She may have had height on me, but I was quick, and had twenty-three years of experience. Though I had to admit, she had been taught well, and her concentration and focus was wonderful. She must be a true joy to have in class.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard the door to the building open as the students began to trickle in, murmurs of excitement as they watched their Sabum Nim, and Sunbae Nim fight. Soon I realized we had a complete circle around us. This, of course, egged us on even more.
We fought hard, both of us sweaty and charged with energy and waiting for the kill.
Finally I saw my opportunity, and knowing we had to bring this to an end, I swept Haley off her feet, pinning her with my elbow to her sternum. The class around us cheered, and I smiled down at her. She smiled back.
'Nice,' she said.
'Thanks.' Her dark bangs were stuck to her forehead, and I could feel my entire head crawling with little beads of sweat. I stood, helping Haley to her feet. 'Let’s hear it for Sunbae Nim, Haley.' I lifted her arm, turning her in a circle as she was cheered on. I looked at her, she was smiling at me.
'I want a rematch, Littman.'
'You got it.'
I made my way to room 301 for the second time this week. When I had been in Monday, Hannah Blackwell had looked great. She’d been up and around, her color had looked good, and she had been very talkative.
Hannah had agreed to be a test subject for me, trying our latest theories, and lots of them had worked nicely thus far, though it was pretty soon to really gauge.
'Good afternoon, Dr. Littman.' Nurse Wilson said from the nurse’s station. I smiled.
'How are you today?' I stopped for a moment, my arm resting along the high counter top. The woman with the smoothest dark skin I had ever seen, nodded her head.
'Can’t really complain. Well, I could, but what good would that do?' We both chuckled.
'How’s Hannah doing today?' she shook her head, clicking her tongue.
'Not well, doctor. You’d best get in there.'
With a heavy sigh, and even heavier heart, I headed to her room. Hannah lay in her bed, her wheelchair by the bed, and a woman sitting next to the sleeping younger woman. Her head was bent over, and I could hear the soft sobs.
About to turn around, not wanting to interrupt or intrude upon such a personal moment, I headed for the door.
'Excuse me?' I stopped, slowly turning to face the woman, her eyes swollen and red, black streaks from make-up watery from tears running down her cheeks. She quickly grabbed a tissue, and began to wipe her face.
‘Yes, ma’am?'
'Are you a doctor here?'
'Well, I’m not Hannah’s doctor. I’m Dr. Littman.' The woman smiled, taking a step closer to me.
'Hannah’s talked about you. I’m Joan, Hannah’s mother.'
'It’s nice to meet you, Joan. How is she doing today?'
'Not good.' She turned and looked down at her daughter. I could see the anguish in her face, and the desperation in her eyes as she turned back to me. 'Is there anything to be done, Dr. Littman? Haven’t you guys come up with something in your lab? Anything?'
'Well, unfortunately science can only work so fast, and humans work even slower. Someday I believe there will be a cure for this, but right now isn’t that day. Hannah has done well, though.'
'That’s what her doctor’s say. She’s my only baby, so young.' She ran a trembling hand over her daughter’s face, then sat down again.
'I’m so sorry,' was all I could say, feeling my own throat tighten for how this woman must feel. 'I have to get going. I only came by to say hello.'
'Thank you, Dr. Littman. I know that your visits have meant a lot to Hannah.' I looked at her, stunned. I had no idea.
'Well, I’m glad, then. I’ll certainly keep coming by.' I smiled, then turned and left the room.
As I made my way downstairs to the lunchroom, I thought about that poor girl laying in the bed, today her body useless to her. She was experiencing nearly complete paralysis. It may go away by tomorrow, or may stick around for a week. One never knew with this.
I sighed, and pushed the button on the elevator. How on earth did medical doctors deal with this? How did they separate themselves from the patients they tried to help? What about those who just couldn’t be helped?
I know Hannah’s doctor, and knew she had the best the hospital had to offer. But chances were good that there wasn’t much hope for her.
Knowing that Erin wouldn’t be able to come to lunch today, as she was entirely too busy to leave, I sat at a table by myself, not hungry, but needing some time away from the lab. If even fifteen minutes. I ran my hands through my hair, and sighed.
'Hey there. Looks like your dog just died.' I looked up to see Haley staring down at me, her lunch in her hand. I smiled.
'Hey, yourself.'
'May I sit?' I nodded. 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah. I was just up to see Hannah Blackwell. God, it’s so sad to see that poor girl withering away like that.'
'I know.' Haley sat down, getting herself organized with her bowl of barley soup, and an array of different kinds of crackers. 'I was up there this morning. She couldn’t even move.' I nodded.
'Her mom is up there now. She’s really torn up about this.'
'I can understand that.' She smiled, but it was so sad. I thought of her father. What was she going through with this? What about her mom, who was there with him all the time?
'Your mom must be one strong woman, Haley.' She looked at me for a moment, then began to crush crackers into the soup.
'She is. They put dad on a new medicine yesterday.'
'What is it?'
'Avanex.'
'That’s a good one. I hope his body will respond well to it.'
'Yeah, me, too.' She looked at me for a moment, taking a bite of the soup that smelled really, really good. 'So tell me about yourself, Andi. Are you married? In a relationship?'
'I’m in a relationship. What about you? Married?' I had been so curious about this question, wondering what Haley had done with her personal life. She nodded.
'I was. For two years.' I was surprised, but not that much.
'When did it end?'
'Oh, jeez, five years ago, I guess? Wow, time goes by fast. We were both still in school. Both were far too young.'
'What was his name?'
'Lonnie.'
'Wow. I’m trying to picture you heading down that aisle.' I smiled, resting my cheek against my fist.
'Well, I never did.' She grinned. 'We didn’t have a whole lot of money, and certainly no time, my folks and Holden flew out, and we did a little Justice of the Peace thing. Then our folks threw us a huge reception. It was nice.'
'Did you like being married?' she shrugged.
'It was okay, I guess. I think it would have helped if we had gotten married for the right reasons. Getting married to help pay the rent, and to not have to worry about dating while in school are not those reasons.' She smiled, so did I.
'Well, you sound okay with it.'
'Oh, yeah. I’m fine. We still talk on occasion. He’s way over in Alaska now. He’s the one and only doctor in some tiny little town.'
