[MJ Fanfiction] Collide

CHAPTER TWELVE - THE BEGINNING

"Did you talk about this to Baker? The birthday party?" Carl asked me, as he was still in the empty room with me.

"Not yet. I'm about to go see him. I just waited for you to come and get Charlie."

"You're a good person, Thames," he declared, totally out of the blue, before aiming for the door. "Oh, and by the way," he added, turning around to look at me, "I'd like to talk to you. About Alice and everything. Is this okay with you?"

I smiled widely at this, for I didn't expect that at all coming from my boss, "I'd like that. Page me when you're done with the surgery."

He simply nodded his head, before jogging towards the elevator to go in the OR and do his magic. I shook my head slightly with a smile that wouldn't leave my face, and left the empty room as well. As I was about to go back to the ER to do a few consults, someone called my name from behind me. When I turned around to see the person's face, Charlie's mother was standing there, more panicked than ever.

"Mrs. Northman, are you alright?" I asked, putting my hand around her elbow.

"I'm just v–very, very anxious," she answered, a little out of breath.

"Come with me," I softly told her, and we both went to the cafeteria.

I gently told her to sit down on a chair, and gave her a paper bag in which I demanded her to breathe. It was clear to me that she was having a panic attack, and this was the thing to do when this kind of thing happened.

"Charlie is in between good hands. Dr. Meyers is the best doctor this hospital has ever seen, trust me on that," I reassured, and put a little carton of orange juice in front of her, along with a cookie one of the nurse baked.

"I'm not hungry, thank you," she politely refused, and I gave her a look. "Really, I am too nervous to eat anything."

"You need to eat something, ma'am. Really, I am a doctor, I know what I'm talking about," I joked to lighten up the mood, and she finally gave in and took a bite. "Charlie is going to be alright."

She simply hummed in response, as her eyes started to become watery again. Seeing a parent in such distress was never something I liked to witness. I understood how hard it must be to feel this helpless when your child is hurting.

"I'm a single black mom, I have three other kids who are at my mother's house, I'm a simple waitress... How am I going to be able to pay the bills? H—How am I supposed to do this and pay for the medical assistance he needs?" she asked, crying her eyes out at this point.

I took a napkin from the adjacent table, and gave it to her, as I rubbed her forearm for comfort, "May I ask you what happened to Charlie's father?"

"He ran away," she simply said, and I could see it was bothering her to talk about it. "He won't pay for anything, I don't even know where this son of a bitch is," she angrily said, before looking up to me, and putting her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Dr. Thames, it—"