Erica! You could call her once a week, at least, you know?!”
“I will call her later. I promise.” She sighed. “And what’s wrong with dad’s client?”
“The asshole won’t pay when he should. Dad is furious because this man should have paid last month.”
“Ok, I’ll call them tonight.”
“Good. And what about you? You ok?”
“Hah! I’ve been better.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you have the whole day?” Erica said sarcastically.
“That bad?”
“Well… it’s been worse. I’m not running from Baltimore, so that’s a good sign.” She laughed lightly.
“You know I could use a few days off. Can you keep me for a weekend?” Alice asked.
“Always!” Erica smiled. “Just let me know when your flight is and I’ll be at the airport.”
“I will. And I promise that I will not bring the parents.”
“Thanks…” She paused and shifted in her seat. “Alice?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe this Christmas plan wasn’t that bad after all?!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but I was thinking only about you and the parents. I’ll call mom later and tell her everything.”
“Ok.” Erica could hear the door bell on the other side of the phone. “Look I have to go. I’ll call you later with the flight details.”
“Ok. Take care.” Erica hung up.
Alice was right; she should call her parents more often. God, they didn’t even know that she had bought a new house.
“Great! Mom will kill me!” She said quietly and stood up. It was almost 9pm. She managed to avoid Kevin for all the twelve hours. She took the last chart from her desk and made her way to the doors. When she opened them she almost bumped into Julia.
“Hi.” The brunette said.
“I’m sorry. Hi.”
“I’m coming in Kate’s name.”
“Kate?” Erica asked not sure about who Julia was talking about.
“Tom Caine’s wife.”
“Oh. Right. Is everything alright?”
“She wasn’t able to come today and she asked me if I could find out something about Tom. I mean, could you tell me how he is doing and when we can take him home?” Julia unconsciously crossed her arms.
Erica smiled lightly. “I was just going to see him. He’s my last patient for today.” She closed the doors behind them. “You can go with me if you want.”
“Thank you.” She was a little surprised that Erica had just let her join without a fight or an argument.
Julia looked at the blonde woman as they started to walk. She figured that Erica was just simply tired of fights and work, so she just quietly marched beside the taller woman.
“Mr. Caine.” Erica said when they came to Tom’s room. “I hope it’s not too late, but I just wanted to check on you before I leave today.”
Erica checked his chart and moved to his monitor.
“Is there any pain you feel Mr. Caine?” She asked nicely.
“Nope. I’m just fine.” He smiled at her. “Thanks to you, doctor Hahn.”
“I’m glad that I could help.” She smiled back and started listening to his heart.
A few moments later she broke the silence in the room.
“Well, everything seems to be fine. I would like it if you stayed for a few more days. You are strong and you can rest at home but I want to be sure.” She wrote something in his chart. “We’ll do a few tests tomorrow and after that, I will tell you exactly how it’s gonna be, ok?”
“Whatever you say.” He nodded. “I just don’t know where you were a year ago when Julia was shot.” He sighed at his partner. “I am always the lucky one.” He laughed.
“You’re from Seattle, right?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, I was working in Seattle earlier.” Erica nodded. “How do you know?”
“You had a Seattle t-shirt on last night.” Julia smiled shyly.
“Oh, right. Well old times. Fortunately.” She sighed. “Ok, Mr. Caine I’ll see you after tomorrow. Take care alright?”
“Sure thing. Thank you.” He smiled.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” She smiled and left his room.
A half an hour later, Erica was walking across the parking lot to her car.
“Dr. Hahn!” Julia called after her.
Erica turned around and waited for the other woman.
“I think after last night you can call me Erica.” She laughed.
“Ok. Julia.” The brunette shook Erica’s hand. “Thank you for letting me stay with Tom.”
“It’s ok.” She looked at Julia.
“Do you want to grab a beer?” Julia suddenly asked.
“Aren’t you on duty?” Erica joked and mentally slapped herself for that.
Julia laughed lightly, mostly at Erica’s face after she said those words.
“No I’m not, but thank you for your concern.”
“Ok then. You saved my life so I shouldn’t decline.”
They both laughed and made their way to the bar a few blocks from the hospital.
When they were finally sitting at the small table, Erica noticed that she was all tense.
“Can I ask you something?” Julia sat opposite to her.
“You can, but it doesn’t mean that I will answer.” Erica said quietly.
“Ok. When you said that Seattle was ‘old times’…” She paused to check if she could continue. Erica nodded knowing where this question was going. Julia continued. “Why did you add ‘fortunately’? You weren’t happy there?”
“That depends.” Erica shifted in her seat. “I didn’t have time to think about being happy or not. I was too busy. When I graduated from Johns Hopkins, I went to Mercy West there. They had a great cardio ward then. And almost three years ago, I transferred to Seattle Grace Hospital.” She took a sip of her beer. “I thought I was in a better hospital with professional people, but at the end it happened to be totally different.”
“Why is that?” Julia asked simply.
“Well, I didn’t fit in there.” She smiled sadly. “SGH is a place where gossip personal drama takes first place and only after that comes patient treatment. But…” She stopped to drink her beer. “… I’ve learnt a lot of things about myself there. So it wasn’t that bad after all.”
“What things?”
Erica looked at her, squirming eyes. “Mmm… that I was a bad teacher.” She raised her mug in a toast sign.
“And that’s a good thing?” Julia asked surprised.
“Yes. Now I am a better one.” She smiled.
“And that’s all?” Julia chuckled.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve said that you learned a lot of things about yourself. And that’s only one.”
“I should have known that it would be like that when I go for a beer with a cop.” Erica smiled.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be too inquiring.”
“It’s ok. I should take lessons from you. Sometimes I should be like that with my patients.” She laughed. “You’re right it’s not everything, but I don’t know you that well yet, to tell you everything. So, why did you leave Columbia for the Police Academy?”
“Fair enough.” Julia laughed. “I left Columbia because medicine wasn’t what I wanted.”
“Kevin said that you were really good. According to him, you had a chance to graduate with flying colors.”
Julia laughed. “Yeah, well Kevin always repeats the things that my husband said.”
Erica’s jaw dropped. “You have a husband?” She asked, clearly surprised.
“Had.” Julia smiled sadly. “He died two years ago, of liver cancer. That was a moment when I regretted having left Columbia.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. He and Kevin were best friends. I still don’t know how it was working. They were completely different. And Philip hated Laura.”
Erica sighed. “Why?”
“Kevin was always curious about everything and he loves his work. Philip always thought that Laura was lazy and didn’t respect him and their parents. Which I think is not true, at least not the Kevin part. She respects him, but she doesn’t know how to respect their parents. She didn’t know them well. Her mom died when she was one day old, and their father when she was seven. But the lazy part…” She shook her head. “Sorry to say this, but on this one my husband was 100% right. She finished her studies only because Kevin begged her.”
Erica stayed silent.
“But she’s a very good person. She’s always there when you need her. She was wonderful after Philip’s death.”
“Do you think she could change?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know what could have happened to make her change.”
Erica just nodded and for a while, they just sat in silence.
“Do you know that you are probably first woman, or even first person who said no to her?”
Erica blushed and Julia laughed lightly.
“Oh, don’t be shy! You look a little like a heart breaker.”
Erica burst into laughter. “What?”
“My grandpa used to say ‘Every handsome woman is a heart breaker’. He’s Chinese and he doesn’t speak well in English. That’s why he married my grandma and left her a few years later, before she could do that to him.” She laughed. “They were married again a few months later.”
They were both enjoying their time, and two hours later, Erica was on her way home. She was tired after spending the entire day at the hospital, but she didn’t regret her time with Julia. She is very similar to Kevin in many ways.
The first thing Erica did when she got home was take a bath. She just left her clothes on the bathroom floor, and got into the tub. She was sitting there, trying to relax, when her thoughts brought her sister and parents back. “Shit! I forgot to call mom!” She groaned and sighed deeply. Later when she crawled into her bed and snuggled closer to her pillow she finally felt all the tension going away. She became more relaxed and quickly fell asleep.
_____
Erica made her way to the kitchen quietly passing Laura, still sleeping on the couch. She entered the kitchen and turned on the water to wash her mug. She started to wonder what to make for breakfast, but her thoughts quickly changed tracks and in a few seconds she wasn’t thinking about eggs and cheese, but Laura, and what she was going to tell her when she woke up.
For Erica it was obvious that she didn’t want to be with that girl. She was smart and funny, but most of the time she was just annoying for her. Erica respected self-confident people, but only those who didn’t use it against other people. And what was more important, she simply wasn’t interested in Laura that way.
After leaving Seattle, she wasn’t even thinking about who she might like or not. She just wanted to get away from that city and try to forget what had happened at SGH and with Callie. She accepted Chief’s Braddock proposition which, by the way, she had postponed because of Callie. All she wanted to think about, was her job. Just like before SGH. That’s why she chose work, not personal drama. She didn’t want to waste time with it.
“Do you know that you just killed one polar bear?”
Erica jumped at Laura’s voice behind her.
“What?” Erica asked and noticed that the water was still running. “Oh. Yeah, right.” She turned it off and faced the younger woman.
“I’m sorry about last night.” Laura said quietly.
“I am sorry too. I shouldn’t have left like that and…”
“Can I just say something first?” Laura asked cutting the older woman off.
Erica sighed. That was one of the many reasons why she found Laura annoying. She couldn’t stand people who interrupted someone in their conversation.
Laura didn’t wait for Erica’s reply.
“I wanted to say that I shouldn’t have broken into your house. I should’ve just followed you after you left the club. I am sorry I didn’t take things slow with you. Sean told me that you didn’t look gay and maybe I’ve read your signals wrong.”
“What signals?!” Erica thought. “Alright I’ve kissed her one time but later I told her that I didn’t want to. Isn’t it a clear signal for NO?!”
“First of all you should stop listening to your friend, because I am sorry but he is just stupid. Second of all, I already told you that I don’t want to do it slow, because I just don’t want to do anything. I am sorry Laura.” Erica leaned her left hand on the counter top. “I am sorry for all that’s happened, but I just don’t see us like that.”
Laura covered Erica’s palm with her own. “I know you’re scared and you probably have no experience…”
“Oh, my God! Which part of NO don’t you understand?” Erica was clearly pissed and she wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible, but Laura was making it too difficult.
The younger woman took a step back and looked at Erica, surprised.
“Laura, listen to me.” Erica said calmly now. “I like you. You are nice… when you are not so insistent and so damn cocky.” She took her hand away from Laura’s. “I am not scared, nor is that the reason I don’t want to be with you. Do you understand?” Erica herself could barely understand anything right now.
Laura had been watching her for a few moments like she was counting on Erica changing her mind, but nothing like that happened. She blinked a few times and swallowed slowly.
“Yeah.” She looked around. “Umm… can I call for a cab?”
“I’ll drive you.” Julia walked into the kitchen and smiled a little to Erica. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Erica replied.
“What are you doing here?” Laura asked surprised.
Julia laughed a little. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
Laura walked out of the kitchen without looking at Erica. “I’ll wait outside.”
Erica sighed deeply as she left the kitchen.
“That bad?” Julia asked.
“I…” Erica started and shook her head. “Kevin is going to kill me.”
“Nahhh… he knows his sister very well. So do I. And I know it’s not easy with Laura. She’s great as a friend, but I’ve never met someone as difficult as her.” Julia smiled. “Don’t worry. She’ll be alright.”
“Thank you for taking her home.” Erica smiled a little.
“No problem. Thank you for letting me stay the night.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Ok, I’d better go. Thanks again.”
Erica just nodded and watched her leaving the kitchen.
Later, at the hospital, Erica happily jumped into a pool full of emergency surgeries and post op rounds. Just as she was going to her office, her phone rang. She looked at the screen and smiled widely.
“Alice!” She laughed. “What happened this time? Did mom start to move your furniture again?”
“Very funny!” Erica’s sister stiffly said.
“So, how are you? Is everything alright?” Erica asked while she entered her office.
“I thought I should warn you that mom and dad want to visit you. Actually they want to come for Christmas.”
“It’s September now.” Erica said surprised.
“Yeah, but mom wants half of our family to come.”
Erica froze. “What?”
“I’m telling you. She asked uncle Michael and aunt Judith to come, and of course…” She paused. “Erica, are you there?”
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly her sister started laughing. “I was joking!”
“What?”
“It was a joke. We are even now.”
“What? How come?”
“Your last joke about dad moving into my apartment wasn’t that funny.”
Erica laughed. “It was. Ok, now seriously. How are you?”
“Great. I just sold my new project. Trip to Nepal. It’s wonderful. You should see it.”
“That’s good. Congratulations.” Erica smiled. “And how are the parents?”
“Mom is offended by you. And dad is pissed with his last client.”
Erica sighed. “Why is mom offended?”
“She said that you never call. Not even to tell her ‘Kiss my ass, I don’t have time to make calls.’” Alice chuckled. “But seriously, Erica! You could call her once a week, at least, you know?!”
“I will call her later. I promise.” She sighed. “And what’s wrong with dad’s client?”
“The asshole won’t pay when he should. Dad is furious because this man should have paid last month.”
“Ok, I’ll call them tonight.”
“Good. And what about you? You ok?”
“Hah! I’ve been better.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you have the whole day?” Erica said sarcastically.
“That bad?”
“Well… it’s been worse. I’m not running from Baltimore, so that’s a good sign.” She laughed lightly.
“You know I could use a few days off. Can you keep me for a weekend?” Alice asked.
“Always!” Erica smiled. “Just let me know when your flight is and I’ll be at the airport.”
“I will. And I promise that I will not bring the parents.”
“Thanks…” She paused and shifted in her seat. “Alice?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe this Christmas plan wasn’t that bad after all?!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but I was thinking only about you and the parents. I’ll call mom later and tell her everything.”
“Ok.” Erica could hear the door bell on the other side of the phone. “Look I have to go. I’ll call you later with the flight details.”
“Ok. Take care.” Erica hung up.
Alice was right; she should call her parents more often. God, they didn’t even know that she had bought a new house.
“Great! Mom will kill me!” She said quietly and stood up. It was almost 9pm. She managed to avoid Kevin for all the twelve hours. She took the last chart from her desk and made her way to the doors. When she opened them she almost bumped into Julia.
“Hi.” The brunette said.
“I’m sorry. Hi.”
“I’m coming in Kate’s name.”
“Kate?” Erica asked not sure about who Julia was talking about.
“Tom Caine’s wife.”
“Oh. Right. Is everything alright?”
“She wasn’t able to come today and she asked me if I could find out something about Tom. I mean, could you tell me how he is doing and when we can take him home?” Julia unconsciously crossed her arms.
Erica smiled lightly. “I was just going to see him. He’s my last patient for today.” She closed the doors behind them. “You can go with me if you want.”
“Thank you.” She was a little surprised that Erica had just let her join without a fight or an argument.
Julia looked at the blonde woman as they started to walk. She figured that Erica was just simply tired of fights and work, so she just quietly marched beside the taller woman.
“Mr. Caine.” Erica said when they came to Tom’s room. “I hope it’s not too late, but I just wanted to check on you before I leave today.”
Erica checked his chart and moved to his monitor.
“Is there any pain you feel Mr. Caine?” She asked nicely.
“Nope. I’m just fine.” He smiled at her. “Thanks to you, doctor Hahn.”
“I’m glad that I could help.” She smiled back and started listening to his heart.
A few moments later she broke the silence in the room.
“Well, everything seems to be fine. I would like it if you stayed for a few more days. You are strong and you can rest at home but I want to be sure.” She wrote something in his chart. “We’ll do a few tests tomorrow and after that, I will tell you exactly how it’s gonna be, ok?”
“Whatever you say.” He nodded. “I just don’t know where you were a year ago when Julia was shot.” He sighed at his partner. “I am always the lucky one.” He laughed.
“You’re from Seattle, right?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, I was working in Seattle earlier.” Erica nodded. “How do you know?”
“You had a Seattle t-shirt on last night.” Julia smiled shyly.
“Oh, right. Well old times. Fortunately.” She sighed. “Ok, Mr. Caine I’ll see you after tomorrow. Take care alright?”
“Sure thing. Thank you.” He smiled.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” She smiled and left his room.
A half an hour later, Erica was walking across the parking lot to her car.
“Dr. Hahn!” Julia called after her.
Erica turned around and waited for the other woman.
“I think after last night you can call me Erica.” She laughed.
“Ok. Julia.” The brunette shook Erica’s hand. “Thank you for letting me stay with Tom.”
“It’s ok.” She looked at Julia.
“Do you want to grab a beer?” Julia suddenly asked.
“Aren’t you on duty?” Erica joked and mentally slapped herself for that.
Julia laughed lightly, mostly at Erica’s face after she said those words.
“No I’m not, but thank you for your concern.”
“Ok then. You saved my life so I shouldn’t decline.”
They both laughed and made their way to the bar a few blocks from the hospital.
When they were finally sitting at the small table, Erica noticed that she was all tense.
“Can I ask you something?” Julia sat opposite to her.
“You can, but it doesn’t mean that I will answer.” Erica said quietly.
“Ok. When you said that Seattle was ‘old times’…” She paused to check if she could continue. Erica nodded knowing where this question was going. Julia continued. “Why did you add ‘fortunately’? You weren’t happy there?”
“That depends.” Erica shifted in her seat. “I didn’t have time to think about being happy or not. I was too busy. When I graduated from Johns Hopkins, I went to Mercy West there. They had a great cardio ward then. And almost three years ago, I transferred to Seattle Grace Hospital.” She took a sip of her beer. “I thought I was in a better hospital with professional people, but at the end it happened to be totally different.”
“Why is that?” Julia asked simply.
“Well, I didn’t fit in there.” She smiled sadly. “SGH is a place where gossip personal drama takes first place and only after that comes patient treatment. But…” She stopped to drink her beer. “… I’ve learnt a lot of things about myself there. So it wasn’t that bad after all.”
“What things?”
Erica looked at her, squirming eyes. “Mmm… that I was a bad teacher.” She raised her mug in a toast sign.
“And that’s a good thing?” Julia asked surprised.
“Yes. Now I am a better one.” She smiled.
“And that’s all?” Julia chuckled.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve said that you learned a lot of things about yourself. And that’s only one.”
“I should have known that it would be like that when I go for a beer with a cop.” Erica smiled.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be too inquiring.”
“It’s ok. I should take lessons from you. Sometimes I should be like that with my patients.” She laughed. “You’re right it’s not everything, but I don’t know you that well yet, to tell you everything. So, why did you leave Columbia for the Police Academy?”
“Fair enough.” Julia laughed. “I left Columbia because medicine wasn’t what I wanted.”
“Kevin said that you were really good. According to him, you had a chance to graduate with flying colors.”
Julia laughed. “Yeah, well Kevin always repeats the things that my husband said.”
Erica’s jaw dropped. “You have a husband?” She asked, clearly surprised.
“Had.” Julia smiled sadly. “He died two years ago, of liver cancer. That was a moment when I regretted having left Columbia.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. He and Kevin were best friends. I still don’t know how it was working. They were completely different. And Philip hated Laura.”
Erica sighed. “Why?”
“Kevin was always curious about everything and he loves his work. Philip always thought that Laura was lazy and didn’t respect him and their parents. Which I think is not true, at least not the Kevin part. She respects him, but she doesn’t know how to respect their parents. She didn’t know them well. Her mom died when she was one day old, and their father when she was seven. But the lazy part…” She shook her head. “Sorry to say this, but on this one my husband was 100% right. She finished her studies only because Kevin begged her.”
Erica stayed silent.
“But she’s a very good person. She’s always there when you need her. She was wonderful after Philip’s death.”
“Do you think she could change?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know what could have happened to make her change.”
Erica just nodded and for a while, they just sat in silence.
“Do you know that you are probably first woman, or even first person who said no to her?”
Erica blushed and Julia laughed lightly.
“Oh, don’t be shy! You look a little like a heart breaker.”
Erica burst into laughter. “What?”
“My grandpa used to say ‘Every handsome woman is a heart breaker’. He’s Chinese and he doesn’t speak well in English. That’s why he married my grandma and left her a few years later, before she could do that to him.” She laughed. “They were married again a few months later.”
They were both enjoying their time, and two hours later, Erica was on her way home. She was tired after spending the entire day at the hospital, but she didn’t regret her time with Julia. She is very similar to Kevin in many ways.
The first thing Erica did when she got home was take a bath. She just left her clothes on the bathroom floor, and got into the tub. She was sitting there, trying to relax, when her thoughts brought her sister and parents back. “Shit! I forgot to call mom!” She groaned and sighed deeply. Later when she crawled into her bed and snuggled closer to her pillow she finally felt all the tension going away. She became more relaxed and quickly fell asleep.
_____