Chapter 8

Emily walked around her room putting things back into their places. Lois, who 
had extended her visit, had brought Brooke Lynn up to see Emily. Emily loved 
visiting with her little cousin but Brook had gotten into everything and the 
room had ended up looking like a disaster area. 

Emily paused as she bent to pick up an old teddy bear. It was lying on the spot 
where she had sat and cut her wrist. She knelt down and lightly touched the 
spot. Reginald must have worked very hard to get the blood out of the carpet. It 
was so clean, like it hadn't happened at all. Like she hadn't been so desperate 
to die. Like she was just the same normal Emily she used to be. 

She took a deep breath and then another. Yesterday's talk with Dr. Baldwin had 
opened her mind to some ideas but she was a long way from being the old Em. 

Emily checked her watch. It was close to four o'clock. Nik had promised to come 
by but she should have known he wasn't coming. 

Someone knocked on her door. Emily let out a sigh. It had to be Monica again. 

“Mom”, Emily began as she opened the door, “You don't have to check…” 

Emily stopped. Nikolas was outside her door wearing a small smile. 

“Hi.” 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I told you I was coming by, remember?” 

“No, I mean, I mean,” Em didn't want to let him know she thought he'd changed 
his mind. “What are you doing outside my door?” 

“Lois let me up. She said it was all right. Why? Is your room a mess?” Nik 
peered into the room. 

“No, no, it's fine. Come on in.” Emily opened the door wider and let him in. 

“You have a thing for the Yankees?” Nik asked. Em's walls were plastered with 
posters and pictures, half of them Yankee-related. 

“Yeah, it's a secret passion of mine.” 

“I didn't know that.” Nikolas wondered what else he didn't know about her. 

“Duh, it's a secret.” Emily smiled. “I can't play the game at all but I love to 
watch it. My favorite player is Derek Jeter.” She pointed him out in one of the 
posters. 

“I can tell.” Most of the Yankee posters had his face in them. Nikolas walked 
through the room taking in everything. He paused by Emily's nightstand and 
picked up a framed picture. “This is you and your dad?” 

Emily came over and looked at the photo. “Yeah. We were at Yankee Stadium in the 
Bronx. Dad had surprised me with the tickets.” 

“You two looked pretty happy.” Alan and Emily were wearing Yankee caps and they 
each had a hot dog. Their arms were thrown over each other's shoulders and they 
had big grins on their faces. It was a happier time. 

“We were. This was after Dad had got out of rehab the first time. We had all 
thought he'd changed. He's back in again now.” Emily put the photo down. “I 
forgot to ask, do you want something to drink or something?” 

“No, I'm alright.” Nikolas moved over to her desk and sat down. Emily sat on her 
bed. They sat there for awhile saying nothing. Emily grew uncomfortable and 
shifted. 

“Okay, this isn't working out. I don't know what we're supposed to be doing.” 

“I want to be your friend again. Or at least become a real friend. So tell me, 
what happened in your meeting?” 

“We just talked about stuff. She asked a lot of questions about my life, you 
know. Nothing big. I'm not cured yet.” Emily smiled faintly. 

“It takes time.” 

“I know.” Emily sighed. “I've been thinking since the meeting. I want to get 
better. Really. Before, I fought this whole thing tooth and nail. I wanted to 
wallow in my own self-pity. But now, I just don't want to do it any more.” 

“That's great but all this didn't just come about from one session did it?” Nik 
looked concerned. 

“Geez, no! I'm not a flake, Nik. It wasn't like `I'm just being a big silly for 
wanting to kill myself. I'm all better now!' I've been thinking about this for a 
long time. Since that night when you found me. I just didn't want to admit that 
maybe I was wrong.” 

“I'm happy I was there.” Nik smiled. 

“Me too.” Emily smiled back. “Okay, enough of this conversation. Let's try 
something fun?” 

“Good idea, do you have a chess set? We could play.” Nik suggested. 

“Sorry, I don't even have checkers.” Emily slumped down. Then she sat up 
smiling. But I think I still have my old Playstation!” 

“Playstation? What is that?” Nik asked as Emily went over to a closet. She threw 
open the door and started rummaging around in it. 

Emily withdrew with a surprised look. “You don't know? Oh, yeah, I forgot you 
spent your youth over in Europe where you hung out with nannies and played chess 
with the horses. Just kidding, don't start explaining about cultural 
differences.” 

“I wasn't.” Nik lied. 

Emily stuck her head back in. “Anyway, masses of American kids are addicted, 
like I once was, to video games. And Playstation is just one of the brands. And, 
aha! I found it and the games!” Emily emerged with a victorious smile and a 
silver-gray rectangular box. 

“Um, looks interesting?” 

“Come on, I'll teach you how to play.” Emily started hooking the Playstation up 
to her TV. “We’ll start with something easy. A simple fighting game.” 

"A fighting game?” Nik's eyes widened at the words. 

Emily laughed. “Don't worry. It won't hurt a bit.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Several Hours Later 

Emily punched Nik lightly in the arm. “I can't believe how quickly you caught 
on. You've beaten me more times than I want to admit!” 

Nik grinned. “What can I say? I'm a quick learner. How long have we been 
playing?” 

Em checked her watch and gasped. “We've been playing for a couple of hours. I'd 
forgotten how addictive this game gets.” 

“It's very addictive.” Nik agreed. 

“Do you want to play again? I demand a rematch.” 

“Sure, I'm all for it.” Nikolas was having a good time even though his thumbs 
felt numb. He enjoyed seeing Em laugh and make a big production every time she 
won and mumble and mutter every time she didn't. He never thought of Em as a 
sore loser. 

Lois came in the room. “Hey, Em, we're all waiting for you. Cook's made a great 
dinner. Oh, I didn't know Nikolas was still here.” 

Emily turned to Nik. “You're welcome to stay for dinner, if you want?” 

Dinner with the Qs? Nik didn't think that was such a good idea. “No, I better 
go. Uncle and Bobbie are probably wondering where I am.” Nik laid down his 
controller and stood up. 

Lois excused herself. “I'll tell the others you'll be down soon.” 

Emily stood up too. “Okay. Well thanks for stopping by. Maybe we can hang out 
again or something…” 

Nik smiled at Em. “Friends hang out don't they?” 

Emily nodded. 

“Since we *are* friends, expect me to be knocking on your door again soon.” Nik 
got serious. “I'm not going to disappear from your life again, Em, and make you 
doubt if we were ever friends. Understand?” 

“Yes.” Emily whispered. 

“Good. I'll see you soon.”