Even though it was currently well past sunrise, Emilia sat in a quiet, dark corner of her living room space. The setting for her window panel hadn't been taken off "dark" for the day just yet, precisely the way she liked it for the first couple of hours every morning. Emilia had been enduring flu-like symptoms for the past couple of days, and although a quick visit to her doctor pushed aside any real concerns she had, she remained as solitaire as a hermit; much more than before, as a matter of fact. But her peace was short-lived when she received a message which notified her from the bottom-right corner of her computer screen. 

[i]One new message[/i]

She clicked on the notification, seeing it was sent by Kathryn Pope, the Information Coordinator down at the hospital. 

[i]Em,[/i]

[i]I hope you're feeling better. Dr. Xavier is asking for the paper on Robyn Stiles. I know the deadline isn't for another day but he's got some work to do and would appreciate it if you could please forward him a copy as soon as you're finished.[/i]

[i]Thanks,[/i]

[i]Kat[/i]

Emilia exited out of the message and clicked on the window which had a draft of the document. She stared at it for a moment, contemplating how to best incorporate a conclusion to finalize the paper. She hated her indecisiveness whenever writer's block kicked in. Always overthinking every aspect of her work and replacing words here and there. One would think that experience over the years would make it easier to write, but for her it was quite the opposite. 

"I'm sure Dr. Xavier won't mind..." she said to herself, pulling the cover tighter around her before typing up a quick conclusion which highlighted the main facts of the paper. Cliched, but it would work.

Roughly half an hour later, Emilia was leaving her apartment to head to the hospital. She had on a simple white blouse, black pants, and a black pair of flats. Her badge hung from her shirt collar, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, wisps of hair framing her face. Emilia had on a little bit of make-up to cover up the dark circles around her eyes as well as her pale lips. No one appreciated looking like a zombie when they were sick, especially not her.

"I'm sorry," she said to a man walking by in a hurry. She had accidentally bumped into him, but they both carried on without a care. Eventually, when Emilia made it to the hospital, she headed straight to Dr. Xavier's office. His door wasn't closed all the way, so she lightly knocked on it and waited for a response.

"Who is it?"

"Dr. Xavier, hi," she peeked her head through the door, then stepped forward once she was waved inside. "I have that report you wanted." Emilia walked across the office over to his desk and placed the small chip beside his computer.

"Ms. Grey, you could have simply sent me an electronic file," he said, grabbing the chip before attaching it to his computer, "you didn't have to come all the way over here for that, especially since you're not feeling all that well." 

"It's okay, I still have to pick up some more medication." Emilia headed towards the door. "Please let me know if you'd like me to add anything else and I'll send it to you from home."

"Thank you."

After waving goodbye, she closed the door behind her and walked down the hall to take the elevator towards the first floor. Maybe she'd pick up some food on the way, a little something to take with her medication so she wouldn't feel as nauseated as she would while on an empty stomach.