I Believe in You

Haunted

Ace was much less than thrilled that Conrad and I decided to adopt the golden retriever puppy that Lily had been keeping the night she died. We were certain that they'd get used to one another as time went on.
We kept the puppy Lily in a kennel until my sister got off work and could keep an eye on her and Ace so Conrad and I could work.
"I'm going to run into work." He told me as I woke up the next morning.
"Are you okay?" I asked sitting up in our bed.
"I'm just having a hard time today. I'm sure after a good run to clear my head I'll be fine." He assured me kissing my forehead.
"I love you, Conrad." I sighed nodding.
"I love you too, Meghan." He smiled at me before walking out of the room.
Nic, Devon and I met in Lily's old room shortly after my shift started.
"I still can't believe she's gone." Devon sighed looking around the room.
"Where's Conrad?" Nic looked at me.
"He said he was going to run in today. Clear his head." I shrugged.
"He's here. He's treating a Dr. Eileen Jacoby for severe hallucinations." Devon said.
"Jacoby? She was one of the medical school professors we learned under." I mentioned offhandedly.
"You should know, he was bandaging his ankle when he got in." Devon told me.
"Will you keep an eye on him? Come find me if he continues being difficult." I sighed knowing full well that he would absolutely continue being difficult.
That's just who Conrad was. He was punishing himself for Lily's death.
"Of course I will, but he's not going to like it." He answered.
"No. He most certainly won't. He knows that I hate it when he's stubborn and self-deprecating."
"We need to try to get a full autopsy and toxicology screen for Lily." Nic suggested.
"Yeah. We should." I nodded thoughtfully.
"Dr. Hawkins?" A tall young man walked up to me.
"Not yet." I smiled.
"Conrad is around here somewhere."
"No. I'm looking for Dr. Meghan Hawkins." He said.
"I'm Dr. Meghan Bishop but I'm engaged to Dr. Conrad Hawkins." I explained.
"I guess Lily considered you already married." He said handing me an envelope with: Dr. Meghan Hawkins written on it.
"Thank you." I sighed my throat tightened hearing her name.
"She really appreciated you caring so thoroughly for her." He said.
"You're her fiance?" I phrased it as a question but it was a statement.
"I was. Yes." He stated in the past tense.
"I really appreciate you bringing me this." I smiled sadly at him.
I walked away from him into the sleeping quarters and sat on one of the beds.
I opened the envelope and dumped the contents onto the bed beside me.
Inside was an angel charm with a white pearl head and a light metallic blue pearl for the body.
I picked it up and smiled.
"An angel for the Bride. Something borrowed, something blue, a little angel to watch over you. When you walk down the aisle on your wedding day attach this angel to your bouquet." The small card read that I assumed came with the charm.
My heart ached as I picked up the folded letter.
Meghan,
If you're reading this I didn't make it to your wedding day to give this to you myself. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me beyond the scope of your job. You were always my shoulder to cry on and my confidante. I hope you'll carry this little angel on your wedding day as your something blue and you'll know I'm watching over you and Conrad with the biggest smile on my face.
All My Love,
Lily
I heard the door open as I stared at the letter in my hand.
"Meghan? Are you okay?" Devon asked cautiously walking into the room.
"I am. Lily gave me "something blue" for our wedding." I sighed looking up at him.
"What did he do?" I asked.
"He's refusing treatment and I think his ankle is sprained really bad." He said clearly upset.
"I'll handle him." I answered with a small smile.
"You knew he'd do this?" He looked at me.
"Of course I did. I'm marrying him." I answered gathering up my gift and letter from Lily and heading off to find my fiance.
"Conrad." I said his name firmly when I found him hobbling around Dr. Jacoby's room.
"Oh hell." He sighed looking at me.
"Devon is a snitch."
"And you are a pain in the ass." I walked into the room.
"Miss. Bishop? Oh, it would be Dr. Bishop now wouldn't it?" Dr. Jacoby said smiling at me.
"Yes, ma'am it would be." I smiled back.
"I need to borrow Conrad for a moment."
Reluctantly he followed me out of the room and into an empty exam room.
"Get up there." I instructed.
He just looked at me.
"I'm going to examine that ankle one way or another."
He knew I was serious so he got up on the bed.
I took his tennis shoe off then unwrapped the ankle. His ankle was roughly the size of a softball and was a deep purple color.
I looked up and glared at him.
"I was running to work and I got hit by a bike." He explained causing me to sigh.
"I'm going to wrap it up and insist that you use a knee walker for the rest of the shift. I'll look at it again when we get home." I sighed again.
"Yes, ma'am." He muttered.
"If you'd have just let Devon do this we wouldn't be here right now." I said as I started wrapping up the ankle.
"I know. I just..."
"You're trying to punish yourself for Lily. I know."
"I should have done more." He sighed.
"There was nothing more to do. We did everything we could for her." I looked up at him.
I could tell he knew I was right but he was still upset.
"Meghan, Conrad. You aren't going to believe this." Devon exclaimed as he and Nic walked into the room.
"What is it?" I asked helping Conrad put his sock and shoe back on.
"Lane just agreed to a full autopsy." Nic answered.
"With the toxicology screen?"
"Yes." She reiterated.
I thought on this a moment.
"Something isn't right. There's a reason she agreed to that." I sighed.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Dr. Jacoby has Parkinson's." Conrad told me after Devon and Nic left.
"That would explain the hallucinations." I sighed.
"She's seeing patients she couldn't save." He explained.
I nodded.
"We all have regrets." I sighed looking at him.
He nodded.
When we got home Elena kept Ace and Lily in the backyard so I could help Conrad up to the bedroom. We propped his leg up and I got ice on it to reduce the swelling.
"I'm going to send Elena home, feed the puppies  and get you dinner and anti-inflammatories, then I'll come to bed." I told him.
He nodded.
"Meghan. I'm sorry." He called after me.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. Just take care of yourself." I smiled at him.
Probably an hour later I returned to the bedroom with a large pizza and sodas along with Tylenol trailed by two eager puppies.
Ace and Lily laid on the floor while I cuddled up to Conrad sharing pizza and watching a scary movie.
"I saw Lily." He muttered half asleep.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked gently.
He nodded.
"She was with your mom. There in the corner." He sighed nodding.
"Of course she was. They're watching over us. Sleep now, my love." I urged.
Conrad wrapped his arm tightly around me and drifted to sleep.