asleep.”
Grim-faced, Molly shook her head. “I’mhaving security beefed up. What does she look like?”
Leah closed her eyes to get a clearer picture of Gabriella. “She’s pretty. Her hair’s short and reddish. I think her eyes are brown. She’s about your height and size.” She opened her eyes and saw Molly’s worried expression. “I don’t think she’d harm anybody, Molly.”
“Probably not,” Molly said slowly. “Still, she doesn’t belong up here. I don’t like the idea of anyone sneaking in at night and bothering our patients.”
“Well, if she shows up again, I’ll push my call button.”
“Good. Now, let me go and have a talk with security.” Molly stood, told Leah not to worry and left.
Leah shuddered. What a crummy day this had turned out to be! She’d learned about the horrors of chemo and about a weirdo stalking the halls at night. A weirdo only
she
could identify.
Still, try as she might, Leah couldn’t picture Gabriella doing anything mean, and she didn’t want her to be turned in to security. “You’d better not come and see me again, Gabriella,” she muttered under her breath. Then sheclicked on the TV and turned the volume up to chase away the chills she felt.
Leah spent most of the next day reading, playing video games and watching TV. She wanted to keep her mind as busy as possible. When her mind did veer to the subject of cancer, she quickly shut out the frightening thoughts and grabbed something else to do.
After dinner, as she was settling down for the night, she heard a commotion in the hallway. Moments later her door swung open and there stood her mother—her face flushed from the icy December air—wearing a long fur coat and a look of steely determination.
L eah threw her arms around her mother, hardly believing how much she’d missed her.
“Honey, we got here as soon as we could. Neil had to move heaven and earth to change our tickets so close to the holidays, but he did it.”
Neil stood behind Leah’s mother, looking tired but triumphant. Snowflakes clung to his head of silver-white hair, and his blue eyes were full of concern. “How are you, Leah?”
She was surprised to find she was glad to see him too. “I’m better now that the two of you are here,” she told him.
Her mother squirmed out of her coat andflopped into a chair. “We’re exhausted. We flew from Japan to Los Angeles, then from L.A. to Chicago, but that’s as far as we got. All air traffic was grounded in Chicago because of the weather. So Neil rented a car and we drove the last two hundred miles in a snowstorm.”
“Thank you,” Leah said to Neil.
“We’re family,” he said with a grin.
“How was Japan?” Leah felt obligated to ask. Now that the preliminary greetings were over, she felt awkward and overwhelmed.
“Japan was wonderful. We’ll have lots of pictures to show you, but this isn’t the time to talk about it.” Roberta glanced at her husband and said, “Neil, be a dear and see if you can find us a hotel near the hospital. I need a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Order us a pizza.” She turned to Leah. “I’ve eaten so much fish lately, I’m about to grow fins.”
Neil left, and Roberta climbed up on Leah’s bed and hugged her again. “It’s
so
good to be back in the good old U.S.A. I thought I was too old to get homesick, but when I passed through customs in Los Angeles and that customs agentstamped my passport and said ‘Welcome home,’ I got all teary-eyed.”
Leah allowed her mother to unwind, knowing that she’d get a chance soon enough to tell her what had happened in the hospital. She was glad of the distraction. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, or how much she wanted to tell her mother about the past week.
Her mother picked up Leah’s bandaged hand. “So, this is what caused all the trouble?”
“And this.” Leah tossed back the covers to expose her knee, still wrapped.
“I
Grim-faced, Molly shook her head. “I’mhaving security beefed up. What does she look like?”
Leah closed her eyes to get a clearer picture of Gabriella. “She’s pretty. Her hair’s short and reddish. I think her eyes are brown. She’s about your height and size.” She opened her eyes and saw Molly’s worried expression. “I don’t think she’d harm anybody, Molly.”
“Probably not,” Molly said slowly. “Still, she doesn’t belong up here. I don’t like the idea of anyone sneaking in at night and bothering our patients.”
“Well, if she shows up again, I’ll push my call button.”
“Good. Now, let me go and have a talk with security.” Molly stood, told Leah not to worry and left.
Leah shuddered. What a crummy day this had turned out to be! She’d learned about the horrors of chemo and about a weirdo stalking the halls at night. A weirdo only
she
could identify.
Still, try as she might, Leah couldn’t picture Gabriella doing anything mean, and she didn’t want her to be turned in to security. “You’d better not come and see me again, Gabriella,” she muttered under her breath. Then sheclicked on the TV and turned the volume up to chase away the chills she felt.
Leah spent most of the next day reading, playing video games and watching TV. She wanted to keep her mind as busy as possible. When her mind did veer to the subject of cancer, she quickly shut out the frightening thoughts and grabbed something else to do.
After dinner, as she was settling down for the night, she heard a commotion in the hallway. Moments later her door swung open and there stood her mother—her face flushed from the icy December air—wearing a long fur coat and a look of steely determination.
L eah threw her arms around her mother, hardly believing how much she’d missed her.
“Honey, we got here as soon as we could. Neil had to move heaven and earth to change our tickets so close to the holidays, but he did it.”
Neil stood behind Leah’s mother, looking tired but triumphant. Snowflakes clung to his head of silver-white hair, and his blue eyes were full of concern. “How are you, Leah?”
She was surprised to find she was glad to see him too. “I’m better now that the two of you are here,” she told him.
Her mother squirmed out of her coat andflopped into a chair. “We’re exhausted. We flew from Japan to Los Angeles, then from L.A. to Chicago, but that’s as far as we got. All air traffic was grounded in Chicago because of the weather. So Neil rented a car and we drove the last two hundred miles in a snowstorm.”
“Thank you,” Leah said to Neil.
“We’re family,” he said with a grin.
“How was Japan?” Leah felt obligated to ask. Now that the preliminary greetings were over, she felt awkward and overwhelmed.
“Japan was wonderful. We’ll have lots of pictures to show you, but this isn’t the time to talk about it.” Roberta glanced at her husband and said, “Neil, be a dear and see if you can find us a hotel near the hospital. I need a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Order us a pizza.” She turned to Leah. “I’ve eaten so much fish lately, I’m about to grow fins.”
Neil left, and Roberta climbed up on Leah’s bed and hugged her again. “It’s
so
good to be back in the good old U.S.A. I thought I was too old to get homesick, but when I passed through customs in Los Angeles and that customs agentstamped my passport and said ‘Welcome home,’ I got all teary-eyed.”
Leah allowed her mother to unwind, knowing that she’d get a chance soon enough to tell her what had happened in the hospital. She was glad of the distraction. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, or how much she wanted to tell her mother about the past week.
Her mother picked up Leah’s bandaged hand. “So, this is what caused all the trouble?”
“And this.” Leah tossed back the covers to expose her knee, still wrapped.
“I
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