Certainly Sensible

by Pamela Woods-Jackson

  “Hey, Megan, what are you doing out here?” Daniel walked casually over to his car and beeped open the doors like nothing was amiss.

  Caroline wasn’t surprised, but she turned her attention to Megan. “It’s not safe to be out in a parking lot alone this time of night. You had me worried, Megs.”

  Megan turned to her father, her eyes pleading. “I wanted to know if I could go home with you. I’ve been waiting out here for eons.”

  Daniel shook his head. “Not tonight, Megan, Sharlene wouldn’t be expecting you. Caroline said she’d take you home, didn’t you, Car?”

  Megan looked miserable, so Caroline tried to make light of Daniel’s rejection. “Of course,” she said, pulling Megan back as Daniel got into his car. He waved to them and drove off, leaving Caroline to walk a downcast Megan back into the hospital waiting area. “Dad shouldn’t…” She sighed. “I’m sorry about Dad.”

  Megan shrugged.

  “Are you ready to go home? Honey misses you, and she probably needs to go outside.”

  Megan brightened up a little at the mention of her dog.

  ****

  After everyone had gone, Susan collapsed back into the waiting-room chair.

  “Can I get you anything?” Brandon asked.

  Susan shook her head and rested it on her arm.

  Brandon looked tired but determined. “No, really, Susan, tell me something I can do to help, because if I just sit here I’ll go crazy.”

  Susan looked closely at Brandon and realized he was truly frightened. It was touching how much he cared about Allie. “Well, yes, I really could use some herbal tea,” she said, hoping to make him feel useful. “And Brandon, thank you for being here and for being such a good friend, to all of us.”

  Brandon smiled stiffly and headed off to the cafeteria.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Susan had dozed off in the waiting room chair but awoke with a start when the attendant turned on the TV to the local early morning newscast. She looked around, disoriented, her brain in a fog. Then it all came rushing back to her in a matter of seconds. Allie’s surgery!

  Brandon had stayed until just before dawn when Susan finally convinced him to go home. Despite being bone-weary, she was too keyed up from the events of the previous twenty-four hours and couldn’t relax. She’d tried reading a newspaper, then a magazine, but couldn’t concentrate on the words. Then she’d tried various chairs and sitting positions, but nothing felt right. Finally she’d gotten comfortable in a chair leaning against the wall, propped her feet on a coffee table, and fell asleep for a few minutes. Now she was wide awake again.

  A nurse came through the double doors and spoke quietly. “Ms. Benedict? Allison’s awake. Would you like to come back?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Susan said. She stood and tried to stretch the kinks out of her back and neck. “How’s she doing?”

  “She awoke a few times in the night and experienced some pain, but Dr. Li ordered meds to be administered as needed. Allison should be comfortable enough to talk now.”

  “How soon can I take her home?”

  “Probably in a day or two.” The nurse led Susan through the double doors and down the hall to her daughter’s private room. She had Daniel to thank for that.

  Susan’s knees felt weak when she saw her daughter lying in the hospital bed. Allie’s face was ghost-white, and there were IVs, tubes, and bleeping machines everywhere. The TV was on, set to the same station as in the waiting area, the weather girl pointing to a map of hot daytime temperatures. Susan sat down on a chair next to Allie’s bed and gently took her hand.

  “Allie? It’s Mom.”

  “Hi,” Allie mumbled without opening her eyes.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Ready for a marathon.”

  Susan smiled. “Well, at least you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

  Allie drifted back to sleep. Susan watched TV on mute, read the medical literature lying around the room, strolled to the cafeteria for coffee and a newspaper, and chatted with nurses as they came and went from her daughter’s room. Finally by noon, Allie woke up and asked for food.

  “I haven’t had anything to eat except soup for about three days,” she told Susan.

  A nurse stopped in to check Allie’s pulse and blood pressure.

  “It’s a good sign that she’s hungry, right?” Susan asked her.

  “Just a liquid diet for today,” the nurse replied. The food cart ambled down the corridor, the midday meal smelling divine even for institution food, but all they brought Allie was Jell-O and apple juice.

  “Yum,” Allie said, making a face.

  The room phone rang. Allie painstakingly reached over to the nightstand next to the bed and picked it up with a facetious, “Post-surgical starvation room.” She pointed to the phone and mouthed, “Caroline.”

  “It’s okay, Car, Mom’s here. Do whatever you need to do at work.”

  Allie had no more hung up the phone, groaning as she did so, than it rang again. “Hi Brittany.” She chatted briefly with her, and this time Susan took the receiver and hung it up so Allie wouldn’t have to stretch so far.

  “No more phone calls,” Allie said. “It hurts too much to reach over there.” She slowly shifted her weight to face Susan. “Mom, you look almost as bad as I do. Why don’t you go home and rest?”

  Susan hesitated. “I hate to leave you.”

  “I’m fine. I’ve got all these nurses at my beck and call, and if you don’t mind, I’d really like to nap for a while.”

  Susan nodded and picked up her purse from the table near the window. “This may surprise you, but Brandon was here most of the night.” Susan watched for her daughter’s reaction.

  Allie lifted an eyebrow. “He was? Why?”

  “Because he cares about you. He’d probably still be here if I hadn’t insisted he go home. I’m sure he’ll be back once you’re up to having visitors.”

  Allie didn’t respond but instead stared at the TV, still on mute. “Maybe I haven’t given him enough credit,” she finally said.

  Susan fluffed the pillow behind Allie’s neck. “Well, I don’t see Mark around here anywhere.”

  Allie nodded, and then closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. Susan crept quietly out of the room. She told herself she was only going home for a quick shower and change of clothes, but once she got there, she lay down for a few minutes to “rest her eyes.” She awoke hours later, found herself still in the same clothes from yesterday, now wrinkled, and her hair a tangled mess.

  It was almost supper time when Susan got back to the hospital. She pushed the elevator button for the third floor, waited impatiently while it stopped on every floor, then hurried out as soon as the doors opened. “Allie!” she exclaimed.

  Allie was walking up and down the corridor, escorted by a nurse and still attached to her IV. “I’m so sorry,” Susan said, joining them. “I didn’t mean to be gone this long. How are you doing?”

  “Okay, I guess. But my stomach hurts where the incision is, and then she…” Allie tilted her head in the nurse’s direction, “made me get out of bed and walk.”

  The nurse helped Allie back into her room and back into bed. “Ring if you need me.”

  Susan smiled at the nurse as she left the room and kissed Allie’s forehead, relieved to see some color back in her cheeks. “Megan wanted to come, but I told her to wait till tomorrow. Caroline said something about Daniel owing Megan, so she’s taking her to the mall this evening to buy school clothes. With his credit card.”

  Allie smiled. “That’ll keep them both busy.”

  “Hello?” said a familiar voice.

  Brandon was standing in the doorway, a beautiful flower arrangement in his hands and a grin on his face. Allie motioned him in.

  Brandon took a few hesitant steps into the room. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better. Are those for me?”

  Brandon nodded and came the rest of the way into the room. He set the flowers o
n the table near the window and adjusted them just so. “Can you see these over here?”

  “They’re beautiful. That was so sweet of you,” Allie said with a smile.

  Brandon blushed. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He turned around from the window, and joked, “You have to get well because you’re missing too much practice time!”

  Allie started to laugh but grabbed her side in pain. “Ouch! Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

  Brandon was all worried concern again. “I’ll be serious then. Really, I just wanted to say a quick hello, so I’ll leave you in your mom’s capable hands.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Allie said. “And thanks again for the flowers.”

  Susan took in the whole, brief interaction between Allie and Brandon and hoped she was seeing a shift in Allie’s feelings toward him.

  Allie watched as Brandon left the room. “It’s like I’ve never really seen what a great guy he is,” she told her mom.

  ****

  Caroline logged off her company-issued laptop, straightened the desktop in her new office, and pulled her handbag out of the bottom desk drawer. It was mid-afternoon, but she was leaving early to get home and spend some time with Megan. Lucy had agreed to field Richard’s business calls for the rest of the day. As she was about to turn off the lights, she heard Lucy’s giggle in the hall.

  “Delivery for Miss Caroline Benedict,” Lucy announced loudly, walking into Caroline’s office with a lovely bouquet of yellow roses.

  “What in the world?”

  Lucy was practically dancing with excitement. “These were just delivered! Hurry up and read the card.”

  Caroline couldn’t imagine who would send her flowers. Richard? Don’t be silly. Dad? Unlikely. Her curiosity piqued, she gingerly disentangled the card from where it lay nestled among the roses, and slowly opened it.

  “What does it say?”

  Caroline read and reread the card. “It says, ‘From your secret admirer.’ Huh?”

  Lucy tossed her hands in the air. “That’s it? No name?” She grabbed the card out of Caroline’s hand. “What secret admirer?”

  Caroline retrieved the card and carefully replaced it in the flower arrangement and shrugged. “Well, if I knew that, it wouldn’t be a secret.”

  “Oh, I know!” Lucy said. “It’s got to be that guy at the realty company that’s always staring at you. What’s his name, Jared?”

  “Well if he wants to be more than a secret admirer, he’ll just have to tell me so himself.” Baffled, Caroline left the beautiful roses prominently displayed in their vase on her desk, turned off her lights, and closed the door.

  ****

  Susan collapsed onto her bed in exhaustion after another long day at the hospital with Allie. It was too early to go to sleep, yet she couldn’t keep her eyes open. And she needed to go back to the hospital early in the morning, so she reached over to set the alarm…

  She didn’t even realize she’d fallen asleep until she heard her phone ringing. In her dazed state, she had no idea where she’d left it, so she stumbled to her feet and began searching. Not in her handbag, not on the nightstand, not in the bed covers.

  “Where’s the phone?” she asked aloud in frustration. It quit ringing just as she realized it was on the floor next to her bed, where she must have dropped it. She checked the voice mail and smiled. Patrick.

  “Hi Susan, I hope you’re getting some rest. I just wanted to tell you I have a date tomorrow with not one but two very beautiful young ladies with blonde hair.” Susan’s eyebrow went up. “Well, of course one of them has four legs and a bushy tail, but hey… we’ll all have a fine time at the Rosslyn Village Bark Park. You spend all the time you need with Allie and don’t worry about Megan.”

  Susan laughed and disconnected the phone. Patrick’s taking Megan and Honey to the park tomorrow? How did that happen?

  She curled up on her bed and fell into a deep sleep, comforted by the knowledge that Patrick would take care of Megan.

  ****

  Allie was sitting up in the hospital bed the next day, watching All My Tomorrows, when Susan poked her head in the door. She was relieved to see that Allie looked more like her old self. She was showered, had on a little bit of makeup, and had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “How’s the patient?”

  Allie opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment, Dr. Li came into the room. Allie hurriedly muted the TV.

  Dr. Li perused Allie’s medical chart at the foot of her bed, making notations and nodding to herself as she checked off items. She replaced the chart and said, “Well, Allison, how are you feeling today?”

  Allie shifted uncomfortably. “My incision is still tender, but I can walk by myself now. Can I please go home?”

  Dr. Li examined Allie’s stitches. “I think so, as long as your mother’s there to help you. I don’t want you pushing yourself too hard too soon.”

  “Don’t worry, doctor,” Susan said. “I’ll take good care of her.”

  “Thank you, thank you!” Allie exclaimed, but winced in pain and curtailed her exuberance.

  “I’ll leave a prescription for pain meds at the nurse’s station. Susan, be sure you fill it before you take her home.” Dr. Li patted Allie’s arm and left.

  “What all shall we take with us?” Susan asked, surveying the room. A lot had accumulated in a mere forty-eight hours. There was the hastily packed bag she’d brought for Allie yesterday, filled with clean underwear, socks, and clothes to wear home; the flowers from Brandon; a potted plant from her dad and Sharlene; get-well cards from Megan, Caroline, Richard, Brittany, and one from Emily and Sara. Susan started gathering up the cards and stopped short. “Hey, when did this one arrive?”

  “This morning,” Allie said with a frown. “It’s a generic Get well soon card, just signed Mark.”

  Susan flipped it open. “How did he even know you were sick?”

  “Does it matter?” Allie asked.

  Susan hated the look of hurt and disappointment on Allie’s face. “Does it?”

  Allie sighed. “Mark and I never had the relationship I fantasized about, Mom. He wouldn’t even speak to me that night in Chicago.” She shook her head, the tears springing to her eyes. “How could I have been such an idiot?”

  Susan stepped to Allie’s bedside and took her hand. “You weren’t an idiot.”

  “But I was so sure it was the real thing. Even though Caroline kept warning me.”

  Susan gently hugged Allie, thinking what a run of bad luck her daughter had had this summer, but there was a knock on the half-open door, interrupting her unhappy thoughts.

  “Come in,” Allie called as Brandon pushed open the door.

  Brandon looked around the room. “Going home today?”

  Allie smiled and nodded. “Dr. Li just discharged me.”

  Susan turned her back to give them a little privacy, and took much longer than necessary to gather up the cards, flowers and toiletries, and place them on the rolling cart.

  “Maybe it won’t be long before you can get back to practicing the piano.”

  Allie slowly moved to dangle her feet off the side of the bed and slipped into her sandals. “It’s hard for me to sit up for any length of time right now, but maybe in a week or so. Besides,” she sighed, “my piano career may be over.”

  Susan turned around in surprise. “What?” she asked at the same time that Brandon said, “Why?”

  “I was in the process of applying for a transfer to Ball State when this”—she indicated her stomach—“happened. And really, the only reason I was planning to go there was because of Mark. It’s probably too late to apply anywhere now, at least for the fall semester.”

  Susan frowned. “Allie, tell me you weren’t applying to Ball State just because of Mark.”

  Allie looked chagrined. “Sort of. They do have an excellent music school, but I don’t know anyone else there. Now I don’t have a dorm room, and I don’t know what classes I could enroll in so late. I’m probably just
going to have to drop out until the winter term. Maybe I can find a job…”

  Brandon held up his hand to stop Susan’s objection, his eyes twinkling. “Did you ever consider transferring to Bradley?”

  “I wish,” Allie replied. “But it’s too expensive. Dad’s made it clear he won’t pay for any more private schools.”

  Brandon rocked back on his heels and beamed. “I hope you don’t mind, but I looked into it, and if you’re interested, I know the right people in the admissions office. You know—the ones who can put your application through and bypass all the red tape.”

  Allie frowned. “I’d be paying back student loans until I’m old and gray.”

  Brandon shook his head. “That’s the best part. There’s a full ride scholarship available. Of course you’d have to audition…”

  “Brandon,” Susan said, “what a great opportunity!” She silently crossed her fingers, hoping this miracle offer could become reality.

  Allie was stunned. “You did all this for me?”

  “Of course! Bradley’s music department would be lucky to have you.” He winked at her.

  “And you wouldn’t have to worry about living arrangements since you could live at home,” Susan added.

  Allie looked at her mom, her face glowing. “This would be perfect if it works out! Brandon, I can’t thank you enough.” Allie beamed at him and reached for his hand. He blushed as their fingers touched.

  Susan went back to her fictitious packing. She promised herself she’d send a nice, long thank-you note to Emily. First for taking such good care of Allie, and second, for bringing Brandon into their lives.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Caroline had been on her “new” job as Richard’s executive assistant for two full weeks. Her pay increase would show up in her next paycheck, and she’d already made up her mind to look for an apartment of her own. I’m independently wealthy! Okay, just independent. She laughed to herself but felt liberated all the same.