<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Emily</strong></span><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Miami PD</strong></span><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Talking with Susan</strong></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Oh sorry!” Emily apologised, while trying to work out if it had actually been Susan who’d led the conversation that way, or not.  Anyway it had really produced a reaction!  Emily had so nearly put an arm round her, seeing her hunch up and ball her fists like that, looking like she was in the grip of a flashback…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“You work on the street?  Giving medical care?  That must be very rewarding.”  Oh did that sound a bit patronising?  Shit.  It was because that flashback had made her nervous about asking any more questions.  Yet she really wanted to find out more about this woman!</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Also she was feeling a bit guilty about the contrast with her own, easy life.  Susan looked tired, drained even.  She still had a lot of force in her, you could feel it, but her life felt like it was a battle.  No makeup, and by the look of her skin not enough exercise, fresh fruit and vegetables.  Her plain, functional clothes.  Short hair that had a comb through it once a day, probably.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">A firm mouth, prominent cheekbones, dimples, and those intense eyes…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“I wish I did something like that, helping people, you know,” she continued, trying to dig herself out of the hole but just making it deeper.  Shit!  Her social skills were great, how was she so totally inept all of a sudden??  That wasn’t what she was feeling at all.  She was so impressed; why couldn’t she convey it?</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Emily shut herself up until she could find something to say that would come out right, and fell back on her smile, which was normally reliable at least!  She realised it was Susan that was throwing her – the combination of being both strong and vulnerable.  God.  She really DID want to put an arm round her.  Give her money; lend her Gabriel; fix her problems; take her home; pamper her; and find out about her life.</span><br/><br/>