Healing Touch

Chapter One

Jaime drove her car into parking and sat there for a while before heading to the door. She wanted to relax herself before she shared the bad news with Elsie Davis, her girlfriend. They had been together for going on four years now.

Elsie owned a successful restaurant which kept her busy most of the time because it was operated throughout day and night, while Jaime was a successful lawyer working hard to make partner, which more often than not kept her away from home.

"Jaime, is that you?" Elsie asked when she walked into their two-bedroom apartment.

"Uh, yeah," she said as she put her things on the table beside the door.

"You're home early," Elsie said, her voice coming from their bedroom.

Jaime assumed she was getting ready to leave for work and couldn't help notice how little time they spent together.

"Is everything okay?" Elsie asked when she stepped out of the bedroom, beautifully dressed in a formal evening gown.

"I need to talk to you," Jaime said, unsure of how to start.

"Not now because I'm already late and I have to get going," Elsie said, rushing to get her purse in the bedroom, then stepped out and reached for her car keys.

"Elsie," she said softly, but Elsie was too much in a hurry to notice the desperation in her voice.

"We'll talk tomorrow," she said, quickly pecking Jaime's cheek and walked out.

Jaime sat down and stared at the door. Maybe Elsie didn't need to know. If the chemo worked and the surgery was a success, then everything would go back to normal and life would resume. Perhaps it was time she started thinking positively.

***

"What were you thinking? You can barely manage what you're doing right now. You can't just volunteer at the hospital," Layla, Andy's best friend, scolded.

"I can and I have."

"Andy, come on. With the amount of work-load you have?"

"I did it with my mother and I can do it now."

"Well back then you had me, and I didn't mind working harder to help you out but right now things are different."

"I'm not asking you for anything, Layla. I'll do my share of the work. I'll continue going to school and I'll volunteer for a couple of hours every day at the hospital."

"You'll exhaust yourself and won't have the energy to do everything."

"I need you to stop discouraging me. What I do with my free time is up to me and as long as it doesn't affect our working relationship, I don't see why it should bother you."

Layla raised her hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine, it's your life. Do with it as you please. Jeez!" Frustrated, she added, "If you weren't gay, I'd think you're in love with Michael and you're just doing this to stay close to him."

Andy laughed at Layla's assessment and shook her head. "Maybe I am, you never know."

"No, I can bet you a lot of money on that."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Well, typically because I'm your best friend and I know these things about you. It's been quite some time since I last saw you with a woman though. You pushed Leslie away during your mother's treatment, made her the last priority on your list and treated her like she didn't matter to you. Do you want to tell me that during the last eleven months you could have turned straight?"

Andy laughed at Layla's well-constructed words.

"I need to heal Layla, and I feel like the only way for me to do that is to be at that hospital."

Layla nodded. "I know how much you loved your mother. Her passing left a hole in both of us that nothing will probably ever fill. But I can't say I'll volunteer just because you're doing it. I can pass by sometimes, but unlike you, I actually care about our business and studies."

"The only reason you'll show up is to hang around Michael."

"Why would you say such an absurd thing?"

"Absurd? Really, Layla?"

Her expression was serious and gave nothing away, but Andy knew her better.

"Let's get back to work," Layla said, changing the subject and turning her attention back to her laptop.

"You're a strange human being," Andy commented as she did the same.

***

"You'll help to file and retrieve documents, provide administrative backup, help visitors, visit with patients, transport flowers and clean beds and I'll be your supervisor," Michael said.

"Can I talk to patients?"

"Yes, because you have experience in this particular field but do not overstep your boundaries and do not get emotionally attached."

"When do I start?"

"Right now, if you're not busy. You'll be here for at least two hours a day. When you can't make it, please tell me in advance."

"Alright."

Andy walked out of Michael's office and went straight to the gift shop.