AN: Thanks for the reviews last time. This part is for everyone who asked for it. I hope you like it. :-)
"Would you like to meet Casey?"
The question surprised Erin more than anything; meeting Casey hadn't even been on her radar as something she could do. She wanted to meet the girl, she thought about her a lot, wondered what she was like but she didn't think it was an option, not without meeting her father, without losing her anonymity.
"Can I do that?" she asked, "without telling them who I am?"
"Maybe," the doctor told her, "shall we go for a walk?"
She followed him out his office and down a corridor. As they walked he explained to her the system and the loop holes in it which allowed him to introduce her to Casey if she wanted. He wouldn't tell them who she was but he made no promises that they wouldn't work it out for themselves. They stopped in a room full of gowns and masks, he told her to put some on while he did the same thing. When she was finished she was covered from head to toe, even her shoes were covered. Her eyes were the only thing visible to identify her, she was going to do this she thought and a smile began spreading across her face.
"We're going to the isolation rooms," he told her, "this is where the kids stay while they're getting ready for their bone marrow transplants. The kids in here have no immune systems so we need to make sure we don't bring any germs in."
"Okay," Erin nodded as she tied her face mask on.
"They won't know who you are," he told her, "come on."
A shiver ran through Erin's body as she entered the ward. It was arranged in a circular shape with a nurse's station in the centre. All around were rooms with large windows facing into the ward. In each room was a kid, some kids were tiny, other looked like teenagers, some had parents with them, others didn't.
"That's Casey," he said pointing to a girl in the second room. She was in the room by herself, drawing in a sketch book. "I'm going to find out where her parents are."
Erin nodded, her gaze already fixed on the girl. Even from this distance she could recognise herself in the child's mannerisms. After a few minutes the doctor came back, "her parents have gone down to the cafeteria for coffee," he told her, "I'm going to go down and have a chat to them, you'll have about twenty minutes, if you want to go talk to her."
"Okay," Erin nodded, and she took in a deep breath, talking to Casey wasn't on her schedule for today, but now she'd seen her she wanted to know more.
"I'll introduce you, come on," the doctor said walking back to the room. Erin followed feeling a little nervous and unsure of herself. She'd talked to a lot of kids, she was good with kids but there was always a motive to the conversation, always a reason for talking to them, always something she wanted to find out. There was nothing like that with Casey, she wanted to know about her but she wasn't questioning her.
"Hi Casey," the doctor said smiling.
"Hi Doctor Mark," Casey said looking up from her drawing, "do you need more blood from me?"
"No not right now," he said still smiling, "I wanted to introduce you to my friend Erin."
"Hi," Casey smiled.
"Hi," Erin said stepping forward, "what are you drawing?"
"A beluga whale," Casey said holding the paper up, "his name's Bailey, he's from Finding Dory."
"Cool," Erin said bending down to take a closer look.
"I'll be back to see you later Casey," the doctor said stepping back, "is it okay if Erin hangs out with you for a bit?"
"Okay," Casey said not sounding fazed. The doctor walked out the room.
"I like your drawing," Erin said trying to work out what to say to this kid.
"Thanks," Casey shrugged, "I didn't used to like drawing but then I got sick and stuck in bed so now all I can do is draw and read books and watch movies, I used to play board games too but they're not allowed in this room."
"You're good at drawing," Erin offered, "I was never good at drawing, but then I didn't have much time to practice."
Casey shrugged and turned around in her bed, "do you like reading?" she asked, picking up a stack of books and putting them on the bed in front of her.
"Sometimes," Erin said picking up one of the books, "I wasn't very good at reading when I was your age."
"I'm the best in my class," Casey smiled, "I've read all these books, some of them twice."
"Really?" Erin smiled, she began flicking through the pages in one of the books and started laughing, there was an illustration of two boys and a marshmallow machine shooting marshmallows into their mouths.
"What are you laughing at?" Casey asked. Erin turned the book around and showed Casey the page. A big smile spread across Casey's face and she took the book from Erin, "I like this." She said flipping a few more pages. She showed a picture of the two boys drinking from a giant lemonade fountain. "They get to drink all the lemonade they want."
"Nice," Erin smiled; she was finally starting to feel comfortable with the kid. "Would you like to read some of the story to me?"
"Okay," Casey smiled and she turned the book to the first page.
For the next twenty minutes they read the book together. They laughed at the silly pictures and the antics that the two boys in the story Andy and Terry got up to. It was nice; they both seemed to be enjoying themselves, then the door to Casey's room opened.
"What's so funny?" a familiar voice asked. Erin looked up, standing by the door was her dad and the woman she assumed was his new wife. Like her they were completely decked out in protective gowns and face masks, she could only see his eyes but she'd recognise his voice anywhere.
"Terry and Andy," Casey said, oblivious to what was happening around her.
"You're reading that again," her mom said stepping forward.
"Erin wanted me to," Casey said, a small chuckle still in her voice.
"Erin?" Casey's mom stepped forward, held out her hand, "who are you?"
Erin hesitated, she hadn't thought how to answer that question, she hadn't planned to be in the room still when Casey's parents came back but she'd been having too much fun.
"She's Doctor Mark's friend," Casey answered for her.
"Yes," Erin answered shaking the woman's hand, "I know Doctor Mark. You've got an amazing little girl here." She said trying to find something to say, there was an awkward pause, "I've got to go." she said stepping back, "It was nice to meet you Casey," she said, then she bolted out the door. She didn't look back but she immediately heard footsteps coming up behind her.
"Erin," she heard her father call out to her, "wait." She didn't want to talk to him; she hadn't even wanted him to know she was there. She tried to keep walking but he caught her in a few steps, put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and their eyes caught properly for the first time. "It is you." He said looking at her properly, "you got my letter."
"Yeah," she said twisting away from his grip, "I've got to go."
"Wait," he tried to reach out for her again but she was too far away, "can we talk?"
"No. I'm here to help Casey, that's all." She turned and walked away before he could grab her again, he called out to her but this time she didn't stop. Outside the ward she ripped off the protective clothing and headed down the first stairwell she came to. Inside she was shaking slightly, seeing her father had sent a surge of unexpected adrenalin running through her body. He sounded exactly like she remembered him; all the emotions she'd been supressing were pushing to get out. She tried to steady herself; all she could do was keep walking. She walked all the way out the hospital, and started walking along the road. She had no idea where she was going, if she got lost she could pull up a map but for now she just needed to keep moving. After an hour she found herself on the edge of the main shopping district. She began gazing in the windows of shops, until she found herself walking inside a book store.
She didn't read a lot, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been inside a book store but there she was standing browsing the children's book section. She picked up the book she'd been reading with Casey, '13 Story Treehouse' and started reading. She finished the book and went to put it down, that's when she noticed it was the first one in a series, on the shelf sat '26 Story Treehouse', '39 Story Treehouse' all the way up to '78 Story Treehouse'. She hadn't seen the other books in Casey's book collection; she picked up the second and third books in the series, carried them to the register and brought them. The idea of getting Casey a present hadn't crossed her mind until she was actually buying it but it made her feel good.
She was still in a weird mental place, she couldn't quite work out her feelings for her dad, she didn't know how she was supposed to be feeling about him. There was the little girl in her head who wanted to put aside all the years of neglect and have her Daddy back and then there was the teenager and adult who couldn't shake the fact he'd ignored her for years and only got back in touch because he needed something from her. She found a café to eat dinner at, walked back to her hotel and spent the evening watching random television shows.
AN: I hope you enjoyed that. I would love to here your thoughts. If you want to see more let me know :-)
Also the book Erin and Casey were reading is real. I'd highly recommend it and any other book written by Andy Griffith and illustrated by Terry Denton for any kids 7 - 12 years. My little sister loves them.
