with hopes of getting better. The state-of-the-art, five-story St. Theresa’s Children’s Hospital was the toast of the town. A circular driveway lead to the main entrance off Hope Drive. In the corner of the waiting area, a black and white television on a curio cabinet displayed re-runs of The Lucy Show. A single parent sat nearby, nervously leafing through Life magazine.
St. Theresa’s had opened a few months before and focused primarily on the treatment of children with cancer. Beds were filling up with children from all walks of life. Some could not afford to pay, and many of the families were indigent, but the Board of Directors vowed they would never turn a child away.
*****
The lobby was clean and stark and it worried Shelly White. It reminded her of the building she had visited before her father died. The smell was the same. Her mom held Shelly tightly in her arms as she walked through the lobby. Her mother’s embrace comforted her some, but she wished to be home instead of this place. They had driven two hours to get to the hospital.
Shelly squirmed a little in her mother’s arms. She was getting too big to be carried my her mom, but she was too weak to stand for long let alone walk very far.
“Welcome to St. Theresa’s.” The calm voice seemed to break Shelly’s mom out of her trance. “I am Dr. Gregory Wall. Who do we have here?” He held out his arms to Shelly.
Shelly looked at the tall black man in the white doctor’s smock. His smile was wide and she thought she saw a twinkle in his eyes. Shelly’s mom tightened her hold as if she was not sure whether to hand Shelly over to the stranger.
“So you’re not feeling too well, little one?” Dr. Wall asked Shelly.
She buried her face into her mother’s chest. He asked Shelly’s mom, “May I take her?”
Her mother started to hand her to the doctor, but Shelly tightened her grip. “No!”
“She’s just scared, that’s all,” her mom said. “Let the nice doctor
take you, okay, Shelly? He wants to help us.”
“I-I guess.” When Shelly raised her head again, she saw tears on
her mother’s cheek.