Early December
The decision came in an unexpected way.
I was at the hospital on a Friday afternoon, shadowing in the pediatric ward, when I witnessed something that changed everything.
A mother sat by her daughter's bedside the girl was maybe ten, recovering from surgery. But it wasn't the medical situation that caught my attention. It was the conversation.
"Mommy has to go back to work on Monday," the mother was saying, voice thick with tears. "Back to Chicago. But Daddy will be here with you, and I'll video call every single day."
"But you just got here," the girl said, also crying.
"I know, baby. I know. But Mommy has to work. The job in Chicago is what pays for your treatment, for the doctors, for everything."
"I want you to stay."
"I want to stay too. More than anything. But sometimes grown-ups have to make hard choices. And I chose to take the job far away so I could give you the best care possible."
