Jewelry Box

“Veil,” Anders called softly, touching her legs. She seemed to recoil from him, still staring at her ringing phone. This wasn't how Anders had planned for the night to play out. He didn't know what to do with a panicking woman and her ringing phone.

As if on cue, the phone stopped ringing and silence returned to the room. Veil was still panicking but at least, she could now see him. She tried to wipe the tears off her face, but her hands were visibly shaking.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Anders asked slowly, not sure how to go about this conversation.

“I'm not so sure,” Veil responded, shaking her head.

“Do you want to call back?”

Veil wanted to, but she needed Anders out of hearing. She already hated that he had seen her cry, and didn't want him to see anything uglier.

“I want to get back to work.” Veil got off the bed and returned to the office, plopping on the seat. Once she was sure that Anders hadn't followed her back down, she called the hospital back, dreading the news.

“Y