Promises are Meant to Be Kept

After a few blissful moments we pulled away and rested our foreheads together. Our fingers intertwined and we stood there for a few minutes until my phone went off on the counter. “Crap, I have work,” I mumbled.

Andrew gave me one last chaste kiss on the cheek and grabbed his keys and wallet and opened the door with a flourish. I chuckled while grabbing my stuff and walking out of the apartment. “So Andrew, can I have more details about this game tonight?” I asked as I grabbed his hand.

I looked at him and found him blushing. “Oh yeah, sorry. I’ll leave your ticket in will call. Do you want to bring a friend?” he responded.

“Yeah, I’ll bring Sam.”

He stiffened as we walked. I shot him a confused look as we walked and realized what he stiffened about.

I chuckled. “Sam’s name is Samanthan, Andrew. No need to be jealous, sweetie,” I said patting his forearm. He immediately loosened up and I caught him blushing. We reached the car, and he opened and shut the passenger door for me, causing me to blush at his gentlemanly actions.

We drove in a comfortable silence on the way to my apartment. When we reached my apartment, Andrew parked in the parking lot and turned to look at me. I raised my eyebrows before he asked, “Wear my jersey tonight, okay?” I smiled and nodded.

“See you later,” I whispered and pecked him on the cheek. I squeezed his hand and walked to my apartment.

When I got up to my apartment I shut the door and leaned on the back of it. I smiled as I touched my lips, remembering the feeling of his pressed to them. I shook my head and looked at the time. Crap! I ran to my room and unwillingly changed out of the comfortable clothing. I threw on my scrubs and running shoes, grabbed my bag and keys and ran out of the apartment.

I got to the hospital with two minutes to spare, and when I reached the nurse’s station, I let out a long breath. “Tough morning, Jules?” I turned ad found that the voice belonged to Sam.

I smiled and shrugged. Then the thought of the game came back to me and I asked her, “Hey, are you busy tonight?” She shook her head. I grinned. “Wanna go to a hockey game with me?” Her eyes grew wide and I grinned wider.

Sam and I watched every Hawks game together, but couldn’t go to games because they were so expensive. This is a huge treat for the both of us.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS? WHY DO YOU EVEN THINK YOU NEED TO ASK?” she yelled. I laughed as she hugged me and started jumping up and down. “Ok Julia, I’ll pick you up at 5:00 so we can watch warm ups,” she said excitedly. I chuckled.

She looked at me oddly. “Wait, how did you get tickets?” Crap. I forgot that I didn’t tell her.

“I- uh- I gotta go check on my kids. Talk to you later!” I rushed out as I jogged to a room.

“YOU’RE TELLING ME LATER, JULIA PARKER,” she yelled at me. I laughed and gave her a thumbs up and walked into the first room, while looking over the patient’s clipboard.

“Hannah-banana! How’s it goin, honey?” I grinned at the little girl.

“Not so good today, Miss Julia,” she answered with a frown.

I scrunched my eyebrows together as I went through the routine check up. She complained of stomach aches and a head ache, and I promised her medicine when I come back.

“Try to tough it out, sweetie. I’ll talk to the doctor and come back soon. Okay?” She nodded and I squeezed her hand before I left the room.

I didn’t know what to make of the situation. I suppose the doctor will know, but I sure as hell don’t. she hasn’t complained of a stomach and head ache before. I shook my head as I paged the doctor to let him know what was going on.

I went to my other rooms and checkups and went to the nurse’s station to grab a bottle of water. One of the new nurses asked me a question, and in the middle of answering it, Hannah’s doctor came up to me to talk about Hannah.

“What’s up doc?” I grinned at the doctor. I was pretty good friends with this doctor because he was the doctor that I went to during my internship while I was at Loyola.

He laughed and continued, “Well, Hannah’s condition is getting a tad bit worse.”

I frowned and asked, “What’s going to happen next? What do I need to do?” I was all business. I wanted to make this girl feel better.

“All we can do at this point is numb the pain and wait it out. I’m sorry Julia, there’s not much we can do.”

I sighed and ran my hand through my messy ponytail. “How long does she have?”

“A month or two, maybe.” I nodded.

“Should I tell Mrs. Smith? Or do you want to?” I asked.

“I know you’re close with Hannah, so I’ll tell her mom. If you need to, you can take the rest of the day off after spending a little time with Hannah. I know this is a lot to take in.”

I nodded. “I would like that, thank you,” I mumbled. I walked silently toward Hannah’s room after grabbing her medicine.

I walked into the room and put a soft smile on my face. “Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?” I asked.

She frowned. “I’m not feeling good at all, Miss Julia.”

My face immediately fell as I walked toward the bed. “Here’s some medicine, Hannah-Banana. This’ll make the pain go away,” I said as I handed her the pill. I was amazed with how well these kids dealt with pills. I only had one patient that couldn’t take pills only because he’s four.

She took the medicine wordlessly, and I looked at her with a worried expression on my face. “What’s wrong Hannah? Don’t tell me nothing, because you and I both know that something is wrong.”

She sighed and played with the hem of sheet. “Is everything okay Miss Julia?” she asked in the smallest voice. “Mommy’s always sad and she said that Daddy is gonna come home early, which he wouldn’t do unless something was wrong.”

I felt my heart break as I watched the little girl play with her fingers. I silently sat on the edge of her bed and took her hands.

“Hannah, everything is going to be fine. I promise,” I told her.

She finally looked at me. “Really? Are you sure?” I nodded.

“I am positive. And, you should know Hannah, that I don’t break promises.” She nodded and hugged me.

“Thank you Miss Julia,” she whispered.

I smoothed what hair was left on the back of her head. “Anytime, Hannah-Banana. Anytime.”