As I sat in the hard plastic chair in the waiting room of the emergency room, I wondered why they didn't make hospitals more appealing.

I mean, aside from having a baby, a hospital was usually for sick people or people that were going to be sick or people that were just getting over being sick or people that were going to die.

So why didn't they make the hospital look less dreary?

With the stark white of the walls and the dim fluorescent lights, the scene before me was altogether depressing. If people coming to the hospital were already upset that they were sick or that a loved one was sick, then why enhance those dejected feelings by making the atmosphere even more depressing? In my opinion, the walls should have been painted a soft green color instead of the bright white that was painful to look at. Wasn't green a calming color, anyway?

I looked down at the small white table that was between my chair and the one next to mine. On it were several different kinds of pamphlets ranging from how to lose weight to how to avoiding breast cancer. As if trying to avoid a heriditary disease was possible.

The magazines on the table were no better. They all showed big, bold titles about how to stay healthy, eat healthy, live healthy. Where were the People magazines? Where were glossy Cosmogirl covers? There were supposed to be distractions on this table, not sources that tell us how we could end up in the a sick person's position.

Caleb and I had gotten to the hospital about thirty minutes ago. We rushed into the ER and Caleb went to the lady at the front desk, who looked both tired and bored. He asked what room his brother was in and then he was gone, leaving me in the depressing waiting room alone.

I didn't go with him or ask to go with him. I knew he needed his time. I had no idea what was going on or what had happened, but I wasn't going to ask. He would tell me if he wanted to. He would tell me if he was ready.

I sat alone in the waiting room. There was one other person in there, an elderly lady. She had clear tubes going into her nose and I wondered what function they served. The lady was wearing a baby pink color from head to toe: a pink sweater with colorful flowers embroidered on the chest and matching light pink pants that went up to high when she sat, exposing a pair of wrinkled white socks.

This lady sat across from me and I was regretting taking the seat I had chosen because ever since I sat down thirty minutes, she hadn't taken her gaze off of me. I went through the appropriate stages: feeling incredibly awkward, looking around everywhere but at her, picking up a magazine and finding it disheartening, and then back to feeling immensely awkward.

At the moment, I was just starting right back at her, clutching my bag in my hands.

I noticed that she had blue eyes, or at least eyes that were once blue. They were faded now, like most elderly people's eyes. Her hair was wispy and very white, almost the same shade of bright white as the walls of the hospital. I could see some of her scalp because her hair was so thin. I wondered what she looked like when she was younger. I squinted my eyes a bit, trying to imagine her in youth. As I did, I realized she must have been very beautiful. It was sad though, because now she looked like she was dying.

"Is he your husband?" the woman asked suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"The boy who walked in with you. Is he your husband?" she asked.

"My hus-" I started to say and then I realized she had no doubt noticed the diamond ring that glinted on my finger. "No, he's not. He's just..." I trailed off, not knowing how to describe our relationship. "He's just someone I know," I finished. That was true enough.

The woman scrutinized me with a blank face, not saying anything further. I went back to feeling uncomfortable and began twirling the ring on my finger anxiously. I just wished I could go home. I checked my phone and saw that it was past midnight.

I heard the closing of a door and looked up. Caleb walked in, a tired and weary look on his face. He stood at the entrance of the waiting, rubbing his face with his hands. Then he looked up and raised his eyebrows, as if he was surprised that I was still there. He motioned for me to go to him and I got up without hesitation; anything to get away from that woman's lingering gaze.

"Hey, I'm sorry it took so long," he said.

"No, it's all right," I said.

"I was just talking to the doctor," he told me. I nodded.

"Is Liam all right?" I asked.

"He is at the moment," he replied. I noticed that he paled significantly in the time that he was in Liam's room. Or maybe it was just the lighting.

"He's asleep right now. I can take you home since he won't be awake for a while," he said.

I looked at him, studying his face. His eyes held a raging storm behind them, but they were starkly different from the blank look on his face.

"Ok," I said. He looked at me for a moment, but I wasn't quite sure if he was seeing me. Then he started walking towards the exit. I followed his suit, but stopped and faced the old woman.

"I hope that whatever it is you're here for or whoever it is that you are visiting gets better soon," I told her, my voice level and my eyes unwavering. I saw the tiniest bit of flicker in the woman's aged eyes and that was all I needed to see. Then I turned and walked out the door, meeting Caleb's questioning gaze. I looked down and then we both walked out into the chilly winter air.

The ride back home was silent. I wasn't willing to ask him questions about what the doctor had told him and I guess he wasn't willing to tell me. I got out of the car when he pulled up in front of my apartment complex.

"Nicole," he said as I turned to go. He had rolled the passenger side window down and was looking at me intently.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Thanks," he said.

"For coming with you?" I asked. He shook his head slightly.

"For not asking questions," he replied. I stood with my mouth slightly agape, tiny clouds appearing in front of my face as I breathed.

"Good-night, Caleb," I said.

"Night, Nicole," he replied. And then he disappeared into the darkness.

                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~

"...but that's a very unlikely scenario," I argued.

"That's not the point of the question, though. If it happened, what would you?" Oliver asked.

"But it is the point, isn't it? If it happened. Which it won't," I said.

It was another slow day at the diner. Oliver and Reese had been the only two that showed up for lunch, besides a few people that walked in and took some things to-go. Since the diner was clean and there was no other work to do, I was sitting and chatting with Oliver. The conversation at hand was about ethics. The question Oliver had posed to me was this:

"Suppose you were conducting a train. You realize that up ahead, the railroad diverges to two different paths. However, on one path, there is one person strapped to the railroad. On the other path, there are ten people strapped. The brakes of your train have broken and you have no choice but to take one of the two paths. Which would you take?"

This was a stimulating question and it sparked my interest. For the past few minutes, we sat arguing about it. It drew Reese's interest, who had been sitting a few booths down from us. She asked to join our conversation and we said yes. At the moment, the three of us were hotly debating the subject.

"Ok, fine. If this did ever happen, which it wouldn't, I would obviously choose the side with the one person. Better to kill off one person than ten, right?" I said.

"All right. I thought you'd pick that answer, most usually do, as it seems like the correct one. But what if I ask you this: What if that one person is your mother or father or any other closely related or loved one? What would you do in that circumstance?" Oliver asked.

"Well, since I never got along well with my mother or father, then I'd still choose that path," I said. Reese gasped and smacked my arm.

"That's a horrible thing to say!" she exclaimed.

"I'm only joking," I said. She gave me a look.

"What do you say?" Oliver asked her. I saw Reese's cheeks flush slightly. Until he addressed her, Reese had only been listening in and nodding every now and then.

"Well, in any case, I think it comes down to a question of morality. You're killing in either case and killing, whether it's one person or ten, is always wrong," she said.

"That's another answer many people choose," he said.

"What would you do?" Reese asked him. He shrugged.

"I don't know," he said simply. If Reese or I had given the same answer, he would have argued endlessly with us about it. But since it has his answer, it was kind of okay.

"But seriously, adding that whole family thing just made the situation a whole lot more complicated," I said.

"Exactly, and that's the point of ethics," he said. "Where does it end?" he asked, sitting back and sipping his lemonade. I sat back also, deep in thought.

"Woah, looks like a party," Randy said, walking over to us. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, pulling a chair up and turning it so that he was straddling it with his hands resting on the back.

"We're discussing whether we should kill one person or ten," I replied, a slight grin on my lips. I met Oliver's bright blue eyes and we hid our smiles.

"What?!" Randy exclaimed, taken completely off-guard. "Why would you-" he started.

"They're discussing ethics," Reese clarified.

"Oh," he said. "Why?" he asked.

"Why not?" Oliver replied, pointing at him with his finger.

"Yes!" I said, reaching over and high-fiving him. Reese shook her head and Randy appeared to be even more confused than he initially was.

"Let's see what Randy would have done," Reese suggested.

"All right," I said. We posed the same question we were discussing and turned to face Randy to hear his answer. He tapped his chin, thinking thoughtfully for a few moments.

"I would..." he trailed off and then his eyes brightened and he smiled. "I would jump off the train and let it go wherever. That way, whichever way it did go, it wouldn't matter, because it's not my fault," he said. I rolled my eyes at him and Oliver chuckled. Such a typical Randy-response.

"Steve wanted me to tell you to change the board with the special on it," Randy said, looking at me.

"Why can't you do it?" I asked.

"You have better handwriting," he replied.

"True," I said. I sighed and got up. "Well, it was nice chatting with you all. That definitely killed thirty minutes of my time," I said.

"Glad to be of service," Oliver said. Reese smiled at me and I walked over to the chalkboard where we wrote the specials. Randy followed me over. Reese and Oliver remained seated, delving into a different conversation.

"Can you grab me the chalk?" I asked Randy.

"Sure thing!" he said, retreating to Steve's office to fetch them. I turned around and sneakily watched Oliver and Reese talking. I felt a smile form on my lips and a thought occur to me. Just as I was thinking this, the door opened and Jaime walked in, Tay trailing behind her. She saw me first since I was seated at the bar, and waved. Then she looked to her side and saw Oliver and Reese. She stopped briefly to chat with them and say hello before approaching me.

"Hey! How goes it?" she asked. Tay waved enthusiastically at me, bouncing on her feet. I reached down and picked her up, bouncing her on my hip.

"Boring. As usual," I replied.

"That's not good to hear," she said.

"Are you doing the evening shift tonight?" I asked. She nodded.

"I had to take Tay to get her physical this morning, which is why Randy filled in," she explained.

"You want me to watch her while you're working?" I asked.

"That would be great. I owe you so much," she said, breathing a sigh of relief that I had offered.

"No biggie. You can repay me by telling me about that dinner you had with your parents," I said.

"Oh right! That's a long story that will have to wait for another time," she said.

"How about we talk about it over coffee tonight," I said.

"Sounds like a plan. You get the coffees and I'll meet you at your place at the end of my shift," she said. I nodded and then went back to watching Oliver and Reese again. Jaime nudged me.

"What's the story there?" she asked. I turned to her and smiled slightly.

"I don't know yet. But I think you have a different potential couple to focus on now," I said. She smirked, immediately grasping onto what I was thinking.

"Oh, this is going to be rich," she said, rubbing her hands together and looking at the pair that was oblivious to us.

I chuckled.

Yes it would.

____________________________________________________________________

A/N: I got all philosophical on you. I had a philosophy teacher pose that question that Oliver asked to our class one day and it got me thinking. What would you guys do in that situation?

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P.S. The picture of Oliver to the side is PERFECT.

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