“You ready?” she asked, seeming to sense my fear.
“I knowyou’reready,” I countered. Angie had been born ready. Being an ER nurse suited her no-nonsense, adrenaline-fueled personality.
I opened the exam room door and walked in. A mom and the rosy-cheeked toddler on her lap both looked up from a book, where the little girl was studiously pointing at farm animals with her finger.
The mom happened to be my practice partner, Penelope Pendergast. She was sweet as could be. The moms in our practice loved her, because she always took time to talk with them. Her only problem was that she sometimes had difficulty making decisions and often sought reassurance from the other two of us. Most of the time she made good choices, but she was low on confidence.
Except right then, she was simply a stressed-out single mom sitting in the ER with her kid, her three-year-old Taylor, who just so happened to have shoved an unknown quantity of leftover Christmas M&M’s up her nose.
“Oh, Ani. You’re here,” Pen said with a slight hint of desperation, then quickly checked herself. “Taylor,” she said in a more excited voice, “look who’s here.”
“Hi, Tay,” I said as I sat down on the stool and wheeled myself over. She immediately burrowed into her mom’s chest.
I met Pen’s gaze. “If this blows the fact that I’m her number one favorite person, I’m going to be really upset at you.”
Pen shrugged. “I’m really glad it’s you working tonight and not me. Besides, you’re the best.” She peeked at her child. “Right, Tay?”
“Thanks for that.” I ruffled Taylor’s hair. “Hey, Tay-Tay girl, why in the world did you put M&M’s up your nose?”
She gave me a look that was half blank, half mischievous. Which made me understand that sometimes there was no why. The answer was simply that she was three, and anything was possible.
While I originally spotted two candies, one in each nostril, experience told me that there might be even more. I mean, if you’re going to shove M&M’s up your nose, might as well go for it.
“Just get them out,” Pen whispered to me. “Her snot on the left side is bright yellow and gross.” Hence the late-night visit. “I mean, it’s practically fluorescent.”
The purulent drainage meant that the candies must have been wedged in there for at least a few days, and a bacterial infection was starting up from the blockage.
I rubbed Taylor’s arm. “Aunt Ani’s going to get the M&M’s out of your nose, okay? Easy peasy.”
Judging by the fact that they were wedged waaaay up there, it wasn’t going to be easy. I really wanted to tell her that it wouldn’t hurt, but I couldn’t promise that. I just knew that I would do everything possible to make this quick, painless, and positive. So I spoke the language that only she and I understood. “If you hold still and let Aunt Ani
get the M&M’s out with my special tool, I’ll take you to Target on Saturday, okay?”
She lifted up her head and peeked out at me. “Fwench fwies too.”
A girl after my own heart. “You bet, girlfriend.” I did a fist bump that involved a little
dance and a kiss on the top of the head. At least my antics got me a small smile.
But not from her mother, who preferred to feed her daughter better food.
“I couldn’t let my her grow up without McDonald’s French fries, could I?” I said.
Angie cleared her throat, which I took as a subtle reminder to get going.
“Okay, baby girl,” I said. “Can I carry you over there to the exam table?”
I know, pediatrics can be horrifying. I was always aware of this. I was anxious about extracting the discs, but I also knew that I had a good shot at getting this done. Maybe I hated ER shifts, but stuff like this was my forte.
As soon as I delivered her to the exam table, Angie reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “Want to see my pet squirrel?” she asked Taylor.
Angie was the queen of distraction. Maybe I could borrow her as a grandmother one day. Except I doubted that being a mom would ever be in the cards for me. I’d already had a long-ago divorce and a recent left-the-groom at the altar scenario behind me. What could I say? Relationships weren’t my strongpoint.
Honestly, I didn’t know what my strongpoint was. I was totally confused. At a crossroads. But for right now, I focused on doing my job.
I peeked over to see what was causing Taylor to become totally focused. Sure enough, there was an up-close video of a squirrel stuffing his cheeks with round dark objects.
“Are thoseblueberries?” I asked.
