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“Oh. Well, okay. In that case, you can show Oscar how to use this gift card to add more books or games to his tablet, if you want to. Otherwise, I can show him later.” Theo indicated the envelope as he said that.
“Sure. Either way.” Theo and Oscar both watched with fascination as I formed two comedically large horns out of silver balloons and added them to the brown dome-shaped hat, transforming it into a Viking helmet. I decided it needed a bit more flair, so I blew up two black balloons and quickly wove them together, then attached the decorative border to the base of the hat. I held it out to Theo and smiled. “This is for you. Please model it for Oz and me.”
I was pleasantly surprised when Theo grinned and put on the balloon helmet. Oscar laughed and said, “It looks good on you, Doctor K! Hey, I think my new tablet takes photos, can we get one of the three of us?”
We leaned in on either side of the kid, and I picked up the tablet and snapped a photo in our silly party hats. Then Theo said, “I’d better get back to work, but I’ll check in later, Oscar.”
“One sec, Doc.” I opened the white bakery box on the top shelf of the rolling cart and asked, “Chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet?”
“Chocolate. Always.” I handed him a chocolate cupcake and a Marvel Avengers napkin, and my heart did a weird flip flop when he flashed me a cute little grin. He murmured a thank you before he left the room.
I watched him go and was pleasantly surprised he didn’t take off the hat the moment he reached the hallway. No doubt he’d take it off a second later, but it still made me happy.
When I turned back to Oscar, he had a big smile on his face. “You like him,” he said.
“Sure. He’s a nice guy.”
“No, I mean you like him, like him.”
I turned to the bakery box and studied the selection. “I’m not saying a word. Want a cupcake? I brought extra, so you can have one now and another when the nurses come to wish you a happy birthday.”
“You’re changing the subject. But yeah, I want a cupcake.” Smart kid.
Just after three p.m., a big group of nurses and a few other staff members crowded into Oscar’s room to sing the birthday song. I lit a candle on a cupcake while we sang to him, and the boy got very serious as he made a wish and blew out the candle.
Darice gave him a card we’d all signed, and I helped him peel off the wrapper on the cupcake to make it easier to eat. Then I handed two other nurses cardboard boxes filled with bags of party favors, color-coded by age—small stuffed animals for the younger kids, silly little games and puzzle books for the older ones. “Make sure they know these are from Oscar, the birthday boy,” I said. They promised they’d spread the word.
As everyone filtered out of the room, I stuck my hat on top of the TV and put a bag of party favors on Oscar’s side table as I asked, “Want to read for a bit? I still have a little time before I have to start work. If you’re too tired, that’s okay, too. We can do it later.”
“I think I’m going to take a nap, but let’s read later for sure. We’re at an exciting part of the book.”
“Okay, no problem.”
I helped him move his pirate gear to the chair and started to wheel the cart out of the room, but he called, “Hey, Casey?” I turned back to him, and he chewed his lower lip before saying, “I wished that my mom would get better when I blew out the candle. Do you think my wish is gonna come true?”
I just couldn’t give him a neutral answer, not when he was looking at me with those big, sad eyes. “I do, Oz. I really believe that.” I smiled at him as I sent a silent prayer out into the universe—please let that be true.
After I left his room, I went to the locker room, stashed the leftover party supplies in my locker, and changed into my scrubs. Today’s scrub top was dark green with a repeating pattern of cartoon polar bears riding sleds.
Next stop was the breakroom. I left the rest of the cupcakes for the nurses who hadn’t been able to join us for Oscar’s party, and then I wheeled the empty cart back to the storage room where I’d found it.
Someone slipped into the room right after me, and I turned to find Theo shutting the door behind him. “Don’t make a big deal of this,” he said. Then he pinned me against the wall and kissed me deeply. My heart immediately started to race, and a little sound of pleasure slipped from me as I wrapped my arms around him.
