her and laid a hand on her shoulder. The family was rotating in and out so at any given time there were at least a couple of them here. “She always wanted me to go to med school.”
“She did?” Nora twisted to look at her mom.
“You’re wasting your talents, Pam.”
Damn, she did think Nora was her mom. And, wow, that must sting. Nurses dealt with enough shit on the job.
“You know what, Penelope? I think you’re right. I’m going to look into it.” Her mom laid a hand on her grandma’s forehead. “You try to get some rest, okay?”
Grandma nodded, seemingly relieved to have won the argument, and they stayed with her until her breathing, while still ragged, lengthened.
“Mom,” Nora whispered. “What was all that?”
Her mom gestured for her to follow her into the hallway. “I was already a nurse when I met your father. Once it became clear I was going to stick, Penelope launched a campaign to get me to go to med school. She was really relentless about it in those early years.”
“Did you…want to do that?”
“Not really. Maybe if I’d come from this family instead of my own, it would have been something I considered. It wasn’t something anyone ever suggested to me until I met your grandma. But by then I was already so far into my nursing career, I wasn’t interested in going back to school and making a big change.”
“But it must have hurt your feelings.” So many doctors thought of nurses as second-class medical professionals. She’d just never thought her grandma was one of them.
“Did it hurt your feelings all the times she tried to get you to specialize in surgery?”
“Maybe the first few times, but I eventually realized that’s just the way she is—she likes challenging people. And I knew she was proud of me because I once overheard her bragging to her friends about how well I was doing in med school.”
“Me, too. You remember when I won that award from the Canadian Nurses Association?” Nora nodded. It had been a big deal. They’d all gone to a gala and listened to the chief of pediatrics at her mom’s hospital sing her praises. “Your father told me after the fact that Penelope was behind nominating me. She didn’t want it to look like nepotism, so she strong-armed some of her friends into doing it for her.”
Tears sprang to Nora’s eyes, but she swallowed them back.
Her mom pulled her into a hug. “We were all so lucky to have her. You kids especially. You basically had a bonus parent who lavished love and encouragement on you.” Her mom smiled, her own eyes growing watery. “With a good dash of nagging in there, too.”
Nora nodded, grasping for facts. Facts would help her be stoic. “Is it going to be long, do you think?” Nurses always knew.
“No,” her mom said. “Not long.”
“Is it selfish to say I wish she recognized me?”
“Not selfish. But she does recognize you, honey. She recognizes you with her heart.”
Jake sat on his couch for a long time hemming and hawing before he sent his first text. He wasn’t sure if texting her now—now that he wanted to talk—was selfish. In the end he talked himself into it because when they parted, she’d said, “Let’s not just…never talk again.” He’d agreed. It had been surreal to watch her drive away and think, Well, that’s it. He’d meant to keep in touch, and he’d even picked up the phone the first few times she’d called to “say hi,” once the answering machine kicked in and he realized it was Kerrie. But things had tapered off. It was just…too hard. Also, he wasn’t that much of a talker to begin with.
Hey, it’s Jake. Is this still your number? Is it okay to text you? You can tell me to fuck off.
Kerrie: Jake! You got a phone.
Jake: Hard to believe, I know.
Kerrie: And yes, of course it’s okay to text me. I’m happy to hear from you. What’s up? How are you?
How was he? He had no idea. Confused. Maybe.
Jake: I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about a lot of stuff. I didn’t handle things well at the end there. I know that’s a lot to dump on you in a text out of the blue. You can just hang up on me. Or whatever the text equivalent is. I just got this phone and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.