Disclaimer: I do not own Strong Medicine or the characters. They belong to Whoopi Goldberg, and Tammy Ader, and Lifetime TV
Three Days Later
"Hey Guys!" Lu entered the RWHC lobby, Marisa holding tightly to her hand. "I'm glad you are all out here."
"Welcome back!", Lana hugged her friend, "And this must be Marisa." she knelt down to get eye level with the child, who was now half-way hiding behind Lu, clinging to her leg.
"Yes it is," Lu smiled, "Come on honey." she eased Marisa out from behind her, "Say hi to my friends."
Marisa looked up at Lu, then looked at the woman who was still kneeling in front of her. "This is Lana, she takes care of all the stuff here out front." Lu patted Marisa on her back.
"My, my, you sure are beautiful." Lana tweaked the Latina girl's nose.
Lu pointed to the right, "This is the other doctor that I work with, Dr. Campbell."
Andy stepped forward and tussled her hair, "Hi Marisa... don't worry," she smiled at the young girl, "We don't bite!" A small smile tugged at Marisa's lips.
"And this is Peter," Lu playfully punched him on the shoulder, "He's our nurse."
"Owww!", Peter grabbed his shoulder pretending to be in pain, "See how she beats me up Marisa? You're gonna have to protect me!" he bent over and held out his hand to her. Marisa giggled and shyly shook Peter's hand.
Lu flashed a grateful look at her friends, "Marisa, honey, you stay here with Lana, ok? I've got chat room with the girls in a few minutes." Marisa looked around nervously as Lana reached for her hand. "Come on babygirl, let Lana see what kind of toys we can find." She led the young girl to the toy box in the waiting area.
"Andy?", Lu motioned to her office, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." Andy put down the file she had been holding and followed her partner.
"How's it going, Delgado?" she closed Lu's office door behind them.
"Thanks for covering for me the past few days," Lu glanced out the glass door, making sure Marisa was ok, "I'm sorry I didn't make it back to work like I had planned."
"No problem." Andy sat on the desk.
Lu sighed, "I had no idea how much work had to go into planning Rita's funeral," she closed her eyes as if trying to block out a painful image, "The funeral was so hard on Marisa, I just couldn't bring her out yesterday, or leave her with someone she doesn't know." Lu sat down on her office couch and looked up at the other doctor, "Andy, she was crying so hard. She went over to the open casket, and started begging Rita to get up."
"That poor child." Andy shook her head.
"Anyways," Lu looked at the clock and stood up, "The girls are waiting for me."
"Ok, we can talk again later if you want." Andy followed her out the office door.
"Thanks," Lu smiled at her partner and waved to Marisa who was watching her very intently. She walked across the lobby and into the other room, "Ok ladies, what are we talking about today?" the chat room door closing behind her as sounds of laughter escaped from the room.
Several nights later
Lu lay in bed thinking about how Marisa had warmed up to Lana rather quickly. "But how can anyone NOT love Lana!" she laughed to herself.
Andy and Peter had been especially kind to her, and Marisa was learning that she can trust them.
Now, Dr. Jackson, that was a different story. He had tried, Lu had to give him credit for that. But Dr. Jackson's sometimes gruff manner scared the poor child. It didn't help that Marisa's first encounter with the hospital's Chief of Staff had been when he came down to the clinic. He was ranting and raving at Lu, (as usual), about ordering some test or procedure for one of her free patients that he thought was too expensive. That experience had left Marisa in tears, clinging to Lu with every ounce of strength in her small body. Lu hated to leave the fragile five year old sitting in Lana's lap, but she had patients waiting, and she knew that Marisa was in good hands. It took Lana almost an hour to calm the terrified child and soothe away her tears.
As Lu started getting sleepy, she wondered who she was going to get to babysit Marisa while she was working. Taking her to the clinic each day was not going to be suitable for much longer. But with summer coming, school would be out soon. And she knew that Marc would keep Marisa several days a week.
Lu smiled, as she drifted off to sleep, thankful for her friends and her son. They were slowly drawing the young child out of her shell. It would take time, but she knew that Marisa would be ok.
A few hours later
Lu looked at the glowing numbers of her alarm clock. 2:30 A.M., she sat up in bed, listening, wondering what had woke her up. She heard it again, a muffled sobbing.
Lu followed the sound to the room next to hers. She entered the bedroom that she and Marc had just finished setting up for Marisa. Walking over to the bed, Lu saw a small figure curled up in a ball, face down in the pillow, crying her heart out.
"Marisa? Honey? What's wrong? Huh?" turning on the lamp, she sat down on the bed and pulled the girl into her lap. Holding the child close, Lu rocked back and forth, trying to soothe the cries that wracked her small body.
"Mommy," Marisa managed to choke out, "I had a dream about Mommy." she wrapped her arms around Lu's neck and buried her face in Lu's shoulder, still sobbing.
"Shh, Shhhhh. It's ok, I'm here." Lu rubbed the young girl's back.
"But when I woke up, Mommy wasn't here," Marisa clung to her godmother, "I want my mommy."
"I know sweetie." Lu soothed still rocking the child.
Marisa looked up, tears still rolling down her small face, "Are you going to leave me too?", her eyes searched Lu's face for an answer.
"No, I'm not," she hugged Marisa close, "I won't leave you."
Finally settling down into the crook of Lu's arm, the young girl relaxed a little, "Promise?", she asked softly.
Lu stood up, still holding the child, "I promise baby, I promise." she slowly lowered Marisa down on the bed and covered her up. Flipping the lamp out, she quietly started back towards her bedroom.
"Lu?" the tiny voice stopped her at the door, "Please don't go." Marisa pleaded.
Lu returned to the bed and laid down, gathering the young child into her arms.