itsjadeite

 Em pulled her phone, staring at it for the hundredth time that day. Ruby--Kate--said to call whenever she wanted. And she wanted to. But she wasn't sure how well she could keep up being "Jadeite" and not Emmy-who-is-not-Emmie around the girls.

Being Jadeite was currently far less terrifying. Even if she seemed to irritate Sapphire at every turn. Maybe if she....

Nope. Em flicked away from that potentially explosive contact and back onto Ruby's number. It rang a few times, went to voicemail. Which was full.

She held the phone out, staring. Full. Ruby's voicemail. Ruby the healer, Ruby the people person, Ruby everyone's confidant and support.

Ruby who was sick enough to actually stay home, Ruby who had been complaining the meds hadn't been working yet. Ruby who could be lying there in her cute little studio slowly dying of the plague. Em chewed her lip as she got in her car, phone in the console. "You are being ridiculous."

She probably turned her phone off to sleep. Those were probably all messages from many well-wishers realizing how much they missed her. She could try again this evening, tomorrow, the next day. The next. Sure, you could see her at the funeral.

Guilt bubbled up as a new memory broke fresh of an obituary in a crumpled newspaper far from here.

"Dammit, stop." Em gripped the wheel tighter, not really paying attention to where she was going. Which was easy when you had to split your mind between lunchtime traffic and fighting intrusive thought spirals. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Deep breathing and well-practiced smiles got her through obtaining the perfect cover in the form of a styrofoam pint of garlic chicken noodle soup. GPS carried her the rest of the way, until she was beating loudly on Rudy's door after convincing a neighbor to buzz her in. "Ruby?! Ruby!?! It's, um, Jadeite!"