The Chocolate Milkshake
For the love of duty and chocolate...
As the anesthesia wore off from Rachel’s tonsillectomy, everything was blurry and fuzzy. As she gazed up, two women – girls, really – stood on each side of her bed. She knew she was in a hospital, what with the bed rails and the dark blue scrubs the nurses were wearing, but didn’t remember much else.
The redhead said, “Welcome back to life, Rachel. Surgery went well. It seems that the doctor has said you can have a milk shake if you want.”
“Yeah, only if you want,” the other lady, the one with multiple piercings and multi-colored hair, said.
Rachel shook her head from side to side, closed her eyes, and said, “Sleep. More sleep.”
“Sleep’s good, Rachel,” said Red. “But Rachel, are you absolutely sure you don’t want a nice thick milk shake, chocolate, say? We’ve heard chocolate is your favorite flavor. We could get it to you in about three or four minutes, tops. You wouldn’t have to do anything but sit back and enjoy that nice…chocolate….shake.”
She still nodded her head from side to side without saying a word.
“Chocolate shake,” her nursing partner said. Then she leaned over the bed and was six inches from Rachel’s face. She whispered, “Rachel, here’s the deal. When we make you a shake, we get to make a little extra, you know, for the trouble and all. So, you get one and we get one too, at no extra cost to you and your insurance.”
Rachel smiled, her eyes still closed.
Certainly the medication was wearing off and she was coming to her senses. These two girls, a few years older than she was, were doing what she might’ve done had she been in their situation. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve said, “Bring me two shakes then!” and nobody would have questioned her because that was Rachel Bruno to a tee: generous and a chocolate lover.
“Sure,” Rachel said. “You can have mine too.”
The girls high fived each other across the bed and headed straight to the door. Standing there and watching it all was Rachel’s parents, nudging past them on the way out.
“What was that all about?” her father asked, as the two nurses practically ran down the hall.
“Hi Dad. Just trying to make someone’s day!”