Diane flew into her mother’s arms. “Thank you. Thank you,” she said excitedly.
“Am I interrupting?”
The two separated, and Tessa looked behind her daughter to see Justin by the door with a curious look.
“Um, Dr. Myers, this is my daughter, Diane,” she introduced. “Diane, this is my boss and the doctor treating me.”
“Hello, young lady,” he greeted with a friendly smile.
“Hello,” Diane greeted back, taking the hand he offered.
“I came to give you an update on the tests,” he informed Tessa.
“Diane can stay; it’s not a problem,” she informed him.
“Okay, in that case, you have an infection in your kidneys, so I will prescribe you antibiotics and some painkillers. I’m also putting you on a week’s bedrest both as your doctor and your boss.”
“But there’s so much I need to do here,” Tessa said.
“We’ll take care of it until you get back. In the meantime, take care of yourself,” he instructed.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Myers, I will personally make sure she does just that,” Diane jumped in to assure her boss.
He left shortly after.
“Your boss is cute,” Diane affirmed.
“Really?” Tessa said with a raised brow. “I didn’t notice,” she finished with a nonchalant shrug. Diane gave her a look that said she didn’t believe her.
Tessa’s parents called, and she assured them she was okay and going home soon; they didn’t have to come to the hospital. A half hour later, Tessa was wheeled out of the hospital by her daughter and headed home.
ChapterTwenty
Diane
“Do you remember this one?” Tessa asked, holding up a picture of Diane in a Cookie Monster outfit on stage.
Diane slapped her hand over her face and groaned. “Don’t remind me of that.”
Tessa chuckled. “It was a fun play and one of the only ones I could attend. I enjoyed it.”
“You did, but it was embarrassing for me,” Diane said. “They called me the Cookie Monster for an entire term. Every time I walked down the hall, the kids were like ‘here comes the Cookie Monster, nom nom nom nom,’” she continued, mimicking the sound of the blue puppet from one of her favorite childhood programs.
“I still loved it,” Tessa reiterated.
Diane looked at her mother and smiled. How had they not had this kind of relationship for so long? Her mother was unintentionally funny and caring to a fault. Yet it all slipped her while she went through her rebellious phase of resenting and blaming her for so much. Now that she allowed herself to see this side of Tessa, there was no way she could not be proud to call her her mother.
Her mind flashed back to the relationship her mother and father had. They’d had some ups and downs but always found a way to work it out. In her adolescent mind, she’d been scared that they would get a divorce because she and Jake had started to hear them argue more.
Diane had laid the blame at her mother’s feet and had been prepared to live with her dad if it had ever come down to a divorce, but looking back, she also realized that her parents loved each other very much, and though they argued, they always made up. They chose to keep loving each other and make their family the priority. Her mind drifted to Derek.
“I don’t know if I want to marry Derek,” she confessed.
Tessa put down the photo album and turned to her daughter. She didn’t say anything but waited for Diane to explain.
Diane sighed deeply. “I think I am more in love with the idea of being married than actually being in love with him.” Doubt stirred from behind her eyes as she looked at her mother. “He doesn’t seem to be all in either.”
“What do you mean?” Tessa asked.
