After we ended the call, I went back to the nurses’ station to find the charge nurse and ask if I could be assigned to Ink’s mother.
“I don’t have a problem with it if she doesn’t,” Jennifer said.
“She’s never met me, but I’ll make sure she knows I’m friends with her son and the mother of one of her students.”
“If it’s an issue, Elizabeth can take her, and you can take the next patient.”
“Thanks, Jen.”
I had just enough time to check on my other patients before Ms. Manning arrived. “Hi, Ms. Manning. I’m Presley?—”
“If you’re the Presley my son’s been talking about, I hope you’re going to be my nurse,” she said kindly.
“Yes, I’m that Presley, and I’ll be happy to be your nurse, if that’s okay with you.”
“It’s fine with me. And please, call me Nora.”
“All right, Nora, let’s get you checked in,” I said. “Ariel said a large boy fell on you during a fight at school. Is that correct?”
“Ariel? Ariel Calloway?” she asked.
“Yes, Ariel Calloway. She’s my daughter. I’m sorry. I was going to mention that when I told you I knew Ink.”
“She’s a sweet girl and an excellent student.”
“Thank you. She’s quite fond of you, too. She called right after the fight to tell me you were taken away in an ambulance.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “The powers that be insisted on sending me to the hospital. I tried to tell them it wasn’t necessary, but they wouldn’t listen. I’m sure I’ll have some bumps and bruises, but I don’t think I have any serious injuries.”
“Does anything hurt?”
She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “To be perfectly honest, my rear end is a bit sore. It bore the brunt of the fall.”
“I see. Well, let’s get you changed into a gown, and I’ll let the doctor know you’re ready. She may want to get an X-ray. Do you need help changing?”
“No. I can manage on my own.”
“I’ll be right outside. This is the call button. Press it if you need me.”
“Thanks, Presley.”
While she was changing, I found Dr. Lewis and let her know what was going on with Nora. “We’ll probably need to get an X-ray. I’ll be in to see her shortly,” she said.
As I was walking back to Nora’s room, I looked up to see Ink burst through the doors like a man on a mission. “Presley,” he exhaled, seeming relieved to see me. “How’s my mom?”
“She’s fine,” I assured him. “I was just going back to check on her. Follow me. I’ll show you where her room is.”
“Isaac,” Nora said, sounding surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“I called him before you got here. I hope that was okay,” I said apologetically.
“What happened?” he asked his mother as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“A couple of boys got into a fight at lunch. I got knocked over during the process of breaking it up.”
“Mom,” Ink said slowly. “You should let some of the other teachers break up fights.”
She glared at him, and I almost laughed. “Other teachers were breaking up the fight. I was working on crowd control. Though I guess I was the one to break it up, because everything stopped when Silas fell on me.”
