Page 69 of Moonshot

“What?” She looks about the room.

“I left the stinky flowers in the car.”

“Haha. What did you get me?” She laughs.

“Hold out your hands.” I watch as she closes her eyes and extends her hands, palms up, awaiting her gift. I pull the plastic canister full of mints from the deli out of the second to-go bag and drop it into her hands with a thud.

“Oh, my gosh. I wasn’t-” Her eyes spring open, and she looks at the mints, stunned. “What did you do? Did you steal this from the restaurant?”

“No. I paid for them, fair and square.”Overpaid actually.

She lifts the metal lid, reaches in for a fluffy white and red mint, tears open the plastic, and pops it into her mouth. Her eyes close, and she lets out a delicious sigh.

“You’re killing me, Ava.”

Her beautiful eyes connect with mine, and the most radiant look shines through her pain. We’re going to be okay. I know it.

* * *

Walking toward Ava’s room, I have a bouquet of scentless flowers and her mother on my arm. I need to end these thirty days much better than the way I started it. Ava’s been here for four days, and things are looking much brighter. Her mother had only briefly visited once before, as she was worried Ava wouldn’t rest if she stayed. I’m hoping there will be word of her discharge soon.

Knock. Knock.

Carolyn gently opens the door to ensure her daughter isn’t sleeping. As we peek inside, we find a bright smile on Ava’s face.

“Oh my gosh, you’re both here. And flowers.”

“Aren’t they lovely, Ava? And he found a place that can prepare ones with only a mild fragrance.” I watch as she bends to kiss her daughter on the cheek and whispers loud enough anyone in the hallway could hear. “This one’s a keeper.”

“Yes. Carson told me you approved.”

“Oh, the little tattletale.” She laughs.

I place her vase of flowers on the windowsill and come over to kiss her. “How’s my girl? You look better than I’ve seen you in weeks. I didn’t realize how fighting these headaches day in and day out could put such a strain on you.”

“Yeah. I think I’ve slept better here than I have in months. All those drugs.”

“Well, you needed it,” I acknowledge, squeezing her hand.

“You’re right.”

“Any updates on when you get to come home?” Carolyn asks.

“Yes, they say tomorrow morning. The repeat head CT I had this morning looked better. Isn’t that great?”

“It is.” Carolyn claps. “I hope you plan to take some time off of work, Ava.”

“Yes, ma’am. I do. I just haven’t had a chance to talk to Allison yet.”

“Ava, I hope it’s okay I say this. But if Stark’s still working there, I don’t know how I feel about you going back. He’s a menace.”

“I can’t quit without another job, Mick.”

“You can. Stay with me until you find something.” I can see Carolyn beaming at her daughter from my periphery. “I know it’s not ideal, but neither is working with that asshole.”

“I’ve had an interview with another clinic. I planned to quit once things started getting worse. Maybe I should reach out and see if they’ve made a hiring decision yet. I was pretty optimistic about it.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” a voice says from behind me. Allison enters the room, walks over to Ava’s side, and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. “Joseph Stark no longer works with Central Orthopedics. Between multiple employees documenting harassment in the workplace, and Dr. Lee issuing a formal statement that he may retract his offer to cover call at our hospital if something isn’t done about Stark, we felt the answer was clear. I’m just sorry I didn’t have enough documentation to do it before it got so bad.”

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