She handed Gail a dog-eared paperback by Edmond White with a shaky inscription that read:
“Live your life. Love yourself. Have no regrets. – C”

When Gail thanked her, the nurse had commented, “Well, at least he had you.”

She walked out of the hospital and spent the next six hours walking nowhere particular in the freezing rain with the book clutched in her hand inside the pocket of her coat.

She knew she had to finally deal with Nick too. If he ever came near Holly again, she was afraid she might just shoot him and end up in jail. That would be bad. Reporting him was out of the question; it would be career suicide, this she knew. She sighed heavily. It was all so overwhelming. Maybe Holly would know what to do.

Holly smelled comforting, almost like warm milk, or the paws of a puppy when she slept, with the brief lingering scent of her lavender shampoo and some kind of sandalwood based perfume she liked to wear. She was turned away, curled on her side, facing the wall. Gail slid as carefully as she could between the soft flannel sheets, trying not to wake her. Holly rolled over anyway, reaching out to pull Gail in to the comfort of her arms.

“Mmmm, hey, you’re so cold!” Holly complained sleepily, as she pulled Gail in tighter.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.” Gail whispered, kissing her softly

“Too late for that.” Holly chuckled, “You and your cold feet. What time is it anyway?”

“I donno, it must be around four.”

“Good. We don’t have to be up for another few hours” Holly replied, “And I was just dreaming about you.”

Suddenly, Gail found herself flipped onto her back with Holly straddling her and pinning her hands roughly above her head.

“Holly?” What are you doing?” Gail asked, almost alarmed at how aggressive Holly had suddenly become.

“Shhhh..” Holly responded, leaning over to capture Gail’s unsuspecting mouth, kissing her hard. Her loose, dark hair fell around them like a curtain, it tickled Gail’s ribs. ”God, you’re so fucking hot! I have been thinking about you since you came into my office at lunch and teased me with your handcuffs.”

Still thinking about Christopher and hospitals, Gail was not ready.