It was a typical day for Mara nothing but a typical day so she thought….
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Leon County General Hospital
10:30 pm
"Mara Weinstein pick up extension 526, Mara Weinstein extension 526." A voice over the loudspeaker called.
"Great, who could it be now?" Mara exclaimed drawing the last vial of blood for the rather annoying patient.
"It HURTS!" The patient whined.
"We're all done for right now Mrs. Smith, we just have to wait for the lab to get the results back." Mara replied snapping off her gloves.
"How long is that going to take? I've been here for almost three hours!" Mrs. Smith protested.
"I know and that's actually pretty short wait considering we have a five hour wait. Most people would kill to have that short of a wait." Mara said walking out of the room.
Mrs. Smith grumbled something incoherently and was quiet.
Grabbing the nearest phone Mara dialed extension 526 waiting to hear what bad news awaited her.
"Hello, this is Mara"
"Mara this is Heather from Lael's daycare. Lael seems to be running a high fever and she needs to be picked up ASAP. Seems to be that flu that is going around and it's very contagious." The voice on the other line stated.
"Any flu is very contagious I've seen about five cases of it in the ER alone. But I'll be over there as soon as I can." Mara replied.
"Also her cousin Becca has the same exact flu and we can't get in touch with your sister. You are the next one on the contact list; would you be able to pick her up also?" Heather asked.
"Sure I'll come get them both. Thanks, Ms. Heather. I'll be there as soon as possible." Mara said and hung up the phone.
Just what I need not only one sick kid but TWO. Mara thought
"Oh Sara…!" She called out walking over to the head nurse's station.
"Oh what….?" A voiced called back.
"Guess what?" Mara asked.
"Let me guess you have a kid sick with the flu and you need to go home. Is that correct?" Sara said smiling.
"Wrong again, see you don't know everything." Mara replied, "I've got two sick kids. Becca AND Lael are down and out for the count."
"Aw well you go on and get them and I'll cover you. How long have you been here anyways?" Sara asked.
"1:30 right now, about 10 hours." Mara replied.
"Go get your kid and niece, go home, get some sleep, and I'll see you in the morning." Sara said waving Mara off.
"Ok, thanks Sara see you in the morning."
She knew Sara even before she started working at this hospital. She actually knew her husband Tom before she even met Sara. Tom had been Mara's lawyer when she divorced her husband Robert. They had become friends quickly and he introduced her to Sara. They had been friends ever since.
Mara pulled out her cell phone and tried to reach her sister. It rang until it went to voicemail.
"Hey Naomi this is Mara I'm picking up Becca and Lael so just come on over to the house when you get off and I'll see later. I'll leave the door unlocked." Mara said and hung up her phone.
Just then the battery beeped and died. "Oh great forgot to charge it." Mara said to herself, "Oh well, sucks to be me!"
Luckily the daycare was about two miles away and her house not but three mile from that. She picked up the girls, went to McDonald's to get everyone Happy Meals, and went home.
"Auntie, where's my mommy?" Becca asked as they pulled into the driveway.
"She'll be here soon, Becca don't you worry." Mara replied turning off the ignition.
Mara and Naomi were very close as well as their children. It wasn't always like that, it started when Naomi had her child first then almost two years later Mara had her daughter. The girls were very close, and loved each other dearly. It was never just a 'hi' from Becca when Mara saw her, it was always, 'Hi Auntie where Lael?' It was hard not to be close to her sister, their kids were always around each other. There was only one person that Mara was closer to, it was her mom.
Opening her front door Mara was greeted by her 120 lb Rottweiler Arthur. By no means was this dog vicious. He loved kids and was very loyal to Mara and his 'puppy' Lael. He viewed all children as his puppies.
"Hey big boy, how are you doing today? Mara asked Arthur. All she got was a faster wag of his stump of a tail.
"Doggy!" Lael exclaimed clapping her hands.
"Yes, doggy Lael, it's Arthur." Mara replied setting the 16 month old down.
After the girls ate, Mara laid them down for a nap and ended up laying down herself.
2:50 pm
"Mara, wake up." Naomi said shaking Mara.
"What? What's going on?" Mara said drowsily.
"I left my phone at home today and went by the daycare. They said you took her so I came on over. How are the girls?" Naomi asked.
"Sick but doing well, they're sleeping at the moment." Mara replied getting up.
"How long were you at work?"
"Ten hours I think, it was a relief to get a call saying that they were sick."
"I just checked on them they're still crashed. Did you give them Tylenol?"
"Yes, of course. I'm going to get a cigarette. Would you like to join me dear sister?" Mara grabbed her pack and walked outside on the front porch.
"Why of course my dear, as always!" Naomi followed Mara outside.
"The street is unusually busy today." Mara observed, "It's not usually like this."
"School just got out it's almost 3:00"
"Oh did I really sleep for that long?"
"Yea, you were out. Probably all those shifts in the ER you've been pulling. I don't mean to pry but you might want to consider another area of the hospital."
"I know but I like the ER. It's what I always wanted to do."
"You'll kill yourself if you don't do something soon."
"I know." Mara stared out into the street, "it's sad, look at how many kids have cell phones now a day. It wasn't even thought of when we were kids."
There were about 20 kids in the neighborhood all seemed to be on cell phones. A few parents mingled in with the kids also talking on cell phones. Naomi's watch beeped at the hour, it was 3:00.