would be cool. Think about all the stuff you
could do.”
“Can I ask you something Ashley?” Jewell
asked pushing her spaghetti around on her plate.
“Sure.”
“Have you ever met a guy, I mean saw him only
once, but then you just couldn’t stop thinking about him?”
“Yeah, I met this hunk at Padre Island during
my senior spring break. I haven’t stopped thinking about that sun
tanned hottie since!” Ashley laughed.
Jewell smiled. Then her eyebrows drew down
over her eyes as she tried to think of another way explain. “I mean
someone that you don’t really know, but somehow you know that the
two of you are meant to be together.” Jewell stared at the patterns
in her pasta as she waited for her friend to answer.
“Do you mean like love at first sight?”
Ashley asked, a little more serious now.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t know who you are. But
you still know that if he could just see you, that he would feel
the same way. That there was some sort of bond between you, making
your lives inseparable.”
“Well,” Ashley paused, giving serious
consideration to her friend’s question. “I’ve never experienced it,
personally. But I had a friend in high school. One day, this guy
walked in to our English class, a transfer from another school. He
didn’t even look at us, but she passed me a note that said he was
the man she was going to marry.” Ashley took a bite of her salad,
and chewed, thinking about the details. “She would follow him
around sometimes. She knew his whole class schedule, and somehow
even got his locker combination. She would clean out his locker
sometimes, but he never knew who did it.”
“So what happened?”
“We were at Senior Prom. That was two years
after he had walked into that classroom. He had brought a date. His
date was gorgeous; long blonde hair, beautiful huge blue eyes,
figure of a super-model. We had come with our own dates too. She
came with a guy she had been dating for a few weeks, and I brought
a friend who, like me, didn’t have a date.” She made a face.
Jewell was surprised. Ashley was beautiful,
in Jewell’s opinion. Ashley was tall, and slim. She had thick black
hair, and beautiful chocolate eyes. And she always looked good in
the latest fashions. Jewell assumed that the boys in high school
would have been clamoring to ask her out. ”So what happened?”
“They met at the punch bowl. Their eyes
locked and the rest is history. They both went to the same college
– they made sure of that, but I guess they couldn’t wait to get
married so they eloped last year in Vegas. I still keep in touch
with her. Their relationship is perfect. Not just like teenage
love, there’s something deeper. You can see it in their eyes when
they look at each other.”
“Wow, that’s really cool.”
“So I guess yeah, I do believe in love at
first sight. Why? Did you have someone in mind?” She looked at
Jewell and winked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t know, not really.”
“Well, who is it? Don’t leave me hangin’! I’m
your best friend, you have to tell me. It’s a rule.”
“Do you swear you won’t tell anyone?” Jewell
asked in a conspiratorial tone, lowering her voice to make sure no
one else heard.
“Of course!”
“That guy who came into the ER the other day.
The one who…died.”
“Whoa! Creepy. Do you think it might be some
nurse thing, falling in love with your patient or something?”
“That’s what I thought too, but it’s not.
It’s more. I just know it.” Jewell sighed.
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. They moved him out of ICU so I
don’t have any reason to see him.”
“Girl! You cannot just let it go like that!
You need to play your part. Be the nurse, go in there and look at
his chart or something. See if you can get him to see you. I mean
really see you!” Ashley said excitedly, a plan clearly hatching in
her mind.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll think about
it.”
“Well,