INSIDE THEIR MINDS

I'm Derek

DEREK

"Where is Erica?" I shouted, though not purposefully at the receptionist.

"Are you family?" The woman asked me with a slight scowl.

"Yes,... No... Ah. I will be." I said more quietly this time.

"Unless you are family you are not allowed back at this time." She says with an almost smile forming on her lips.

"You know Erica?" A woman asked quietly from behind me.

"Ah, yeah she is a client of mine." I said feeling almost as if I was telling a lie. She is so much more to me than just a massage client. She is the woman I love and she is carrying my child.

"How do you know her?" I ask her.

"I know her husband, we are co-workers. I was with him when he got the call from the hospital." She half slurred.

Then she clutched at her stomach and nearly doubled over.

"You need to sit down, come here." I extend my hand to her and she takes it before almost falling over.

"Nurse! We need a nurse over here!" I shout to an almost empty room. "It will be ok. Is there someone I should call?" I ask her while still holding her hand.

"Call Alex." She mumbled as she patted her purse that now lay beside her.

Then two doctors appeared with a gurney and before I knew it they were taking her to the back leaving me with her purse and cell phone.

PHIL

After seeing that Erica was alright I thought about a good excuse to leave the room.

"Do you need anything?" I asked her as I stood from the bed.

"A soda would be great." She asks, "You know what kind I like."

And with that I left and headed back to the waiting room, but she wasn't there. Did she leave without telling me? Did finding out my wife was pregnant send her over the edge?

The person that occupied the space was a blonde gentlemen probably a few years younger than me. When I looked to him I saw a purse sat beside him. Wasn't that Kate's purse? The one she had just had in the car?

"This may seem weird to ask but that isn't your purse is it?" I ask him.

"No some woman, said she knew Erica, was out in the lobby about to leave when she nearly fainted. The doctors took her away leaving me with her purse and cell." He said.

"Kate." I half whispered. "Is she ok? Where did she go?"

"No Idea." He said. "but unless you're family they won't let you back there." He says with a frown.

Then he handed me her purse after tucking her cell inside.

"Thanks I will make sure she gets it.. ah..."

"Oh I'm Derek." He says as he stands from his chair and extending his hand.

"I'm Phil."