“What do you intend to do? Spring for his bail?”
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “What? He was on drugs and had no idea what he was doing.”
“Do yourself a favor? Please don’t mention that to my brother right now,” Talia said dryly. “You're unbelievable.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
*****
He came into the room to find her fast asleep. He'd had to leave because if he hadn't, he would have said something that he would have regretted and that hadn't been the time for it. His sister had cornered him as he was in the waiting room, staring out the window.
“She's asking for you.”
He'd stayed where he was. “I'll be in shortly. I'm staying the night.”
“She's really sorry.”
“I'm sure she is,” he said with a faint smile. “I'm trying to cool off.”
“I told her that.” Talia had come into the room and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back. “She knows you love her, darling, but she's Donna.”
“What does that mean?” he had demanded.
“It means that she'll be impulsive and do crazy things.”
“I know,” he'd said with a sigh. “It still doesn't make it right.”
Now as he stood there staring at her, he felt the love flowing through him. Pulling up the chair, he sat down and took her hand in his, pressing it against his face. “You are incorrigible,” he whispered. “But Christ! I love you so much!”
*****
She got up later that night to find him stretched out on the comfortable lounge chair, fast asleep. Getting up from the bed carefully, she reached for her robe, looking at him for a moment before making her way carefully out of the room and closing the doors behind her. She couldn't sleep a wink more and she felt the need to stretch her legs. She nodded to the doctors and nurses she passed and made her way to critical area of the hospital. Her mother had been a nurse and she'd spent a lot of time in the hospital after school. She'd even volunteered during summer breaks. At one point she'd entertained the prospect of becoming a nurse herself but had dismissed the idea. She was heading back to the elevator when she saw the young girl hunched on one of the chairs, tears streaming down her cheeks. Standing there indecisively for a moment, she wondered if she should interfere. Her husband was already mad at her and she had a favor or to ask him that was going to make it even worse. With a fatalistic shrug she made her way towards the girl and took a seat. “Hi.”
Up close, Donna could see that was a strikingly pretty girl of Hispanic descent, with long black hair and olive skin. “My name is Donna.”
She lifted her head, with tears swimming in her large dark eyes. “Selina.”
“I hate hospitals too.”
Selina shook her head. “My mom is sick.”
“And she's in the best place.”
“She needs surgery and she's—she doesn't have insurance.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Acute appendicitis. They're willing to do the surgery, but we have to fill out forms. She doesn't want to do that.”
“She's undocumented,” Donna said in understanding. “Who's the doctor?”
Selina pointed to the blonde-haired man in the lab coat, standing at the nurses’ station.
“I'll deal with it.”
*****
“Don’t you ever stop?” Thomas asked as he came to find her. “I thought you were asleep, imagine my surprise when Doctor Pearson came to find me to tell me that my wife is involved in a debate with the doctors and administrator of the hospital. You're supposed to be resting.”
“I couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk. That’s when I met Selina.”
“And who is she?”
“She's right here.” Donna pulled the girl to her side. “Selina, meet my husband, Thomas Hoffman. I told Dr. Hibbert that they should go ahead and perform the much-needed surgery for Selina’s mom. Why would you let a thing like money stand in the way of someone’s health?”
“As I was explaining to your wife, we have bills to pay as well, and if we perform the surgery for one, we're going to have to do it for all,” Administrator Grace Murray said in an apologetic voice.
“So, you're going to let the poor woman die just because she's undocumented?” Donna demanded.
“She refuses to sign the forms.”
“The forms that say she'll be sent an enormous bill that she'll have to pay. She works minimum wage—”
“Put it on my tab,” Thomas interrupted. “If you don't perform the surgery, my wife will have every media house here in a matter of minutes.”
“Thanks, darling,” Donna said with a warm smile at her husband before turning to the doctors. “You heard him! Go save that woman’s life.”
Selina hurled herself into Donna’s arms and held her tight. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome, honey. I'll give you my number so that you can call me to let me know how your mom is doing. What’s her name?”
“Ana.”
Donna squeezed her hands. “Ana will be okay.”
*****
“I want you to run that by me again,” Thomas said grimly as he sat there staring at her. They'd come home in the early afternoon and he'd decided to work from home so that he could be near her.
She pleated the ends of her robe and avoided his eyes. “I'm asking you to tell the detectives to release the guy. They told me his name was Gary Pinnock and that he's a college dropout who started using when he lost both his parents in a car crash. I was thinking that we could arrange to have him sent to a clinic where he could detox. He was obviously using so that he could deal with his grief and displacement.”
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but you want us not to press charges against the guy who pushed you onto the curb and almost smashed your brain—”
“You're exaggerating.”
“And could have hurt our baby—that guy?”
Donna got up from the sofa and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. All the way from the hospital, he'd barely said a word to her, and she knew he was still pissed. “Are you out of your mind?”
Donna met his eyes in the mirror as she squeezed toothpaste onto the brush. “It’s funny you said it like that. He was out of his mind and I cannot hold that against him. What good is serving a prison sentence going to do him?” she asked, waving the brush in her hand. “Is it going to make him stop using?”
“It might just teach him to stop stealing,” her husband said grimly. “You're going too far now, Donna.”
“Am I?” She jammed the brush into her mouth and started brushing, finishing the process and spitting into the sink. “Maybe he did himself a favor by attacking me. Maybe it's his way of getting help.” She rinsed her mouth out and turned to him, her expression pleading. “You knew who I was when you married me—”
“Actually, I didn't know.”
“Okay, but you know me now and know that I want to help in every way I can.” She walked over to him and put her hands onto his chest. “Darling, you know that I cannot sit back and do nothing. That isn't me.”