Chapter One, Episode 160 - Time Sensitive - Situationally Theirs

Review, Revision, Edit and Update

“In all your characters, it's critical to honour the emotional underpinnings that support and drive their behaviour.” - Nancy Lamb, The Art and Craft of Storytelling

There were few edits to make in this Episode. Once that was completed and from my kitchen window, I watched a girl with her dog, the sky, wondered about the blue pail on the ground and struggled with what writing issue this episode had posed. Nancy Lamb provided me with the answer: “emotional underpinnings”. Writing what you know comes into play again. i.e. losing your cell phone - frustration; only hearing part of a situation “Why are you at the hospital?” - sudden panic and concern. My lesson from this? Character development is more than how tall someone is, what clothes they wear or the freckles on their face. It is a character's emotional response to life from past and present experience and future hopes or worries. 

Time Sensitive

Taking risks always comes at a price. If anyone had asked her, Emelina would have been surprised that visiting Carrie was a risk. Would the unknown 'anyone' have been concerned that it was contracting this virus, being another statistic for the Public Health Officers? She was actually quite rigorous with following all the guidelines laid down, especially when she was in public. As she walked away from the hospital, she felt, but didn't understand, the real risk. All protective garb she had worn remained within the hospital walls; she felt empty and vulnerable. And the pain. It flooded her being. The intensity of it made her catch her breath. Fear of the virus jumped immediately to the front of her mind. Intellectually, she knew that even if she had been exposed, she would not immediately become symptomatic. She dug in her purse for her personal mask, brushing her hand against her cell phone, willing it to ring with a call from Carrie.

~~~~~

In her apartment, Dez was standing at her open refrigerator trying to find her supper. Half an apple in a bowl, shrivelled and brown. The last slice of processed cheese sitting on top of a half empty take out container of pad thai. Eggs. She pulled open the vegetable drawer. That looked more promising. Fresh strawberries, mushrooms, green onions. Hmmm. Maybe an omelet. She heard the distant buzzing of her phone. Pushing the drawer shut with her toe and closing the door, she stood almost to attention and listened. “Where did I put my phone this time!?” Following the sound into the living room she looked under a haphazard pile of magazines, the top of the TV stand, and under the couch cushions. The buzzing stopped. “I hope they call back or leave a message.” She kept looking. “When did I use it last? Hm. When I was out on the balcony? I called Matt for some orchard advice. We talked for a while and I came in here. I took my sweater off, and threw it……” She was scanning the room for any sign of her phone. Confidently she said “I know where it is.” She scooped up her favourite old sweater, the one with the big pockets and rescued her cell phone from becoming just another piece of laundry. The caller hung up again. “Dammit! I wasn’t fast enough.” Scrolling through the recent calls, Dez saw Emmie’s phone number pop up. 

~~~~~

“Emmie, what’s up? Sorry I didn’t answer, but I couldn’t find my phone. You’ll never believe where it was……Em?…Are you ok?” All she could hear was a muffled sob. “I’m scared Dez, or I’m sick, or I don’t know what’s wrong?”  Dez was all business. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.” Putting her phone on speaker, she grabbed her keys and her purse, picked up her phone and started out the door. “I’m at the hospital, in the parking lot. Dez, I’m not really sick, I just feel so strange.” Getting down to her car, Dez set the phone on the seat next to her. “Keep talking, Em. I’m on my way.” She hadn’t heard her sister in this much anguish before. She didn’t want to imagine what could be wrong, but her mind was filled with dread. “Dez, please drive carefully. Really. I’m not ill. I just need to talk to you. You always help me make sense of things.” Now Emmie was worried that Dez was so worried. “If you’re not sick, why are you at the hospital? That's where people go when they’re sick.” Pulling into the hospital parking lot, she could see her sister leaning up against her car talking on her phone. Dez pulled into the parking space three cars over and was out of the car instantly. In seconds she was by her sister’s side, wrapping her in a big bear hug. “I’m alright Dez, really. I just came here to meet Carrie. I think it was a mistake, or maybe not.” Tension drained from Dez’s face. “You did what? Did she ask you to come? When did you decide on this harebrained scheme?” Emmie took a step back. “Dez, let me answer one question at a time. I thought you’d be able to help me out, but you’re acting like you’re mad at me. Can’t we go somewhere and talk this out?” 

“I’m sorry, Em but when you called me, told me you were sick and at the hospital, my mind just went crazy. Ever since Jeremy called about this Carrie person, you’ve been a mess. Not every second, but enough that I haven’t recognized my sister.” Dez knew she had to calm down, her sister wanted to talk to her about something. “Ok. You probably haven’t eaten yet have you. Have you even eaten today?” 

“It’s always about food with you, Dez.” Emelina laughed for the first time since leaving the hospital. It felt good. “Of course I’ve eaten today. Do you really think Cook would let me get away without eating anything? Now that you mention it though, I’m starving! See that little soup and salad place across the street and down the block? Their Open sign is lit up. Let’s go there.”

~~~~~

Leaving their cars in the half empty parking lot, the sisters went for an early supper. Emmie told Dez went to see Carrie on a whim. She was curious about her, but it was more than just seeing and hearing her. Part of her past had been sitting heavily on her shoulders and drifting through her sleep, hovering around her like a mist that she couldn’t see through. When she was finally face to face with Carrie, the mist only got heavier. In hospital garb, sitting in a wheelchair, and wearing a mask, the only person she saw was thin, weak and pale. Did she recognize anything? Either Michael or herself? There was no opportunity to see either the photograph or the alleged Adoption papers. Carrie had not been able to remember any signatures on them. All she recalled was that she had to come to Hartley. Dez listened to her sister try to explain the meeting, saw the confusion and hurt on her face and wanted to fix it all. They both knew that Emmie would not turn her back on Carrie. Not just for Carrie’s sake, but for herself and the 16 year old girl she had been. 

“We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer 

more from imagination than from reality.”

~ Seneca