He walks to the living room to make the call, and Melinda strains to hear his faint conversation. She can barely make out what he's saying, so she lets her mind wander, trying to picture what her ideal wedding dress actually looks like. 'Simple, yet elegant,' she thinks, absentmindedly sketching a dress on a scrap of paper in front of her. The dress begins to take shape before her. She stops, putting her pencil down neatly beside her drawing. A frown forms over her forehead and a sigh escapes her lips. Even this dress wasn't right.      She closes her eyes and bites her lip, frustrated. "This wedding will never come together. Not at this rate," she says aloud, her voice a hoarse whisper.      "We need to go in," Greg says from behind, breaking her thoughts and startling her back to reality.      He slides into the chair across from her, his mouth drawn in a thin line. "There's a major trauma coming into the hospital. They need you to help with the non-essential emergencies so the experienced staff can be freed."      His eyes light up and he looks at her, a small grin beginning to form on his lips. "But, it looks like I'll be able to assist with the trauma. Finally! I'll graduate with some trauma experience yet!"      She smiles at him, masking her fatigue. "Guess we should head out," she says. "I'll grab my bag and we can go."      As she brushes past him, she feels him place a hand on her arm, stopping her. "Melinda, you're exhausted, aren't you?"       She looks down at him, noting the concern on his face. She hesitates a moment and then speaks. "It's me against the world these days. I'll be ok."      He frowns, his head cocked to the side. Then his hand drops from her arm. "I worry," he says. "You've been worrying me lately."      She blinks, and in that instant she is conscious of how tired she really is. The wedding was dragging her down. Her relationship with her half-sister was dragging her down. Work was dragging her down. And worst of all, little seeds of doubt that she hadn't even known were planted, were starting to take root and grow.      "Don't worry. I'm fine. I really am," she says, touching the side of his face. "But we really need to get going."      He nods, suddenly business-like. "You're right."      It's a new day when they finally return home. Melinda collapses into bed without even removing her clothes. She lets the day slip away instantly as her thoughts turn into dreams and then cease as her sleep deepens.