Free Vital Signs by Bobby Hutchinson Page B

for the girl. Brittany’s mother and father, Susan and Tom Whitcomb, wholived in a small logging town on Vancouver Island, couldn’t make it to Vancouver for her birthday, and Hailey knew Brittany would be missing her family.
    Hailey had baked a huge birthday cake, iced it with purple icing and filled loot bags with prizes. She’d even hired a clown to come to the ward and present Brittany with her gifts and entertain the kids for two hours.
    She knew she should have mentioned it to Margaret beforehand, but she also knew the older nurse would find some reason to veto the whole idea, so Hailey kept putting it off. She finally broke the news at one-thirty that afternoon, half an hour before the clown was due to arrive.
    â€œI don’t think it’s wise to disrupt the entire ward and our routine in such a fashion.” Margaret’s round face got red and her small mouth drew into a familiar knot of displeasure. “And you should have told me long before this, Hailey. You can’t just do things your own way all the time, you know. This is a medical center. Our first priority is taking care of our patients, not entertaining them.”
    â€œBut making the kids laugh releases endorphins, it’s a scientific fact that endorphins help us get better faster.” It was a defense Hailey had almost worn out from overuse, and Margaret gave her a nasty, knowing look.
    â€œI am the nursing supervisor, Hailey. I suggest you try to remember that once in a while, preferably before you make elaborate plans that have nothing whatsoever to do with nursing.”
    Fortunately a group of doctors came along just atthat moment, and Margaret, ever eager to please doctors, turned her attention to them.
    Hailey sighed with relief. She was off the hook and the party was on.
    The clown arrived shortly afterward. Hailey gathered all the kids into the large playroom, and Karen, who was also on duty, had helped her set up a table with the cake as a centerpiece. They made sure there was juice for everyone, and Hailey put the gifts she’d bought for Brittany alongside the stack that had arrived from her family.
    The kids were beside themselves with excitement, and Hailey was excited, too. She loved birthday parties. And when she saw Brittany’s thin face light with pleasure, she knew she’d done the right thing.
    Hailey had brought David to the playroom. He was a somber little boy, but he had begun to smile on occasion and talk to her a little. He was still hooked to an IV, so Hailey popped him into an empty crib.
    The clown was outrageous, and the kids laughed with delight. At one point, he went over to David’s crib, and the other kids gathered around as he pretended to pluck candy out of David’s ears and even out of his IV stand.
    â€œMe, too, me, too,” shouted four-year-old Joshua whose IV was pumping antibiotics into his system to counteract the infection he’d developed after an operation on his bladder.
    The clown obliged, pulling a toy rabbit out of Joshua’s IV stand.
    The kids applauded, and when David laughedaloud, tears came to Hailey’s eyes. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh so heartily. That single reaction was worth all the work and organizing the party had taken, and Hailey’s joy was compounded by the glowing delight on Brittany’s face when she opened her gifts and found the entire collection of Stephen King novels, which Hailey had purchased at a secondhand bookstore.
    Margaret came by only once to warn the nurses that four-o’clock meds had to be distributed along with dinner trays. “Laugh before dinner, cry before bed,” she warned one little kid who was half-hysterical with giggling.
    â€œSour old bat,” Karen whispered as Margaret flounced out.
    The clown left, and Hailey and Karen took the kids back to their rooms. Hailey settled David down with a bottle of juice. His blood work showed that he’d soon be off the