Impuls

– 'If I had known,' laughs the professor, 'that I would have made someone so happy, I would have given that direction as soon as I saw you. Good luck, Emily!

And now she stands, still clutching a big black bag with a hopelessly ruined robe, in a haggard overcoat, and smiling stupidly at the dawn sky.

The sun in her pocket is blazing, scalding.

Behind her the front door slams, soft footsteps, a rustle, the click of a lighter, and a familiar voice asks without a trace of sneer:

– Do you smoke, Johnson?

Chapter 8

No, I'm not scared. It's empty. Only darkness is with me.

…The forest, closed behind me, stands a wall.

It's too late to cope. There's no use fussing.

I'm nothing

No one can save me.

Clark looked nothing like the woman Emily met in the hallway twenty-four hours ago. Dark circles under her eyes, hollow cheekbones revealing sharp cheekbones. Instead of a tight shirt, she wore a T-shirt slightly revealing one shoulder, instead of black jeans, she wore the bottoms of surgical uniforms and oversized pants with an elastic band. And, of course, no pumps. Instead, they were worn sneakers with grayed-out laces.

Emily studied her profile, the graceful, careless gesture of an artist; mussed hair, dry lips, long blond lashes. Clark is tired from the crazy night, Emily understands that without any more words; and she's also frozen: rare raindrops are still falling from the sky, and the pre-dawn frost leaves the feeling of ice on her skin.

The neurosurgeon, of course, with no outerwear, stands looking at Emily, and her gaze is brighter than any stars. Staring, but too jaded, not clinging to detail.

Human.

– No, thank you," Emily answers belatedly. – I don't smoke.

Clark shrugs his shoulders – his T-shirt slides even lower – and takes a drag. The intoxicating smell of menthol hangs in the air.

Emily takes another tentative step toward the exit, as if in contemplation, and then, with a subtle shake of her head, she turns to the surgeon and pulls off her coat.

– Put it on. – She awkwardly throws the heavy fabric over someone else's shoulders. – You'll catch cold.

The wind immediately dives under her knitted sweater, but Emily heroically endures, just as she endures Clark's gaze, which for a moment became a herald of the near end of the world.

Also in the nurse's head is the thought that if the neurosurgeon, after all, decides to give the coat back, drops it in the dirt, Emily will bite her head off.

Yes, yes, she would!

But Clark only shrugs a little, letting the fabric settle in comfortably, and brings the cigarette to her lips again. Emily shifts from foot to foot, and then stands silently beside him, squinting into the endless gray sky.

Clark breaks the silence first:

– Music?

Emily is lost, not knowing what to answer, but she nods faster than she can ask back. The neurosurgeon pats himself in his pants pockets, pulls on a white wire, and pulls out a black iPod – a tiny square with a display. Barely holding her coat over her shoulders, her hand clutching a cigarette, she holds out the earpiece to Emily.

And someone with a very melodious low voice starts singing about how it's all over, but he keeps falling harder in love anyway; and Emily – starting to freeze like hell, still clutching the stupid bag to herself, Emily stands next to Clark and can't (won't) budge.

And Clark is smiling with her eyes closed, and her cigarette is already burning to the filter; but she doesn't care – she just pulls out another one and flips the lid of the metal lighter off.

Everything that's happening seems like a dream to Emily – good or bad, she hasn't decided yet, but something like this just can't happen in reality.

Not between her and Clark.

The song ends – and starts playing again, in a loop; Emily wants to say that Clark must have pressed the "repeat" key, but the words freeze in her mouth, never coming off her lips.

When the song plays for the fourth time, Clark turns the player off, but doesn't take her headphones away; they stand there, listening to the same silence, until Emily's teeth start to tap out from the cold.

But even if her spine were turned into an icy needle, she wouldn't take a single step.

But it ends-the earpiece falls out, the coat rustles, the barely audible hiss of an extinguished cigarette; and their gazes meet. For a few seconds, the silver of the surgeon's eyes mingles with the gold of the nurse's, creating a frantic flash in Emily's mind that makes her hand involuntarily release the roll of her robe.

Clark blinks, and all the magic of the moment evaporates in an instant. Cursing and cursing herself with the last words, Emily leans over and presses the package harder against her chest.

– What is it?

– My former robe," Johnson mutters. – I know it should have gone to the recycling bin," she adds quickly, swallowing the words. – But I don't have another one. – Clark continues to stare questioningly, so Emily, with a sigh, continues, "While we were waiting for the operating room, we had to get all the shrapnel out of the patient. There was no time to change, so Dr. Higgins and I worked as hard as we could.

– Did you get it out?

– I was sewing," Emily replied, a little surprised. – It's been a strange night. I think I can stitch with my eyes closed now.

Clark rubs his eyes and smiles for some reason, shaking his head:

– Whatever it is, it won't come off.

– Uh-huh. – Another sigh. – But I won't have time to buy a new one: I have a class at the learning center this afternoon. I'll try to borrow one from Melissa, see if she has a spare. – And, Dr. Clark… I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what it's like to lose someone like Professor Ray, but…

– Don't imagine," the neurosurgeon interrupts her wearily. – It's all right, Johnson.

– I'm sorry. – Emily lowers her gaze. – I have to go. I'm sorry," she says again, turning around.

She doesn't see Clark staring after her, glaring back at her, nor does she see the neurosurgeon squaring his warmed shoulders and opening his lips, about to call out to her.

But she gives up and trudges back into the icy cold of the hospital.