Page 28 of Fever: Love In Scrubs
TWO WEEKS LATER
Iwas back in Colorado Springs for my in-office work day. Thankfully, it was Friday, so I had nothing but free time when I left here. I got in yesterday and spent the night at Tinka’s. She was all too happy to have me and tried to get me drunk like I didn’t have to be to work at eight.
My arm was feeling much better, my ankle still hurt, and the boot remained in place. While my first experience in the house resulted in injury, I was getting used to being there. It didn’t feel like home just yet, but I would give it time. I mean, I’d been away for fifteen years, and the place held a lot of unpleasant memories for me.
Sometimes I swore I could see the stacks of newspapers and boxes of junk. I’d smell the stench of the piles of trash or food that dropped somewhere and went forgotten. Then I’d blink andit was all gone. I think part of my problem was the fact that I still had both of my parents’ ashes in the house. At some point, I had to set them free and in doing so, free my damn self.
Maybe Jaxson knew a private area where I could follow through with it.
Thinking of him made me smile. These past two weeks, he made time to check on me if he was at work, and when he wasn’t at work, we’d grabbed lunch or something. I had to admit that he was quite likable. He was funny and charming, and for some reason, I felt comfortable around him. We’d really been getting to know each other and I could say with confidence that there was a little spark there.
He sent me a good morning message this morning as I was getting ready for work which turned into a FaceTime call on my drive over. It was a little weird watching him in the morgue as we talked. He was moving around like this was a normal phone call. I guess to him, it was since he did this every day.
I walked into The Compass Connection with a smile on my face and headed to my office. Since I’d been working remotely, there wasn’t much for me to catch up on, so I prepared for my first client of the day. In addition to working with kids currently in foster care, I also worked with a few who’d recently aged out.
Those were my favorite clients.
I loved when they came back to me with progress. So many of these kids were thrown to the wolves and had to figure life out for themselves. I took pride in preparing them for their future. I especially loved that The Compass Connection was available to these kids up until they were twenty-five. They understood that their background and where they came from may require a little more time for them to get it together.
My first appointment today was with my favorite twenty-one year old, Chrissy. When she first came to me, she was an angry sixteen year old. She was defiant, disrespectful, and hardheaded.It took a good year for her to trust me and once I gained that, she finally opened up about her past.
Chrissy had been raped by her mother’s boyfriend from the age of twelve until fourteen. She endured further abuse at the hands of her foster father when she was fifteen. The girl carried around so much anger and pain and my heart went out to her. I worked countless hours with her, some of those being after hours. Once she finally trusted me, she took to me like an auntie.
I helped her get emancipated at seventeen, find a job, and housing. Since then, she’d been doing great. She walked into my office at eleven with a smile on her face and a little extra bounce in her step.
“Where you been, auntie?” she asked, coming around to hug me.
“Remember I told you I was moving.”
She frowned. “When did you tell me that and why didn’t you give me an address so I could visit.”
“You know I can’t give you my address, girl.”
“And here I thought you loved me.” She looked down at the boot on my foot. “What happened to you!”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I fell down a flight of stairs.”
She stifled a laugh. “Aren’t you a little too old to be falling?”
“I said the same thing. Anyway! How are you?”
“I’m good. Guess what?”
“What?”
“I got a promotion at work! I’m officially a stylist!”
I smiled. “I’m so proud of you, Chrissy. See, I told you all your hard work would pay off.”
“I have some other good news,” she said, reaching into her purse.
She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. As I read over it, my eyes widened and so did my smile.
“You got accepted to design school!”
“Yes! Your girl is in there!”
She started dancing in her seat and I couldn’t help but laugh. Chrissy had been working at a clothing boutique since her emancipation. I was beyond proud that she’d been holding down the job for this long. She told me she loved clothes and fashion, so I found her something where she could feel at home. The girl had talent. During our time together, she’d shown me many of her sketches and there was so much promise there.
