Amid the Flames

Jenny

My nurse, Jenny, rolled me to the cafeteria after my friends had left. We had meatloaf today. Jenny was becoming a good friend of mine. Even though sometimes she was too nice, it no longer bothered me.

Jenny rolled me back to the room in my wheelchair. She stayed with me a little bit and we talked. She asked me about my friends who visited so often. Somehow this came up.

"Makayla, Anthony, and Hillary are helping me find the person who started the fire." Jenny looked shocked.

"How do you suppose you'll do that?" She asked. I like how she didn't tell me not to look for him/her.

"By doing lots of research." I said confidently.

"Mmm. What are you going to do if you find the person?"

I hadn't really thought about that. "Probably get them in prison or something." I replied.

"Oh. Umm, okay," and that was that.

Jenny left to visit another patient. The minute she left I felt homesick. I guess Jenny was kind of like a mom to me now. Not that anyone could replace my mom.

My feet started to ache once again today. I moaned like a dying cow. A passing nurse stopped in to see if I needed medical attention. "No, my feet just hurt a little." I showed her my feet. She nodded and moved on. That was embarrassing.

I went to sleep a couple hours later wondering what it would be like to have Jenny as an adoptive mother.

****************

The next day, Jenny and I were talking in my room again. We also played Would you Rather, Truth or Dare, and Go Fish. Sometime after go fish, I blurted,"Have you ever thought about adopting children?"

"I don't think so," she replied. "Where did this come from?"

I suddenly felt really embarrassed. It would be weird to say, You need to adopt me! Instead I said, "I don't know, " and turned on the TV. We watched Full House for an hour and then she went home.