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“Remi!” she cried. She was wearing the pink pajamas I had brought her with a princess blanket the day after I met her.
“Hi, pumpkin!” I smiled brightly. I lifted the bag onto the bed next to her. “I brought you something!”
“Remi, are you sure that’s wise?” Marcia asked with an arched eyebrow. She was kind and I knew she wasn’t talking about the gifts. She knew how attached Rory was getting to me, and likewise, me to her.
“I think… it’s perfect!” I said with a bright, overexaggerated smile before turning my attention back to Rory. “Look what I brought!” I pulled the book from the bag first. “I have this book of princess stories! There is one about a princess with glorious long hair! So long it reached to the bottom of the tower and a handsome prince used it to climb up to see her. I opened the book to the page of the story to show her the pictures. See how long her hair is?” My tone was enthusiastic and animated.
“She’s pretty!” Rory said. “Isn’t she?”
“She’s beautiful, just like you! Do you want to pretend that you’re the princess while I read the story?” I cupped the back of her little head with my hand and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Would that be fun?”
Rory nodded, with a smile.
“Look!” I said happily as I pulled the long blonde wig out of the bag.
The weak little girl lit up like a candle. “That’s yong!”
“Very long!”, I agreed smiling back, as her little hands reached for the long strands.
“It soft!”
“Let’s try it on, okay?”
“Remi, help me!” Rory smiled brightly, showing her little teeth.
I hugged her and then situated the wig on her little head. It was slightly big, but it didn’t matter, it made her gloriously happy. “Look! You’re Rapunzel!” I took my phone out and used the camera to let her see herself then took a selfie of the two of us together. “You’re a beautiful princess!”
“I a princess! Repoonal!”
I laughed and hugged Rory as tight as I could without disturbing her IV lines.
“How long are you here today, Remi?” Marcia asked.
“All day. I explained to my profs. Every treatment, I’ll be with her.”
Marcia stopped and gave me a long look, as tears filled her eyes. “I’ll grab some snacks from the kitchen. Do you want a beverage, Remi?”
There were two kitchens on each floor, one in each wing, there for family and patients to get snacks and refreshments. “I think we’ll have some 7UP and some soda crackers, Marcia, thank you. Maybe some peanut butter?”
“Coming right up!” I could see Marcia wipe a tear from her eye as she left the room, and I remained next to the little girl stroking the long locks she now wore, then opened the book to read the fairytale. “Rory may need to make a bathroom trip before you two get too busy. That was an entire liter of saline through the line.”
***
I stayed with Rory all day, even after her treatment was finished to make sure she ate something more than a few crackers.
She had tolerated the chemotherapy well so far, but I knew that tomorrow would be worse than today. They were giving her a steroid to lessen the effects of the chemo and flushing her system with another bag of saline which would get the poison out of her body sooner.
Marcia had left two hours before when her shift ended, and it was now almost 7 PM. Rory was sleeping now after a light supper of noodle soup and part of a sugar cookie for dessert.
I shut my immunology textbook and closed my tired eyes. The chair was uncomfortable, but I was probably exhausted enough to sleep in it. My eyes hurt, I was physically tired and sleepy. There was an exam on Monday, so I’d use tomorrow and the weekend to study more. The lights were low, and the computer screen was bright until I turned it off.
I started to pack up the book into my backpack and push the white cotton blanket that Marcia had provided from my lap. My phone was silenced; on vibrate, but it lit up with Alan’s name on the screen.
I answered swiftly. “Hi,” I said, I said quietly.
“What are you doing? Want to grab a bite to eat?”
My stomach was grumbling; a tell-tale result of only having crackers with peanut butter before 10AM. “Sure, I could eat. Thanks for asking.”
