23 The difficulties

"What am I doing?" Emily put her hands on her forehead, wiping the sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Emily walked towards the washroom absent-mindedly. She bumped into the sofa sitting in the hallway.

Emily rushed to the washroom. She washed up and got changed. She had to go to the hospital. Mr. Sun had called her to meet him at the Sun Designers' office. He said he had something urgent to tell her.

Emily sat down on the sofa. She had been here in Murica City only for a few days, and her life was turning upside down. Everything she wanted to do, everything she wanted to become, everything she planned—went wrong.

Emily put her face in her palms and started crying. She wanted to scream into the void. Why was everything going out of control?

'When I was a child, life was so easy. I did not even realize when things started becoming complicated,' Emily thought.

Three years… Three years it took for her to forget everything and move on. But fate… fate brought them together again.

She raised her hand to wipe the tears that fell from her beautiful eyes and cascaded down her cheeks.

"This is not the time to cry, Emily," she told herself. She decided to get dressed. She stood in front of the mirror, admiring her locks. Gerald always loved them. He would twirl them with his bony fingers and say, "Emily, they are beautiful."

Thinking of Gerald wiped the smile off her face. Why did she, consciously or unconsciously, always think about him?

She shook her head twice… as if that would remove all the thoughts.

"Mr. Sun, would you mind if I come to meet you at night? I need to make a trip to the hospital."

"Hospital? Again? Didn't you go there last night?"

"No, Mr. Sun. Something cropped up yesterday and I had to go there. I need to visit my parents right now. So Mr. Sun, is it possible for you to postpone our meeting?"

"Sure, my dear. Take care of yourself while you run around."

"Thank you, Mr. Sun. See you around. Say hello to Mrs. Sun on my behalf."

"See you later, my dear Emily."

Mr. Sun hung up. Emily pulled a pair of beige trousers and a white shirt from her closet. Dressing as fast as she could, she made her way to Murica Cancer Speciality Hospital.

Standing outside her apartment, she waited for a cab.

"Hey Emily?" A male voice floated into her ears. She turned towards the sound, but could not spot anyone.

She rolled her eyes and stopped searching for the person. If they had to come, they eventually would.

"Hey Emily, I'm here." Emily did not turn around this time.

A big face suddenly came in front of her eyes. She was taken aback. "Oscar, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Oscar questioned her back.

"This is my home, you dumbo."

"Well, I was on my way back to the hospital."

"And?"

"And what? I spotted your beautiful self standing here with your hair open, wearing such a nice dress. Where are you going, my dear?"

Emily raised her eyebrows and answered, "Hospital."

"Let me drop you there then, my lady."

"But Oscar, this is not your usual route, is it?"

Oscar ran his fingers through his hair and said, "No, I went to my friend's house yesterday and his house near yours. He did not let me leave yesterday."

"I see."

"Anyway, come with me. Let's go to the hospital. I'm already running late." Oscar urged.

Emily got into Oscar's car. Closing the door, he looked at Oscar. He was so different from Gerald, but always provided the same level of security as him.

Emily always felt safe when she was with Oscar. She did not know why but her heart told her that Oscar was a dependable person. She could rely on him.

"Emily, what's wrong? And, did you talk to Aunty?"

"I did not get the time. Didn't I tell you about Meera? I had to stay back at Life Line Hospital. I came back a while ago."

"Emily?" Oscar had his hands on the wheel as he turned towards Emily. The locks hanging beside her ears waved along with the winds, making her look even beautiful.

She turned her head to look at him.

"Emily, can I ask you something?" Oscar did not look at her.

"Go ahead." She looked at the road ahead. It was desolate. The leaves of the trees lined beside the road were slowly falling on the road, painting it yellow and orange in color.

"Emily, what is your relationship with the Whitmore family?"

"There is no relationship between us. But why are you asking such questions?"

"Emily, do you remember the day we first met?"

"Uh huh. Totally. But what does that have to do with your question?"

"Do you remember the time we went to the restaurant and they were sitting right behind you and you were clearly agitated. So, don't lie to me Emily. You may be good at many things, but you're never good at lying. Besides, I am a psychologist. I can differentiate between truth and lies."

Emily heaved a sigh. She said, "Oscar, please let's not talk about this today."

"Okay, Emily." Oscar nodded.

The journey to the hospital was silent after that.