Chapter 3
Rohan walked out of his meeting, feeling confident with the pitch he and his team had come up with. They were scheduled to present at the end of next week, giving them time to refine it, smooth out any hiccups, and recheck the numbers to stay within the client’s budget.
Returning to his office, Rohan put away the marketing presentation and checked the clock, seeing it was a little after eleven. He told his brother that he would be at the hospital by noon to sit with his niece and possibly take her home once she was discharged.
Rohan grabbed his keys and headed back out of his office. Taking his phone from his pocket, he sent a text to his mother letting her know he was leaving for the day. He knew she was probably in a meeting of her own, but would check it when she wasn’t.
He got on the elevator and rode it to the first floor. Once the doors opened, he stepped out and headed out of the building to the staff parking area. When he was in his car, Rohan pulled out and headed towards the hospital.
Deciding that he needed a bit of a pick-me-up, he made a pit stop at a local coffee shop. He had been up since four-thirty that morning, for no reason, and his lack of sleep was catching up with him.
Once he had his coffee, he continued on his way to the hospital. It didn’t take him but about ten minutes to get there. Because he was going to the pediatric wing, he stopped to sign in at the nurse’s station there.
At Alynn’s room, he knocked twice before pushing the door open. Stepping in, he found his niece on the bed, having her blood pressure taken by the nurse he’d met last time he had been there. Jalen, he remembered her name being.
“Hey, Uncle Rohan,” his niece greeted as Jalen removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm.
“Hey, Shrimp.” He then turned his attention to Jalen. “Hey, Jalen. How are you?”
She removed her stethoscope from her ears and placed it around her neck. “I’m good, Rohan, and you?”
“I’m...surprised you remembered my name. I’m good, though, thanks.”
He watched as she furrowed her brow at him. “You remembered mine.”
“True,” he told her. Deciding not to add on, he remembered beautiful things, or in her case, a beautiful woman.
“Well, she should be good to go here soon. The doctor will be around in a little bit to give you last instructions and release her.”
“Will you come to say goodbye before I leave, Jalen?” his niece asked as he took a seat.
“Of course, I will. I’ll see you in a little.”
Rohan watched Jalen leave. When he turned his attention to his niece, the young girl was already looking at him with a smile on her face.
“She’s pretty, huh?” Alynn asked, and Rohan raised a brow at her. “I don’t think she has a boyfriend either,” she tacked on.
Rohan simply shook his head at his niece, opting not to answer her. The child was simply far too nosy and intuitive for her age.
“Fine, you don’t have to agree with me. I’m just happy I get to go home.”
“Yep, and you can go back to school on Monday,” he told her, knowing she was not looking forward to it.
“Uncle Rohan, don’t remind me,” she groaned.
He chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee and turning his attention to the television to see what his niece was watching. He figured that even though Jalen had told them the doctor would be by shortly, it could take a couple of hours, so he settled in for the wait.
Rohan stood at the coffee machine, buying himself another cup. His first one had gone quickly, but his exhaustion persisted. They were still waiting for the doctor to come in, and he didn’t want to fall asleep while they did.
Once his coffee was finished, he grabbed the cup and a lid, turning while attempting to put it on. Unfortunately, he should have been paying attention because he bumped into someone, and coffee sloshed over the side of his cup.
“I am so sorry,” Rohan responded as he quickly placed the cup down and grabbed some paper towels to help clean the coffee he’d just wasted off of them.
When he turned his attention back to them, he found it was Jalen. She was holding the bottom of her scrubs top away from her body. Rohan suspected it was to keep the hot coffee off her skin.
He began trying to clean it off as he continuously apologized to her. Once he had most of the liquid dried up, and only the stain was left, Rohan threw the paper towels away.
“Are you okay?” he questioned.
Jalen nodded at him. “I’m fine. It’s just a little hot coffee. It didn’t touch bare skin, so no actual harm was done.”
Rohan nodded. “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning,” he told her, taking his wallet out of his back pocket and removing a business card. “Just send me the bill,” he said, handing the card to her.
“That’s unnecessary,” Jalen responded, attempting to push the card back at him.
“I insist,” Rohan told her, pressing the card into her hand.
She nodded, placing the card in her pocket. “I was coming to find you because the doctor is about to head into Alynn’s room to bring her discharge papers and give you instructions on her medication.”
“Thank you, Jalen,” Rohan responded, grabbing the cup of coffee and throwing it into the trash can. He then followed her back down the hall to his niece’s room.
????????????
Jalen had just seen Alynn off and headed towards the staff room.
Once there, she went to her locker and pulled out her bag.
Unzipping it, she pulled out another pair of scrubs.
All the nurses brought extra scrubs. However, Jalen brought at least two pairs.
Working in the pediatric wing, you never knew when a child was going to have an accident or throw up on you.
After changing into new scrubs, she packed the other ones away and returned to the nurse’s station.
She took a seat and pulled up her patients’ charts.
With the discharge of Alynn, she had only four left in her care.
She wasn’t due to check on anyone for the next thirty minutes.
So, she had time to relax a bit, unless a child needed something.
She would get off at eight, so she only had a few hours left.
Kodi had told her she would make something for dinner before Maria picked her up to babysit.
The rest of her siblings would only be on their own for about half an hour before she got home.
However, she wasn’t worried. Landon would be there, and the fourteen-year-old was more than capable of watching the other three for a bit.
The phone rang a few minutes later, and Jalen picked it up.
“Nurses’ station.”
“Hi, can I get some orange juice?”
Jalen smiled to herself at the little voice. “Sure thing, Johnny. I’ll bring it to you.”
“Thank you!” the five-year-old exclaimed before hanging up the phone.
Jalen went to the snack room, as they had dubbed it for the kids, and grabbed two small cartons of orange juice. She then went to Johnny’s room.
“Peeka,” Jalen called after knocking.
“Boo!” the little boy exclaimed excitedly.
Jalen walked in to see him sitting on his knees, eyes transfixed on the television screen, even though he had answered her.
Johnny was originally admitted because his asthma was acting up, and he developed a bronchial infection.
However, she was sure the doctor would release him tomorrow, as he had been doing much better over the past two days.
“What are you watching?”
“Paw Patrol!” he exclaimed.
Jalen set his orange juice down and checked his monitor while she was in there. “Where’s your mom?” Jalen questioned, turning back to the little boy.
“She went to the cafeteria to get a sandwich.”
“Okay,” Jalen responded, ruffling the little boy’s brown curls. “You want me to stay with you until she gets back?”
“No, I’m a big boy,” he told her.
“Of course. How could I have forgotten that? I’ll see you later,” she told him before exiting the room.
She returned to the nurse’s station and grabbed her patient charts, deciding to do her rounds and wait for time to tick by.
Jalen unlocked her front door and walked inside. She found four of her younger siblings sitting in the living room watching television. When they heard her come in, they all turned to look at her, but it was Omari who got up and came over as the rest of her sisters gave some form of greeting.
“Hey, Jae,” Omari greeted, wrapping her little arms around her.
Jalen reached down and picked her up. “Hey, Bitty,” she responded, calling her by the nickname she vaguely remembered their mother giving her as a baby.
“How was work?” Landon asked.
“It was good. One of my patients got to go home today.”
‘That’s good,” Mikal stated.
“Kodi made enchiladas,” Nathan said.
“She made fiesta corn too!” Omari exclaimed excitedly. It was one of the little girl’s favorite side dishes. So, she wasn’t surprised that she was so excited about it.
“I got to put your plate in the microwave,” Nathan informed.
Jalen smiled at her. “Thank you, Itty.”
Putting her youngest sibling down, Jalen entered the kitchen. She opened the microwave to see what type of container they had put it in. Once she removed the lid from the Tupperware container, she warmed it up. Going to the refrigerator, she pulled out a bottle of water.
When her food was warm, she took it out and sat at the table to eat while her sisters continued to watch television.
Jalen finished her food and then washed her dishes before going back into the living room. It was ten minutes to nine, and normally she would send her youngest three siblings to bed, but it was a Friday night. It was their normal routine to watch a movie together on Friday nights when she was off.
So instead she went to her bedroom to shower.
Once done with her shower, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top. She returned to the living room and took a seat in the empty spot on the loveseat.
“We’re going to watch The Princess and the Frog,” Omari announced.
“Again?” Mikal asked.
“Yes, because it’s my turn to pick,” Omari countered.
The movie started, and it wasn’t long before Nathan had settled in Jalen’s lap. They were only about thirty minutes into the movie, and Jalen looked over to see Omari, who was nestled in Landon’s lap, fast asleep. She then looked down to see that Nathan was sleeping too.
As gently as possible, she shifted her younger sister before standing with the child in her arms. She walked down the hall, into their bedroom, and laid Nathan in the top bunk and tucked her in. Grateful that either Kodi or Landon had already had them change into their pajamas.
She returned to the living room to take Omari from Landon and put her in the bottom bunk.
Jalen went back into the living room. This time, sitting on the couch with Mikal and Landon.
“Kal, you can change the movie since they’re sleeping,” Jalen told her.
“No, it’s fine. We can finish this.”
Jalen held in a laugh. As much as she complained about Omari choosing the movie, Mikal liked it just as much.
Settling in to finish it, Jalen ensured her phone was close by, so she could pick up Kodi when she called.