The Rest of a Life

Prolog

The sky was falling over Seattle as Jo was looking out her window trying to find a seeming peacefulness in her mind. Since her husband had told her that he had decided to get back together with his ex-wife two months earlier, she could no longer sleep. The bed where she was lying was too big, the silence was too heavy, the memories of their happiness were too present, and the sadness was too heavy on her chest. As a result, she spent those nights thinking, focused on the fact that she would never again be able to fall asleep next to this man she loved so much.

As every night, to avoid spending the whole night thinking about it and crying until the sun comes up, The young woman took several sleeping pills before falling into a deep sleep that would keep the pain away until she had to go to work.

The next morning, she did not remain for long in her apartment because she knew that a second spent in this apartment could plunge her back into strong nostalgia. She got dressed very quickly and grabbed on the fly a large cup of coffee prepared by her programmable coffeemaker. Then, she left her house to meet Meredith and Amelia, who were waiting for her, parked in front of the building.

"That damn coffee is definitely never strong enough." Jo remarked as she drank the caffeinated liquid. "I should add some more whiskey. Everything's always better with whiskey."

"You know," Amelia said, "you wouldn't need so much caffeine if you lowered the amount of sleeping pills you take every day. Believe me, I can assure you medication is never the answer to these kinds of problems."

"It's either the sleeping pills, either I spend the night having an anxiety attack and I can't be in a condition to care for my patients during the day. The hospital is the only thing I can hold on to, so I want to be okay."

"Jo," Amelia started, as she turned to the back deck where the young woman was sitting, "I know you're doing everything you can to keep your head above water, keep living and keep up appearances, but this is not the answer. I've been in these situations before and I know that right now you think you're in control, but you're not."

"I think you should take a few days off to clear your head and get back on the safe track." Meredith continued. "Right now, your head is on the grindstone and you can't see that you're about to crash into the wall."

"Jo," Amelia said as she grabbed her friend's hand, "we just want you to take care of yourself because he doesn't deserve that you hurt yourself for him."

"I don't mind taking my mind off it, but I don't see what I can do." Jo answered. "I would like to remind you that I have no family and few friends outside the hospital as I have done nothing but work these last few years."

"That's the point," Amelia replied, "you need to air out your mind and go see other things, other places, other people."

"Where do you want me to go?"

"Let me make you a suggestion," Meredith offered, "in two weeks, it's school holidays and we're all going away together to a nice place with a nice house. I don't want you to be confined to your own house, I want you to shine."

"You think we're going to get days off?" Jo asked

"Jo," Meredith commented, "I remind you that I own this hospital, so if I decide to discharge you, you're on leave. Either way, you have no choice but to come with us on this vacation."

"All right, then, let's go on holiday!"