Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
“Awww, poor Dad. Losing to a girl.” Her eyes flash with triumph when she slowly makes it to the end of the hall to me.
“Be nice to him,” I tell her, collecting her in my arms. “He’s an old man.”
The old man manages to flip me the bird, making me laugh.
It’s been two days since the surgery. They’re supposed to be walking around as Teddy leaves soon. And while Lauren seemingly is doing better, she requires a little more recovery time.
“Here,” I say, handing two suckers to Lauren and kissing her lips. “Give one of these to your dad whenever he makes it here. I need to get back to work.”
After a quick wave, I head back down to the ER. Before I round the corner, a little black boy about seven or eight comes around the corner. When he sees me, he grins.
“Hi,” he says, waving his hand hard. “I’m Derek. I have a metal leg. I’m part robot.”
“Hi, Robot Derek. I’m Dr. Dum-Dum.”
He cheeses at me. His eyes are slightly crossed, but he seems to see just fine.
“Are you lost?” I ask, looking around for a parent.
“I’m looking for my dinosaur friend. We brought him here, but it’s taking a long time,” he explains. “I miss my dinosaur friend.”
“Oh yeah? What’s your friend’s name? I can help you look for him.”
“Ollie. He has a dinosaur egg helmet.” Then, he tries to whisper, but his voice still carries. “Ollie has epilepsy and hits his head a lot. That’s why we’re here.”
I remember Ollie. The kid from the bookstore.
“There you are,” Anna scolds, looking frazzled. “You can’t run off like that, Derek. I thought someone stole you!”
“How about you stay here and I’ll go check on Ollie, okay?” I reach into my pocket and pull out a cherry Dum-Dum. “You like suckers?”
He beams. “I love suckers.”
“I’ll be right back,” I promise.
Once in triage, I hunt down Lin to see if she can help me find Ollie. After a quick update by her and I peek at his chart, she points to the fourth room and I head that way. Ollie, not wearing his normal helmet, lies in the bed with tears in his eyes.
“Hey, Mr. Dinosaur,” I say, waving as I enter.
His eyes light up. “Dr. Venable!”
“How are you doing, kiddo?” I ask, sitting at the foot of his bed.
“I want to go back to Anna’s and color with my best friend Derek. We’re making a comic book about a dinosaur and a robot.” He smiles at me. “Can you give me a sucker to make me feel better and I can leave?”
I pull out a sucker and hand it to him. Blue raspberry. “Tell you what. I’ll see what I can do, okay? We just want to make sure you’re feeling okay before we send you away. Even dinosaur boys need checkups.”
Morris waltzes in and winks when he sees me. “Nurse Lin said she could part with a juice or a Jell-O, but not both,” he says, setting a juice in Ollie’s lap. Then, he pulls out a Jell-O from his pocket. “Our secret, little man. I got you both. She doesn’t know you’re part dinosaur.”
Ollie is happy, so I leave him with Morris and make my way back out to Anna, who’s now in the waiting room with Derek and three other kids. Her patience seems to be wearing thin and two kids are pouting beside her, seemingly in time-out.
“Ollie is doing great. Eating Jell-O and making friends,” I tell Derek. Then, to Anna I say, “Can we talk a sec?”
She nods. “If I catch you two fighting again, I’ll be calling your caseworker. You know I don’t tolerate fighting.” The two boys around twelve scowl at her.
I walk her away from the kids and give her the rundown on his results. She is only halfway listening and when the boys start fighting again, she is on the move, whipping out her phone to call the caseworker.
I let out a heavy sigh. “Does anyone care about him?” I mutter to myself.
“I do,” Derek says. “When he gets better, we’re going to run away.”
Squatting down in front of him, I frown. “Why’s that, Robot Derek?”
“Because the other kids are mean,” Derek explains. “I know you think because I have cerebral palsy that I can’t run.” He lifts his chin. “I can run really fast.”
“Anna seems nice,” I tell him. “Have you talked to her?”
“Anna doesn’t love us,” Derek replies, his eyes crossing harder when tears form. “We’re going to go on a hunt.”
“A hunt?”
“For people who do.”
I scrub my palm down my face, trying to chase away the ache inside me. For so long I went through life focused on my career and not much else. Then Jenna came into my life. A daughter. My heart cracked open then, and I started to not just live, but love. And now that my heart is open and ready, that love isn’t isolated to a daughter or a wife. It’s spreading like a fire, flaming wider and reaching for those who need the warmth.