You'll Be In My Heart - Phil Collins
I was currently standing in front of the Saint Paul Sharks number 1 hockey enemy, and there was nothing I could do about it. Ethan, my fiancé, would definitely, be trying to act tough and cool if he was here.
Of course he was even hotter up close and personal, and don't get me started on how cute his daughter was. "Charlotte, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?" I ask, sterilizing the needle.
"Chocolate! And, it's Charlie." She says sassily.
"Well, technically your supposed to call me Dr. Cameron. But I think it'd be okay if you called me Brinley. It'll be our little secret." I say, squatting in front of her. "I hear you love Disney." I whisper and her face lights up.
"Yes!"
"I love Disney too!" I say. "What's your favorite movie?"
"Frozen!" She says, kicking her legs excitedly. "What's yours?"
"Hm, I don't know. Frozen is pretty good but, Monsters Inc. is definitely my favorite." I say.
"It's scary." She whispers.
"What? Mike Wasowski is adorable and hilarious, you can't beat that." I say, standing up.
I turn to look at Christian, nodding my head towards her as he stands up. He sits on the bed, pulling her onto his lap as he holds her hand. "Who is your favorite princess?" I ask, pushing her sleeve up to her shoulder.
"Ariel!"
"What? She's my favorite princess too. Can you keep a secret?" I ask and she nods her head.
"I've met Ariel and Prince Eric, and Ariel told me, that if you be a big girl, and don't cry, she's got a present for you." I whisper as her eyes light up as I wipe her arm with a sanitizer wipe.
"Really?"
"Yup!" I say, sticking the needle in her shoulder. Her eyes widen but she doesn't cry. "See, all done, you did it!" I say, sticking a bandaid, with an owl on it, on her arm, where the needle previously was.
"I'm so proud you, Sis!" Christian says, smiling down at her.
"Do you want to go pick out a sucker?" I ask and she nods her head. I put my hands out, picking her up and setting her on my hip, "Come on."
"You can come." I say and Christian nods, standing up and following us.
"Simba!" She says, pointing to the little Simba that was attached to my retractable badge reel.
"Yeah!" I go behind the desk, pulling out a large bag of Dum-Dums. "Since you didn't cry at all, you can have two." I say and she grins, digging around in the bag.
"Thank you!" She says, unwrapping the wrapper on one. "Here Daddy." She says, handing Christian the other one. "Hold this. Don't eat it."
He chuckles, "Okay Sis."
We make our way back inside her room. I set her on the bed as I stand in front of her. "How do you feel right now, Charlie?"
"Hot." She says quietly.
"Are you hungry?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Tired?"
"Not right now." She says.
"Does she get nosebleeds?" I ask, turning to Christian.
He nods his head, "Yeah. The last one lasted over an hour." He says and I nod.
"Shortness of breath?"
"Can't go down a slide more than once in the span of 5 minutes because of it." He says.
"Night sweats?"
"Every night."
"Okay. We're gonna go ahead and start her first round of chemotherapy. Right now she'll be given Doxorubicin, it's given by an injection into the vein." I say as he nods, intently paying attention. "Depending on how her blood cells react today, she may possibly be started on Central Nervous System Prophylaxis, which is a preventive treatment to keep the Leukemia from spreading to her brain and spinal cord."
"I'd recommend bringing anything that will keep her comfortable and distracted. It's gonna be awhile." I say and he nods again, standing up.
"Where are we going?" Charlie asks.
"We're going to another room, where there will be other kids you can talk to." I say, squatting in front of her.
"Are they nice?"
"Very. There's a big TV in there, where we play Disney movies all the time." I say, my hands on her knees.
"How big of a TV are we talking?" She asks and I laugh.
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see."
She puts her arms out, "Will you carry me?"
"Of course."
"Does Daddy get to come?" She asks, playing with my badge.
"Yes!" I say, walking out of the room, Christian right beside me.
"Your hair! It's like Belle's, but with bangs!" She says, running her hand across my bangs as I laugh. "How long is it?" She asks, examining the top of my head.
"Eh, kinda long." I say, shrugging my shoulder. It only went down to the bottom of my shoulder blades.
"I wish mine was long." She says, pointing at her messy bun.
"It will be. I just know it."
"I want bangs, just like you." She says, smiling at me.
"You do?" I ask, turning the corner.
"Sis, let's calm down a little, you just met her an hour ago." Christian says, chuckling.
"Shh." She holds her hand up to him.
"Wow. I see how it is." He says, putting his hand over his heart.
She gets distracted, looking at the pictures along the wall.
"Does she always warm up to people easily?" I ask, looking over at Christian.
He shakes his head, "Nope. It took her a while to warm up to my best friends and they've been around since she was a baby. She doesn't take kindly to strangers, in fact she usually cries." He says.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I figured she was just keeping calm because we had a talk about it before we got here. But the fact that she asked for you to hold her is a very big deal."
"Maybe it's all the sweet treats I promised her." I say and we both softly chuckle.
"I don't know. It's.. Different." He says, softly smiling over at her.
"She's gonna be okay, Christian." I say, knowing the doubt that goes through every parents' minds. "I've seen newborn babies survive worse."
He just nods. "So, you're a resident?" He asks, nodding the my badge.
"Yep. In my second year."
"How many years do you have to do?"
"It varies based on the hospital and how you did on your internship and with medical school. But, I only have to do five years."
"Is that good or bad?"
"It's the shortest residency so, good."
"Ah. So you're a smart cookie." He says before he clamps his jaw shut.
"Cookie?" I ask, a laugh escaping my lips.
"I live with a toddler." He says matter of factly.
"Good point. But yes, I'm somewhat of a smart cookie." I say, smiling up at him.
"Are we almost there?" Charlie asks as we turn another corner.
"Just about." I say, making my way to the end of the hall.
I didn't know much about Christian Brooks outside of hockey. Other than what I read on The Sports Post. I knew he was a single dad off the ice and a cocky, son of a bitch, antagonizer on the ice. He liked to rile up his opponents to make them get a penalty instead of him.
"Where are you from?" He asks. I'm surprised it took him this long, to be honest. Most people interrupt me right away to ask.
"North Carolina."
"Cougars fan?" He asks and I shake my head no.
"My dad was born and raised here in Saint Paul so, die hard Sharks fan. I could get shunned for even looking at you right now." I tease. "I'm risking my spot at the holiday family dinner table right now."
He chuckles, "I can keep a secret if you can."
We stop in front of a pair of double doors, I swipe my badge before it beeps and automatically opens.
"We don't like sharks." Charlie says, folding her arms across her chest.
"Bummer. You were becoming my favorite patient." I say, pinching her side.
She giggles, "Okay, maybe we like you." She says, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck.
It was these moments. Right here. That made me forget all of the hard days about my job, even if it was only for a couple of seconds.
Word Count: 1,401