Chapter twenty two

December 18th

It had been a busy day, and after 20 hours on the go, Jo was over due for a date with her daughter. "Jo!" Alex shouts out. Jo turns around to see Alex rushing towards her.

"Crap," Jo mutters what she thought was quietly.

"I'm sorry? Not who you wanted to see?" Alex questions.

"No.. it's just Ah..." Jo begins, "what were you after?"

"I have a ostoscaroma on a 16 year old that I'm about to prep for? Would you like to scrub in?" He asks with a smile.

"No, I do not. Ive been working 20 hours straight and I still have another 10 to go. Right now my schedule is completely clear. Not one patient needs me so I'm going up to daycare to spend some time with my daughter. I need to see her, squish her cubby cheeks, smell her little puffs of strawberry blonde hair, smother her in kisses and touch her tinny tiny baby toes. So, that's what I'm going to do," Jo replies assertively.

"Well, That sounds equally wonderful," Alex replies with nod of his head.

"It sounds even better then that ostoscarcoma, now if you'd excuse me, I'm going to go and love my baby right now," Jo smiles. She nods her head assertively before walking off.

As she heads towards the lift she begins to walk closer to an elderly woman, a woman that she'd recognise anywhere. A woman that she hadn't seen since she graduated high school and the expression on her face indicated that she felt exactly the same way.

"Oh my goodness, Josephine!" She exclaims as they draw to an arms length of each other.

"Miss Schmidt!" Jo says excitedly. They instantly give each other a hug and when they break apart Miss Schmidt stands back and admires Jo.

"Oh my, look at you all grown up!" She exclaims.

Jo gives a little laugh, "I know."

"Give us a look at that I.D badge. I need to see those credentials written down," Heather orders. Jo gives a smile and unclips her badge from her lab coat pocket and hands it to Heather. "Dr Josephine Stadler M.D ," she smiles. "Well done, I am so very very proud of you. You know, I knew that you could make your dreams come true one day."

"You were the only one who ever believed in me, thank you," Jo smiles.

"Now honey it seems like I've missed a lot, loosing touch with you was one of the most devastating moments I've ever had. Just when did you get married my love?"

Jo smiles uncomfortably. She didn't want miss Schmidt to find out that she'd been married to Paul. Jo knew that she shouldn't feel ashamed, every part of her head was telling her that. But her heart was telling her otherwise. When she left high school she was a very strong woman, that was who Heather knew her as, and that woman would of never of been in her position. "Oh, um, a couple of years ago now."

"Congratulations," she replies with a smile. "You will have to show me some photos."

"Oh, well, um, atully," Jo stutters, "we're getting a divorce. He was um... he was abusive towards me," Jo admits.

"Then you are even stronger then I thought you were," Heather smiles.

"Really?" Jo asks.

"Yes really. It takes a lot of strength and courage to get yourself out of a bad situation," she replies.

Jo nods her head with a small smile. "Wait, why are you here? This is a hospital, it's for sick people. You're not sick at you?" Jo questions.

"Oh, no, no. I was speaking to the chief about possibly doing a school trip here," she replies.

"Oh, okay, yay!" Jo smiles. "Oh, I can give a little speech and show them around. Maybe take them into surgery," she grins excitedly.

Heather gives a little chuckle, "Jo, they're 15 year olds. Not Med students."

"Oh, right," she laughs.

"But hey, maybe you can give them a lesson on the reproductive organs?" Heather grins.

"Um, um..." Jo stutters.

"It's okay, I was kidding," Heather laughs.

"Okay good," Jo laughs. "I hated getting that talk and I'm sure I'd hate giving it even more."

"Are you free for something to eat?" Heather asks.

Jo smiles, "I'm on my way up to daycare to see My Ah... my... my beautiful baby, Phoebe..."

"Oh my gosh, Jo, congratulations," Heather smiles. "How old is she?"

"She is 5 months old," Jo smiles.

"Well, I won't keep you from her. I bet she can't wait to see her mummy. Now, how about we exchange numbers?" Jo nods and smiles. They exchange phones and they punch in each other's numbers and hand back the phones.

"It was great to see you again Miss Schmidt," Jo smiles.

"Oh Josephine, don't be silly. You're not in high school now sweetheart, you don't have to call me Miss Schmidt. Heather is just fine," she smiles.

"Oh, right," Jo laughs.

"Now go and see your baby," she orders.

"Would you like to meet her now? I'd really like you to meet her," Jo asks curiously.

Scene break

"Which one is Phoebe?" Heather asks curiously as she and Jo stand in the window of the daycare.

"She's right there on the mat. She's the one in the pink onesie with the purple skirt," Jo smiles proudly as she points to Phoebe, who was lying on her back on the mat.

"She is adorable," Heather grins.

"Come on, let's go see her," Jo grins. Heather follows Jo Into the daycare.

"Ah, Josephine, it's great to see you," Miss Louise says as she notices Jo walking in with Heather.

"This is Heather, she was my teacher in high school," Jo smiles.

"It's great to meet you," Louise says.

"Likewise," Heather replies.