The woman swooped in, ready to wrest Adam from Charli's arms, but Charli saw her coming. She turned her back on the woman and held Adam out to her father. "Here, Dad. But be careful. He's just nodding off."
The woman froze. "Who do you think you are, telling my son how to handle his own child?"
Charli stood tall, meeting the woman's stare. "I'm Adam's big sister." She turned away from the woman and kissed Adam on the forehead. "Mom, can we go now?"
"Charli, these are--"
"I have a pretty good idea who they are, Dad," Charli walked around to the far side of the bed, putting distance between herself and Jim's mother. She leaned down to hug her stepmother. "Bye, Angel. See you Wednesday?"
Angel nodded, her eyes teary again. "I should be home by then. Think about what you'd like for dinner."
"Pizza sounds good," Charli said. "That way you don't have to cook anything."
Angel pulled Charli to her and whispered something in her ear that made Charli blush.
Charli stood up. "Come on, Mom."
Marita looked at her daughter, torn between the urge to do battle with Jim's mother and the urge to whisk Charli away. Charli stood tall, but when Marita looked at her daughter closely, she could tell Charli was wavering, pain replacing the determination in her eyes.
"Bye, Angel." Marita set the water pitcher on the table beside the bed. "Call me if you need anything." Marita grabbed Charli's hand and, to her surprise, Charli allowed Marita to pull her along, past her father and her grandparents and out of the room.
In the hallway, Charli quickened her pace, capturing the attention of Nurse Ramona who was at the nurse's station.
"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry?" she teased.
"'Bye Nurse Ramona!" Charli called over her shoulder.
"Don't you 'Bye, Nurse Ramona' me," she called, following Charli and Marita to the elevator. "What just happened in there?"
Charli shook her head, valiantly trying to keep the tears inside.
"Just a little extended family drama," Marita said.
Ramona looked from Marita to Charli, brows pulled together, demeanor stern. "Do I need to go kick some butt in there?"
Charli burst out laughing, tears coursing down her cheeks at the same time. "No. That'll only upset Angel and Adam."
"Well, somebody has apparently upset you," Nurse Ramona said. "And no one does that on my watch."
Charli stood tall again. "I don't need anyone to rescue me."
"'Course you don't." Ramona wrapped an arm around Charli. "But it never hurts to know there's folks on your side."
Charli nodded. "I handled it."
"Of course you did. So I'm guessing you want me to stay out of it?"
"Depends, " Marita said. "Can you kick that old battle-ax and her milquetoast husband out of the hospital?"
"Mom!"
Ramona stood upright, towering over Charli and at least a head taller than Marita. "If they're upsetting my patient, I most certainly can."
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| GDJ via Pixabay |
"Angel seemed uncomfortable," Charli said.
"Did she ask you to get Nurse Ramona?" Marita asked. "Is that what she whispered to you?"
Charli shook her head. "She said...she said I was amazing."
"Well, she got that right," Ramona said.
Marita leaned against the wall next to the elevator. Leave it to Angel. Marita had been so torn between shock at seeing Jim's parents and pride at Charli's strength that she'd just stood there holding that stupid water pitcher, never opening her mouth. But Angel, in the midst of the storm that was Hurricane Carmella had found its eye and pulled Charli into it with her, giving her the courage to hold her head high.
"Honey, I'm sorry. I -- "
"Mom, I handled it. Can we go now?"
Nurse Ramona punched the button for the elevator. "That sounds like a plan. And my plan is to go check on my patients -- several times -- until I am absolutely sure that Mrs. Alessio and that little man of hers are surrounded by nothing but love."
"But doesn't your shift end soon?" Charli asked.
Ramona looked at her watch. "Seven minutes. But you'd be amazed at what I can accomplish in that time. Now, you two take care of each other, and don't you worry about what's happening here."
Charli nodded and stepped into the elevator. "'Bye, Nurse Ramona."
"Good-bye, Miss Charlotte. And Miss Charlotte's mama."
The elevator doors slid shut, and Marita reached out to put her arm around Charli's shoulders, but Charli shook her head and pulled away.
"I can't, Mom. I'm not going to fall apart. Not here."
Marita nodded, her stomach churning. So much for peaceful resolution.
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