“Tommy is a lost soul. He’s twenty-five but he still acts like a teenager. It took him six years and three colleges to get his Bachelor’s because he wouldn’t apply himself. The family insisted that I put him in charge of something so I gave him the Real Estate division.” She sighed. “I figured it was doing so well that he couldn’t do anything to mess it up. Now we’re posting the worst growth since the recession and he acts like it doesn’t matter. That’s why I had to go back to the office yesterday. I hate irresponsibility.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Doctor Barnes. “How are you today, Miss Grayson?” she asked.
“Same as yesterday, I guess,” Rose replied. “Oh, Doctor Barnes, this is my friend Ronnie. Ronnie, this is Doctor Barnes.” She did not see the smile form on Veronica’s face at the title bestowed on her.
“Hello,” the physician said. She looked at Rose’s chart for a moment and made a notation. “Well, Miss Grayson, it looks like everything is healing up just fine.” She set the chart down and moved to the head of the bed to check the stitches on Rose’s cheek. “The bones are properly set and I see no reason why you can’t go home.”
“Home? But…” She looked fearfully to Ronnie for help.
“How can you send her home? She can’t even walk yet,” the black-haired woman said, falling into the role of protector easily. It seemed a natural thing to do when it came to Rose.
“Look Miss…”
“Cartwright, Veronica Cartwright.”
“Miss Cartwright,” the doctor corrected, unimpressed with the tall woman’s name. “There’s nothing more that we can do for her right now. Her body is reacting well to the treatment. There’s nothing more to do except wait for the bones to heal.”
“But she can’t walk yet,” Ronnie protested.
“She won’t be able to walk for the better part of a year,” the doctor replied. “There’s no sign of infection, the thinning agents have kept any clots from forming and the swelling has gone down to an acceptable level. At this point there’s nothing else the hospital can do except give her a bed. I’ll write her a prescription for the pain and she should come back next Friday to have the stitches on her face removed. At that time I’ll look at her legs and ankle then we’ll see where we go from there.”
Rose’s breathing increased and she looked ready to cry. Ronnie quickly leaned over the bed, blocking the young woman’s view of the bearer of bad news. “Rose,” she whispered. “Let me take care of this. I promise everything will be okay.”
“I can’t…I don’t…”
“Shh. Let me handle this. Trust me.” She spoke softly, as if calming a small child. “Do you trust me?” She received a shaky nod. “I promise everything will be fine.”
“But…”
“Trust me, Rose.” She maintained her gaze, letting deep blue search out and calm green, silently trying to convey that everything would be all right.
Finally the younger woman let out a heavy breath and nodded, placing her life in the hands of the woman who seemed so willing to help her. As scary as the prospect seemed, there was a comfort in knowing that Ronnie was there for her.
“What do I need to know about caring for her?” Veronica asked, turning her attention to the doctor.
“I’ll have the nurse show you how to properly bathe her to prevent infections. I suggest you get a home health aide or a private nurse if you can afford it.” That comment earned a raised eyebrow from the woman who had donated six figures to the hospital last year. “The important thing is making sure the wounds are kept clean.” She made another notation on the chart. “I’ll have an instruction sheet prepared to explain exactly what needs to be done each day.”
“Fine,” Ronnie said, her mind already figuring out which room would be turned into a recovery room. It was an unexpected turn of events, but one that she was able to handle. She dimly noted it was not guilt making her open up her sanctuary to Rose, it was something stronger—concern and caring. Somewhere in the course of trying to make up for her mistake, Veronica Cartwright had begun to care. “Whatever it takes to make her better.”
“I’ll have the nurse give you all the details. I’ll sign the discharge papers before I start the rest of my rounds.” She turned to look at her patient. “I’m sorry, Miss Grayson, I’ve heard you’ve become rather fond of our food.” Her attempt at humor was not received as well as she hoped, earning only a weak smile from the blonde. “Well, if there was any way I could justify keeping you here, I would.”
“I know,” Rose replied. “Thank you.”
“Don’t forget to make an appointment with our outpatient clinic to have those stitches removed next Friday. Make certain they schedule the appointment with me and not with one of the physician’s assistants. I want to take a look at those legs too.”
“I will.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ronnie said firmly, leaving no doubt in the young doctor’s mind that her patient would be well taken care of.
It was a busy afternoon for Veronica. Her portable cell phone was constantly on, draining the battery down enough the executive had to resort to using the phone in Rose’s room to complete her preparations. She called a surgical supply company to purchase a hospital bed, wheelchair, and various other things that the nurse insisted were necessary for Rose to recuperate properly. But no matter how hard she tried, Ronnie was unable to get them to deliver the bed that day. In frustration she told them to just deliver the other items and called several furniture stores until she found one that sold adjustable beds. Even that took some work to convince them to send a truck out with it that day. Then she had to call Maria to let her know what was going on. She explained to her trusted housekeeper which room they were to go in and what items needed to be moved in order to make room for the new furniture. The next call had been to a private ambulance service to arrange for transportation from the hospital to her house for Rose. The remaining calls had been to the various agencies in an attempt to get a private nurse to come in on a long term, full time basis, then back to Maria again to fill her in on the latest developments.
“Ronnie?” Rose called gently, drawing the tall woman’s attention.
“I’ve got to go, Maria. Call me on the Jeep car phone if there’s any problems.” She hung the phone up and sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess everything’s ready. Now we’re just waiting for the ambulance to arrive.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Rose whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Shh…you don’t need to be worrying about things like that.”
“But no one’s ever…I mean, it’s so much…” Her eyes welled up with the heartfelt feeling.
“Hey, it’s no problem, remember? I promised that I’d take care of you.” Ronnie reached out and caught a tear before it could roll down Rose’s cheek. “Hey, none of that. Tabitha misses you and this is the perfect way to make sure that she has someone else to get her attention from so I can get some work done.” She received the barest of smiles. “Besides, I’ve been alone for a long time. It’ll be nice to have the company.”