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Nicola slipped carefully into her home, making sure not to bump her aching arm. She already loathed the plaster covering from below her shoulder to before her fingers. She knew that she would be wearing the cast for several weeks, but she could hardly think about the future. Dr. Jacobs always had a way of making her depressed. She kicked herself every day she had to return to the clinic to see his oily smile. She had tried to suppress the words that he had hissed toward her in lust, but she couldn’t. Sighing with grief, Nicola tossed her keys upon the coffee table.

The jingle of keys immediately alerted the household that Nicola was home. Before Nicola could further contemplate her Hell, she heard a high-pitched shriek. Immediately, Lucy came tearing down the stairs in a rush to attack her mother. A blur of flaxen locks, purple clothing, squeals, arms, and legs scrambled into Nicola’s good arm.

Lucy pressed many kisses upon her mother as she exploded with excitement. “Grammy had to take Uncle Danny home. He had a party to go to with a girl. Eww, do you think he’s gonna kiss her? AND, Aunt Rosa said she would be back later because she has a boy coming over to Grammy’s house for a movie… Do you think Aunt Rosa is going to kiss that guy? Doesn’t she know that boys have cooties? I mean, Mommy–”

“Woah, slow down a second, Sweetheart. Gramma left you here?” Nicola interrupted with a nervous smile. She couldn’t imagine her mother just abandoning Lucy. It made her sick to her stomach to even imagine such a concept.

“Yep, Grammy left! So, what did you do to get that owie?” Lucy answered, flitting to another topic.

“Lucy, wait, who did Gramma leave you with?”

“One of your good friends who thought you leapt off the side of the planet,” a familiar voice called.

“Hollie!” Nicola laughed happily, whipping around in shock. Lucy clapped her hands, delighted in her mother’s surprise. Nicola kissed her daughter’s cheek, sitting her down on the floor. She then wrapped her good arm around Hollie with a happy squeal. Nicola and Hollie had become friends in high school when Nicola started dating her former husband exclusively. Hollie had been one of the girlfriends in the group that surrounded Nicola and her husband, so Hollie and Nicola quickly clicked. They had been quite a crazy pair during high school and the beginning of college. Yet, sadly, Nicola and Hollie became separated after Nicola and her husband were parted and Lucy was born.

“Your mom found my number in that little address book of yours. She didn’t have anyone else she could call to care for Lucy. Of course, I agreed on the spot and hurried over. Your family hasn’t changed a bit, Nic. Didn’t realize that I’d be seeing you with a busted arm, but it’s great to see you nonetheless,” Hollie explained with a teasing smile. Her dark blue eyes shimmered with a familiar laughter that Nicola had long been accustomed to. Her body was still lean and toned from athletics, covered by a pair of tight boot-cut jeans and a blue tank top with the printed words, Bad News, scrawled across the front. Tortoise-shell rimmed glasses perched on her nose gave her intellectual appeal, but was quickly hindered by the sapphire gem set in her right nostril. Her short blonde locks were tossed into an ordinary ponytail. Nicola felt relieved knowing it was the same Hollie.

“Thank you so much,” Nicola gushed, kissing Hollie’s cheek. Nicola knew that they both had much to share with one another, but Lucy tugged on Nicola’s jeans. It was obvious that Lucy was upset that she didn’t have her mother’s undivided attention. Nicola offered an apologetic look to Hollie, quickly scooping Lucy up with her good arm. She kissed her daughter’s cheek, causing Lucy to giggle. “How was your day, Munchie?”

“GREAT! Grammy and I watched Beauty and the Beast. Then, Uncle Danny started pulling on my hair, so I beat him up. Then Aunt Rosa said that Uncle Danny was bad because he got beat by a girl. So, Uncle Danny chased Aunt Rosa out to the kitchen and sprayed her with that water bottle you keep if Aunt Rosa burns the toast again… So, how did you get the owie, Mommy?” Lucy rambled while the girls walked into the living room. Lucy traced her small fingers down the hard plaster covering her mother’s arm in curiousness. She had only seen this type of plaster on Danny when he was trying stupid stunts with his skateboard, roller blades, or bike.

“Mommy was being silly today, that’s how she got the owie,” Nicola answered, sitting down on the coach.

“Did you try to jump over a pool with Uncle Danny’s skateboard?” Lucy asked, referring to Danny’s obnoxious stunt that placed Danny’s leg in a cast for several weeks.

“No, Mommy tripped over something and fell down on her arm. So, now I have to wear this itchy cast for a few weeks. Mommy’s going to need you to be a big helper while her arm is in this nasty thing. Okay?”

“Sure! Can I play doctor?” Lucy asked. Her cerulean eyes lit up as if she had found a treasure.

“Sure, Munchie,” Nicola agreed, ruffling her daughter’s locks. Lucy squealed with delight, scrambling off her mother’s lap. The little girl quickly jumped to the floor and raced up the stairs. Nicola had bought Lucy a pretend doctor’s bag for a birthday present. Lucy had been eager to play doctor with her dolls, bears, and other stuffed animals. Nicola was sure that Lucy was trying to locate the bag to play doctor with her.

“She has her father’s beautiful blue eyes,” Hollie commented through the silence. Nicola briefly nodded, smiling painfully. Hollie offered a small smile of embarrassment, noting that Nicola still didn’t want to speak of her lost husband. Hollie understood that the incident had been quite rough and knew not to press the boundaries of the first reunion. Hollie quickly changed the subject. “Nic, you never trip over things. Mind telling me how you really broke your arm?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t even try that with me, Chicky,” Hollie warned. “I could see through your blonde-stupor-airhead routine in high school and I can still see through it.”

Nicola hesitated, “My patient—”

“Famous Howie Dorough—”

“Did Rosa tell–”

“No, your sister didn’t squeal for once. Your name is all over the papers now. Someone must have leaked to the papers. Where ever Dorough’s name is mentioned, your picture and name soon follow.”

“Damn it!”

“Yeah, I know how you hate when your privacy is leaked. Not much you can do though,” Hollie replied apologetically. She waited a few seconds, allowing Nicola a few seconds to vent silently. She quickly blurted, “So, what happened? Did you get into a jealous argument with a girlfriend? Or attacked by a mob of groupies? Or…”

“Hollie, it was nothing that brutal!”

“Then what?”

“I can’t break patient confidentiality—”

“You’re still such a goody-goody!” Hollie complained. “Just tell me!”

Nicola sighed with grief, knowing Hollie would stop at nothing till the information was revealed. She glared at her friend with disgust, but Hollie simply smirked in triumph. “My patient was upset and threw a TV. It was a simple case of wrong place, wrong time. I walked in just as the TV was hurled in my direction. The TV crushed my arm–”

“That sleazy jerk! I can’t believe–”

“It wasn't intentional!” Nicola blurted, immediately coming to Howie’s defense. Hollie’s eyes went wide with wonder. “I walked in at the wrong time, Holl! His friends are ignoring him and he can’t accept it. He always thought they were close and when something terrible happened they ran away… He’d never want to hurt me. It was just one of those wrong place, wrong time issues, really!”

“Jezz, Nic, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were fa–”

“Don’t say–”

“Falling for him,” Hollie finished without hesitation.

Nicola groaned. It had only taken Hollie five minutes to lay Nicola’s emotions wide open on the table. In some ways, she realized why she had distanced herself from Hollie when her husband was gone. Nevertheless, she could no longer deny the feelings that had been building up inside her heart. She glanced worriedly at her good friend. “To tell you the truth, I do think I’m falling for him.”

“Yeah, but there’s always a ‘but’ when it comes to your enlightening speeches.”

“But, I can’t,” Nicola admitted, despite the cocky smile she received from Hollie. “It’s a breech of patient-doctor relations. It’s completely unethical and unprofessional. Never in all my years… It’s just not a healthy or proper relationship for someone that has a child to care for.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Under any normal circumstances, I would find someone to replace me as his caregiver.”

“And here comes another but,” Hollie declared in a singsong pitch.

“Dr. Jacobs said if I sign off on this assignment that I’m fired. He’s even gone to say that he’ll call social services on me and have Lucy removed from my care… He’s a powerful man in this city… And he has one of the best paying clinics… I can’t be fired. Lucy needs me and she needs things,” Nicola exclaimed wearily. “So, I’m basically stuck.”

“I’m sorry, Nic,” Hollie soothed softly, wrapping her arms around Nicola’s figure. Hollie could hear the quick pattering of tiny feet down the stairs. Hollie offered a smile, knowing that Lucy would cheer up Nicola. That’s all that Nicola’s mother could talk about – Nicola and Lucy’s extraordinary relationship. “Your mom said that she’d bring dinner after she gets Danny and Rosa-Lynn settled. Afterwards, can I take you shopping to clear your mind?”

“That’d be nice.”

“Great! You need a friend right now,” Hollie laughed as Lucy ran into the room. She had her hair pulled beneath a white band with a circular light attached to the front. A long white robe trailed along the floor as Lucy pulled a large black case behind her. “Can I confide one more thing before your appointment with Dr. Lucy?”

“Sure, what?”

“Your mom and I have received several phone calls from a Mr. Howard Dorough who has been pleading for you to return the phone call.”