That afternoon, Terry took the subway to the hospital to visit his
sister. She was asleep when he entered the semi-private room. The TV
mounted on the wall was on and tuned to some game show, thankfully
muted.
He sat in one of
the chairs by the wall and was making himself comfortable to catch a
few winks himself until she awoke, when a nurse came into the room
to check on her. The activity awoke her, and she blinked sleepily at
him.
“Hi. How long have
you been there?”
“About thirty
seconds. How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” Perri
never hid anything from him. Not even on her worst days.
He eyed the
gauntness. The dark circles under her eyes. “Any pain?”
“Not at the
moment.”
The nurse marked
her stats on the small portable computer she’d wheeled in on a
stand. Without missing a beat, she refilled his sister’s water jug
and set it on the bedside table, then exited the room to let them
have some privacy.
Terry pointed to
the empty bed beside her. “What happened to your roommate?”
“He got to go
home.” There was an unmistakable quiver in her voice, which Terry
understood. She wished she could go home, as well, but it was not
going to be. They both knew that, unless a suitable donor could be
found, Perri would spend the rest of her days here inside this
hospital. The last thing he wanted was for this visit to be tinged
with sadness. There was enough of that already.
“Hey, you are not
going to believe what happened to me yesterday.”
“What?”
“I got to work an
extra shift at Shelsby’s this morning. And when I got home, I
discovered a Christmas tree sitting in my living room.”
Perri’s eyes
widened. “A Christmas tree? You bought a Christmas tree?”
“No, no. I didn’t
buy it. Someone else did, and had it delivered to the apartment.”
“Who did?”
He shrugged. “I
don’t know. That’s the thing. There was this envelope sitting on the
branches, with my name written on the outside. Inside was a note. Or
rather, it was the first line of a Christmas song.”
“What song?”
“The Twelve Days
of Christmas.”
Perri adjusted the
pillow behind her head. “On the first day of Christmas, my true love
gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. Except, in this case, it was
a Christmas tree.”
Terry laughed. “It
has a partridge, or what I think is supposed to be a partridge,
sitting on the top of it.”
“And there was no
name on the card? Nothing to let you know who gave it to you?”
“To us, Sis. Not
just to me. To us,” he emphasized.
The young woman
rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Like I’ve got a ‘true love’ who’s
going to give me a tree for Christmas. Come on, Ter. ‘Fess up. Have
you got a girlfriend on the side you’re not telling me about?”
This playful
banter felt good. It was almost as if time and her illness hadn’t
stripped away that relationship between them. Again, Terry laughed.
“Geez, Per. When do I have the time?”
“Hey, I don’t have
any way of keeping tabs on you once you leave here.” A puzzled
expression crossed her face. “You know, that’s so odd.”
“Tell me about
it.”
“No. I mean, the
Twelve Days of Christmas, according to custom, is supposed to
start
on the day
after
Christmas, the twenty-sixth, and
end on January sixth, the
Epiphany. The
day the three wise men arrived at the manger to give Jesus
their gifts.” He saw her counting on her fingers. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Today’s the
fourteenth, right?”
“Right.”
“If you count
today as Day One, the twelfth day falls on Christmas Day. Odd.”
Perri took a sip of her water. “I wonder what your true love will
bring tomorrow? What’s the second day? Two turtle doves? Gee, what
if you get home and find two pigeons from the park shitting all over
the place?”
Her wry comment
made them both laugh aloud. It was a rare moment Terry knew he’d
cherish forever. He was about to remark on her comment when the
nurse re-entered the room.
“I hate to
interrupt, but I need to wheel Miss Janssen downstairs for her
treatment.”
Terry stood and
went over to give his sister a quick kiss. “Have fun, Per.”
“Oh, yeah. Loads.
Thanks for coming by. Let me know what your true love gives you
tomorrow.”
“I will.” Smiling,
he raised a hand in farewell and left the room.
As he strode the
two blocks from the hospital to the entrance to the subway, he
realized he hadn’t felt this lighthearted in a very long time. He
almost skipped down the cement steps, rounding a corner to head for
the turnstiles. The place was noisy and crowded with shoppers. Twice
he had to do a little jig to avoid colliding with someone.
Swiping his card,
he exited onto the platform and started to head over to the next
platform where he’d catch his train, when his arm connected with
another. He heard a soft
Oh!,
and something clattered on the floor.
“I’m sorry.” He
reached down to retrieve what was a tablet. Picking it up, he held
it out, and found himself staring face-to-face with the girl from
the toy store. “It’s you!”
The woman blinked
at him, giving him that glorious smile once more. “It’s you, too!
Terry, right?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry,
but I never caught your name.”
“Nicolette.”
He felt a goofy
grin come over his face, but he couldn’t help it. “Nicolette. Nice.
I’ve never met anyone named Nicolette before.” He remembered he was
holding her tablet and handed it over. “Here. I’m sorry I bumped
into you. I hope it’s not broken.”
She laughed, a
gentle, pleasing sound. “A train would have to run over it before
that happened. This thing is durable like you wouldn’t believe.”
They both glanced
down the tunnel where a loud rumbling announced an incoming train.
She turned back to him. “I’m sorry, but I need to catch this one.”
“The E? I do,
too,” he told her, taking her by the elbow. “Come on. We can make
it.”
They hurried to
get aboard. Luck was with them, and they were also able to claim two
seats side by side.
“So, where are you
headed?” she asked him.
“I’m getting off
at the Dimmit Street station.”
She gave him a
surprised look. “So am I.”
“That’s cool. Do
you live in that area?” He pointed to the tablet in her hands. “Or
are you going to another toy store?”
“Actually, I’m on
my way to MacNally’s.”
“What do you do,
exactly? I mean, I don’t want to sound like I’m prying, but…”
She blessed him
with another one of those glowing smiles. “I’m doing stock inventory
on certain hot items this Christmas.”
“Like Mollie
Dollies?”
“Especially Mollie
Dollies. Those things are practically impossible to come by, from
what I’ve gathered. How about you? Are you on your way to work?”
“I worked this
morning. I’m off the rest of the day. I was visiting my sister.
She’s over in Saint Joseph’s Hospital.”
“Oh?” A concerned
look crossed the woman’s face. An honest concern. Seeing it, Terry
realized he couldn’t let this woman out of his sight. Not now. Now
yet, anyway. He wanted to know more about her, not regale her with
his sad stories that could turn her away from spending more time
with him.
He got a sudden
inspiration. “Look, do you like hot chocolate?”
“Who doesn’t this
time of year?”
“Great! There’s a
Danby’s right past MacNally’s. Are you on a specific time table? Or
can you spare a few minutes and let me treat you to a cup?”
Her smile warmed
him down to the tips of his toes. “I’d love some hot chocolate.
Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he
automatically responded, and realized he meant it. |