Beauty and The Beasley

Chapter 24

"Dr Palmer! Dr Palmer!" Bree called running down the hospital hallway with a nurse in pursuit behind her.

"Ma'am, he's got an appointment. You have to come back some other time." The nurse said but Bree was not paying attention.

She turned and almost bumped into a patient being pushed in a wheelchair. "Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm sorry."

Bree's eyes floated past the plaques on each door until she found Dr Palmer's office. She rushed in and found him talking to an elderly man. 

"Dr Palmer, is my mother okay?" Bree asked with a hand in her hair. She looked like an inflated balloon, pacing to and fro as Dr Palmer excused himself to calm her down.

"I'm sorry doctor. I tried to stop her." The nurse apologized breathlessly behind Bree.

"It's okay nurse. I'll take it from here." Dr Palmer said. The nurse turned and left.

Bree looked out of breath too but she tried to speak through it and it made her choke on her words.

"Take a deep breath miss. Calm down." He cooed. Bree kept moving like a jitterbug, apologizing for not coming to visit her mother amidst tears.

"Dr Palmer, is she okay? Please tell me she's okay. She's still going to wake up, right?" Bree sobbed.

"I was going to call you yesterday. There's something that requires your attention." Dr Palmer said blankly. Bree's heart stopped beating for a whole minute. She inhaled a shaky breath, staring at Dr Palmer's wrinkled eye wicks.

He kept that face - one that Bree had never seen in person but recognized all too well. It was a very grim look that meant something bad had happened. Bree hated the cold feeling that threatened to invade her body.

"If you will kindly follow me." He said and turned to the man in the chair. "Mr Warwick, i will be right back please."

Mr Warwick did not seem offended by Bree's interruption. Instead, he looked relieved as if he had just been rescued from a dentist with chainsaws.

Bree's feet suddenly became heavy as they exited the room and walked down the hall. The lump in her throat grew as big as a tennis ball and her clasped palms were so sweaty she was scared that if she separated them, a tiny rainfall of sweat would escape her hands.

Tears still stung the corner of her eyes as she followed Dr Palmer into the elevator. Her mother's room was on the third floor. The dreaded image of an empty bed filled Bree's mind, the rumple blue sheets, the flattened pillows. Bree sobbed quietly as the elevator dinged. She slowly followed Dr Palmer to the unit her mother was in, he gave her a poker face before opening the door.

Bree's heart thumped in her chest, a flow of tears rushed down her face.

"There's my baby girl." Her mother said with a wide smile and both arms open wide.

Bree thought she was dreaming but she knew she wasn't. This was real. She glanced at Dr Palmer who had a genuine smile across his face. He gestured for her to go on.

"Mom!" She whispered and went over to hug her mother.

"Oh, there's my baby." Melinda said squeezing Bree gently. There was a nurse in the room that was taking her temperature when they had come in. She watched the pair with a smile.

Tears flowed down Bree's face as her wild heartbeat slowly began to return to normal again. She pulled away and stared at her mother's face. Melinda brushed the hair that stuck across Bree's forehead. Her limbs were weak but she could move them a little bit.

"Look at that, you finally got rid of the matching outfits, butterscotch." She commented.

Bree laughed and hugged her again. She walked over to Dr Palmer and hugged him too.