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One in a Billion
Chapter Five
“Day Five”
Thursday morning
Donna slept till she woke on her own at 9:30 due to not having an alarm clock
go off. She opened her eyes to see Chrissy sitting up in bed staring at the
table by the window. Donna followed her stare and there on the table were two
large vases, one with a mixed variety of flowers in it and the other with a
dozen red roses in it. Donna shook her head and rubbed her eyes to make sure
she was seeing these for real. Then she stood and walked to them. The card on
the mixed flowers had Chrissy's name on it and her name was on the roses. She
handed Chrissy the card from hers and waited to hear what it said. Chrissy read
it aloud " Maybe these will make you feel a little better, so you can get
well quicker. Jim". Donna then opened her card and read it to Chrissy,
"To help brighten your day and warms your heart as much as your smile
brightens and warms mine, Jim". Donna blushed as she read the card, and
even felt a tear slip from her eyes.
Jim had gotten up at
5 o'clock as usual
and made sure Josh was up and dressed for school in plenty of time to stop and
get breakfast. He and Josh had eaten breakfast then he dropped Josh off at
school and went to the factory. As soon as 8 o'clock rolled around he called a
local florist and ordered a mixed flower arrangement for Chrissy and a dozen
roses for Donna, and told the florist if they were delivered by 9 o'clock he
would let them add a hundred dollars to the bill as a tip. The florist assured
him they would be delivered by then and took Jim's credit card information and
thanked him for his business. Jim tried to stay busy so he wouldn't think as
much about Donna, but no matter how much he tried he still thought of her just
about every second.
Jim headed to the
break room when the buzzer rang at 9 o'clock and started to call the hospital
to check on Chrissy, but decided to wait till lunch so he would have more time
to talk. He also thought about the possibility that Donna may have slept in
since she had been very tired still from the cleaning and then the emotional
trauma of having her daughter in the hospital. After break was over Jim was
paged to the front office by Jennifer. When he got there she told him that Mrs.
Wilcox wanted to see him about Donna. Jim knocked on the door and heard Mrs.
Wilcox tell him to come in. She motioned him towards a chair as he entered the
office and told him to please be seated. She then told him she was very sorry
to hear of Ms. Clifton's circumstances, but in the concern of the factory in
general and fairness to all the other workers; she was going to have to let her
go if she did not return to work the next morning. Jim was stunned by this and
almost blew his cover. It took all his will power to not yell at Mrs. Wilcox
and tell her if anyone was going to be let go it would be her and not Donna
Clifton. He told her though he would see that she received the message and he
was very thankful she had given her a chance first. Mrs. Wilcox told him that
he could return to work for that was all she had to say.
When the lunch time
buzzer rang, Jim almost ran over other workers getting to the time clock to
punch out so he could get to the hospital to talk to Donna. Upon arriving there
he walked at a pace almost like a run to get to Chrissy's room, then stopped
outside the door to knock and slightly opened it announcing that it was him.
Donna told him to come on in. He seen her sitting on the side of the bed and
Chrissy no where in sight. Jim asked where she was and Donna said she had
decided to take a shower since they had ran a few test and decided her
nutrition was up enough to remove the I.V. from her and maybe let her go in the
morning. Jim was happy to hear this news. He told Donna he needed to talk to
her and sat in the chair across from her.
Jim told her of him
being paged to the office and of what Mrs. Wilcox had told him. Donna's
expression quickly went from happiness to sadness and shock. She asked Jim what
she should do since she needed to be with Chrissy, but if she lost her job, she
wouldn't be able to support herself and kids anymore. Jim told her he would see
if the doctor would agree to let Chrissy go home this evening and that he would
make sure she was at work the next day, this way she would then have the
weekend to spend with her kids and still keep her job. He also said he could
get someone to stay with Chrissy while they were at work the next day so she
wouldn't be alone. Donna said that sounded good except for where would anyone
stay with Chrissy at, for he had seen their place. Jim said he had that taken
care of also, they would stay at the motel with him till he could figure
something else out, that was if she wanted them to. Donna agreed he had the
right ideas and asked if he could speak to the doctor now for he was still in
the hospital.
Jim left the room
and went to the nurses' station to ask to see Chrissy's doctor. The doctor just
happened to be there signing some papers, so Jim explained Donna's situation.
The doctor agreed to release Chrissy at 5 pm today, that way she would be able
to stay till Jim could come by to pick them up after work. Jim then asked the
doctor if he knew of any nurse that might be off the next day that would be
willing to stay with Chrissy; he assured the doctor he would pay them double
their regular wages. One of the nurses heard this and spoke up that she would
be happy to do it as she was off the next three days. Jim looked at the nurse
and noticed it was the same one that had asked them to leave the emergency room
while they moved Chrissy into a private room. She introduced herself to Jim as
Leena Eason, and said she would do the job and asked if it was a deal. Jim told
her his name and shook her hand as he said it was deal. She said he could fill
her in later as to where and when to start the next morning, as she knew he
needed to get back to the factory. Jim checked the time, only 20 more minutes
to get back to work. He thanked Leena and asked her if she would tell Donna
everything was taken care of and he had to run for sure. Leena said she would
immediately and Jim left as fast as he had walked in earlier.
Donna was waiting
for Jim to return when a nurse came in to the room. The nurse explained to
Donna that the doctor would be releasing Chrissy at 5 o'clock today so she could start gathering
her things if she wanted to. She told Donna that Jim had to return to the
factory before his lunch break was over. She also told Donna that Jim had
employed her to stay with Chrissy the next day so Donna could return to work.
She then said that Jim would be giving her all the details of where she would
need to go and how to get in touch with Donna or him if need be, when he
returned later to pick them up.
Jim returned to the
factory and had just clocked in when the buzzer rang to return to work. He kept
busy and almost missed the buzzer for afternoon break. He went to the break
room and sat by the payphones. He made a few calls and after he was finished he
was very proud with himself. He had successfully purchased the house that
Donna's mom had owned. The best part was he had told them to put the deed in
Donna's name. Jim had also made a few phone calls to get some workman started
on returning the house to the way it was before when Donna lived there. He
wanted the rooms repainted as close to the original colors as possible and the
hardwood floors restored also. He returned to work and just kept thinking of
how surprised Donna would be when he gave her the keys after the work on the
house was finished.
When the quitting
time buzzer rang and Jim clocked out, he headed for the hospital as fast as he
could. It seemed he just couldn't wait to see Donna again. When he entered Chrissy's room at the
hospital, Donna's face lit up like a light. She stood and quickly stepped to
him and hugged him as tight as she could. She then reached up and kissed him
lightly on the side of the mouth. She then backed away a little and told him
thank you so much for all you have you done to help me and my children. She
just stood there smiling so Jim told her he should be thanking her for letting
him help them. He looked over and seen Josh and Chrissy both dressed and
sitting on the side of the bed watching the two adults with eyes stretched wide
open. They were both grinning from ear to ear and blushing a little at what
they had seen. In a few minutes Leena came in with the discharge papers to be
signed so they could all leave the hospital. Jim handed her a paper with the
address and room number of the motel she would come to the next day and the
factory phone number on it. He also asked if she would take Josh to school and
pick him afterwards for them. Leena said she would do this also as it may help
by letting Chrissy go in to school long enough to get her own homework from her
teacher. She then told them that they could leave at anytime and she would see
them at 5:30 in the
morning at their motel room. Jim and Donna both thanked her and told her they
would see her in the morning. The four of them left the hospital, almost as if
they were a very happy family.
After they left the hospital and went by the restaurant and
ate supper, they had gone to Jim's motel room. It wasn't long after all baths
were taken that the Chrissy and Josh were both in bed asleep. Chrissy was in
one bed that Donna and her were going to share, while Josh was in the bed that
he and Jim were to share. Donna was getting into bed and Jim was watching the
news. Donna turned to Jim and told him goodnight as she was going to try to get
some sleep. Jim told her goodnight and
he thought he might go for a short walk around the motel before turning in. Jim
got up and after turning the TV off left the room. He headed to his van and
after opening the door and sitting in the driver's seat he took out his cell
phone.
Jim made a few calls to check on the progress of the work
being done at Donna's house. He also called to check with the person he had
hired to watch her car until he could get her to remove her belongings from it.
The work progress was going really well and Donna's car was still as they had
left it. No one had even come up the alley since Jim had hired a person to
watch it. Jim felt satisfied with the news he received and after placing the
cell phone back under the seat, he returned to the motel room. When he entered
he found Donna asleep and quickly changed into his pajamas and slipped into
bed. Sleep overtook him quickly and it was well welcomed.
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