2

Haven walked downstairs and knew she had to change her clothes. When her supervisor looked at her, he raised his eyebrow at her. “I was caught in the emergency room when a code was called.” She said as she looked at him.

“Go change.” He said as he nodded, “then I need the report for the DA on the two gunshot victims from last week.”

“I need to go upstairs. One of the victims.” Haven started, but her boss looked at her. She sighed and looked at him, “Fine, I have to go over the tox reports before it is final.”

“I suggest that you do that before you go and do anything else.” He said as she huffed slightly and went off to the locker room to change her scrubs.

Haven Quintin was the youngest doctor at the hospital, and everyone knew it. She was a child prodigy who grew up and found herself trapped in a world where everyone expected her to be something more than what she was really. She was happy in her life. Twenty-seven years old and alone, even in her career. People thought she would be doing something greater than what she was for the time being. Haven was doing what she wanted to do right now. She loved being that last voice for her patients. It was everything she loved doing.

Though she was qualified to do so much more but she found what she wanted to do. The extra degrees she had, she tried to use them in her everyday life as well. Some she was not able to. However, she used her mind in many different ways that she didn’t mind the extra work she put on herself trying to make things work differently. Those others thought she was a waste.

She changed her scrubs and went to her office. She looked at the wall and focused on the one diploma on the wall. The picture next to it that she had kept with her in almost everything she had done, including her other graduations. It was of two people. One male and her. She had never forgotten her friend while she was in college and truly didn’t fit in. He went out of his way to be nice to her. He had been her only friend at that time.

Mack had not really changed through the years. He still looked the same. He was now in his thirties. He had to be married and have a few children now. The idea almost hurt her chest. It had been almost fifteen years since that picture had been taken. She was thirteen when she had graduated from college.

It had made national news with her college graduation and then her graduation from medical school. The rest of her degrees on her wall were from the same time period, but that is what people saw when they looked at her. She knew that. A simple search of her would only show that as well.

Mack had stood by her that day and even deflected some of the reporters who were getting too close to her. He had acted more like a family member than a friend even though the eight-year age difference was there between them. The two had tried to stay in touch. Mack had joined the army as an officer and went off to basic, then was stationed overseas. The two emailed for years as Mack moved up in rank. Then she made a mistake that cost her their friendship.

She left home after medical school. Haven was sick and tired of being the fallback punching bag for her mother. The two didn’t get along as her mother didn’t like anyone who took attention away from her. Haven left, and she had made a note of taking her phone numbers and address book with her, but she forgot one major thing. She didn’t copy down the email addresses knowing she would have to get another account to email people. Her parents would never let her keep the one that was off of their account. She had walked away from the family in their eyes. What she left behind was theirs.

They never let her have the one email address she wanted. They held it over her head that they had it. Haven asked her siblings, and none of them would cross their parents or the free ride that was given to them. Haven finally cut all contact with those family members.

She had never given up looking for him. Though it was not easy to go through. She wanted to make sure he was okay in those years. Now she found him. He had been shot and was a patient here in this hospital. Haven went to pull up the file she needed to go over, and then she could finish the report.

Maybe Mack would remember her. She had hope that he did.

Mack was in and out as the doctors worked on him. He was sure he had died with the amount of attention he was receiving from them. He thought it was a bad graze wound on his arm. He closed his eyes again when the light got too bright.

The beeping was what brought him to open his eyes. He had no idea what the annoying sound was. He was in a hospital room. He looked around and saw out the door. There were the families of some of the guys he was with. Flashes came back to him as he closed his eyes. There had been an ambush. The syndicate had members on the force. He didn’t want to talk to anyone now. He had no idea who was good or not so good. That was not something any cop wanted to think about.

He knew he had forgotten something he had seen when he got there. He then got a flash of a small picture in his memory. She was there. His Haven. That was what he used to call her when she was little. She wasn’t little anymore.

Mack’s eyes were closed as he heard someone walk into the room. He didn’t want to let go of the thought that Haven was there with him. He missed her. He didn’t even remember the last time he heard from her. She had to be doing something wonderful with her life. Probably married to a brain surgeon and famous in her own right.

“Mack? Are you awake?” he heard a small female voice. He knew that voice. He opened his eyes and saw her. She was hardly any different than she was fifteen years ago. She was slightly older and only a fraction taller. She seemed to be breathing a little easier now that he was staring at her.

“Haven?” he asked, unsure it was really her. She smiled at him.

“Yes, it is me.” She said as she walked further into the room. She looked around. “Did they call your family because I can so you have someone here?”

“Family?” he asked as he still just looked at her standing there as she moved to the side of his bed. He knew he had to be drugged, but it wasn’t making any sense in his head.

“Your wife.” She said.

“Not married.” He said as he looked at her, still amazed she was there with him.

“Oh.” Haven said, somewhat surprised. “is there anyone you want me to notify?”

“No,” he said as she shook his head. There was no one in his life who would care that he was there.

“Okay.” She said with a smile. “I was surprised to see you again like this. I didn’t know you got out.”

“Years ago.” He said as he looked at her. “Haven, why did you stop emailing me? When I called, your mother laughed and said you were dead.”

“Mack, it is a long story.” She said.

“I think I have the time.” He said as he looked around.

“Fine.” She said as she sat down by his bed. She smiled at him, and he knew everything that he had felt years ago was coming back in one major wave. This time though, it wasn’t wrong. She was there, and he wouldn’t let her go again. No matter how he had to do that.