Chapter 15

It was a long walk to the hospital cafeteria, and required traversing a maze of corridors, an elevator ride, and yet another network of hallways. Deborah decided to begin her interrogation with, "So tell me, Rachel, are a native New Yorker?"

Rachel grinned, realizing her answer would not be what was expected. "Actually, Mrs. Puckerman, I grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. I moved to New York for college and never left."

"An Ohio girl, that's interesting… Why is her name so familiar…" Deborah thought.

"Where did you go to school, dear?" Deborah inquired. Rachel politely replied, "I have a BFA from NYU; I majored in Drama at Tisch."

"And what do you do, now, Rachel? Are you a drama teacher?" was the next question.

"Actually, I've been very fortunate," Rachel humbly stated, "I'm a working actress."

Before the conversation could go any further, they approached the cafeteria and picked up their trays and flatware, getting in line to make their selections. While Deborah made her choices, she kept a surreptitious eye on Rachel as she selected her breakfast: a fruit salad, a container of Greek yogurt, some whole grain toast, natural peanut butter, and coffee. Mrs. Puckerman had convinced herself that Rachel was one of those women who basically starved themselves and was surprised to find that, although her choices were healthy and primarily low-fat, the amount of food was more than adequate. As Rachel was about to pay, Deborah stopped her. "You've been so kind spend the night watching over my son; this is the least I can do," she offered, thrusting a couple of bills into the cashier's hand before Rachel could protest.

"Thank you, Mrs. Puckerman, I appreciate it," Rachel graciously acknowledged.

Rachel's cross-examination continued as soon as they had settled themselves in the booth, as Deborah, almost overly-friendly, requested, "Nu, so, Rachel, you were going to tell me how you met my Noah…"

"Well," Rachel began, "we were having an extra matinee performance…"

"What show are you in, dear?" Deborah interjected.

"'Wicked'," she replied pleasantly, looking Deborah in the eye with a serene smile.

"How lucky, dear. Are you in the chorus, or do you have a speaking part?" she inquired.

"A speaking part," Rachel deadpanned. Deborah's face immediately brightened. "You must have met Faye Rogers! What's she like to work with? Is she as nice as they say?"

Rachel smiled, thinking "Here we go again; everybody is just dying to know about Faye Rogers, soap opera legend extraordinaire." "She's a lovely woman, Mrs. Puckerman, and a consummate professional," Rachel honestly answered. "How exciting!" Deborah exclaimed, "Do you have any scenes with her?"

"Do I have any scenes with her?" Rachel thought, smirking to herself before calmly replying, "Yes, I do."

"How lucky for you, dear," Deborah commented.

"Yes, very," Rachel agreed. "If you'd like," she continued, "I'd be happy to get you a ticket while you're in town. If Faye doesn't have a commitment after the show, perhaps I can arrange for you to meet her."

Deborah's face lit up like a menorah on the last night of Chanukah. "Oh, Rachel, do you think you could?" she excitedly queried.

"Well, I know I can get you a ticket, I just can't guarantee Faye's schedule," Rachel replied, "but I'll see what I can do."

All thoughts of how her son met Rachel flew out Deborah's head as she contemplated meeting one of her daytime favorites. Even though she worked full time, the staff lounge at the hospital had a TV, and many a lunch break was spent watching soap operas.

"Thank you, Rachel, dear," Deborah accepted the offer.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Puckerman…"

Before Rachel could complete her sentence, Deborah interjected, "Please, call me 'Debbie'; 'Mrs. Puckerman' was my mother-in-law and, she should rest in peace, but she was such a bitch." Rachel was hard-pressed not to laugh as the pseudo-interview had morphed into a love-fest.

"All right, then, Debbie, you're welcome," Rachel politely replied.

At that moment, Deborah's mind (and line of questioning) flipped from "how did they meet and what does she want from him" to "how soon can this woman become my daughter-in-law and how fast can she start popping out grandchildren". She grinned like a Cheshire cat as she proposed, "Rachel, dear, have you given any thought to how many children you'd like to have…"

By the time they returned to Noah's room, Rachel's head was spinning. They were pleased to find Noah sitting in the chair with his leg propped up, finishing his breakfast and no longer attached to the IV. Deborah excused herself to go to the bathroom and Rachel sat on the now-empty bed.

"How was it, Rach? Has she booked the Temple, yet?" he asked sarcastically.

Rachel rolled her eyes, commenting, "Well, she all but challenged me to a kugel bake-off." Noah grinned at that one; his mother took great pride in her lokshen kugel, and he had the feeling that Rachel could give her a run for her money. "And," Rachel continued, "let's just say that I have the distinct impression that she wants to take me wedding dress shopping, and she wouldn't be adverse to the idea of a maternity wedding dress."

Noah began laughing, which hurt his ribs and forced him to stop. "Please, Rach," he pleaded, "any more talk like that and I'm gonna fall off this chair and undo what they just did to patch me back together."

"Speaking of which," Rachel aptly changed the subject, "have they given you any indication of when you may leave?"

"Yeah, actually, the doc said I can go home this afternoon," he confirmed. "They gave me a cane and I'm doing OK with it, and they'll give me scripts for pain meds and an anti-inflammatory, so I'm 'good to go'."

"That's a relief," Rachel confided.

"Yeah," he agreed, "but I can't go back to work for at least three weeks and it'll be twice that long before the leg is even remotely healed. I'm gonna go nuts until I figure out how to work out around it."

"Work out?" she exclaimed incredulously, "you've just had surgery and you're seriously considering working out?"

"Fuck, yeah," he admitted, "you know how important that is to me. 'Sides, I'll need something to burn off energy 'til we get the green light…" he impishly disclosed, waggling his eyebrows at her. Rachel blushed, dissolving in a fit of giggles. "It's good to hear you laugh," he admitted; "Come 'ere." He crooked his index finger, indicating that Rachel come over to him. She did, leaning over the chair, and he kissed her, teasing entrance to her mouth to deepen the kiss. Rachel obliged, cupping his jaw with one hand while steadying herself with her other hand on the back of the chair.

"Oh, my; am I interrupting something?" Deborah asked, feigning surprise and barely covering her delight as she walked into the room. Although she had (fortunately) missed out on their conversation, she had approached the room in time to see the kiss. Noah and Rachel quickly moved apart, slightly embarrassed that she had caught them in an intimate moment. It was apparent to her that they were naturally coming together; perhaps she wouldn't need to intervene (much) after all.

"Mrs…I mean, Debbie," Rachel corrected herself, standing straighter and smiling brightly, "Noah has just informed me that he'll be released this afternoon." Noah grinned, saying nothing for the moment; he was surprised that his mother had encouraged familiarity so soon and was painfully aware that she would be unrelenting until he put a ring on Rachel's finger. What she didn't realize was that he had already reached that conclusion on his own. He was planning on asking for the ring that his Nana had left for him and which Deborah wore on her right ring finger since her mother's passing.

"That's wonderful, dear!", Deborah exclaimed. "Have they given you a time, yet?"

"Not exactly," Noah admitted. "I have to meet with a physical therapist, first; they'll evaluate how I'm doing to make sure that I can get around OK." Deborah nodded her head in approval.

"Rachel, dear," she began, "if you don't have to go home right away, I'll be happy to drop you off later."

Noah glanced at Rachel hopefully and took her hand; it was apparent that he didn't want her to leave. "Thank you, Debbie," Rachel gratefully acknowledged, "if it's OK, I'd like to stay with Noah until he's released." Noah and Rachel looked at each other and smiled; Deborah grinned inwardly and mentally began mulling over possible baby names.

"Hey, how's our patient doing?" Brittany cheerily asked, entering the room. "Well, Hi, Debbie!" she warmly greeted Mrs. Puckerman, enveloping her in a big hug, "Sammy told me that he'd called you."

Mrs. Puckerman kissed Brittany on the cheek, asking "How are my girls?"

"They're fine, Debbie," Brittany answered, "blooming like little flowers, and I'm sure they'll be super-excited to see their 'Bubbe Debbie'." Rachel gave Noah a curious look, silently mouthing "Bubbe Debbie?", and he shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"How are long are you staying, Debbie?" Brittany asked.

"My return ticket is for a week from Sunday," she answered; Noah inwardly shuddered, as he realized he would have his mother in his face much longer than he anticipated.

"Can ya' really stay away from the hospital that long, Ma?" he questioned her, hoping she would reconsider.

"Of course, bubbeleh," she replied, "I straightened that all our on the way to the airport. If need be, I can stay longer," she confided with a smile.

"Well, that's perfect," Rachel commented, looking extremely pleased. "My dads will be in town next weekend; I'll get a block of tickets for the Saturday matinee." She looked at Brittany expectantly, asking "Brittany, would you and Sam like to join us?"

Brittany broke out in a beaming smile, replying, "Yes, thank you, Rachel! That would be awesome! I can't wait to see you onstage."

Deborah looked at Rachel curiously; she didn't understand why Brittany would be excited to see what she assumed was a small, secondary role, even if she knew the actor personally. "Rachel, dear, you never did tell me what part you have in the show," she stated, focusing curiously on Rachel.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Debbie; I guess it never came up," she apologized, smiling genuinely. "I play 'Elphaba'."

The realization hit Deborah like a ton of bricks. Now she remembered: Rachel Berry, the girl from Ohio who "made good" on Broadway. She had seen her perform on "Live with Kelly and Michael" (again, break time in the staff lounge) when Faye Rogers first took over the role of "Glinda", and the cast had appeared on some of the New York-based talk shows. If she remembered correctly, Rachel had an amazing voice. A talented, Jewish, and (relatively) famous daughter-in-law (if she had anything to say about it, that is)…she couldn't wait to see the faces of the Temple Sisterhood ladies (yentas) when she shared this piece of news with them.

"How exciting, Rachel!" Debbie acknowledged. "You must know Faye Rogers extremely well."

Rachel smiled, thinking, "It's always about Faye…" "Yes, Debbie, we've gotten to know each other over the past months. I truly enjoy working with her."

Deborah seemed satisfied with the answer, looking pointedly at her son and changing the topic of conversation: "So, Noah, when did you get a dog? I distinctly remember seeing a rather large dog bed when I dropped off my suitcase…"