Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Kara watches her closely as Sammy approaches the sofa and asks, “Is it okay if I sit next to you here?”
Kara smiles, and I interject, “I think she’d like that.”
When Sammy sits down, Dolly jerks on my hand to go back over to them. I let her. Only this time, she puts her paws on Sammy’s lap, accepting a bevy of pets.
“You know, Kara actually named Dolly.”
“Really?” Sammy grins at Kara. “It’s such a pretty name.”
Kara grunts her excitement, yelling “Oah” a couple of times to tell me she wants me to explain further. I’m not surprised. She loves this story.
“The day I brought Dolly home, when she was just a tiny puppy, I stopped to see Kara, and she put on Dolly Parton and danced on top of her coffee table.”
“On the table?” Sammy asks with an impressed laugh, making Kara’s mouth curve up too.
“Mm-hmm.” I nod. “She kept playing the song over and over again until I got the point. Dolly it was.”
“You know, my sister loves Dolly Parton too,” Sammy tells her enthusiastically, even reaching out to gently hold Kara’s hand. “I know she’d love to meet you, Kara. Her dog Benji is actually Dolly’s boyfriend, if you can believe that!”
Kara gasps excitedly and turns to me, and I nod. “It’s true. Dolly has a boyfriend, and his name is Benji. Theirs is a romance for the ages.”
Kara unexpectedly jumps into Sammy’s arms, and Sammy just laughs as she hugs Kara tightly.
My heart, on the other hand, feels like it’ll climb out of my chest at the sight.
Sammy Baker, ladies and gentlemen.
Sitting here, seeing her interact this genuinely and empathetically with my mostly nonverbal sister, I know one immutable thing—Dolly and Benji aren’t the only ones who are going to go down in romance history.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
Thursday, May 26th
“Hey, Philips, you ready to do the damn thing?” Dr. Gareth greets as I walk through the doors of the OR’s scrub-in area to prepare myself for the long surgery ahead.
“I think so,” I tell him on a chuckle and grab a blue scrub cap to put on my head. “How are you feeling? Did you get a nap in this time, so you don’t get sleepy?”
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” Gareth asks through a grin, holding up both of his scrubbed arms to avoid contamination.
“The fact that I had to revive you with smelling salts when you passed out your first year of residency? No. Safe to say, I’m never going to get over that.”
“See you in there,” he says, his middle fingers raised pointedly on both sterile hands, and nudges the main door into the surgery room with his hip.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket as I step up to the sink, and when I see who the sender is, I’ve never been more thrilled to be a little slow at scrubbing in.
Sammy: Hey, stranger. What are you up to?
Stranger, indeed. I haven’t seen her since Monday afternoon when she went with me to visit Kara, and daily texts and nightly phone calls while we watch Queen Charlotte are the only things getting me through. Which is, even though I’m about to step into an operation on an eleven-year-old with congenital defects in his limbs, why my response only requires two words.
Me: Missing you.
Sammy: I can’t decide if that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard or the cheesiest…
My smile only grows, and a soft chortle slides past my lips.
Me: Probably both. ;) How did Grant’s appointment go this morning?
Sammy: Still casted, but Dr. Howard is confident it can come off in two weeks. Then, he’ll start physical therapy and probably be sadly disappointed that his arm didn’t turn into a superhero appendage that knows how to play guitar and gets him hired by the Yankees.
Me: Still on that Rookie of the Year kick, huh?
Sammy: Noah, I’ve seen that movie so many times I could recite every damn line.
Instantly, I get an idea. Something I think will soften the blow a little for Grant when he finds out he’s not about to become an MLB starting pitcher when his cast comes off.
Me: You know what I think we should do?
Sammy: Start a petition to make the words “funky butt lover” illegal?
Me: LOL. I think we should plan a celebration outing to a Yankees game when Grant gets his cast off.
Sammy: The boys would really love that. And it is a bit of a miracle that his cast is still intact. I mean, it stinks like dirty feet, but it’s still on there. Surely that’s something to celebrate.
Me: We can even bathe him first before we go.
Sammy: Ha! Sounds like a win-win.
I take a quick glance at the calendar app in my phone before sending her another message.