Olly’s tension releases in a heavy sigh.The curtain screeches across the top rail, and a woman enters.Blue scrubs, a white jacket, and a beaming smile that appears surprised at the sight of me.
“Mom!”Olly calls out.
“Oh, Dr.Miller,” our doctor says, “Is thisyourOlly?”
“My one and only,” she says, repositioning the curtain and approaching the bed.Her hands slip into the pockets of her doctor’s coat as she assesses the situation.
“Um, it’s nice to meet you.I’m Venus,” I say, fixed in place by Olly and unsure what else to say or do.
“Hi, I’m Carly,” she says, her smile widening when her eyes meet Olly’s.“What happened, bud?”
He groans.“Fell out of a tree.”
Her hand falls to her hip.“What were you doing in a tree?”
“Climbing it.”
“Why would you do that?”she asks, her tone friendly but high-pitched.
“I dunno.I wanted to show Buster I could climb a tree, just like Venus.She does itallthe time, Mom.”
She glances from him to me, and I blurt, “It’s my fault.As the guide, I should’ve given him a detailed list of dos and don’ts for our campout.I-I’m sorry.”
“Accidents happen,” Carly says, graciously.“Bumps, bruises, and breaks are a part of growing up, right, bud?”
“I guess,” he huffs.
“We’re lucky it wasn’t worse,” she adds, mussing his hair.
A dark curtain falls over the relief I felt only moments ago.It could’ve been worse.Not just worse, but devastating.
Our doctor rises from his stool.“The next stop on your hospital tour is the imaging department, Olly.Have you ever ridden in a wheelchair before?”
“Uh, no.”
“I’ll take him,” Carly says.
Henry reenters, his brow twinged with worry.He slips his phone into his pocket and runs a hand through his unruly hair.“Everything okay in here?”
Olly sits up, holding his hand out toward Henry.I take that as my cue that my surrogate-parent position has ended, so I rise, giving Henry more space.The room feels crowded and stuffy.
“Glad you two have met,” Henry says awkwardly.“Sorry, it’s under these circumstances.Carly, I didn’t think you’d get here so fast.”
“I was in the on-call room.I took an extra shift since you were on your campout.”
“Mom, it was so fun,” Olly perks up.“We had s’mores and campfire stories and?—”
“I want you to tell me all about it, bud,” she cuts in, “but let me get that wheelchair.We need to take a picture of your poor arm.”
Trapped in the corner, I stay put until Olly’s wheeled off to the imaging department.Henry lingers behind with me.
“Sorry that you met Carly without me,” he says.“You okay?”
“Fine.”I pull his medicine bag over my head and hand it to him.“Um, I’ll just be in the waiting room.”
“Venus, no.Come with me to imaging,” he says, tossing the bag over his shoulder.
“I don’t want Olly to feel… conflicted.He needs you and Carly right now.Besides, I noticed a snack machine.He’ll be hungry when he gets back, and he should have something in his stomach to buffer the pain meds.”
