Page 10 of Take Me Home for Christmas

Every muscle in my body tensed for action. Ironically, I’d just gotten exactly what I wanted: someone helping me to keep Mia at arm’s length. I wanted to push him aside and take my rightfulplace beside her. Yet I stood there, frozen in place, my feet glued to the floor solely by the conviction that I wasn’t the one for her.

Chapter Four

Mia

When Dr. March told Rylee’s mom and dad that she’d be able to go home for Christmas, they both cried with happiness. It didn’t even dim their reaction when she added, “We’d like you to come back to the clinic on the twenty-sixth for the next chemo dose.”

“As long as we can get her home for Christmas, it’s a deal,” Ryan, the twins’ dad, said.

“We made you something,” Reagan said to me and Dr. March as she rummaged in her pink backpack. I was thinking that whatever it was probably involved glitter, the girls’ favorite among many craft supplies. That spoke to me because Gracie had loved glitter. I found myself smiling because I couldn’t recall many art projects she’d failed to add it to for that extra sparkle.

“Merry Christmas,” Rylee said as Reagan proudly produced a green construction-paper card for Dr. March and a red one for me.

Mine was embellished with markers, glitter, and plentiful snowflake stickers. It said,Merry Christmas, Dr. Mia.The snowflakes were surrounded by hearts galore.

I was thrilled. Dr. March and I oohed and aahed over the colors, squigglies, and the artistic use of glitter, half of which fell into my lap and drifted like fairy dust onto the floor. After we were done admiring our cards, I hugged both girls. “Thank you both so much. I’m going to take this home and show it to my mom.”

My heart was filled with cautious hope for this family. I truly wished them all the best.

The girls’ mom, Becca, pulled out her phone. “Would you each take a photo with the girls?”

“Sure. Of course.” Becca took one with all of us, then one of the twins with Dr. March, and one with me. When it was my turn, I walked behind the bed and sandwiched myself between the two girls, curving my arms around their shoulders. I couldn’t help noticing that Rylee was so frail and light compared to Reagan. As we held up the glittery card and posed, I said, “Everybody say ‘Grinch!’” which got me a giggle.

“Okay, you two,” I said, “I expect more glittery artwork from you when I see you in clinic, okay?” I pulled something out of my pocket and placed it on the bed between them.

“Glitter pens.” Rylee’s eyes brightened.

“Thanks, Dr. Mia,” Reagan said, already reaching for them.

“Will you still be my doctor after I leave?” Rylee asked in a quiet voice.

I hesitated. A sudden sadness overcame me that I’d soon be moving on to my next rotation. “I won’t be here on the ward again for a while, but I’m always somewhere around the clinic. I’ll be sure to pop in and say hi.”

Dr. March looked up from her laptop, where she was making notes. “Dr. Mia will definitely see you with me in heme-onc clinic on the twenty-sixth, right, Mia?”

“Oh, that’s right.” It would be straight back to work right after the holiday for me. “I’ll see you next week.”

“Thank you for all you’ve done for us, Dr. D’Angelo,” Becca said.

“I love your girls,” I said sincerely. “I’ll be sure to keep in touch.”

“We would all love it,” Ryan said.

“Merry Christmas,” I said, waving to the girls as I followed Dr. March out. “And thank you for the cute card.”

Dr. March got a page and gave me a quick wave as she stopped in the hall to answer it. I was walking toward the nurses’ station, dealing with the mix of emotions rolling through me—hope, happiness, fear, sadness from having to move on, guilt over my fake boyfriend problem, not to mention confusion over my career choice—had I made a mistake not going into heme-onc?—when I noticed that Drake Shelton was sitting there with his big feet up on the counter.

As soon as he spotted me, he put down his big feet, stood up, and scrambled to intercept me. I couldn’t help but notice that Brax stood close by, checking his phone. He glanced up briefly as I approached, a concerned expression on his face. From Rylee’s test result, or something else?

“There you are. You look ah-maz-ing today,” Drake said as I reached the desk. “Must be that precall glow.”

Brax rolled his eyes, which irritated me even though I wanted to do exactly the same thing. For one thing, I he was wrong—I wasn’t on call tonight.

Also, I was anything but glowing after seeing those two little girls. Geesh. I loved my job, but sometimes I wished I could flee somewhere far, far away from reality. The same magnet that tugged me toward the Hunters, that made me understandexactlywhat they were going through, was the very same thing that made me want to escape somewhere where there wasn’t any pain. I wasn’t sure how to explain the terrifying push-pull that I always seemed to feel on this ward.

I turned my attention to Brax, who was now cutting into a piece of fruitcake, which I happened to know he hated. Ugh, did anyone really like it? And didn’t he have patients to take care of? He was such an enigma. He’d really wanted me to know about Rylee’s labs. But now he was hovering nearby, not seeming to be doing any work. My guess was that Drake had told him he was waiting for me, and Brax was hanging around to find out what for. But if he thought he was going to eavesdrop, he was wrong. Brax didn’t get to weigh in on my personal life. He’d signed off on that for good the moment he broke up with me.

I summoned my courage. I could do this. I needed help for one long weekend. Seventy-two total hours. Who knows, maybe during that time, I’d uncover a hidden sensitive side to Drake. He was a peds surgery resident, after all. That meant that he had to like little kids, right? Even though Brax believed he’d just gone into surgery because his dad was the department chief.

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