More Than A Memory-Ch5

Chapter 5:
I walked around the patient rooms after the players’ had gone through to check on them. Most of them were so excited they could barely speak. They showed off their signed pictures, hats, posters and the little penguins that were being handed out. They all thanked me numerous times, but I told them that it was nothing and I was happy to help. One little boy, Grayson, described his experience to me.
“Dr. Brooks! Sidney Crosby came in here with Marc-Andre Fleury and they signed my hat and look they gave me this huge poster and signed it.” He pointed to the poster that was now on his bulletin board. “And then I took a picture with them. Then Sidney told me that he would come back with the picture and put it in a frame to give to me! Isn’t that awesome?! They are so cool” he said, in one breath. He sighed and clapped his hands after he was done explaining. “They sure are nice guys!” he said. “Well Grayson, I have to go check on other kids now and make sure they aren’t having too much fun” I said handing him a chocolate bar. It was good to see him smile, he hardly ever spoke this much. “I will see you up at the recreation area in a little while alright?” I called. “Yes. I’m so excited!” I smiled to myself as I walked out the door.
*
After making my rounds over 4 floors, it was time for the meet and greet in the recreation area. I checked my appearance in the mirror on the wall right before a bunch of kids entered the room. Amy was with them, a huge smile on her face. She walked up to me after giving some kids fresh crayons for their easels.
“How is it going?” Amy asked. “It’s going great actually. All the kids are having a great time, and I think the players are too” I said. I pointed through the glass doors at Jordan Staal giving a little girl a piggy back ride. She was laughing alone with him. Amy laughed. “How are you doing” she said. “I’m fine. Professional, I’m being professional.” My breath caught in my throat as he walked through the door pushing a small girl in a wheelchair. Amy leaned over towards me, “He looks like good father material” she whispered. I gasped. “Professional” I said again, “Now go do your job.” I gave her a little shove towards everyone and started to fill the cups with juice.
After pouring almost 60 cups of apple juice, I started handing them out to the kids along with their packages of animal crackers. “Are those Penguin shaped crackers?” Ryan Whitney joked. I laughed, “No sorry.” The girl he was coloring with looked up at me. “Dr. Brooks, is this sugar free apple juice?” she asked. “Yes it is” I replied. “Good, I have to watch my blood sugar today” she replied and took a sip of the juice. I smoothed out her hair and walked back towards the corner of the recreation room and the small kitchenette.
I watched the kids interact with the guys. For once they actually got to act like kids. I was proud of my success and was basking in pride when my closest patient, Jared, ran over to me. Jared is 4 years old. He is autistic and suffers from epilepsy, or seizures. He lost the ability to talk, but now can say only a few common words. Jared was my first patient, and I plan to be his doctor for a long time. He was laughing and hugging my legs out of excitement. He reached his arms up to me signaling that he wanted to be held, so I picked him up and balanced him on a hip. I gave him an animal cracker and he chewed it quickly, sending crumbs all over my shirt and his. I laughed while brushing away the crumbs.
“Are you having fun?” I asked him. He looked at me with a blank expression, its normal. “Fun” I repeated and pointed to all the people. “Yes” he whispered. He always was quieter in places where many people were. He also was very shy around most people except for me, the nurses, his family and two or three other little kids on his floor. He was playing with his small stuffed penguin when he held it up and smiled at me. “Fun” he repeated. We stood there for a few minutes; I was watching Sidney play a game of pool with a teenage boy. Sidney had him laughing the whole time. When the game was done he noticed that I was staring at him. I quickly looked away.
I was observing a few girls playing a puppy dog video game with Brooks Orpik, when Sidney came and stood next to me. Jared looked at him and smiled. “Hey buddy” he said and held his hand out for a high five. Jared just looked at him, and then back at me. “He’s really shy” I said in a quiet voice. I then noticed how quiet the room had gotten when it was just Sidney and I. The room was really loud, but I tuned it out. I felt like I was on the outside looking in. Just then Jared reached over to Sidney; he wanted him to hold him. Sidney acted on instinct and took him in his arms. “What’s his name?” he asked. “Jared” I replied, “He is autistic; he lost his ability to speak from having epilepsy. He is just starting to talk again.” He nodded. I reached over and brushed a stay crumb off his face. He laughed and snuggled into Sidney shoulder. “He likes you” I said. Sidney smiled. “Is he going to be alright?” he asked looking deep into my eyes. It seemed as if he was saying, “Are we going to be alright?” I nodded, “Yeah. He will get better in time.” Sidney smiled. And we stood there for a few minutes in silence.
*
The visit was a hit. I had people praising me all the way from the recreation area, back to my office. I finally got back to my office around 5:00. Clean up was tough. I kicked my shoes off under the table and put my head down on my desk. I enjoyed the silence for a few minutes, and then I heard a knock on my door.
I sighed, “Come in.” I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen to make it look like I was actually working. It was Sidney, I got butterflies. He only put his head in the door. “Um, I was just on my way out and um… I was wondering if you wanted to do dinner?” he asked nervously. I thought about it for a moment. “Well it’s now or never” I thought to myself. “Sure that’s fine. But you are buying” I half joked. He smiled. “Your place?” he asked. I went over a mental check list; it was clean, I didn’t have anything to do tonight, it was Wednesday… “Yeah” I replied. I scribbled down the directions as he listed what he could pick up. Then he stopped. “Chinese” he said, “I’ll get the usual.” We used to have Chinese food every other Saturday, it was tradition. I smiled. I handed him the paper with the directions on it, then he walked out the door. He left it open. “6:30” he called.
I sighed and sunk back down in the chair. “Wait, if the program ended an hour or so ago… what was he still doing here?” I thought. I shrugged it off and looked out my window. It was snowing. “Perfect” I said. I slipped on my coat, grabbed my bag and walked down to the parking garage. It turns out, today wasn’t such a disaster. But tonight, well, that could be a whole different story.