Chapter One: Emergency Room Hallways

                                    

                                          
Emma Riley sighed, hearing the faint ring of her cell phone. She gently opened her brown eyes and stared at the bunk bed above her, before grabbing her cell off the side table.

"Dr.Riley." She said into the receiver without even checking the time.

"Hey Emma, I know you're trying to catch some sleep. But I need you. The emergency room is getting a bit busy. We had a gunshot and Paul had to cover it." Austin spoke on the other end of the phone.

Austin Hill was a medical doctor at Kindred Hospital like Emma. They both worked a lot, meaning they worked together a lot. Emma sat on the edge of her bunk bed, rubbing her eyes. She pulled the cell phone from her ear. It was 3pm. She had been on 72-hour straight shift. She was due to be off at 8pm. However, it did not seem like that was going to happen tonight.

"Yeah, it's no problem, Austin." Emma said. "I'll be out in five."

"You are the best." Austin said, before quickly hanging up.

Emma stood up and smoothed any wrinkles her blue scrubs had out. She went inside the adjacent bathroom and flicked the light on. She turned on the sink and let warm water cover her palms, before gently rubbing it in her face. She looked at herself in the mirror.

Her pale skin made her look almost half dead sometimes. Her eyes were a honey brown, and she had purple bags under them. More than likely from her lack of sleep these last few days. Her blonde hair was tucked behind her head in a messy braid. She sighed again; it would have to do.

Emma enjoyed being a doctor. She worked general medicine at the hospital and helped out with sick visits in the emergency room. She had been practicing on her own for almost four years. She enjoyed her work and enjoyed working even more. When Emma was busy working, she couldn't think about the hillside where the wild red roses grow. She couldn't think about how it had almost been 14 years since her life changed so drastically.

Emma shut the bathroom door, leaving the memories at the sink. She left the on call room and walked down the bell south hallway and hopped on an elevator. When it dinged and the doors opened, she stepped out into the emergency room. Kindred Hospital had a large emergency room. They had 104 rooms in the ER, with two waiting rooms off to the side. The nurses' station was right in the center. That is where Emma saw Austin. He was slumped over his computer, quickly charting patient notes. Austin and Emma had worked together for two years. He was very tall, standing in at six feet four inches. He made Emma, who only stood at five feet, look like a little girl standing next to him.

Austin had dark brown hair he kept in a soft buzz cut. His arms were a roll of muscles, and he did have a beautiful smile. All the nurses would swoon over Austin every shift. However, he liked to keep his work and home life separate. That is until it came to Emma. Austin had asked Emma out on several occasions. However, she always kindly turned him down. Romance was not something Emma wanted or needed in her life.

"Where do you need me?" She asked Austin, walking up to his desk.

He looked up at her over his computer screen, smiling.

"Hello to you too, sleeping beauty." He joked.

Emma smiled, nervously adjusting her stethoscope.

"If you want to check out rooms 87, 32, and 64. They all three tested positive for the flu and can be discharged."

Emma hated flu season.  She nodded to Austin, going to see the three patients. It took her two hours to see them, prescribe them a treatment plan, and discharge them. By the time she made her way back to Austin's desk, it was a little after five.