"It's a much bigger turnout than last year," Carmen commented on the number of families coming in this year.
She sat behind the desk, watching more and more families come and sign in to see their loved ones.
"Are they coming by today?"
Carmen sighed, "I don't know. I heard the doctors talking about it but who knows."
"Carmen!" Dr. Winans came from around the corner. "Tell Dr. Samuels we need assistance in the cafeteria."
Carmen lowered the phone from her ear, "Yes, sir."
"And get off that phone," He gave her a pointed look. "I know it's not a business call."
Carmen's cheeks blushed as she nodded, watching him walk away.
She brought the phone back up to her ear, "I gotta go. I'll keep you updated. Though, it'd be best if you could come down here yourself."
"I can't."
"So you say," Carmen rolled her eyes. "I'll talk to you later." She hung up the phone and got back to work.
♡
Upstairs, Karen sat in her room watching families walk past her door to see their relatives today.
She even saw that Thomas and Sharon got to go home for the weekend.
She didn't want to admit that she was holding onto a tiny bit of hope that her sisters would come by today.
She tried to take her mind off of it by rewatching her Dynasty tapes. It had been two years since she had gotten new ones.
She had no idea what the new seasons were about and even if she did, there was nobody around here to talk about it with.
The hours went by and soon it was a little after four in the afternoon. Karen could help but to sell on the fact that her sisters still hadn't shown their faces today — not even Jacky.
The families were beginning to leave and some of the patients had left for the weekend. She lied down in her bed, eyes stuck on the ceiling, trying to withhold her tears.
She felt stupid for believing in her doctor about this. She felt hurt that her sisters hadn't shown up. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep the rest of the day away.
Just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, knocking at the door startled her. She sat up quickly and watched as the door opened to reveal her eldest sister.
"Jacky!" Karen didn't even realize how loud she was as she hopped off the bed and ran into her sister's arms.
She couldn't stop the tears from falling this time as she had missed her sister too much.
"My baby," Jacky sighed happily as she held her little sister tightly.
"I missed you so much," Karen sobbed against her sister's shoulder. She could barely get the words out.
Jacky smiled and tried to pull back but Karen's grip was too strong, "I missed you too. Now, stop that crying and let me look at you."
Karen unwillingly pulled back, hiccuping as her sister looked at her from head to toe.
"You're not as small as I left you," Jacky joked. "I'm glad to know they've been feeding you well."
