A Time For Love (A Time For Love Series-Book 1)

Caring

NOTE: Thank you all for reading this story. It's honestly one of the hardest stories I've ever written so far and the chapters continue  tear me to pieces. 

But I appreciate you coming along on this painful journey that I hope will have a beautiful ending.

LENA POV

As I entered Lenox Hill to start my day, I realized that for the past week; I had been consistently arriving about two hours early, before my first patient. This gave me the opportunity to visit Theresa Brown and Stefanie Foster, as well as spend some quality time reading too little Francesca.

Seeing the little girl slowly regain consciousness day by day filled the hospital staff and myself with happiness. We were all eager to do anything we could to assist her in getting better, along with the three police officers.

Michael Foster was doing okay, but Stefanie Foster and Theresa Brown remained unchanged.

I wasn't really sure why I felt such a deep connection to them. In some sense, it was rather silly, but Francesca had no one. Not a soul, and that just made my heart ache for her more than anything else and the rest of the nursing staff.

Of course, Duke had his own foolish notions. According to him, it was all about filling the void in my lonely, romantic life. But I paid no attention to him and followed my heart, anyway. That was always what I had done, even if it didn't always serve me well in the past. But, I didn't care. This little girl needed love and support, and we fervently prayed for her every single day, hoping for a miracle.

Quickly making my way to the ICU to visit Theresa Brown, I found out her friends and coworkers called her Tess. Over the course of the week, her room filled up with get-well cards, balloons, flowers, and photos of her friends and family.

Although I typically respected privacy, curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't help but take a closer look at the photo beside her bed. It was of her and Stefanie Foster, smiling brightly, and captured a beautiful moment, filled with sweetness, and radiating pure happiness from both of them. Very, which just made this entire situation ever more heartbreaking.

As I make my way to her room, I pause at the window and notice an older African American woman peacefully sleeping in a chair beside her. I assume she is a close relative, possibly even her own mother. Deciding to respect their privacy, I choose to deliver the flowers at a later time. Meanwhile, I make my way to Stefanie Foster's room, greeted by nurse Erin, who smiles warmly at me and tends to her IV.

"Good morning Lena. Making your rounds?I can't help but feel shy as she smiles at me, and I quickly return the gesture. There was something about her that made me uneasy, although I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Maybe the thought that she may ask me out?

"Yes. Just dropping some flowers off."

"That's really nice. Between her and her partner, they have enough flowers to fill this hospital. But it's nice to see such an out-pour of love."

"It is. It seems they were very well liked and loved." I smile at her and glance over at Stefanie, wondering if she can hear anything that we are saying. I often wondered that, because I read that people in comas could hear what was being said around them.

"Want to grab lunch later together?"She asks with a warm smile as I carefully arrange the vibrant flowers in the vase beside Stefanie's bed.

"Oh, sure. Let me look at my schedule first. I think I might have Jennifer's patients. She hasn't come back yet." I say, feeling rather uncomfortable and she smiles at me once again tossing the empty IV bag.

"Sure. Let me know Lena. I'll be on this floor all day."

"Ok." I say, continuing to arrange Stefanie's flowers out of pure nerves as I glance over at Stefanie again, feeling relieved that nurse Erin left.