Disclaimer: I do not own Strong Medicine or the characters. They belong to Whoopi Goldberg, and Tammy Ader, and Lifetime TV. Special thanks to my good friend SallyJo for her help with the ideas for this chapter! Thanks hon!
As summer turned into fall, the leaves changed to beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. There was a slight chill in the air and school was in full swing. Marisa's dreams were becoming less frequent and were not as alarming as they had been. Her sixth birthday had come and gone, and she seemed to be enjoying her first year in school.
"How's it going?" a familiar voice broke into her thoughts as she walked across the parking lot.
"Morning Peter." She smiled as he jogged to catch up.
"Morning Lu. You looked like you were lost in your own world." Peter teased.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she took his good natured teasing in stride, "Chat room starts in ten minutes and I need coffee!"
"Kids keep you up all night?" he joked as he opened the clinic door for her.
Lu couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, something like that." She leaned over the front desk to check for messages.
"Something like what?" Lana came around the corner.
"Nothing," Lu reached for a pen, "I swear," she wrote a quick note and stuck it in her purse, "Marc in his senior year and Marisa in first grade, I feel like I am starting all over again."
"Starting again. Kinda have an idea what to expect this time." Lana couldn't resist a teasing remark.
"Yeah, maybe." Lu laughed and headed for the coffee maker.
Thirty minutes later
"Oh! You can't be serious!" a young blonde laughed.
"You didn't tell him that! Did you?" another lady called from across the room.
"You bet I did!" a redhead laughed.
"Good for you Josie!", Lu leaned forward, "Over seventy percent of women don't feel..."
"Lu! Phone." Lana suddenly opened the chat room door.
"I'm in the middle of something," Lu looked up at her friend in surprise, "I'll call them back." She turned her attention back to the group of ladies.
"Lu!", Lana spoke more forcefully, "I think you better take it. It's Marisa's school."
"What?", Lu jumped up from her chair and ran to the receptionist's desk. She jerked the phone up to her ear, "Hello?"
"Dr. Delgado?" the young man sounded nervous.
"Yes." Lu pulled on the phone cord.
"This is Mr. Grayson, principal at Skylar Park Elementary School," he paused for a moment, "We need you here at the school. Marisa fell from the jungle gym."
"What! How did that happen?" Lu sat down in the receptionist's chair before her legs could give out on her.
Lana had been keeping a watchful eye on her friend and now she quickly moved over to Andy's office. She didn't bother to knock as she opened the door. "Dr. Campbell," she motioned toward the front desk, "Something's wrong at Marisa's school."
Andy dropped a patient file on her desk and hurried out front to find her partner still on the phone, listening intently.
"You mean she got pushed!" Lu's voice getting louder as she interrupted the principal.
"Well, yes. Several of the older kids were racing up the jungle gym. One of them bumped into Marisa and knocked her off the top." he explained.
"I'll be right there." she slammed the phone down before he could say anything else.
"What happened kid?" Lana put her hand on the desk.
"Marisa got pushed off the top of the jungle gym." Lu pushed away from the desk and rushed to the chat room. She stuck her head in the door, "Sorry girls. Same time, same place, tomorrow."
Andy and Lana followed Lu to her office.
"Is she ok?" Lana leaned against the door, holding it open.
"I... I don't know," Lu shook her head nervously as she hurried around her office, "I have to go get her."
"I'm going with you." Andy watched the other doctor digging through her purse.
"No, you have patients," Lu started frantically emptying her purse and throwing things on her desk, "Where are my keys?"
"Will you go get my purse please?", Andy looked at Lana, "It's in the bottom drawer of my desk."
Lana nodded and headed for Dr. Campbell's office.
Andy crossed the office and stood in front of her partner. "Delgado," she put her hands on Lu's shoulders and gently shook.
"No." Lu tried to turn away.
"Delgado, " Andy tightened her grip and shook a little harder, forcing Lu to look up, "I am going with you. No arguing. You will need help. Now put your keys away, we'll take my car."
Lu reluctantly obeyed, knowing she was in no shape to drive.
When they arrived at the school, Lu jumped out of the car before the engine was turned off.
By the time Andy caught up to her, Lu was already in the principal's office, "Marisa Sanchez. Where is she?"
Mr. Grayson came around the desk to meet her, "Dr. Delgado, I am so..."
"Where's my kid?" Lu's eyes flashed with anger as she cut him short.
"Nurse's office, down the hall, on the right." he followed her as she spun around and hurried down the hall.
"Marisa? ... Marisa?" Lu ran in the nurse's office with Andy close behind her. Seeing Marisa laying on a cot, she hurried across the room and leaned over to hug the crying child. "It's ok, baby." Lu soothed as she kissed Marisa on the forehead.
Andy stepped forward with her stethoscope, "Let me see her."
After listening to the young girl's heart, Andy pressed gently on her legs, "Does this hurt?"
"Yes!" Marisa cried as Andy reached her left knee.
"How about this?" she asked as she worked her way down the child's arms.
"Owwww!" tears spilled down Marisa's cheeks when her left wrist was moved.
"I'm so sorry honey." Andy smoothed the hair out of the young girl's face.
Using her light, she checked Marisa's eyes. "Pupils unequal," Andy looked up at the other doctor, "I want a head CT now! Let's get her to Rittenhouse."
Lu picked Marisa up and cradled the small child in her arms. "Out of my way!" she pushed by Mr. Grayson who still stood in the doorway to the nurse's office.
"Wait!" he called as Lu rushed down the hall.
"We will deal with you later." Andy glared at the principal as she hurried after her partner.
At the hospital, Andy left her car at the front doors.
Lu emerged from the back seat, still holding Marisa tightly. "Clear a bay!" she yelled as they ran in the ER.
"I want a portable X-ray in here now!" Andy began to bark orders at the nearest nurse.
Lu gently put Marisa down on a gurney and stepped out of the way as the ER staff bustled around the child, starting an IV and getting things ready.
"She's going to be ok." Lana suddenly appeared at Lu's side and wrapped her arm around the doctor's shoulders.
"Lana." Lu leaned into her friend's embrace, thankful she was there.
"Get her upstairs for a head CT! Stat!" Andy's voice carried over the commotion of the busy ER.
"Mommy!", Marisa sobbed, reaching for Lu with her right arm, "Mommy!"
Lu immediately stepped away from Lana and returned to the young girl's side. "I'm here, baby, I'm here." she held Marisa's hand, running beside the gurney as Andy and two nurses wheeled it toward the elevator.
A little while later... around lunch time
"Hey Lana," Peter came through the RWHC doors, "What's the word on Marisa?"
"She sprained her left knee and left wrist and has a slight concussion." Lana turned away from her computer screen.
"Wow! Lucky girl! I am glad that is all." Peter looked over his shoulder, "Lu in her office?"
"Yeah, Marisa too." the receptionist shuffled some folders around on her desk.
"Good, I brought them some lunch." he half waved as he moved over to Lu's door.
Knocking lightly, Peter stuck his head in the door, "Lu?"
She looked up from her work, placed a finger on her lips, and pointed to Marisa, asleep on the office couch.
He held the door until it closed quietly behind him, then crossed the office to Lu's desk, "I thought you guys might be hungry." he whispered as he raised the brown paper bag.
She smiled at his kindness, "Thanks Peter." she kept her voice low.
Her door opened again and Lu looked up to see Andy walk in the office.
She nodded to her colleagues before leaning over to check on Marisa.
Lu came around the desk and gently covered her sleeping goddaughter with a blanket. She ushered Peter and Andy out of her office.
"Delgado, you look tired. Why don't you take Marisa home and get some rest?" the concern was evident in Andy's voice.
"I'm fine, I have too much to do," Lu sat down on Lana's desk, "I called Marc's school and left a message with the office for him to come to the clinic when he gets out this afternoon. That is just a few hours from now, he can take Marisa home. And with the pain medicine, she will probably sleep until then anyways."
Peter leaned against the filing cabinet, "What else is bothering you? I've seen that look too many times, and I know what it means."
"Nothing bothers me," she shook her head, "I'm just shocked."
"Shocked at what?" he gave her an odd look.
"I was so afraid that her injuries were going to be a lot worse. And then...", she paused to look up at him, "Peter... she called me mommy. Lana and Andy both heard it. I don't know if it was because she was scared or..."
"It doesn't matter why," Lana interrupted in her straight forward, common sense way, "What matters is... that little girl needs you and she loves you."
"I expected it sooner. You were the one who stepped up when she had no one." Andy shrugged her shoulders and a silence fell over the group of friends.
Beep, Beep, Beep... Beep, Beep.
"That's me," Lu pulled her pager out of her lab coat pocket, "Lana, will you..."
"I'll keep an eye on Marisa." Lana answered before she could ask.
"Thanks guys." Lu called over her shoulder as she jogged toward the ER.
Watching her friend go, Lana sighed, "She's worn out, but she will never admit it."
"We need a battle plan," Andy pulled a chair over and sat down, "There has to be something we can do."
"Yeah, but what?" Peter's question hung in the air... unanswered...