Chapter 2

Of Emergencies and Reunions

Ella had never liked surprises and she figured that her family didn’t either. They were probably busily living their lives, with meaning and with purpose. Why would they want to welcome any disturbances with open arms?

And with such suppositions in mind, Ella quietly let the thought of returning to her family slide into the shores of murky nothingness, lest the arousal of any unwanted household commotions. It was because she had slipped away so long ago that her family had probably forgotten the reason she’d left, that they rarely heard from her and rarely wondered of her existence.

She’d gone to Russia to study music at a famous music conservatory, to pursue the career of a prospective music composer. That much, they knew. As for the rest, her family knew nothing of, and neither did anyone else. But despite her unwillingness to reside back in her house in Syracuse, Ella inevitably needed a place to stay.

That’s when the crumpled sticky note stuffed carelessly into the bottom of her knapsack came in handy. Apartment Building #503, 9^th Street, New York, the note had read.

At the place, an elderly woman answered the door.

Ella began, a quiver of uncertainty audible in her voice, “Umm, I-I’m looking for Rachel?”

“That would be me. Is there something I can help you with, dear?” Rachel was a kindly looking woman, with wispy grays hairs and a warm smile with soft wrinkles.

“Well, you see..umm…my daughter and I just came back from The Music Conservatory of Russia and err--well, we’re looking for a place to stay and Lucy suggested that--”

“Oh Lucy, of course! How is she, dear? I haven’t spoken to her in ages…”

“She’s fine, m’am and well, I’ve heard you two are friends,”
“Best friends, dear. I do miss that lass…”

“So umm…I was wondering if I c-could…could stay--just for a few nights, of course. We’ll be gone during the day and--”

“Stay here? Why of course, dear! Not to worry about disturbing my peace…it gets a bit lonely ‘round here, so stay as long as you need to. Someone to accompany me and my blind old eyes would be nice.”

Rachel was just like Lucy--just as loving and just as generous, with all the ‘dear’s and the ‘of course’s. Ella knew she had found the right place to stay. Maybe there, amongst the cool atmosphere of New York City, she’d find familiarity and tranquility.

The apartment was a bit small for three residents, but the living arrangements brimmed with the feeling of coziness and welcome that Ella had not felt in a long time. Shabby brown cardboard boxes stacked with old books and a flurry of loose music sheets. An old upright Steinway piano propped near the window. Dust blanketing a writing desk that looked liked it had come straight from the museum of antiquities. A crackling fire in cottage-like fireplace, warmth permeating the small apartment. She hadn’t stepped into a traditional American home in what felt like ages.

 And as Ella began her unpacking, she hummed to herself the melodies she’d left behind. Only her memory had carried those tunes to America. And she was not willing to forget them anytime soon.

She had let her fears and anxieties get the better of her. She had worried and worried and ended up in an old lady’s apartment building, left with almost nothing to worry about. Reassuring ease rode over her, as she pulled out her folded cotton shenanigans and Cammie’s little onesies that were for keepsake only.

And in the next morning, she shrugged out of her sweater and squirmed comfortably into her dresses and dress shoes, just like yester night, the clicks in her heels reminding her of the nights of lingering down the halls hours past midnight. Familiarity had arrived at her service at last. The painful 20 hour plane ride was quickly forgiven and forgotten as she basked with pleasure under the beams of early sunlight seeping through the shutters.   

But she had thought of ease too quickly.

Within minutes, a wail reverberated through the walls of the apartment, streaming through the serenity of her thoughts.

“Cammie!” she cried out immediately, jumping up and frantically rushing to the door.

Her thoughts of peace, of tranquility, and of ease were thrown out of her mind faster than she could mutter, ‘defenestrate’. And within seconds, Ella found her herself carrying Cammie out the door to the nearest hospital.

“The University Hospital on 6^th street, two blocks down is the closest you can get for help,” Rachel had advised in a rush of apologies and condolences from things like her dusty apartment to her not being able to drive them there.

But Ella was too rushed to think twice and was already one block past 9^th Street before she could stop to realize that it was probably the dust-swept floors that had given Cammie such an acute allergic reaction.

She burst into the emergency room, face flustered, not in the least concern about making a scene.

“Ineedtoseethedoctor,” Ella could barely breathe out the words as she slapped her palm onto the surface of the receptionist’s countertop.

“Do you have your identification card or your daughter’s birth certificate?”

She didn’t.

“Do you bring along an ID of any kind?”

She hadn’t.

“I’m sorry miss, but you must fill out this information before proceeding--”

She used the clipboard she was given to cause a raucous.

“I’m sorry but, MY DAUGHTER’S HEALTH IS IN DANGER. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, NOW!” She screamed and screamed and screamed some more.

But alas, her voice box hadn’t failed her, because Cammie was soon rolled into the emergency room’s examination area and she was void of filling out the rest of any useless paperwork. But of course, her hectic behavior made all the witnessing nurses worry and they consequently pushed her into Room 5 to consult a doctor about Cammie’s problems (or perhaps, her own problems).

“Hello?” The room was merely lit by a single lamp.

“Please don’t mind the darkness of this room. One of the light bulbs exploded this morning and has yet to be fixed,” the male voice replied smoothly.

“Oh.” She stepped in.

 “Take a seat, Miss--?” the voice half spoke, half asked.

“Chen, Miss Ella Chen,”

“Ella? Ella!?”

The bleak outline of a tall man with a muscular build came into view. Once recognition dawned upon her, she instantly decided to walk straight back out the door again. Only problem: her feet weren’t cooperating with her.

“C-Chun?” she said that name in a wispy murmur, a meek inquiry, almost afraid that her supposition would be correct. Chun was someone she had known in the past, not someone she wanted to know now. She knew him whilst in high school, one of the many people she had discreetly abandoned after having fled to Russia. She couldn’t face people of her past just like that. She wasn’t ready. She’d never be ready. But she had walked into her much-voided past without even realizing it.

“We meet again, finally. It’s been awhile, Ella.”

“Yes, it has been.” She did not smile as she spoke. She did not laugh. Nor did she cry. Nor did she frown. And so, she supposed, she would be forced to deal with it all. Then, she could go into hiding again.

“Is she your daughter, then?” He asked, immediately bringing Ella’s thoughts back to the present.

“Yes-she-is-my-daughter,” Ella clenched her teeth whilst answering him, afraid of saying too much and thinking too little.

“Camerallie Chen, is it?” His brows furrowed in the dimness of the room, as he squinted considerably at her partially finished scribbles of so-called paperwork.

“It’s just Cammie, most of the time.”

“Well then, Cammie… I just want to let you know that she might be in critical condition, in which we might have to apply surgical procedures to heal her severe sensitivity in her respiratory tract.”

“She was fine until just moments ago. She was healthy all of her life in Russia, until this morning, when we had arrived in New York!”

“So you just came from outside of the country?”

“Yes, Russia.”

“And did she show any signs of sickness while she was there?”

“I already said no.”

“How about on the airplane? Any signs of--”

“It happened here, Chun. It happened here!” Ella cried out, frustrated at the complexity of the situation. She wasn’t even sure anymore if she was referring to Cammie’s condition or that of her own.

“Did she have asthma attacks before?”

“No.”

“Ella, who is her f--“

“No.”

“I didn’t even finish with the question yet,”

“Will you shut up with the useless questions already?” Ella did not know, or perhaps she did know, what was so unnerving about their conversation that she had to jump out of her seat in a mix of fury and confusion.

“Ella, can you please calm down and take a seat? We need to discuss a possible operation--”

“It didn’t sound like you wanted to talk about the operation. And plus, we can’t. I have no money,” Ella spat flatly, “I have no insurance, no stable job, no permanent residence. You and all your high school buddies were right-- music is a dead end career. But I’m still here, living. Taking care of a daughter and supporting myself.”

“I understand your situation, so I was going to sug--”

“NO. You don’t understand my situation, Chun. You’re a doctor. You’re rich. I get it. But what can you do to help hopeless me, huh?”

“Ella, please. I know that putting your daughter into intensive care will cost--”

“--and if my daughter cannot be trusted in your hands, then I guess I’ll have to find a more competent doctor elsewhere!” Ella grabbed her purse and headed towards the door.

Chun cut in quickly, “Whoa, whoa wait. Please, c-calm down. I said that she needs to be put into intensive care--“

“A-And why should I be okay with that? Or t-trust you in any way?”

“We are a medicinally certified hospital and to ensure your daughter’s survival--“

“ these assumptions. My daughter is NOT going to die!”

Before Ella herself could lunge for the door to escape hell, the open creaked open. A petite figure walked in, carrying a platter-like tray. Her figure stood frozen at the doorway, much like how Ella had stood when she recognized Chun’s dominating presence. 

And before Ella could begin to wonder, the figure choked, “Chun? Ella!? What the heck are you guys doing here?”

Selina Ren, best friend since the age of eight, had once again walked right into Ella’s life.

And thus, a little high school reunion had fallen unexpectedly in place.

“Ella? Ella Chen, oh my goodness, how could you not notify me of your arrival?” The familiarity of Selina’s soothing, crystal-like voice echoed through darkness of the small doctor’s office.

“Well, I didn’t plan for my daughter to get an asthma attack,” Ella remarked sarcastically, pulling into Selina’s suffocating yet warm embrace. Selina’s long, soft curtain of black hair cascaded onto Ella’s cheeks and shoulders, but soon enough, Selina had pulled apart, her face riddled with understandable confusion, “Wait, what? Your daughter? And why exactly did you not invite me to yours and Chun’s wedding?”

Ella went stiff with shock and befuddlement, sputtering and spewing words to correct such a misunderstanding, “What? No! Marriage? Chun? No, you’ve got it all wrong! Cammie isn’t Chun’s d-daughter! N-No…”

Chun cut in quickly, “I think what Ella is trying to say is that, there’s been a misunderstanding. Ella’s daughter, Cammie, was brought to the emergency room this morning. I’m the doctor here who just transferred here from Columbia University’s Hospital. Ella’s the musician who just came back from Russia. We’ve only met just now.”

“O-Ohh… Sorry,” Selina started, trying to take in all the information. Ella couldn’t blame here, really. She was pretty dazed with the anomaly of a reunion herself.

“And Selina, thanks for barely acknowledging me after what--? Eight months?” Chun chuckled as he said so, “At least Ella acknowledged my existence by screaming in my face.”

Ella proceeded to sneak a long glare at him.

“S-Sorry Chun, it’s just that Ella and I--” Selina flushed pink with embarrassment and excitement.

“--are best friends and you guys haven’t talked in ages. I know, Selina,” Chun finished for her, smiling.

And the three of them laughed just a bit. Just enough, so that the mood of the atmosphere had become considerably lighter.

`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.

Night had casted its colours upon day, and before Selina could think about her ten hours at work that day, the sky hung above her in all shades of black. There were few stars that night-- so few, that she could count them, but decided not to bother doing so.

It was well past work hours, but Selina had stayed behind at the hospital that night. She knew she was missing out on the night life of New York City, something that she could love and Hebe couldn’t, being the night person that she was. The darker it got, the more awake she felt. And that was why she knew she could live through those times in which she would have to work night shifts.

But tonight was not about working night shifts. It was about accompanying her best friend, from what seemed like a lifetime ago, whilst she waited impatiently for the results of her daughter’s diagnosis. Ella had come rushing into the emergency early that morning and had not left since. Selina couldn’t even figure who had stayed longer, her or Ella.  

She folded her arms, resting her back against the door as she watched Ella’s slim figure from afar, whose palms were glued to the hefty windows that separated doctors from the rest of humanity. Selina didn’t really know if she had the right to say that she knew Ella anymore. She still had short hair, though with a bit more style now. She was still as passionate about music, though with more seriousness in her interests than ever before. But everything else, she was unfamiliar with. Dresses and high heels. Years in Russia without returning home. Brooding over money troubles and the well-being of her daughter.

Her daughter.

Selina didn’t even know of Cammie’s existence until today. That was how much she and Ella had lost contact. You’d think that, in this world of connections and technology, there was no such thing anymore. You’d think that the best of friends since first crushes and training bras would stay sworn sisters till death do they part.  But the impossible had happened and Selina had regretted such happenings. She wondered if Ella would have thought the same, but judging from her hectic life of being in Russia and caring for her daughter, Selina figured that their friendship had dropped well below her priorities.

Yet still, Selina cared.

“Ella, I think we should get something to eat,” Selina walked up to Ella, an expression of concern forming neatly below her brows.

“It’s okay Selina, you should go home. You’re hungry and tired, but I’m not,” Ella reassured her friend, a weak but encouraging smile forming upon her lips.

“You’ll starve yourself, and that’s not the way to go.”

“Really, I’m fine,” But in spite of Ella’s persistence, the loud groan from her abdomen quickly gave the truth away.

 “McDonald’s, then?” Selina sighed at her friend’s negligence of a proper meal, “It’s okay, Ella. Cammie is under observation right now and there won’t be any results reported until well after 2:00 am.”

“Alright, alright but let’s make it quick,” Ella agreed, grabbing her bag and getting up from what felt like 9 hours of sitting in anxiety. Actually, it was 9 hours of sitting in anxiety.

They headed out the hospital. Finally, Selina thought.

Selina smiled and giggled a bit, an airy feeling of nostalgia wafting over her despite the chilly air that nipped at her nose whilst she and Ella hurried down 8^th street in search of the closest fast food restaurant. The night sky was brightest that night, and grew even brighter as the brilliant lights of New York City’s colorful streets lightened up the darkness with its busy life.

And amongst the loudness of the wind, she heard an irritable voice next to her call out, “Uhh Selina, where is this place? I am starving.”

Told you so, Selina thought gleefully and replied, “McDonald’s down the block is the only 24 hour restaurant around here. Please, Ella. Your biological clock may still be thinking of daytime in Russia, but it’s 12 o’clock am right now. And you do realize that you’re getting dinner at an hour most people are in their beds?”

“ing,” Ella added nonchalantly.

“Indeed.”

---

Sometimes, Selina really, really hated those old hags that worked at the food service counter.

“I asked for French Fries and they gave me a Fish Fillet! When did French Fries ever sound like ‘Fish Fillet’? I mean, come on! Learn some English, please,” Selina wailed endlessly about her encounter with the McDonald’s lady, “And then, she chucked the Fish Sandwich at me and told me to eat what I ordered! Can you believe it? How could--”

“Selina, just take a bite.”

“--they do this to me? I mean fish is great and all, but the--”

“Selina, just try the fillet. It’s actually pretty good.”

“--customer service here is just outrageous. It’s probably the night shifts that are getting to them but we have those at the hosp--”

“SELINA REN. JUST EAT THE FREAKING THING.”

“Fine,” she snapped and took a bite. Within seconds, she cried out, “Oooh, Ella! This is actually really, really delicious. You should try it.”

“Selina, I think you need to get some rest,” Ella sighed, pushing the plastic tray away from her in slight defeat.

 “I’m fine, thanks very much. It’s you who’s been losing sleep over the well being of your daughter when Dr. Wu has been telling you repeatedly that Cammie is just fine,” Selina retorted, a bit unnerved.

“How can I trust him with my daughter’s life?” Ella replied lifelessly, breaking into a huge yawn at the mention of “sleep”.

“How can you trust him--?” Selina echoed flatly, her voice rising in frustration, “how can younot trust Chun? Chun was your friend! And he’s a licensed doctor.”

“Pfft, just because he’s a doctor now, I should be able to trust him?”

“Well...yes,” Selina started, “If not a doctor, then who are you going to trust? That homeless outside our window?”

Ella glanced out at the man sitting forlornly, lost in a mess of his coat and beard, and replied thoughtfully, “Perhaps…”

 “Perhaps?!” Selina exploded in a series of spluttering, “Are you right out of your mind? What have you been doing in Russia? Living out in soup kitchens or something?”

“And if I were, what’s wrong with that?” Ella countered, her voice also rising, “I trust those who deserve to be trusted.”

“N-Nothing,” Selina deadpanned, suspicion rising in her voice, “I just thought you had gone to study music, not to go and get comfortable with bearded men.”

“I did go there for music. What in the moccasins are you trying to suggest?” Ella demanded.

“Ella, I think you’re laying your trust in the wrong type of people,” Selina confessed calmly and breathed in, anticipating anger from her counterpart. And anger, there was.

“Doctors,” Ella scoffed, “so you say that doctors are trustworthy and others are not? They’ve taken Cammie away from me for more than 15 hours already!”

“Ella, I am a doctor. Do you trust me?”

There was a long pause before Ella began to calm down and muttered, “Selina, I trust you. But I trust you as a friend.”

“Then tell me, Ella. Tell me what happened,” Selina pleaded.

“What do you mean by ‘what happened’?”

“Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you keep in touch? Why did none of us know about the musical compositions you used to update us on? Why did you run off to Russia without giving us--me and Hebe-- a second notice?”

“Because…stuff happened,” came a vague reply.

“Stuff happened?! Really? Is that all you can say about your four-year getaway in another country? We were worried about you!”

“You shouldn’t have worried. You shouldn’t have cared,” Ella replied morosely, neglecting all questions.

“I thought I just heard you say you still trusted me as a friend. Or was I just dreaming?” Selina sighed irritably. She had not wanted to be nosy, but her best friend had left her hanging for so many years that she felt she had the right to ask, the right to know more. She felt lost. Her life and Ella’s life no longer fitted together like adjacent puzzle pieces. And it felt all wrong. She had always expected that life wouldn’t change in such a way, but now that it had, her eagerness to catch up with her friend had slowly grown into frustration.

“No, you weren’t dreaming,” Ella said, frowning considerably as she spoke, “but it’s complicated, alright?”

“Complexity, I can deal with. Guarded thoughts and feelings, I cannot,” Selina replied pointedly, “But if it’s something you can’t tell me now, I understand.”

Selina brought a hand out onto the table, gently cupping Ella's shaking palms.

Ella widened her eyes as she stared up at Selina, whose face gazed back at her with warm reassurance. It was a silent agreement, something that only Selina could understand so quickly. And her quick acknowledgement had marked a hanging gossamer thread in their friendship that still existed, even after a silence of years.

But Selina had, throughout the conversation of sorts, sensed Ella’s bitterness and unease-- she could tell from the drone in her voice that was interrupted by intervals of stuttering and spluttering. There was something in Ella’s past that she was uncomfortable with. But despite the uneasiness, she knew that by slowly mentioning ‘what had happened’, Ella was healing. Perhaps, Ella would warm up one day. Perhaps, her tendency for isolation would thaw amidst the liveliness of the city.

Only time would tell.

“We should go back,” Ella interrupted her thoughts, and reality soon resurfaced.

“Okay,” Selina got up readily, getting ready to head back to the hospital, “Hopefully, the doctors will have Cammie’s reports by now.”

“Hopefully,” Ella agreed, pulling her overcoat closer to her bare throat as she scurried through the chilly tempest of the night.

And in the silence of the night, the two figures hurried along, side by side. One had longed to see the other only to find her in the most unexpected of ways. One had avoided the other, afraid of facing what she thought was too difficult, but had only found growing warmth in the rushed conversations during brief breaks and between office hours. She had missed that feeling, a tangential lack of it through the years had almost made her forget what it was like. But she had felt it just now-- of small happinesses during tough times, of comfort amongst anxiety, of a friendship reformed. And she was compelled… to feel it again.

After they thrashed through the wind and through the hospital’s entrance, Selina pulled her hair away from her face and turned to her friend,“ Hey Ella, was Cammie born here or in Russia?”

“In Russia. Why?”

“Oh nothing, just wondering…”

A/N: Alas! Chapter 2 is finished! This is my longest chapter by far, standing at almost 4,000 words! ^_^

In this chapter, there was a bit more of Chun/Ella, but I assure you that there will be a lot more in the chapters to come.

Why don't I write just focusing on the love between Chun and Ella? Because there's more to life than romance. There's friendship, which all of them (particularly Selina) greatly value. There's growing up and starting work, there's financial concerns and health-related issues. I hope that through these two chapters, you guys have gotten to know Ella and Selina a bit better! :3

I really enjoy writing this! So again, MORE COMMENTS=FASTER UPDATES.

Love,

Amoretti