When she got home last, she messaged Neil.

"Just walked through the front door."
"You remembered to message me. Great."
"🙈🤣"
"I was about to call to check if you got home."

She smiles, not knowing how to reply and puts her phone down.

"How was your dinner with your friend?" her mom asked, interrupting her
"It was nice. We had fun."
Her mom's eyebrows were raised. "Really? Spill the details."
Elena rolled her eyes. "I am tired. I am going to go sleep. Good night."
"Fine. Good night." her mom said.

She grabs her phone, heads upstairs, showered and gets changed into other clothes to sleep.

"You're asleep? Already?" Neil texted.
She gets into bed and checks her phone.
"No. I just got into bed."
"Oh. Then, good night." he texted.
"Good night. Again."

She tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult. She wondered if she should message Neil to check if he was still awake. She knew it was highly unlikely.

"Hey. You still up?"
She waits.
No reply.
She stares at the ceiling for a few minutes.
She checks her phone.
"Yeah." he replies.
"Me too."
"Obviously. Since you are texting me."
"Right. Of course."
"😂" he replies.
"I am having trouble sleeping." she texts.
He raises his eyebrows and exhales. "Glad I am not alone."
Elena sighs of relief.
After a while of thinking of what to type, she replies: "I...keep thinking of tonight."
Neil doesn't reply.

She waits a while and realises he is sleeping.

She managed to sleep after an hour of tossing and turning.

The next morning, she wake up at 07:00. She decides to brush her teeth, get changed and go downstairs for breakfast. She eats a fruit salad.
She is the only one awake. Elena leaves a note on the fridge. "Morning. Out for a jog. Back after 8.- Elena" she writes.

She grabs her phone and earphones. She choose a song to listen to and starts jogging.

Elena approaches the park. She hears a voice.

"Elena?"
She turns. It is Neil.
"Hey." she said, trying to not sound overly excited.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"I enjoy jogging here. Also, they sell great coffee close by." he answered.
"Did you jog all the way from your place?" she asked.
"No way. I parked the car not too far from here."
"Oh okay." she said.
He looked at her, waiting for an answer.
"I live close by." she said.
"Oh." he said.
"You want to jog together?"
She froze before answering.
"Uh... Sure."

They started jogging together, talking in between.
"Sorry about last night. I fell asleep during our conversation." said Neil.
She smiled. "Kind of knew you fell asleep. It is okay."
He smiles.

Elena was starting to pick up the pace a bit. Neil "fell." He exclaimed in supposed pain.

She sees him touching his foot. "Gosh!" Are you okay? Did you sprain your ankle?" He smiles and gently pushes her aside and runs ahead of her.
She gasps in shock and she tries to catch up, until they are in sync again. "You are so sly." she said.
He laughs. "Sorry. I can be competitive when I want to."
She laughs.
They turn back and end their jog by getting coffee at a shop.
"Ahh. I came here yesterday. The art here is amazing." Elena said to Neil.
"It is beautiful." he said.

Neil buys them coffee and they head outside. He hands her a cup. "Thanks." she said.
He nodded. "No problem."
They walked towards his car.
"I guess this is our second date. Knew it would be today, but never expected it to be this soon." Elena said, jokingly.

Neil laughed. "This is just a chance encounter. Not a date."
Elena feels disappointed.
"However, I enjoyed it."
She smiled.
"So did I."

"And if I think about it, you said that next time you see me, you don't want to see me as Dr. Melendez. Surprised that it turned out like this, cause I will be seeing you later, as Dr. Melendez."
She laughs. "I kind of forgot that I would be at the hospital later."
He shakes his head and laughs. They reach his car. They look at each other and exhale.
"You sure you don't want a lift home?" he asked.
She nodded. "It is just another jog away. Besides, you need to get to work."
"Okay. I will see you later."
She nods. "See you."

She watches the car leave and she turns around jogging back, while her heart felt like it was skipping. This was a great start to the day ahead. And it was only getting better from here.

She heads back home.
"Morning. Got your note. How was it?" her dad asked.
"Morning. It was good. Great way to start my day." she says, smiling.
He nods his head.
"We are going to the hospital at 10." he said.
She nods and as she heads upstairs, she smiles.

She decides to take a shower changes into comfortable clothes.

She decides to check in on the bakery.
All supplies have been delivered for today. She feels relieved. She feels so proud of her team.

She reads a book for an hour.
Time seems to be going by so slow.
She falls asleep while reading.

Nicole knocked on her door.
She sees that Elena is asleep.
She wakes her up.
"Hey. We got to go." she whispered as Elena wakes up.
Elena nods.

They drive to the hospital.

At the hospital, Kristina waves at her family.
"Hey, hon!" said John, hugging Kristina and kissing her on the cheek.
"Hi." said Kristina.
"Hey, Mom. Glad to see you're looking better." said Nicole, hugging her mom.
Elena waved. "Hi, Grams."

Her grandmother called her over. "Come give me a hug."  She moves over to hug her grandmother. Afterwards, she sits next to her grandmother.

Just then, Dr. Melendez entered.
"Morning, Mrs Logan. How are we feeling today?" he said, while waving at everyone else in the room and smiling.

"I am feeling better. And I told you to call me Kristina."
He nods. "I am glad to hear you are feeling better. I just need to check your vitals and then I can discharge you."
"That's it?" Nicole asked.
"Yes." he replied.
Nicole and John smiled and hugged each other while Elena hugged her grandmother again.

"So, how was the dinner with your so-called friend?" her grandmother asked, while Dr. Melendez was taking her vitals.

"Here we go again." said John.

"Grams!" she said, rolling her eyes.
"What? Can't I ask?"
Elena sighs. "It was nice. I had a lovely time."
Dr. Melendez smiles, without anyone noticing.

"Did you kiss?" she asked, cheekily.
"Grams!! Oh my goodness." Elena said, embarrassed.
"Mom!" Nicole said.
"I told you it was a friend." Elena said.
"One day, you're friends. The next, you're in love with each other."
Elena just shakes her head.
"Well, I would be disappointed if your friend becomes something more."
Elena's eyes widened as her grandmother looks at Dr. Melendez. 

"Why are you looking at Dr. Melendez?" asked Elena.
Neil looks at Elena and then her grandmother. He then looks back at the tablet.

"Cause I wanted you to be with Dr. Melendez. Or at least go on one date."
Elena sighs. "Grams. I already told you."
"I know. I am just saying." her grandmother said.

Dr. Melendez leaves and gets the discharge forms.
"Here we go, Kristina. You just need to sign."
"You finally called me by my name."
He smiles.
She signs and Dr. Melendez takes back the forms to process the discharge.

Kristina and Nicole leave to get change Kristina's clothes. After a while, they return to the room.

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Melendez. I appreciate everything you and your team have done for my wife." said John.

"You're welcome." he said.
"Also, I apologise for my wife's antics."
Dr. Melendez laughs.
"No. It is okay. Not the first time it has happened. It was quite funny to watch."
John smiles and shakes his hand.

"Well, you are officially no longer a patient. Rest well and take your medication." Dr. Melendez said, looking at Kristina. He looks at the family. "Make sure she takes her meds and that she gets enough rest." They all nod and say thanks. "I will be off then. Safe journey home. Good bye." he said and he left the room.

They reached the E.R doors of the hospital.