Bad Ideas (First & Forever 4)

“Oh. Well, okay. In that case, you can show Oscar how to use this gift card to add more books or games to his tablet, if you want to. Otherwise, I can show him later.” Theo indicated the envelope as he said that.

“Sure. Either way.” Theo and Oscar both watched with fascination as I formed two comedically large horns out of silver balloons and added them to the brown dome-shaped hat, transforming it into a Viking helmet. I decided it needed a bit more flair, so I blew up two black balloons and quickly wove them together, then attached the decorative border to the base of the hat. I held it out to Theo and smiled. “This is for you. Please model it for Oz and me.”

I was pleasantly surprised when Theo grinned and put on the balloon helmet. Oscar laughed and said, “It looks good on you, Doctor K! Hey, I think my new tablet takes photos, can we get one of the three of us?”

We leaned in on either side of the kid, and I picked up the tablet and snapped a photo in our silly party hats. Then Theo said, “I’d better get back to work, but I’ll check in later, Oscar.”

“One sec, Doc.” I opened the white bakery box on the top shelf of the rolling cart and asked, “Chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet?”

“Chocolate. Always.” I handed him a chocolate cupcake and a Marvel Avengers napkin, and my heart did a weird flip flop when he flashed me a cute little grin. He murmured a thank you before he left the room.

I watched him go and was pleasantly surprised he didn’t take off the hat the moment he reached the hallway. No doubt he’d take it off a second later, but it still made me happy.

When I turned back to Oscar, he had a big smile on his face. “You like him,” he said.

“Sure. He’s a nice guy.”

“No, I mean you like him, like him.”

I turned to the bakery box and studied the selection. “I’m not saying a word. Want a cupcake? I brought extra, so you can have one now and another when the nurses come to wish you a happy birthday.”

“You’re changing the subject. But yeah, I want a cupcake.” Smart kid.

Just after three p.m., a big group of nurses and a few other staff members crowded into Oscar’s room to sing the birthday song. I lit a candle on a cupcake while we sang to him, and the boy got very serious as he made a wish and blew out the candle.

Darice gave him a card we’d all signed, and I helped him peel off the wrapper on the cupcake to make it easier to eat. Then I handed two other nurses cardboard boxes filled with bags of party favors, color-coded by age—small stuffed animals for the younger kids, silly little games and puzzle books for the older ones. “Make sure they know these are from Oscar, the birthday boy,” I said. They promised they’d spread the word.

As everyone filtered out of the room, I stuck my hat on top of the TV and put a bag of party favors on Oscar’s side table as I asked, “Want to read for a bit? I still have a little time before I have to start work. If you’re too tired, that’s okay, too. We can do it later.”

“I think I’m going to take a nap, but let’s read later for sure. We’re at an exciting part of the book.”

“Okay, no problem.”

I helped him move his pirate gear to the chair and started to wheel the cart out of the room, but he called, “Hey, Casey?” I turned back to him, and he chewed his lower lip before saying, “I wished that my mom would get better when I blew out the candle. Do you think my wish is gonna come true?”

I just couldn’t give him a neutral answer, not when he was looking at me with those big, sad eyes. “I do, Oz. I really believe that.” I smiled at him as I sent a silent prayer out into the universe—please let that be true.

After I left his room, I went to the locker room, stashed the leftover party supplies in my locker, and changed into my scrubs. Today’s scrub top was dark green with a repeating pattern of cartoon polar bears riding sleds.

Next stop was the breakroom. I left the rest of the cupcakes for the nurses who hadn’t been able to join us for Oscar’s party, and then I wheeled the empty cart back to the storage room where I’d found it.

Someone slipped into the room right after me, and I turned to find Theo shutting the door behind him. “Don’t make a big deal of this,” he said. Then he pinned me against the wall and kissed me deeply. My heart immediately started to race, and a little sound of pleasure slipped from me as I wrapped my arms around him.