Page 12 of Under the Christmas Tree

“Sure you’re not.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. I still love you, though.”

Maggie laughed. No matter what happened with Katie, at least Maggie would always have that.

Chapter Five

Katie hadn’t seen Maggie in three days. It was getting annoying. She had also barely stopped working, and was feeling exhausted, emotional, and achy ahead of her period, so there was a distinct possibility she was feeling it slightly more than she should, but texting just wasn’t cutting it. She wanted time in the same room with her best friend. She wanted to feel safe and relaxed. She wanted to switch off for a minute.

It wasn’t as though work had been bad. They’d had some emergency situations, but they’d all been rectified with relative ease. It had just been constant and there was something inherently emotional about the work. Of course, like every other medical professional, Katie had long since needed to learn not to bring her work home wherever possible, but she wasn’t a robot, and, when she was already feeling emotional, it was harder than she wished it would be.

She barely spoke to the others as she gathered up her things, desperately in need of a shower so she could wash the ick of the last few days off her and, hopefully, just relax. She had a day off tomorrow and, while she’d already resigned herself to spending it with stomach cramps, she was really hoping she could drown out the irritated filter in her brain that every one of her thoughts and interactions was currently passing through. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault. They weren’t doing anything wrong. But knowing that didn’t stop it. PMS was no fun.

She bid the others a quick farewell and headed towards the elevators.

As if she wasn’t already perfectly aware of the emotional mess she was, her eye caught on one of the nurses entertaining three small children, who were likely waiting for relatives giving birth, by talking to them about the Kwanzaa decorations they had up on the ward. From the way one of them was watching and adding her own comments in, Katie knew she hadn’t gotten nearly enough opportunities to talk about her holiday like this.

Katie smiled, feeling herself tearing up as she dropped her head and called the elevator. She really needed a shower, some food, and rest.

The elevator arrived and three other people were already in it. She stepped in alongside them, pulling out her phone to type out a message to Maggie.

For one moment, she hesitated, wondering how honest she was supposed to be, given that she was feeling both sappy and miserable. But, as the elevator stopped to let someone off on another floor, she remembered this wasMaggie. She didn’t want to keep things from Maggie. She was feeling fragile and she needed her best friend. If she couldn’t be honest with Maggie, who could she be honest with?

She fired off her text as she walked across the lobby, shoving her phone back into her pocket as she scrambled to get her gloves on before heading outside. Without even stepping out, she could tell it was freezing. And not just because it was always freezing these days.

The growing layer of frost across the windows was glistening in the light from the hospital, and the people coming and going held themselves in a braced position against the weather. It wasn’t that late, but it was already pitch black outside.

Katie took a breath and ventured outside.

The preparation wasn’t enough.

The cold hit her in every part of her body, even though she was wearing numerous layers. She blamed her period. Everything was far too sensitive and reactive, and it was all her period’s fault.

She headed off in the direction of the metro. She didn’t live too many stops away, and, on a nice day, she sometimes walked, but today wasn’t a nice day. Nor was she feeling nice.

She joined the crowd at the stop, grateful she only had a few minutes to wait, and, even through her irritation, she could feel the holiday spirit around her. People loaded with bags from shopping—some having a great time, others who clearly didn’t love holiday shopping—and those who were likely headed to holiday gatherings, sparkling in a way that only came with this time of year. Katie looked forward to being one of those people again the second she got the next few days out of the way.

And once she got to see Maggie again. Not seeing her best friend for three days should be illegal.

She squeezed onto the packed train and didn’t even have the space to pull her phone out to check if Maggie had texted back yet. She hated that, but she also felt like the people around her were holding her up. As though, without them, she’d have just collapsed to the ground and ridden the train back and forth all night.

Katie always hated days that made her feel like that. Even when she was working every shift sent her way, she’d become tired, but she didn’t feel defeated like this. And, of course, she understood the cause, but that didn’t make it better. It just meant she’d gotten used to giving herself grace on the days she wanted to be the one everyone was looking after, rather than the one doing the caring.

She briefly wondered whether she’d be able to convince Maggie to come over tonight. Although, they already had plans for tomorrow, and she really didn’t want to drag Maggie out in this cold.

The train pulled into Katie’s stop and she dragged herself through the throngs of people feeling like she was climbing through Jell-O. She was dead on her feet. If she hadn’t always been absolutely routine about taking a shower once she got off work, she’d have been heading through her door and straight to her bed, where she might have stayed until she had to leave for her next shift.

As it was, the biting cold cut through her lethargy and spurred her home. The warm lobby of her building was a relief, and she felt herself switching off the closer she got to her floor.

Get in the door. Dump your stuff. Take a shower. Grab leftovers. Go to bed.

Katie chanted her tasks over and over, just to have something to keep her alert and get her through them.

She wrestled her keys from her bag and let herself in, more than ready to collapse under the exhaustion of the day.

But, when she pushed the door open, the apartment wasn’t how she’d expected to find it.

The lights were on low, a cheesy Christmas romance playing on the TV, the smell of fresh-baked cookies filling the room, and, best of all,Maggie.

Katie dropped her stuff beside the door, barely remembering to close it as she stood staring in awe at Maggie.

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