Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) Tarrah Anders (i am malala young readers edition .TXT) 📖

“Thank you, Ro. For everything.”

“Hey, I got you.” He states squeezing my shoulder

“Yeah.” I nod, walking past him towards the on-call room.

My parents' condition didn’t change over the next twenty-four hours. And as much as I’ve tried to look at their charts, my access to their files are secured.

Damn technology for being airtight!

The hours continue to drag and the room that my parents share echo with the various beeping of the machines. I know there’s no immediate danger, since the beeps are steady and still low, which helps me relax.

I want to take part in my parents' medical care, but I know that I can’t. I’m too emotionally close and my actions—should something happen—would be clouded.

The door opens, and a nurse walks in. She checks vitals, taps on the screen, and then looks at her watch.

“Your mom's vitals have improved from last night. Once she wakes, we’ll make sure a plastic surgeon comes to speak to you guys.”

“A plastic surgeon? I believe the protocol is that we need to talk to her about that first, see what she wants?”

“It’s an option that I wanted to make sure that she knows it is available to her. Your mom and mine are close. All they talk about is beauty and stuff like that, so I’m just assuming that making sure someone is on call would be fruitful for her.”

“I appreciate your future-thought there, but again as her daughter, I think it would be better to speak to her about it.”

The door opens and Rogan walks in. He looks between the nurse and me as the nurse passes between us and out of the room.

“What was that all about?” he asks.

“She was making decisions without my mother's input. She thinks that just because her mom and mine are friends that she has a say.” I roll my eyes.

“I’m sure that she wasn’t doing it intentionally,” Rogan says.

I shake my head, “any news on them?”

“Everything is looking on the up and up. All tests came back well, we’ll begin to ease off some of the medications for your mom. Your dad woke up not too long ago, but he’s drifting in and out. They’re going to recover from this, you know, with the help of their daughter.”

Day two of sleeping in the on-call room and my neck is stiff and my body is sore. My parents are both awake and talking—but I’ve avoided them at all costs. I’m back on the schedule today, but my shift doesn’t start for a few hours.

I’m lurking outside my parents' room, I’ve walked by a few times to catch if they’re awake and I’ve snuck looks at their charts since my access to the hospital terminals is back on.

I’m on my third pass when my father calls out my name.

“You can stop pacing back and forth in front of our room,” he says.

My mom turns her head, and despite the cuts covering her face, she smiles.

“I’m not pacing.” I tell him.

“Have a seat, we know that you’ve been worried. Your father told me how you strong-armed him to not turn the ambulance around.”

“It was no big deal, it was medically necessary,” I reply.

“Nonsense, and then the night nurse mentioned how you saved your father's life.”

“It’s my job.” I shrug.

“You had perfect timing. We hear that if he would have been passed out in that waiting room for much longer, that I wouldn’t still have this annoying man beside me any longer.” Mom says.

“Yeah, it was good timing. I was just about to head home and grab some clothes, but I found him passed out. I almost got escorted off the property. They probably thought that I was a crazy patient or something.”

“Come and sit down,” my dad says, pointing to the only chair in the room against the wall. “So, this nursing thing, how did you get into it?”

23

Kindra

“I’ve never been to a baby shower, I thought that those were just for chicks?” Rogan asks while grabbing the gift bag from the backseat as we get out of the car.

“Some are, but this is a coed party. Basically, the ladies do one thing, while the guys do something else, but all in the same space.” I tell him.

“And who are these people again?” he whispers as we walk up the front steps to the brownstone.

“The mother to be is Becky. She was my college roommate for a few years, her husband is some guy she met at work. I honestly haven’t seen to them in a few years, I had no clue that they were expecting,” I whisper back.

“Maybe we’re just here so they can get an extra gift.” he jokes.

“Well, if that’s the case–let’s eat as much finger food as we can. Maybe even stuff some in your pockets.” I knock on the door.

Truthfully, my nerves are at a high level. I haven’t known too many people who had had babies. That’s one of the nice things about going to school and hanging out with a few people who wanted to remain single. I had a few friends who got pregnant and being around them was hard, especially once they had their babies, but I managed to get through it. But coming to this baby shower is entirely different, because Rogan is here. All in all, I’m not exactly sure how this party will go and I’m regretting my decision in inviting him.

If things were different, we would have had the baby shower all those years ago. We would have had our own baby, and maybe we would have wound up married like we planned when we were kids. But none of that happened.

Even though I was lost in my own mind, we navigated through the house and ended up in the living room. We’re facing one another and I hear Rogan talking, but I’m not getting anything that he’s saying. I blink and Rogan has a concerned look on his face.

“You good?” he asks.

I nod and hear a screech