Emma was the one to wrench away from him, turning to face Flo so quickly she could've sworn she'd caught whiplash.

It was the indefinable expression on Flo's face that made her breath catch. She wasn't a master at reading facial expressions, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Flo wasn't happy.

Not at all.

The expectant pause on Flo's end made Emma realise that the other woman was still waiting for a reasonable explanation. She swallowed nervously – really, there wasn't anything to be nervous about because, technically, she hadn't done anything wrong. Flo had some way or other influenced Dylan's thinking, made him believe something that no longer existed in the first place. Logically, in any other circumstance, Flo was the other woman.

So why did it feel like the tables had turned – Emma was the other woman; and now she had some explaining to do?

"I was just – " Emma looked briefly at Dylan, frowning slightly when she realised that he still looked dazed. Confused – as he gripped his cup of coffee tightly and stared far too intently at Flo. Clearly, he wasn't going to be saying anything, so Emma made a snap decision and decided to be truthful this time round. "I was just telling him about myself."

"Really?" Flo lips tilted up in an almost tight smile that seemed almost calculative in nature. "Seems like you were telling him quite a lot."

Emma held her ground. Shrugged, like Flo's words didn't mean a single damn thing to her. "He wanted to know."

"I did," Dylan said, unexpectedly. His eyes were flitting between her and Flo now, the expression on his face just as shrewd as Flo's, if not more so. Emma wasn't surprised. He'd always been analytical, but his impulsiveness could get the better of him sometimes, occasionally with disastrous results.

Flo turned to him now, her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"I wanted to know more about her."

Dylan's answer took her so completely by surprise that it was all Flo could do was to stand there gaping at him, rendered entirely speechless for the first time since Emma had met her. She made an odd noise of disbelief and, after what seemed like forever, finally managed to say something coherent. "What're you even going on about?"

Dylan opened his mouth to reply, but was promptly cut off when a doctor strode by. Emma hadn't ever seen this woman before, but she figured that Dylan probably knew her from his stay in the hospital given the way he nodded cordially at her.

"Mr Torres," the doctor smiled politely at the group, before staring down at her clipboard. "If you're done here, maybe you'd like to step into Dr Han's office. He has some new results from the blood test we did on you the other day – nothing serious, of course; but it may interest you to know the current status of your recovery."

"Sure," Dylan sounded almost reluctant, and Emma faltered when he shot a glance her way before looking at the doctor. "Third floor, right?"

"Yes," the doctor returned, before hurriedly glancing down at a device in her hand when it began to beep. She threw them an apologetic look before stepping away. "Excuse me."

Emma watched the doctor leave, a thoughtful expression on her face. Dylan's current status of his recovery – that had to be a good thing, right? That had to mean that someday – not today, definitely, but someday – he'd be able to remember her.

She turned back when she heard Dylan's wheelchair shift slightly. " – it's fine," he was saying, when Flo reached down to help him. And his posture was almost rigid, frozen when she laid a hand on his shoulder. "I can get there on my own."

"Are you sure – "

"I'm good," he told her calmly. Leaning forward, he placed his coffee on the bench where Emma was. Emma felt her breath catch in her throat when he looked at her. One glance alone held a plethora of emotions, a thousand and one words that he wanted to say but somehow couldn't, not right now. "Don't go anywhere," his voice was barely audible, only for her ears to hear.

Emma didn't trust herself to speak. Wordlessly, she nodded; watching as his lips curved into a brief smile of satisfaction that faded just as quickly. He was wheeling himself past them in seconds, skilfully manoeuvring the wheelchair down the hallway and swiftly avoiding anyone in his path.

It wasn't until he'd disappeared completely out of sight that Emma felt a sudden wave of uneasiness sweep within her. Flo was still standing there, nothing but hostility in her expression and Emma wasn't one for confrontations. She ducked her head down and stared at Dylan's coffee cup, hoping against hope that Flo wouldn't say anything to her.

That small glimmer of hope, however, lasted but for three seconds.

Then Flo took a step closer. "I know what you're trying to do."

Emma's eyes flew up to meet her gaze squarely. "What?"

"I know what you're trying to do," Flo reiterated, taking another step closer, her gaze sharp and piercing. "You're trying to get him to remember you. You've been leaving – hints, clues, reminders, so that even though you might be out of his sight, you're never completely out of his mind."

Emma was silent. Flo had hit the metaphorical nail on the head, and she hadn't anything better to say.

"It's not going to work."

Flo's tone was confident, so confident, that Emma found herself wavering. And, after a few seconds had ticked by, she found herself losing the stare-down and had to look away. She swallowed, fixing her gaze on the floor instead. "Why?"

"Because I'm not letting him go."

Emma's eyes snapped back to hers and Flo smiled, but it was an almost bitter smile that sent something in Emma's chest twisting painfully.

"You know who I am," Flo added, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair, and Emma could've sworn she saw Flo's hand tremble with that very action, even though the level of self-assurance in Flo's tone said otherwise. "You know that I was an important person in his life once, a long time ago. You know that Dylan and I had something good going, long before you were ever in the picture."

Emma's jaw clenched. "That's all in the past now."

"Yeah? So are you," Flo let out a mirthless laugh. But the laughter faded just as quickly, and the expression on her face was suddenly serious. "Letting him go," she started, her voice quiet and odd now, "letting him go – that was my biggest mistake. I thought we were young, I thought the feelings between us would fade, I thought distance wasn't going to do anything good to our relationship."

Emma kept her mouth tightly clamped shut, but it was all she could do to stop the words that threatened to slip past her lips as she heard what Flo had to say. We made it work, the words were a loop in Emma's head, we made distance work. And nothing ever faded, nothing ever had to fade. Because we were just that good together, so he could be anywhere in the world – anywhere, Europe, Asia, even the moon.

And I'd still love him – to the moon, there, and back again.

"But now that he's here," Flo continued, and the quiet determination in her voice was enough to send the oxygen ripping out of Emma's lungs, "now that he's back in my life, I am never letting him go again."

Emma could've sworn she heard her heartbeat thundering in her ears. It was like the world had stopped in motion and everything, every future path the three of them would take, was hinging on what Flo would say and how Emma would react.

"What?" She didn't know how she managed to school her voice into something so emotionless, but she managed anyway, keeping her eyes fixed on Dylan's cup on the bench next to her. She was certain that the coffee was now cold.

"You don't understand," the slight waver in Flo's voice was unmistakable. "Back when I first met him, I'd lost – so many people. And he was the only person in my life who stayed, who stayed because he wanted to and not because he had to. When I had no one, he was there and he was the only one who mattered. He is the only one who matters. So yes, maybe it is true – I don't deserve him because I let him go in the first place. But that isn't to say that he means any less to me than he does to you, or – " her voice caught, and Emma finally looked up, felt something within her pull when she saw the tears streaming down Flo's face.

And, suddenly, she understood that Flo was just as terrified as she was. She was terrified because Dylan had forgotten about her and still remembered Flo. But now Dylan was en route to recovery and, maybe, he'd remember her someday. And remembering her would mean forgetting Flo. It was either-or, one or the other. No in-betweens.

" – nor does it mean," Flo continued, her voice barely audible, brushing an unsteady hand across her eyes, "that I love him any less than you do."

And yes, Emma understood her perfectly now – perhaps not all of it, but what Flo had revealed, she understood. There was no other woman, there was just the two of them – one past called Emma, one very past yet very present called Flo – and there was no knowing which one of them was going to be the future.

So when Flo reached over, picking up Dylan's coffee from the bench, Emma didn't react, watching her cradle the cup in her hands like it was the most precious thing to her at that moment.

"Do you know," Flo began, her eyes fixed on the Styrofoam cup between her fingers. "Do you know what it's like to lose someone?"

All Emma could focus on was the cup in her hands and all she thought was this – that's not yours. But then, it's not mine either.

The cup wasn't Flo's, nor was it hers. Dylan wasn't Flo's, nor was he hers. And she was rational enough, she loved him enough, to realise that he never belonged to either of them to begin with.

Dylan was his own person.

And it was his choice.

She dragged in a deep breath unthinkingly and slowly got to her feet, pulling the strap of her bag over her shoulder along the way. Reaching out, she neatly plucked the cup from Flo's hands and placed it back on the bench. Then she turned to leave, but stopped at the last moment, realising that she hadn't replied to Flo's pressing question yet.

Do you know what it's like to lose someone?

"No," she said quietly over her shoulder, not quite looking at Flo. "But I'm about to find out."