The Runaway Nurse

She reached over and took a mini spoon of chocolate chocolate from the counter boy, handed it to Alyssa, then turned to Rick. “Maybe they tempt you, but they scare me. Blue goo, for example. What, exactly, goes into ice cream that turns it blue? And I don’t even want to think about the goo part.”

“Then have vanilla. It’s safe. No surprises. Not particularly imaginative, but very good for the soul in its dependability.”

She took another sample and handed it to Alyssa. Actually, dependability for the soul was everything she wanted in her life … in her world. And it had nothing to do with vanilla ice cream “The soul?”

“Any ice cream is good for the soul.”

“Just how do you figure that?”

“It makes you feel good. Makes you happy. Puts a smile on your face.”

Exactly what she needed but couldn’t have for more than moments at a time. Summer did smile for one of those moments, though, thinking about that life, thinking about how hard Rick was working to make her happy right then. She didn’t smile often, but she really appreciated his enthusiasm. More than that, she was flattered by the way he was trying so hard to make this a nice experience for her. Nobody, other than Grace Corbett, had done that for her in a very long time.

“See, I’m right. You’re smiling already. And you haven’t even eaten any ice cream.”

“Maybe I’m not hungry,” she said, taking the third mini-spoon and handing it to Alyssa.

“But eating ice cream isn’t about being hungry. It’s about … relaxing. Kicking back, letting the day’s troubles go, even if for only a little while. Enjoying a simple pleasure.”

As if she could. “So, what if I raise the calorie argument? Tell you that I’m watching my weight.” Which wasn’t true. If anything, it was a struggle to keep weight on these days, thanks to the stress. “Will you quit trying to force feed me ice cream then?”

Rick moved backwards a step, then took a long deliberate look at her, toe to head and back again. “Trust me … and this is strictly a professional medical opinion … you don’t have any worries in the weight department. Besides …” he pointed to the five-gallon tub at the end of the display “… sugar-free, low-fat.”

In spite of herself, Summer’s smile bubbled into laughter. It was a simple thing, really. Go with the moment. Have a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy herself. “OK, so maybe one scoop … blue goo, though. Not vanilla. It’s so … ordinary.”

“So the lady really knows how to cut loose,” Rick commented, then stepped forward to order the rest of the ice cream … chocolate chocolate all the way around, except for the blue goo. “Extra sprinkles for everybody,” he said. “And, Chris, why don’t you and Alyssa go play in Kiddieland while we wait?”

“Kiddieland?” A knot of panic rose up in Summer again as she looked across the parlor at the sectioned-off area for children. It was full of games and toys, little penny rides in the form of horses and dinosaurs, and small tables meant for the kids to enjoy their treats without the parents breathing down their necks. A perfect place for children, as a matter of fact. And it scared her to death. “Um, Alyssa and I don’t really have time to—” Before her words were out, Alyssa had broken free of Summer’s hand once more and scampered off with Chris.

“It’s really very safe,” Rick said.

“I, urn …” There was no explaining this away. She was an over-protective parent. Alyssa grew up in a very guarded world. That was just the way it was. “I’m worried about the germs,” she lied.

“There’s not anything there she won’t be exposed to anywhere else. And Tom Benson is fastidious about cleaning everything every day. Sometimes several times a day.” He paused, contemplated her for a moment. “Are you OK, Summer? You look … nervous.”

She was. And she was embarrassed it showed so much. “We live a quiet life. I probably go a little overboard with Alyssa, but she’s all I have in the world.” Not really a good explanation, but good enough.

“Well, I do understand that,” he said, taking two of the ice-cream cones and handing them to Summer. “Chris is all I have, and I treasure my time with him. Maybe go overboard myself, spoiling him a little, probably trying to compensate, or even overcompensate, in some ways, for his not having a mother around.”

That much was true. Over-protecting, over-compensating … it was what she did, who she was. Or who she’d turned into. There was nothing in her parenting that happened by chance. Not even by trial and error. For her, every bit of it was a well-planned daily existence. “Whatever works,” she said, following Rick across the room to the table that sat square in the middle of the front window. Table with a view, overlooking main street. Best one in the house. But not the one Summer wanted. So, while Rick took ice cream cones to the children, she moved to a more secluded table in the corner, and took the seat with the best view of Kiddieland.

“He’s a really good father,” Julie Corbett said, stepping up to Summer. Julie had her niece, Molly Corbett, in tow. “I knew Rick when we were kids, would have never pictured him this way. But he does it right.”

Summer turned and smiled at Julie, who was married to Jess Corbett, one of the two owners of Lilly Lake Hospital. She and Julie worked together as nurses occasionally, as well as shared the same love for the abandoned and abused horses taken in and cared for by the Gracie Foundation. “How’s Edie feeling? I saw Rafe a couple of days ago and he said she’s ready to … well, his exact word was pop.” She laughed. “I remember that stage with Alyssa, where all I wanted to do was go into labor, get it over with, and move on into the next step of being a mother. For me, that’s when time really dragged out.” She was referring to Edie Corbett, who was married to the hospital’s other owner, Rafe, brother to Jess.

“Well, that’s what Edie’s going through right now. She’s ready to deliver any minute and getting pretty anxious about it since, technically, she’s a week overdue. Which is why I’ve got Molly for the day. Molly was being pretty rambunctious, and I thought Rafe and Edie could use some alone time before the blessed event … time without having to worry about Molly. Besides, after the new baby is born, that’s not going to happen again for a while.

So I thought this would be good for them. Especially for Edie, since Rafe’s all into pampering her right now.”

What a wonderful thought, spending those last moments before birth with the father of your child … the man you loved. She hadn’t had that. Hadn’t had anything even close to that. “I’m sure they appreciate it,” she said, sounding wistful.

“Aunt Julie, can I go play with Chris and Alyssa?” Molly asked, tugging at Julie’s hand.

Julie let go of her niece immediately, allowing her to scramble over to Kiddieland. “What kind of ice cream do you want?” she called after her.

“Chocolate,” Molly called back.

“The flavor of the day is chocolate chocolate, with extra sprinkles,” Summer said, her gaze fixed on the children. Taking quick peeks at Rick, though, when he wasn’t paying attention.

“And look at you, eating blue.”

“Yes, just look at me, eating blue.” She sighed, finally relaxing back into her chair. All in all, this whole ordeal was only a little thing. But sometimes those little things counted. If the expression on her daughter’s face right now meant anything, this impromptu trip to the ice-cream parlor was counting for a whole lot. Alyssa was glowing, playing with her friends. Having the time of her life. “Blue, with sprinkles.”

“Well, I think they’re all settled in for a few minutes,” Rick said, returning to the table, not mentioning a word about Summer’s table switch. Holding out a chair for Julie, he asked, “Care to join us?”

“I’d like to but I’ve got some phone calls to make. I thought I’d go sit in the other corner and work for a few minutes while Molly plays. With the ER expansion under way now, I’ve got a lot of new equipment to look at, more sales reps to talk to than I ever thought I’d have to deal with, and not enough hours in the day to get it all done.” She held up her cellphone. “So, work goes with me, even to Benson’s Ice Creamery. I appreciate the offer, but duty calls.” With that, she headed to the back corner of the parlor and sat down.

“She’s dedicated,” Rick said. “We’re lucky she decided to come back to Lilly Lake once she finished her education, because she’s got amazing talent as a nurse and also as an administrator.”

“She said you two go back a long time.” Somehow, she felt a little envious. Nobody in her life went back very far.

“We were kids. Ran around together for a while. Got into trouble a couple times.”

“Like boyfriend and girlfriend?” OK, that was none of her business, but she was curious.

He shook his head. “Nope. More like allies. Julie was one of Grace Corbett’s foster-children, and I was the son of Lawrence Corbett’s maid. We both felt a little left out or excluded from certain things. Gave us a common bond.” Thinking back, he grinned. “Or a common goal to raise a little hell wherever we could.”

Summer knew what feeling excluded felt like. These days, she felt it acutely herself. “Well, whatever kind of past she had, she’s certainly a talented woman … in her nursing skills, in her ability with horses.”

“You’re not bad with the horses yourself. And as a nurse, I’d rank you right up there with Julie. Speaking of nursing …”

As a nurse … she didn’t want to get into that issue right here. She and Rick had gone round and round before, and nothing had changed. She wasn’t going to take the full-time position he’d been offering her. So she quickly scuttled that part of conversation and turned it around to horses … safe territory. “Grace gave me that experience with horses. I love animals … all animals. Hadn’t ever been around horses, though. Didn’t grow up in a situation where anything like horseback riding was available to me. So when I moved into Gracie House to take care of her, she offered me the opportunity to do something I’d always wanted to do … learn to ride. And I loved it. Loved her for giving it to me.” A faint smile slipped to her lips, remembering that first day Grace had taken her down to the stables. She’d found Jasmine right off, a shy, gentle chestnut. Had fallen in love with her. A week later, Grace had given her Jasmine. “I really miss her,” she said fondly.

“So do I. Grace touched a lot of lives. Mine included, when she endowed me to go to medical school.” “She did that for you?”

Rick nodded. “At the time, I didn’t even know I wanted to be a doctor. I was in college, not majoring in anything. Kind of on the verge of washing out, actually.” He smiled. “Let me rephrase that. I was being a real screw-up. Mad at my mother, mad at the world in general. On academic probation, on disciplinary probation. Probably days away from being kicked to the curb. Then one day, Grace showed up at my dorm room, walked right in and made me an offer. Get my act together, start taking pre-med classes to see if I liked medicine. If I did, she’d send me to medical school.” He didn’t talk about himself much. No reason to. People here either remembered him as a kid and held onto their prejudices or accepted what he’d become, or they’d come to know him as an adult only and based their opinion on what they saw. He did his job, raised his kid, kept to himself. That was his world, and that was all he wanted in his world. But something about Summer compelled him to be, well, a little more loquacious than he normally was. In fact, Summer was the first person he’d ever told about Grace making his medical education available to him. He wasn’t even sure Rafe and Jess knew, and didn’t feel inclined to mention it to them.

“So, just like that, you changed your life?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I gave it some thought. Didn’t like the idea of all the years of study I’d have ahead of me. I wasn’t very focused then so I turned her down. In due course, I grew up some, and got a little more serious about my studies … at least, enough so I wasn’t in imminent danger of getting myself kicked out. Then about a year later I went home on semester break and she offered me a one-week job at the hospital. Hard work, no pay, was what she said.” He chuckled. “I’d always had free access to the stables and the horses. She told me for that door to remain open during my holiday, I had to work that week at the hospital in exchange for my privileges. No hospital, no horses. So I took on the hospital. Did grunt work, nothing glamorous. It nearly broke my back. In fact, I was so tired I never rode once during that week. But after one particularly rough night, where I actually assisted in a resuscitation … I was the one to do the chest compressions that helped save the patient’s life … let’s say that my life changed. It was the first time I’d ever done anything I considered worthwhile, and I floated around on a high from that for weeks. I saved a life. The rest is history, and here I am. Thank God for Grace Corbett and her phenomenal insight into people.”

“I wish I’d known her longer, but she …” Summer paused, drew in a ragged breath. “Taking care of her all those months when she was dying, it was never like I was really working. It was more like being part of something important. And she was so good to Alyssa … I didn’t know Grace as long as everybody else around here did, but I don’t think I’ve ever respected anybody more in my life.”

“She was one of the truly good people.” He licked his ice-cream cone, then pointed to the blue melting down the side of Summer’s cone. “You’d better get after that blue stuff fast,” he said, handing her a napkin. “And in the meantime, while I’ve got you distracted, I’m going to make that offer again.”

Summer shook her head. “No, Rick. Don’t do it, because I haven’t changed my mind. I like my working situation as it is. Being a temp nurse is … good.” Kept her largely unnoticed, off to the side, which was exactly where she wanted to be these days. She raised her daughter, she worked occasionally. It was enough. Although she did have to admit that she missed full-time involvement. Missed the financial security, too. Maybe again someday …

“But it doesn’t pay you as much as you could earn coming on staff as a full-time RN, and you’re a damned good nurse, Summer. I wouldn’t be asking you to head the pediatric ward if I hadn’t already seen how you work. The hospital needs you and I think you need the hospital.”