Poppy’s hands kneaded the hospital blanket as she continued, “I still don’t know why I did it, but as he screamed, I just sat on the floor and started coloring. I didn’t talk to him or look at him. I figured if everyone could just take a breath, it would be okay. I knew we had time, so I took it. After about ten minutes, he stopped crying, and his breathing started to regulate. Then fifteen minutes after that, he sat down next to me. We colored for another twenty. Then I told him we had to take pictures, he just stared at me. He started getting upset when I got the lead apron out, so I put it back, and he calmed down. Then I pulled out the lead-free apron, which is so much lighter, and let him touch it. I asked if it would be okay if we tried that one. He nodded. He still didn’t like it on him, he still cried. It wasn’t great. It wasn’t fun. But I got his consent before everything we did, and we made it through together. As a team.”
AJ had a feeling that if he lived to be one hundred and spent every waking moment dedicated to learning about this woman, till his dying breath, she would still surprise him in the most awe-inspiring ways.
“His mom, Candace, hugged me for…I don’t know how long, and cried, and she requested I be the tech every time Dylan needed to have x-rays done, which sadly was a lot. When he was about eight, he started talking, not a little bit at a time, but all at once, he was speaking very clearly and in full sentences. By ten he started bringing the mind teasers in for me. I hardly ever got them. So then I started bringing in some for him, healwaysgot them.” She chuckled.
“You are going to be an amazing—” AJ nearly said “mom,” but he stopped himself. His stomach felt like someone had just socked him in it. How could he have nearly made that mistake? He pivoted, “—occupational therapist.”
She smiled at that, but it was the smile of someone walking through a garden of shattered glass. “Thanks.”
“Do you still keep in touch with him? Dylan?”
“He passed away.” She took in a shaky breath. “A little over a year ago. Complications with his lungs.”
“I’m so sorry.” The three words didn’t feel heavy enough to express the emotions he wanted to convey to her.
Her voice faltered, and AJ saw the tear as it gathered in her lid. “It’s fine, it’s not…” It spilled over, a single, perfect droplet, and hung on her cheek until she wiped it away with the ball of her thumb. “I was just his x-ray tech.”
“No,” AJ stated firmly. “Believe me. You were much more than that. Yousawhim. You see people who other people ignore or judge. I don’t think you understand how rare that is.”
She opened her mouth to say something when a nurse came into the room like a gust of wind blowing open a screen door, the rubber soles of her shoes squeaking loudly on the tile. “Okay, Ms. Davies, I’m Veronica. Sorry, I know Dr. West, Shelly, and Cecily all wanted to come stop by before you were discharged, but there was a four-car pile-up, and we have six critically injured, so you’re stuck with me.”
“No worries,” Poppy smiled sweetly. “I’m just ready to get out of here.”
Veronica removed the I.V. from Poppy’s arm and then told her that plastics would be getting in touch with her for her follow-up appointment. “And did you want to stop by the pharmacy here, or do you want me to call in your scripts to Hope Falls?”
“I can pick them up in Hope Falls.”
“Okay, great. Just sign here.”
Poppy used the pen to sign the digital tablet.
“Perfect. Okay, so just take acetaminophen as needed for pain. Then there’s an antibiotic and prenatal vitamins. If you have any questions, you can follow up with?—”
“Wait!” Poppy interrupted her. “What did you say?!”
Confusion swirled in Veronica’s eyes as she spoke slower, “If you have any questions, you can follow up?—”
“Before that, what vitamins?!” Poppy clarified.
AJ had heard her. Prenatal vitamins. Which could mean only one thing.
The nurse looked over at AJ and then back to Poppy. “I didn’t kno?—”
“What did you say?!” Poppy demanded curtly.
“I said this was a prescription for your prenatal vitamins.”
Poppy began to shake her head back and forth.
“I’m so sorry.” All the color drained from Veronica’s face as she took a step back towards the entrance of the trauma bay, literally backtracking. “I thought you knew.”
“I didn’t.” Poppy placed a hand on her chest as her breathing continued to become more labored. “I mean, I don’t. I’m not. I can’t be.”
The nurse tapped on her tablet. “I have your blood panel here.”
She turned the tablet towards Poppy.
Poppy stared down at the screen. AJ watched her eyes scanning the data as her chest rose and fell in shallow pants.
