Romeo and Juliet

Amy ran as fast as she could, her breath short and ragged. 'I need to hear his voice,' Amy whispered as he passed through Jen and So Min and went straight to her office to look for her phone.

"Amy," Jen entered Amy's office. She could hear her panting. "Amy, you look so pale; what's wrong?"

Amy didn't answer. Trembling, she turned her purse upside down, exposing everything inside. 'My phone,' Amy took a deep breath.

Jen held Amy's arm. Trying to get her attention, "Amy, you're clammy and cold. What's going on?"

Using all her might, Amy smiled and told Jen she was trying to call Jim. Jen heard ringing from the other side of the phone; Amy beamed with joy.

"Hello?" Jim answered softly.

"AMY!!" Jen yelled as Amy, pale, weak, and overfatigued, passed out down the floor.

"So Min, call Dr. Felix right now!" Jen commanded, and So Min rushed to get ahold of Felix.

Amy woke up in a room at the ER with an IV attached to her antecubital fossa. Amy got up and tried to walk out of the room.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Jen said as she entered Amy's room.

"Outside," Amy responded, "I was going to ask the nurse what happened. I need to read my chart."

"Only the patient's healthcare team is allowed to have access to a patient's chart," Felix said, walking behind Jen.

"Let me guess," Amy rolled her eyes, "you're my doctor?"

"Bingo," said Felix, who just aimed a finger gun at Amy and winked.

"So tell me, doctor, what happened?"

"You need to go back to your bed first," Jen interjected and assisted Amy back to her bed.

"Well," Felix said, "your laboratory results indicate that you are anemic, hypoglycemic, and dehydrated," Felix said, looking at Amy's chart. "Seems like you've been ignoring your physical needs Dr. Amy. When was the last time you had a proper meal and good night's sleep?".

"I'll be fine," Amy scoffed. "Now discharge me; I have work to do." Amy addressed Felix.

Felix looked at Jen and sighed. "Look, Amy," he paused, "you passed out in your office. That was six hours ago. Jen told me you had not taken a day off since fourteen days ago. This incident is your body's way of telling you to slow down."

It was true; Amy might have pushed herself to exhaustion this time. She's used to overtime and sleepless nights but overworked herself this time. She skipped meals and slept less. Fatigue had finally caught up to her.

"As your doctor, I highly prescribed iron supplement and a three days rest."

"Three days?" Amy squealed. "I will be fine by tomorrow."

"That's what you said this morning, but you clearly didn't mean that. Amy, what if you passed in front of a patient? Or worse, what if you passed out while in surgery?." Jen said, her voice filled with concern. "Please, Amy, listen to Dr. Felix," she begged.

Amy sighed and asked if she and Jen could have a private moment for themselves. Felix nodded and exited the room.

"Did you call my mom?" Amy asked.

"No, I wanted to hear from Dr. Felix your status before calling Mrs. Fitzgerald," Jen answered.

"Thank you, Jen. Did you talk to Maddie?" Amy continued.

"No, but I did talk to Jim," Jen paused, "he was on the line when you passed out, do you not remember?"

Amy looked down; she remembered the video of Jim crying. It broke her heart once more. "What did he say?"

"Well, he asked me what happened, and I told him what had happened. He sounded very concerned," Jen whispered.

"Did he say something more?" Amy inquired.

"No," Jen lied. Jim begged Jen not to tell Amy that he was crying over the phone, panicked and restless. Jim also asked Jen to update him on Amy's status; Jen complied.

"But I will call your mom if you don't follow the doctor's order," Jen threatened.

"At least get me home. I want to rest at home. I feel more relaxed in my own abode, Jen. I don't want constant supervision." Amy bargained.

"I'll see what I can do," Jen surrendered, "I'll talk to Dr. Felix," Jen said and walked out the door.

A little while later, Felix and Jen entered the room.

"How's my stubborn patient feeling?" Felix beamed at Amy.

"Better, Dr. Felix," Amy said. "Thank you."

"Seems like you have something you want me to do while acting angelic and all" Felix chuckled as he wrote something on Amy's chart. Felix saw right through Amy.

Amy smiled. "I want to rest at home, please; I will recuperate there better," Amy said, looking at Felix.

"Since you've asked ever so kindly, I will discharge you if you agree to do nothing but eat, rest and sleep. I encourage the intake of iron and vitamin C; I can prescribe you a supplementary if you don't have any so the pharmacy can give it to you before you leave." Felix ordered.

"That sounds great," Amy responded.

"And one more thing," Felix said, "I'm going to drive you home. This is non-negotiable.".

Amy let out a pout but didn't argue. Felix smiled and touseled her hair. "I'll get discharge documents, going," he said, "and Amy, I told you not let me see on that state again." Felix's face was grim. "Did you know how worried I was to see you lying on the floor? Does this have to do with..."

"No," Amy didn't let Felix finish his sentence. "This has nothing to do with that; I just overworked myself," Amy said, feeling sorry that he made Felix worry. "Thank you for being such a nice friend, Felix."

Felix nodded, not saying another word, and left the room.

Felix and Jen insisted on dropping Amy into her apartment despite her firm refusal. "You're still recovering; let us accompany you," Jen pressed.

When Amy entered her apartment, she was surprised to find Jim cooking in her kitchen. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she might have just imagined it.

Wearing a casual shirt and khaki pants, Jim stood by the burner, one hand on his hips, the other holding a wooden ladle. Amy saw that his hair color was lighter than usual. Amy also noticed that he styled his hair so that his bangs covered his entire forehead.

When Jim realized he had an audience, his whole demeanor changed; he was now staring at Amy longingly. "You're here early," Jen said, breaking the ice.

Amy looked at Jen, wanting answers. "Jim told me he is going to be in town, so I figured to ask him to babysit you while Felix and I continue to do our work.

Felix fisted his hand, regretting the decision to discharge Amy. Felix got annoyed at the fact that Jim could appear and disappear whenever he wanted to. Felix hated that Amy was the one to be always tiptoeing around him. 'In our line of work, Amy is renowned and well respected; how can he just think he is the only one that matters' Felix scoffed, thinking why Amy liked a man with a ton of baggage.

"I made dinner; why don't we all eat together?" Jim asked.

"I'll do the table," Jen offered. "Felix, bring the plates and follow me."

Felix did what Jen asked him to do and walked toward the dining room.

Just then, Jim rushed toward Amy and hugged her from behind. "I was terrified when I heard Jen screaming your name over the phone. Amy, I thought I died. I am sorry; I should have just confirmed our relationship. It's all my fault. When Jen told me you passed out, I realized how selfish and cowardly I have been." Jim said, his head buried in Amy's shoulder.

Amy felt his shoulder get wet; Jim was crying. Amy suddenly felt like crying, too. 'What an unfortunate love story,' she thought, 'was this why Romeo died for Juliet?'

Amy lifted her hand and patted Jim's hair. 'Romeo and Juliet were foolish, but not her nor Jim.' Amy thought and turned to hug and meet Jim's beautiful embrace.