Post # 8: Motifs

Spring drifted off again. She woke to the gentle shakes of a nurse. The woman was petite and blonde. She looked frenzied. Spring read the name "Holloway" on her name-tag. “Linda is okay,” the nurse said.
“Who?” Spring said drowsily.
“Linda, the woman you called 911 for,” she said. “She’s okay.”
“Oh...good, great,” Spring said, waking up a little bit. “What about the baby?”
“We had to induce, but the baby is fine. It’s a little girl,” she said.
Spring smiled and felt as if she might cry.
“Linda would like to speak with you if you are willing,” the doctor said. She motioned towards a door down the hall and then hurried off in the opposite direction.
Spring rubbed her eyes. She felt exhausted. She'd been dreaming about Robbie again. Robbie and a tiny heartbeat inside her chest. She shook her head fervently.
Getting up slowly, the scent of the hospital came back to Spring. The fluorescent lights and bare white walls mingled with the scent, and Spring was reminded of ghosts.
She paced slowly down the hall to the room, poking her head in. Linda lay in the bed. She held a tiny white bundle and was surrounded by balloons and bouquets.
“Spring,” Linda said. “I’m so glad you’re still here.”
Spring didn’t know what to say.
“I just had to thank you. What you did...it was amazing. I owe you my baby’s life,” Linda said.
Spring looked at the tiny baby girl and smiled, still speechless.
“Would you like to hold her?” Linda said.
Spring barely managed to get out a “yes.” She took the little girl in her arms, examining her tiny features.
“Spring, I can’t thank you enough. I wish I had the words, but I don’t,” Linda said. “Instead, I’d like to do something to show you my thanks. She grabbed her purse, pulling a slip of paper out of the pocket. She held it out for Spring.
Spring took it, adjusting the baby in her arms. A glance at the paper revealed that it was a check. A longer look revealed the amount:
$10,000.