It was left for Cathy to deliver the disappointing news to her daughter. As she watched the resignation fall across her daughter’s face, Cathy felt the sting of tears. She made an effort to be upbeat and teasing and silly with Chloe, so that before her visit was over she had the satisfaction of seeing the tiny smile that curled her daughter’s sleeping mouth.
After kissing Chloe one last time, Cathy eased quietly out of the hospital room and walked down the hallway. She was bone-tired, and she was glad to be heading for home. As she depressed the worn black button for the down elevator, she heard the sound of her name. She turned. Dr. Richards was striding toward her, his white lab coat flapping open over his dark-green scrubs.
Cathy waited for the oncologist, her body tensing with unease. They had already spoken earlier about Chloe and how she was handling the new course of treatment. In Cathy’s experience, any time a physician wanted to talk to her again meant bad news.
“I’m glad I caught up with you, Cathy.”
As she searched the oncologist’s face, the sharp pang of concern that she had felt strengthened. “Is there something wrong?”
“Not with Chloe. I’m not so certain about you.” Dr. Richard’s intelligent gaze was penetrating. “I’ve just spoken with Barbara Beasely and learned of your altercation with one of our staff earlier today. Why didn’t you mention it when we talked?”
Cathy was uncomfortable. She always was when someone asked about her. “It wasn’t important. It was stupid of me. I apologized at the time.” She fumbled nervously with her purse strap. She was still embarrassed by the way she had lost control of her emotions. She never did that.
“I also heard that you aren’t sleeping.”
Cathy tightened her lips, swiftly blaming her good friend for meddling. Ignoring the rise of anger inside of her, she took care to speak evenly because she knew how a show of emotion would be interpreted. “Is that so hard to understand? I have a sick child.”
Dr. Richards nodded, but his shrewd gaze remained fixed on her face. “Granted. But we’ve talked about this before, Cathy. You have to take better care of yourself. You need rest. What about the prescription I gave you? Have you refilled it?”
Cathy shook her head. “No, and I’m not going to. I don’t want to take the chance that I will be knocked out if… if there’s a call about Chloe.”
The oncologist frowned. “While I sympathize—”
“No,” said Cathy softly.
He sighed irritably. “You make my job just that more difficult when you don’t listen to my advice.”
“Just concentrate on Chloe. That’s all I ask. I’ll be fine,” said Cathy firmly. She changed the subject. “Chloe was very unhappy when I told her that you said that she couldn’t go home.”
“I still want to monitor her white count. If it stays stable, maybe in a few days we can talk about it again.”
“Thank you! It would mean the world to her. And to me.” Cathy smiled, truly grateful for the small extension of hope. Dr. Richards nodded, frowning. He seemed about to say something else, and Cathy braced herself. However, as the elevator door opened, he appeared to think better of whatever he had in mind. With a quick good-bye, Cathy made good her escape.
Chapter Five
Less than a week later, Cathy was scheduled to meet Michael again.
In the interim, there had been several emails back and forth between them, and Cathy had been busy. She had carefully thought out what she needed to do to protect her privacy as much as the surreal situation would allow.