Four Years Later...
Lani stood infront of a couple as she explained the details of the surgery she just performed on their in utero baby.
Thankfully the baby survived and a emergency c section wouldn't have been needed thanks to her quick thinking.
" Thank you again, Dr Knight." The pregnant woman said before Lani nodded and left the room.
Lani headed straight for the back entrance to the clinic, pulling out her pack of cigarettes she'd grabbed on the way.
She lit one before she leaned against the wall.
The door next to her opened and she turned to see Dr Will Halstead, who'd just worked on that surgery with her.
Will stood watching her as she stood out in the dark LA air, her now brown hair blowing in the wind.
" You did good."
" I know I did." She smiled to him.
" So, what are your plans for the evening?" He asked as he stood beside her.
Lani held the cigarette out to him but he declined.
" Well, my plans for the evening are to call my niece and let her tell me all about her day. Have my brother bitch at me on why I don't visit and drink myself to sleep." Lani smiled.
" Sounds fun."
" Oh very." She replied sarcastically.
" How do you do it?" Will asked her.
" Do what?"
" Be so present and then just not be."
Lani shrugged.
" Guess surgery is the only thing that makes me present."
" Cause your saving lives?"
" Cause i've got a lot of making up to do, and this is the only way that works."
Will took in her words.
Lani threw her smoke to the ground.
" Remember to check in on my post-ops." She told him before leaving him standing clueless in the dark.
Lani made her way back to her apartment, definitely an upgrade. She walked into her kitchen and threw her bag on the counter before heading to her fridge and opening a beer.
She drank it as she checked her phone to see if her brother had text her so she could talk to Alana.
Lani hopped in the shower and was soon sitting on her sofa with a glass of wine and a random movie on as she talked to her niece on the phone.
Alana now 4 years old. She was so smart, for a four year old her vocabulary was exceptional. It was clear that Julia was the one who focused in on their daughters speech and language.
Nevertheless she was a four year old who recently started school, so every other night when she would get the chance to talk to Lani on the phone she'd share her school drama of who stole whose crayons.
