We walk into Ivy’s room, and she screams, “MERCY!”
I pull up two chairs beside Ivy’s bed and motion for Mercy to sit in one. She does, and I take a seat on the other.
“Are you here to watch a movie?” Ivy asks.
Mercy smiles as she shakes her head, “I came to talk to you about your living situation. It’s time for you to be released from the hospital. It’s time to ring the bell, sweet girl.”
Ivy’s face falls as a tear rolls down her cheek.
“The social worker said we can be your foster parents.”
Her tiny little hand flies to her mouth, a shocked expression on her face. Her eyes dart back and forth between the two of us.
She wraps her arms around Mercy’s neck, nearly falling off the bed, as she sobs into her neck.
I swallow the lump in my throat, “What am I? Chopped liver?”
Ivy laughs, I reach for her and pull her onto my lap. She hugs me tight. “Thank you, Dr. L,” she cries.
“You can call me Liam.”
I stand up, putting her on the floor, “Alright my gorgeous girls. We have a bell to ring.”
We walked to the nurse’s station, and I signed her release papers as well as the paper left by Ms. Stewart. I’m glad I didn’t have to see her because she gets Mercy upset.
Gloria pulls Ivy into a hug, “I’m so glad your cancer free, sweetheart. But boy am I going to miss you.”
Mercy smiles as she looks on, “We will visit.”
Gloria rounds up all the nurses, and Ivy goes and rings the bell as everyone cheers. It was pretty special when she rang the bell the first time. But this time…there are simply no words to describe the feeling in my chest.
“Let’s go home,” Mercy says.
We walk out of the hospital, all our lives changed.
Ivy is in the backseat, firing question after question as I drive home.
“Do you live in a house or an apartment?”
“House.”
“Do you have a dog?”
“No,” I reply.
“Do you have a cat?”
I chuckle, “I do not have any pets.”
“Can I play outside?”
“Yes.”
“Oh! Are there swings?”
I shake my head, “No, but we can get some.”
I look in the rearview mirror to see her huge smile.