CHAPTER21
Kyleigh
It felt good being back to work. It’s where I belonged. Traveling to the United States had been nice, but once Liam left, it was just a foreign place to me. Shaun and Morgan were wonderful and tried to include me in everything they did, but my heart wasn’t in any of it.
My heart is somewhere in Ireland right now.
“Nurse Marzon, do you have a few minutes to come to my office before you leave?” Dr. O’Connor asked.
“Of course. I just need to bring a patient a pitcher of water, and I’ll be right there,” I said.
I quickly gathered what I needed and headed down the hall. When I entered the room, Mr. Greeze said, “Nurse Marzon, you didn’t have to bring that to me. I could’ve gotten it myself.”
He was just the cutest patient ever. He was likely also the oldest person in Tabiq. “Not on my watch,” I said. “But my shift is almost over. Is there anything else I can bring you before I leave?”
Mr. Greeze asked, “Why are you leaving so early today? I thought you worked from day to night?”
“I seem to do a lot of that, but today is my mom’s birthday. I can’t miss that,” I explained.
“Who is your mother?” he asked.
That was a very personal question, but the elders in Tabiq seemed to have no issue saying what was on their mind. It wasn’t like he was going to use the information for anything malicious. “Bernice Marzon.”
“I do not know her. Is she from Tabiq?” he asked.
I smiled. “Born and raised. Her name before getting married was Plaque.”
“Bernice Plaque. I do know her. She was such a…a…”
“Quiet girl. I know, she tells me all the time,” I said.
He laughed. “Not if it is the Bernice Plaque I remember. She used to dream big. She said someday she would travel the world.”
“My mom? Maybe there is another person with that same name,” I said. It was unlikely - Plaque was an uncommon last name, even here in Tabiq.
“No. I know exactly who she is. Or maybe I should say, who she was. I was a teacher at her school, did you know that?”
I shook my head.
“That is how I know what she wanted to do. I would give an assignment to the class and hers was always filled with far off places, never Tabiq. And when I saw her reading, it was a geography book or encyclopedia. She thought big, dreamed big, and wrote big. Sometimes I thought she knew more about the world than I did,” he said.
I wanted to sit down and ask him a million questions about my mom. Obviously, she didn’t want me to know about that side of her. I couldn’t understand why. But it did explain a lot about myself. I had started feeling guilty that maybe my dreams to see the world had something to do with my father being a foreigner. Now I know that’s not the truth. I’m just like my mom.
“I have to go, but I will be back tomorrow, and we can continue this conversation, if that is okay,” I asked.
He replied. “Dr. O’Connor said I am doing well and will be going home any day. But the care is so good here, I might ask if I can stay longer,” he said with a wink. “Tell your mother I said happy birthday.”
“I will. Good night,” I said and left his room.
I wanted to rush home and start the inquisition, but first I needed to stop by my boss’s office. I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about, but I would find out shortly. I provided my replacement a report on each patient, then headed directly down to his office.
When I arrived, Dr. O’Connor’s door was open, and he was on the phone. He waved for me to come in and sit. I closed the door and did as he asked.
“I love you, too. I’ll see you soon,” he said and ended the call. Then he turned his attention to me. “Sorry. We were just discussing taking a trip back home.”
“You’re going to Ireland?” I said, surprised.
“Don’t worry. I’d make sure another surgeon was here to cover for me.”