Freshwater Kisses (The Kisses 3)

"Ice cream?" Grace asked, raising her eyebrow at me. I winced.

"Yeah... it was supposed to be our special treat today." I gave Avery's mom an apologetic smile.

"It's okay," Avery piped up. "They have lots of ice cream here! I've had three already!"

Grace's mouth opened to tell her daughter something about ruining her dinner, but at that moment the doctor walked in. He was the man I remembered from the ER, with kind brown eyes and a cheerful smile.

"Glad to see you up," Dr. Robins said as he pulled up a chair next to my bed. He pulled out a penlight, and shined it into my eyes, gauging my response. Whatever my eyes did seemed to please him, and he leaned back and smiled.

"Am I going to live, Doc?" I asked. He laughed.

"Yes, I think so," he replied. "I'm going to need you to stay overnight for observation, though. The concussion is serious enough that we want to make sure that everything is fine before we release you. Sometimes it takes a few hours for problems to appear, and we don't want any surprises."

"But, Dr. Robins, I can't..." I started.

"I'm sorry, Samantha, but this isn't negotiable. You really do need to stay here." He stood up from the chair so he could look down at me. I suddenly felt like I was a child. "You are very lucky to be alive. With the concussion and your injuries, you came very close to drowning. I don't want to scare you, but I need you to stay the night and make sure that everything is fine. If everything looks good, you can leave first thing in the morning, all right?"

I nodded meekly. There was no way I was going to be able to afford another night. But what the heck? I thought to myself. There was no way I'm going to be able to afford the care I've received up to this minute; what was another few hours going to add to an already un-payable bill? The thought didn't give me much comfort.

"Good." Dr. Robins gave a crisp nod. "I'll come check on you in the morning. Until then, I'd like you to get some rest. I'm sure Grace here has already filled you in on all your injuries, but do you have any questions for me?"

"Nope. Even if I did, I'm sure Grace will take care of me," I answered. He laughed.

"She is going to be a great nurse. You graduate in December, right?" he asked, turning toward Grace. She blushed and nodded.

"My mommy said I can keep her nursing hat when she graduates!" Avery chirped from my lap.

"I'm sure you will both look fantastic in it. If you need a recommendation for the scholarship, I'd be more than happy to write one for you. It's been a pleasure having you do your nursing rotations here," Dr. Robins said, a smile on his face. Grace laughed nervously.

"I will be sure to do that. Thank you again, Doctor," she said. I could see her blush creeping further up her throat.

"My pleasure. I'll come check on you in the morning, Samantha." Dr. Robins gave us all a big smile and turned and walked out the door, humming softly as he closed it behind him.

"A scholarship recommendation?" I asked Grace, raising my eyebrows at her. Avery giggled.

"Mommy thinks he's cute," Avery whispered.

"Hey!" Grace's voice came out a squeak, which made Avery giggle again.

"Oh, so 'scholarship recommendation' is the new code word for secret crush," I said, turning to Avery.

"Quit it, you two!" Grace shouted, her face turning an even more delightful shade of red. "He just works on this floor and he is very nice. You two stop making insinuations!"

"What's an in-sin-u-a-tion?" Avery whispered, sounding out the word carefully.

"It's when you say one thing, but really mean another," I whispered back. She nodded.

"So what is this scholarship? You graduate at the end of the semester—why would you need a scholarship?" I asked, wrapping my arms around Avery. The little girl leaned back into me, watching her mom.

"It's a repayment scholarship. Kind of like a paid internship," Grace answered. "Three students of the nursing program get full tuition reimbursement and a job here at the hospital. It also puts them on the fast track for a nursing management position."

"So it's a really-awesome-program-that-is-right-up-your-alley-and-having-cutie-doctor-give-you-a-recommendation kind of thing?" I teased. Grace rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes. It's just that it's super competitive, and even with 'cutie doctor's' recommendation, I probably won't get it," she said.

"So, you're not even going to try? Come on, Grace!" I gave her a stern look. "The cute doctor thinks you have a shot. At least have him write you a nice letter. If nothing else, you might get a date out of it. At best, you might actually get the dang thing."

"But, Sam..."