I nodded meekly. There was no way I was going to be able to afford another night. But what the heck? I thought to myself. There was no way I'm going to be able to afford the care I've received up to this minute; what was another few hours going to add to an already un-payable bill? The thought didn't give me much comfort.
"Good." Dr. Robins gave a crisp nod. "I'll come check on you in the morning. Until then, I'd like you to get some rest. I'm sure Grace here has already filled you in on all your injuries, but do you have any questions for me?"
"Nope. Even if I did, I'm sure Grace will take care of me," I answered. He laughed.
"She is going to be a great nurse. You graduate in December, right?" he asked, turning toward Grace. She blushed and nodded.
"My mommy said I can keep her nursing hat when she graduates!" Avery chirped from my lap.
"I'm sure you will both look fantastic in it. If you need a recommendation for the scholarship, I'd be more than happy to write one for you. It's been a pleasure having you do your nursing rotations here," Dr. Robins said, a smile on his face. Grace laughed nervously.
"I will be sure to do that. Thank you again, Doctor," she said. I could see her blush creeping further up her throat.
"My pleasure. I'll come check on you in the morning, Samantha." Dr. Robins gave us all a big smile and turned and walked out the door, humming softly as he closed it behind him.
"A scholarship recommendation?" I asked Grace, raising my eyebrows at her. Avery giggled.
"Mommy thinks he's cute," Avery whispered.
"Hey!" Grace's voice came out a squeak, which made Avery giggle again.
"Oh, so 'scholarship recommendation' is the new code word for secret crush," I said, turning to Avery.
"Quit it, you two!" Grace shouted, her face turning an even more delightful shade of red. "He just works on this floor and he is very nice. You two stop making insinuations!"
"What's an in-sin-u-a-tion?" Avery whispered, sounding out the word carefully.
"It's when you say one thing, but really mean another," I whispered back. She nodded.
"So what is this scholarship? You graduate at the end of the semester—why would you need a scholarship?" I asked, wrapping my arms around Avery. The little girl leaned back into me, watching her mom.
"It's a repayment scholarship. Kind of like a paid internship," Grace answered. "Three students of the nursing program get full tuition reimbursement and a job here at the hospital. It also puts them on the fast track for a nursing management position."
"So it's a really-awesome-program-that-is-right-up-your-alley-and-having-cutie-doctor-give-you-a-recommendation kind of thing?" I teased. Grace rolled her eyes at me.
"Yes. It's just that it's super competitive, and even with 'cutie doctor's' recommendation, I probably won't get it," she said.
"So, you're not even going to try? Come on, Grace!" I gave her a stern look. "The cute doctor thinks you have a shot. At least have him write you a nice letter. If nothing else, you might get a date out of it. At best, you might actually get the dang thing."
"But, Sam..."
"No 'buts'! How come I am just hearing about this?"
"Like I said, it's a really prestigious thing... I'm not the top in my class, and while I have some recommendations, I'm not the pick of the litter. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd push me to do it and I didn't want to get your hopes up." Grace paused and looked down at her hands. "You've been working so hard to keep us afloat, and I didn't want to let you down."
"I think you could do it, Mommy," Avery said quietly. The corners of Grace's mouth twitched upward at her daughter's comment.
"Me too. Go get that doctor's number. Or something," I told her.
Grace rolled her eyes at me and held out her hands to Avery. "We gotta get going, little girl. Your aunt needs some rest," she said.
"And we gotta catch a doctor," Avery responded. I gave her a hug before she jumped off my lap.
"That's my girl," I said as she landed on the floor and took her mother's hand.
"You two are awful," Grace said. I could practically hear her eyes roll in her head. "Don't you worry about the money right now, little sis. We'll make it work somehow. We always do. You just rest and we'll figure things out later."
I nodded.
"Bye, Aunt Sam! I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can go get ice cream then!" Avery called as they walked out the door.
I tried to settle down, but even so it was hard. Grace was right, though. There was no point in worrying at the moment since there wasn't anything I could do about it. But that didn't stop the trickle of panic from worming its way into my brain.
***
I stared at the book the nurse had given me, but I wasn't really reading the page. It was some sort of romance novel, but I wasn't looking for love. I was looking for something to keep myself from freaking out. Despite Grace's calm assertion that we would somehow make it work, I was panicking. My boss was pissed, if the two voice-mails and three texts complaining about my not being there were any indication. He was probably going to fire me. Or at least reduce my hours for being "unreliable." I wanted to scream.
My extra shift was supposed to make sure that rent and Avery's private school tuition were going to get paid without us having to skimp on groceries. It was going to be another lean month, especially since I knew my boss wouldn't schedule me for an extra shift ever again. Throw in the lack of health insurance, and this medical bill—I was going to be broke until I was a hundred and two.
A knock on the door caught my attention and made me look up. An attractive woman in her late forties entered the room, a shy smile playing across her face. Her dark hair was pulled up neatly into a bun, and stylish square glasses accented her big, brown eyes. She looked familiar; something about her smile and the confident way she carried herself.
"Hi, Samantha. I don't know if you remember me, but I would like to talk to you about Robbie," the woman said confidently. It was the voice coupled with the designer suit that made me remember her.
"You're Rachel. Of course I remember you. You would always let Robbie and me stop at the ice cream shop on our way home after sailing lessons. And you are one of the few people that always insisted on calling me Samantha instead of just Sam." I gave her a warm grin and sat up taller in the bed. Rachel sat down carefully in the chair that Grace had vacated only an hour before.
"I'm glad you remember me. I need to talk to you about Robbie, and I'll need you to sign some paperwork," she said, pulling a folder out of an oversized purse.