Stitches of Life

Sanctuary

Chapter Sixty-Five: Sanctuary 

"Joel, are you ready to go? Ashley's gonna be here soon!" I called out as I finished tying my shoes. I was in a rush, having woken up late, causing my morning to be thrown into a flurry of actions as I tried to get myself ready for work and Joel ready for school. Luckily, Ashley was able to pick Joel up to take him to school for me. "Joel?"

"I'm ready." Joel assured me as he came out of his bedroom, rubbing the reminisce of sleep from his eyes. "Why can't Uncle Jackson take me to school?"

"He had to be at the hospital early." I told him as my phone went off. I looked down at the small screen, seeing a new message from Ashley filling it. "Okay, Ashley's downstairs. You have your backpack? Homework? Lunch?"

"Yep." Joel nodded as he pulled on his jacket. With my purse slung over my shoulder, I led Joel out of the apartment, locking the door behind us. We hurried into the elevator down the hall and, once we reached the first floor, headed outside. 

"Ashley, good morning." I smiled at the younger woman, finding her waiting outside the building, on her phone. As soon as she saw us, she tucked her phone into her pocket and smiled.

"Beth, Joel." She greeted us, pulling Joel into a hug. "Ready for school, bud?"

"I guess." He shrugged.

"Thanks for doing this." I thanked Ashley before I crouched down to Joel's height. I smiled before pulling him into a hug. "I'll see you tonight, sweetie. We can have our own little taco bar for dinner."

"Promise?" He looked at me eagerly as we separated, always loving it when we had tacos. 

"Promise." I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before standing up. "Have a good day at school, and be good for Ashley this afternoon. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom." Joel gave me a wide smile, showing off the bottom tooth that he was missing, it having fallen out a couple days ago. 

"Are you feeling okay?" Ashley asked, making me look back at her. I could see her brown eyes scanning over me, a small sense of concern in them. This wasn't the first time she'd been worried about my health; even though I was the doctor between us, she'd often worry. Over the years, with her caring for Joel while I was working, she had started to become more like a sister to me. "You look tired. Maybe you should take the day off? I could take Joel to school and grab somethings from the store for you, swing back over here?"

"Thanks, Ashley, but I'm fine." I shook my head. "Besides, nows not the time for me to be missing work. For all I know, the hospital could still be looking to let go so residents. I can't risk that, not with Joel."

"Okay, text me if you need me to pick you up something later." She told me, taking Joel's smaller hand in her own. 

"I will." I nodded before she and Joel started to head down the street to where she'd parked her car. I took a deep breath before I headed across the street, towards the hospital. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You paged?" Arizona asked when she found me in the pit with a little girl and her parents.

"She's in a lot of pain." Mr. Kendall told her.

"Uh, Ruby Kendall, age nine." I presented, handing Arizona the scans. "Fever, tenderness over McBurney's point."

"All right, appendix. Let me check your belly." Arizona gave Ruby a small smile. I watched as Arizona gently started to examine Ruby's abdomen.

"Ow." Ruby inhaled sharply.