Chapter 23: Moira

I finished the God-damned Photography Today magazine for the second time, and looked at the clock. An hour, they'd said, but the clock read 5:15 – over two hours since Saralinda had gone in back for her checkup. I was twitchy-nervous. Was something wrong? Everything had seemed so right this morning...

Just then, the door from the examination area swung open, and Dr. Anna emerged with her arm around Saralinda. They were giggling together. I breathed a sigh of relief. Dr. Anna pointed Saralinda to the ladies room, and the girl gave the doctor a hug before dashing to the door and disappearing inside. Dr. Anna came to me.

"Well, Moira, you look like you've been worried because we took so long. Sorry – I didn't anticipate how certain developments would shift things. Saralinda has had a bit of a crisis, but I think she's put it behind her. Don't worry, it wasn't really about this morning. It was a normal healing step she had to go through, trying to come to grips with what her father did to her. She seemed to get past her fear of him and her anger at him today. I think she's made a bit of a breakthrough in this regard, and I'm hopeful that she'll be able to move on better now. She's really a remarkable, wonderful girl."

I glanced from Dr. Anna to the closed door to the ladies room, and then to Gary, who was standing off to the side, not wanting to interrupt what Dr. Anna was saying. I looked back to Dr. Anna, and my eyes were drawn to hers. Her look was so earnest, so caring, and I suddenly felt like crying.

And then the smaller woman was hugging me and telling me it was all okay, and I slowly started to feel better.

"This isn't easy, Moira. What she has to do is hard work. But she's getting there amazingly fast. She has you and Gary..."

"And you," I added.

Dr. Anna chuckled as she released me from the hug. "Yes, I had to be her obaachan today, her grandmother. It was an honor. She is so trusting and open. It's really a joy to see. I think she'll be fine."

Dr. Anna's focus shifted to include Gary. "Oh, and everything checked out well with regard to her medications, etc. No need to change the program. She seems to be physically handling the carbamazepine well. She still has more mood instability than I'd like, but I'd actually say that it's normal, given the circumstances. Simply put, she's got a lot to process. And, of course, I'd like to see her again in a couple more days."

"We'll be here – three p.m. the day after tomorrow," confirmed Gary. I heard the ladies' room door open, and Saralinda quickly crossed the floor to my side, where she clasped my arm in her hands. I looked down at her. She looked tired, but okay.

"You good?" I asked her.

"I'm good," she said. Her voice sounded tired, but she had a small smile for me.

"Well, then we should head back to Wailea," Gary said. "And we can think about what we want to do for dinner on the way over."