Chapter 8

Dana

"Oh hell, you again, fruit fly?" Mr. Jackson glanced up from the paper he was reading and gave me a wry smile.

"Morning, Mr. Jackson. How are you today?" I set my tray down near the door and picked up the cup of pills I had ready for the ornery older man.

"I'd be better if you'd stop bringing by this damn poison." He huffed and crossed his arms over his frail chest like a small child might.

"You don't really believe that, right?" I extended the cup to him.

"What? That I'd be better off without you coming by?"

I chuckled. "No, that this is poison."

"It tastes like shit! Have you had these things? Here... I'll share." He extended the cup back toward me, still full of pills.

I laughed and pushed it back toward him. "You're the best part of my day. Did you know that?"

He grunted and popped the pills in his mouth as I walked around and opened his windows.

"Your day must suck to high heaven." He snorted as I turned around and smiled.

"Nope. It's really an okay life. It's not great or anything, but it's okay." I shrugged and reached out to take the cup from him.

He only had a few weeks at most to live, and he wasn't willing to let his family hover over the top of him while he 'wasted away'. Having been a patron of the hospital, they made a special exception and let him stay there instead of an assisted living home.

"Why is it just okay?" His voice softened a little.

"Let's see..." I started to walk to the door.

"Dana, come sit here." Him calling me by my name was a little surprising. I didn't realize he knew it, even though the damn thing was printed on a name tag above my left breast. He patted the bed beside him as I turned.

"My boyfriend is an asshole who makes his side of the bed before I even wake up in the morning." I sat down on the edge of the bed and clasped my hands in my lap.

"Wait a minute. I thought you broads like to have the bed made."

"Us broads don't really care about the bed as much as we do being held."

"Ah, I see." He nodded at me. "Keep going. This okay life can't be all about the bed being made and nothing else, right?"

I laughed softly. "He thinks I'm overweight and need to be on a diet and running on a treadmill all the time."

"Hogwash. You're the prettiest thing in this whole damn hospital." His heart monitor beeped loudly, and I reached out, gripping his hand.

"Hey, no getting all hyper on me, fruit fly."

He chuckled and cupped his hand over mine. "You gotta be who you are, youngin. Find a man that appreciates that."

"You think he exists?" I glanced over my shoulder to see Jackie standing at the door with a smile on her face.

"I do. When you find him, bring him by here so I can make sure he's the one, or have your daddy do it. Us old farts know when we're dealing with a real man or a fake. Put him through the dad test." He released my hand and laid back, letting out a tired-sounding sigh.

"My father died a few years back, but I'll bring him by here if I ever find him." I smiled and patted Mr. Jackson's shoulder. "Why do you call me fruit fly?"

"Because you're always buzzing around." He smiled and closed his eyes. "Better hurry if you want my help."

"Why's that?" I pulled his covers up to his neck like he liked them.

"Because my time is almost over."

"You don't know that." I rubbed his chest softly and watched him slip into sleep.

"Dana?"

I turned, realizing I'd left Jackie standing in the doorway. "Sorry. I was just taking care of Mr. Jackson."

"So I see." She moved back into the hall as I grabbed my tray and walked out with her. "He's supposedly the hardest patient on the damn floor and you just worked him like a charm."

"I didn't work anything. I acted like a human who cared to another human who needed care. I think all of us would go a lot farther in this place if we did that."

"Some of the nurses do."

"Very true." I stopped by the nurses’ station and glanced up to see Tinsley rushing into Amanda's room. "Oh shit. Let me see if I can help."

"Okay, but I need to see you later." She gripped my arm softly. "I think I want to go to New York after graduation."

I smiled and nodded. "I might just join you."

"Really?" She bounced on her feet and released me.

"Yep, really." I jogged toward the room as the thought of living in a big city with all new people filled me with an odd sense of hope. Not only could I start over with a group of close-knit friends, including my childhood bestie Olivia, but I could possibly talk Parks into being my mentor. There was no real reason to stay in Dallas anyway besides my mother, who didn't need me thanks to my brother and sister being around all the damn time.

"It's okay. Just calm down." Tinsley moved in toward Amanda as she screamed and thrashed in the bed below. It would seem she had use of her arms again. She reached up and clawed at Tinsley's face, getting her good.

"Ouch! Dammit." Tinsley glanced up. "Get a sedative."

"No." I moved to the other side of the bed and grabbed Amanda's chin tightly, forcing her to look at me. "Guess what I learned today."

"What?" She calmed almost immediately as tears filled her eyes. "What did you learn?"

Her speech was slurred thanks to the drugs mixed with terror.

"I'm getting a doctor." Tinsley walked away from the bed as I moved to my knees beside it and leaned in with a smile on my face. I moved my fingers from underneath Amanda's chin and rubbed the top of her chest softly like I would my brother's when he was scared.

"I learned why Mr. Jackson calls me a fruit fly."

"I'm scared, Dana," she whispered and glanced around, her eyes growing frantic.

"Don't be. I'm right here, and Kendal will be here as soon as I can get ahold of him, okay?"

"Call him, please?" She gripped my hand tightly and forced me to stop rubbing her.

"I'm here." He walked in and moved to the other side of the bed, dropping to his knees and placing his strong fingers around her hand and mind. "I'm right here. I was on my way up here. Were you throwing another fit just to see me?"

"No." She turned her face toward me and let out a sob. "I don't wanna die, bubba. Please make it stop."

Tears blurred my eyes as I leaned toward her and pressed my cheek to the side of her face. I couldn't look at Kendal, but the soft panting coming from his side of the bed let me know that he was hurting beyond anything any of us could heal. The results were back for Amanda's decreased use of her limbs. She was getting worse... fast. There was little they could do, but the doctor was hoping for a few more good months for her. No one had told Kendal yet, or not that I knew of.

"Fuck," he mumbled and got up, walking to the window and pressing his hands to his face as his shoulders shook violently.

I glanced up as Dr. Lewis walked in. "Hi there, Dana. You doing okay, sweet girl?"

"She's worn out." I stood up, but kept my hold on her hand.

The doctor glanced over at me and nodded. "Let's get you a good nap and then we'll grab anything you want from the cafeteria or get your unruly brother to run down to Burger King like you like. That sound good?"

Amanda nodded and turned a little to look at Kendal. "I'm sorry, bubba. Forgive me."

He turned and shook his head, walking to the bed and reaching down to brush his fingers by her cheek. "No, hush that. I'm just lost right now. I'd give everything I had to have me in that bed and you up here wasting your life on stupid shit."

"What stupid shit?" she mumbled and closed her eyes as Dr. Lewis gave her an injection.

"Nothing, sweetie. Rest and I'll be here when you wake up."

"You promise," she whispered.

He leaned down farther and kissed her forehead several times. "Promise."

My heart ripped in two as he glanced up at Dr. Lewis with so much pain in his expression. "Save her, Nick. Find something that will slow this down."

"I wish I could, old friend." He extended his hand toward Kendal. "You need to start preparing for end of life."

"What?" He pushed Nick's hand back and walked around the bed, his expression crumbling in grief. "You save her. You promised my mother that you would."

"I know, Kendal. I've done all I c-"

"Well, it's not enough!" He walked out into the hallway and turned toward the cafeteria.

"I'm going after him." I got up and walked toward the door, half expecting the lead physician for the floor to tell me to mind my own business. He didn't.

I rounded the corner and saw him standing outside of the hospital in the small garden area out back. I pushed the doors open and stopped before going any farther. What the fuck was I doing? I didn't know Kendal and he was lost in a moment of grief. He had a girlfriend or maybe a mom or dad that he could call, right? Where was everyone?

He turned and slipped his hands into his pockets as he glanced down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"What? For what?" I let the door close behind me and walked toward him, stopping at a comfortable space between us.

"I don't know." He glanced up and took a long breath. "Fuck me. She's all I have left."

"Where are your parents?" I shouldn't have asked. It was none of my business.

"Mom's dead from MS and dad left us a long time ago." He shrugged and pulled his hands from his pockets to wipe at his face. "It should be me in there."

"Why do you say that?" I reached out and touched his shoulder, knowing that I shouldn't but I couldn't help myself. I was an empath to a fault.

"Amanda would live her life to the fullest. She'd find someone to love and change the world beside him. I can't even match my socks most days." He laughed, but the sound fell flat.

"You wanna grab a cup of coffee? She's going to be resting for a few hours at least."

He didn't respond right away, but instead searched my face as if looking for the meaning to life. I met his stare, unwilling to shy away for fear of seeing something I could come to covet. So much passion and life lay trapped behind the dullness in his eyes. The promise of losing someone had the power to overshadow all else.

"I'd like that." He moved around me and held the door open. "Help me get my mind off of all of this. I'm close to cracking for the first time in a long time."

"Right. It's understandable." I swallowed my questions about his mother's bout with MS and walked beside him to the cafeteria. "I'm an intern here, not sure if you knew that."

"An intern? Really?" His expression softened a little. "And you're studying to be a nurse or a doctor?"

"A nurse for now, but I think I might move to New York next year and try to get into premed." I shrugged. "It's a pipe dream seeing that we're not exactly teeming with money, but who knows."

"No boyfriend or husband to hold you here?" He opened the door to the cafeteria and moved back to let me through. His dark brown hair always seemed to be a little messy, which made me want to reach out and run my fingers through it. The man was dangerous.

"I have a boyfriend, but if we're not talking about any of your depressing stuff, we're certainly not talking about mine." I forced a smile and stopped in front of the coffee machines. I grabbed two cups and handed him one as he moved up close beside me, his shoulder brushing against mine. He was far too handsome not to be swept up in some fantastical love affair.

"Your boyfriend is a depressing conversation?" He smiled down at me. "I almost want to hear this story."

"Misery loves company?" I laughed and pumped the coffee machine as I let my imagination run wild.

His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. "Damn. I need to get this. Rain check?"

"Of course. Any time." I took the cup back and forced my disappointment to fade. It was stupid.

"Dinner? Friday night?"

"Just friends?" I turned and lifted my cup to my nose, breathing in deeply.

"Of course." He winked, turned and walked back toward the belly of the hospital.

Could anyone be just friends with a man like Kendal? I doubted it, but I was determined to try.