“That is one attractive man. I hope you gave him your number because, damn, I bet he fucks good.” I never snatched a patient chart so fast. With quick steps, I raced away without looking too obvious, of course. I bet he did fuck good. Those muscles. A shiver rolled down my spine and landed somewhere that needed attention below.
“Stop. He is your friend. Practically your best friend. He’s friend zone resident uno. He’s sexless. He doesn’t even have a penis, ok?” I gave myself a talking-to and ignored the looks that shifted my way when I saidpenis.
“We’re in a hospital. Penises are normal human anatomy.” I stared the few nurses down as I walked past. I could do this. I could push V out of my head to finish my job. Once my shift ended, I could think about how I wanted to handle our meeting.
“You got this. You are a kick-ass nurse. You help people feel safe in their mental space. You are kind and compassionate. You can handle hard things.” I stood in front of the exam door and readied myself to get to work.
Chapter Five
Vincent
After running into E, or Emily as she clarified, I quickly grabbed a newspaper in the hospital lobby for the year. The hospital looked mostly the same, but the technology was outdated. I knew I wasn’t in my normal present of 2032. The paper’s headline caught my attention before the date did.
“Terratrex Set to Unveil Global Warming Solution!” Shit… I winced as I glanced to the upper right corner, and my gut clenched.
June 24, 2023.
I was a month away from the devastation that took many lives in the city. Needing to walk off the thoughts in my head, I left the hospital for the park. I’d only seen it after the devastation, having never bothered to visit in other timelines before. It was more natural looking than in my time. The sidewalk was more of a dirt path, with a few benches but not as many. The pond wasn’t where I knew it to be, but on the other side. The trees were larger, but after having burned up, that made sense. After walking the paths twice, I finally sat at a bench and faced the music.
I had met Emily.
My stupid powers brought me to her. Or did I technically do it because I thought of her? Either way, I’d seen her, and I was fucked. Not only did she have a kind heart, she’s gorgeous. Not in the cold supermodel way Chasity was, but in a “warm smile, bright green eyes, sun-kissed freckles on her nose, and probably gives soft hugs” way. I couldn’t have dreamed a more perfect version of her, and that’s why I was fucked. I was married and from a different timeline.
I should leave and let her go. Maybe she went on to live a happy life with someone amazing who treated her right, and being close would harm that future. My head ached as I tried to rationalize jumping to my time, but as the minutes passed, my ass stayed glued to the bench.
What if I talked with her? I said I’d meet her here. We could chat, then we could go back to being pen pals. I’d make up some excuse like I’d learned to do to save the timelines before.
“You’re here. For a bit, I thought you’d leave me hanging, but you didn’t. Ok, new plan.” Emily’s frazzled voice entered the space, and my mouth parted. She wasn’t dressed in scrubs anymore but in shorts and a long-sleeve blue top. Her pink hair swished at her shoulders, and all excuses I’d come up with vanished. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I’m not that big of a dick,” I pushed past the lump in my throat and watched her cheeks redden. If she was thinking about my dick right now, I’d drown myself in the koi pond.
“Right. You’re right. You’re V. You’re nice, and yeah.” She sat beside me, and I swear I heard her mutter something about a big dick afterwards. But for the sake of my life, I pretended I didn’t. We both faced forward, and I couldn’t help but notice our size difference. She wasn’t short, but compared to me, her head barely reached my chin.
“So, how are you?” She broke the awkward silence, and I sighed.
“Confused.” I was already going to lie about my powers and why we wouldn’t see each other anymore, so I gave her the honest answer.
“Same. Talking to you felt easier when you didn’t have a face. I’ve shared so many things.” She tucked strands of hair behind her ears, and I nodded. We both had.
“I’m sorry for being so distant in our letters. I didn’t know what to say about my life. Much is the same.” That she knew of.
“I figured. I just wanted to check in, make sure you knew I was there if you needed me.” She blew out a deep breath and faced me. “You’re like my best friend, and I don’t wanna do anything that pushes you away, ya know?”
Without thinking, I pulled her in for a hug, and she shook in my arms. “There’s nothing you could do that would push me away.” I breathed her in and silently cursed myself. There were reasons I stayed away and never searched for her. Now the object of my secret obsession hugged me like I’d disappear and it terrified her. Despite knowing I should put distance between us, my arms stayed wrapped around her. She shouldn’t fear me pushing her away, but the opposite. Her body felt warm and too good against me.
“I feel like there is a challenge in there, but I’ll relent.” She eased back and my arms fell to my sides.
“Work was good today. Home was lame. My sister got in trouble for skipping school, and I hate that I can’t reach her. Her mother wasn’t the nicest, but I’d hoped our dad’s kind genes were in there somewhere.” This was normal, more like our typical conversations in the letters.
“Maybe she needs therapy,” I offered for the tenth time, and Emily chuckled. The sound soothed the tension in my body like soft heat from the summer sun.
“Yeah. I tried once and she made the therapist cry. It’s like raising Cartman from South Park but with a period.” The visualization made me burst. I laughed harder than I’d laughed in years, and when I finally ceased, I knew I’d be back to see her.
“She sounds like a pill. Her and my wife would get along flawlessly.” I shook my head and pushed away thoughts of Chasity. She could taint all other parts of my life, but I’d be damned before I let her tarnish this.
“Yeah. You’ll have to tell me how you met the bitch one day.”
I was careful not to feel the emotions from that day just in case my powers were feeling touchy. “I was at a bar, blowing steam from the day. She singled me out, gave me drinks, listened to me talk, and the next day I woke up with a wedding ring on.” I shrugged. I’d like to think I wouldn’t have married her if I didn’t see something in her. One of the guys at the Hero Society had a similar interaction where they got married and he didn’t remember, but they saw the other half of their soul that first night.
