Tatum had two thoughts when she first woke up.

1: Going out on Thursdays would be a thing of the past.

2: Who the hell was calling her this early?

She fumbled blindly for her phone as the shrill ringing filled the air, eyes fighting to stay shut. Reluctantly, she peeled her eyes open. It wasn't even close to when she had to be up for the day. Her thumb went to hit decline before seeing who it was. Maybe this could be fun. She tapped the button to answer the call, and put it to her ear as she fought a laugh for what she had planned. Kinsley was probably calling to apologize for last night, but Tatum wanted to have some fun with this first.

"Shh," Tatum said softly into the phone as if with someone.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Kinsley began to ramble, instantly believing Tatum had slept with Julian.

Tatum rolled her eyes, shifting in her bed slightly as she sat up. "Hold on, I don't want him to hear. He's sleeping. I'm gonna leave his room for a second."

"Oh my god, okay," Kinsley whispered back, her voice filled with anticipation.

"Shh," Tatum repeated gently as she leaned against her bed frame, pausing for a moment. She ruffled the sheets slightly to make it seem like she was leaving someone's bed. After a beat of silence, she knew her friend was clutching the phone to her ear to get every detail. Finally, her voice boomed through the phone as she shouted, "Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell were you thinking?"

Kinsley yelped into the phone and Tatum was sure she could hear her drop it to the floor. "Wait! Wait, did you not—"

"Of course, I didn't! Are you joking?" Tatum stressed in a furious voice. "Why the hell did you tell him I was single?"

"I wanted you to have fun! You always said he was the best guy you ever slept with!" Kinsley rambled worriedly, guilt leaking into her voice. "You said a few weeks back that you'd get with him again!"

Tatum groaned in exasperation. "Yeah, well, you'll never believe who stopped the conversation."

Kinsley snorted. "Isaac?"

"Your brother."

Kinsley went silent on the line for a second, and Tatum thought for a moment that she shouldn't have said anything. She said it as something she thought Kinsley would find wild, not make her go silent. Tatum opened her mouth to change the conversation, but before she could, Kinsley softly asked, "Oh, did he?"

"Yeah." Tatum cleared her throat, trying to think of what to say. "It was weird. We've never actually spoken before."

"You're not missing much," her friend said tartly.

"Right," Tatum said, her eyes shutting as she prepared herself for what she was going to bring up next. She couldn't not tell Kinsley. She would probably just find out on her own if she barged in during Tatum's shifts. "Is this a bad time to mention that I've been assigned to his PT plan?"

More silence.

"You're gonna fix his knee?"

Tatum thought that was a slightly odd way of asking. Especially with the tone she asked it. She almost sounded... stressed. Like there was something Tatum didn't know. "Yeah, I guess he's ran off everyone who's tried. Probably scared of it happening again if word gets around that he's healed."

A pause. "Yeah, probably."

"I don't— I don't want to," Tatum told her firmly, but winced at the slight lie. If she was being honest, part of her was curious to see if she could manage what the others couldn't. Not to mention that she didn't want the guy to be in pain.

Nothing. "Right."

"Anyways, uh, I gotta go," Tatum started, scratching her head awkwardly. "I have my shift soon."

She did not have her shift soon.

"Okay, I'll see you later," Kinsley said, sounding a bit distant. "Happy birthday, by the way."

Tatum pulled her lips in awkwardly. "Thanks."

She hung up the call, feeling a sense of unease that she didn't expect this early in the day. This usually came later. It struck Tatum that what she knew about Kinsley's relationship with her brother didn't even begin to scratch the surface. She would have to tread carefully going forward when she mentioned Brady. It wasn't a conversation she had any place in when it concerned Kinsley. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her friend.

But she couldn't exactly say no to Doctor Evans. She didn't really have a choice in the matter. Tatum had to spend some time with Brady considering her new role at work. In truth, she was a bit worried about how this was all going to work. Brady had made three assistants quit already and they were hardly a month into the semester. She refused to add another name to that list.

Brady seemed decent last night.

Maybe he changed his mind about letting her help.

Maybe he would be coming today.

●・○・♥︎・○・●

Tatum had been waiting for forty minutes for Brady to show up when she received a single text.

Unknown Caller
Not coming in.

It took all her strength to not throw her phone out the window.

●・○・♥︎・○・●

Tatum's birthday had been eventful, to say the least.

Between the weird conversation with Kinsley and getting stood up by Parker, she figured the day would have to calm down a bit.

But in the middle of one of her sessions, Isaac burst through the doors of the PT office with a dozen balloons and some of the other hockey players singing Happy Birthday. Tatum allowed herself to be touched for a moment before settling on the fact that she was mortified. To her relief, Doctor Evans joined them and allowed the spectacle to continue.

And on the way to do her volunteer hours at the hospital, she decided to stop at a bakery to treat herself. But naturally, she spilled her coffee all over clothes. As a volunteer, she had to wear dress pants and a nicer shirt. She didn't exactly have backups of those in her backpack. Luckily, the jacket the hospital gave her to wore would cover it. It was a purple jacket with the hospital's name on it that looked almost like a lab coat. It covered the coffee stain, but she still had to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of a wet blouse sticking to her skin.

Tatum had texted Kinsley asking her if she was all right on the way to the hospital. Normally, she would have heard from her friend by now. In previous years, Kinsley would never leave her alone on her birthday and would make sure something was always going on. Tatum wasn't bothered that that wasn't the case this year by any means, but she was worried about how they left their conversation this morning. She couldn't tell if her friend was avoiding her or if she was just reading too far into things.

But she got no response, and Tatum was beginning to panic.

"Miss. Tatum!"

But her day was turning around.

Jamie waved at her enthusiastically from his hospital bed, giving her a toothy grin. His skin was pale but his wide eyes shined bright. His short brown hair was a bit messy, like he had just woken up. She waved just as happily to him, walking into his hospital room.

Tatum adored Jamie. He was a ten-year old boy who was a frequent patient in the hospital. Technically, she wasn't assigned to his room. But she knew most things about his condition from when she spoke to his father. Jamie was born with an Atrial Septal Defect. Essentially, there was a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of his heart. The hole caused decreased oxygen levels in the body. Overtime, it caused various issues for the young boy. It became clearer that he would need surgery to repair it.

He got surgery a few years ago, to Tatum's knowledge. And as far as she knew, it had gone well. But as he got older and his body grew, his heart grew with it. The repaired tissue couldn't keep up with the growth, and there was a new tear. He would need surgery again, but it wasn't as if those things came cheap. Tatum didn't know the details, but she knew that the family was struggling to afford everything.

"Happy birthday!" Jamie cheered and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, kid, how you feeling?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "I was tired, but now I'm okay! I slept for a while."

"Any cool dreams?" she asked knowingly, plopping into the chair next to him.

"It was so cool," he assured her seriously. "I was at a rodeo! I was riding a bull, it was crazy."

"Whoa, that's so awesome!" Tatum shouted excitedly, knowing how happy it would make him.

"Mhm! And I wasn't in the hospital, which was fun," Jamie went on casually. Her heart broke a bit, but she did her best to look excited.

"Was I in it?"

Jamie suddenly looked very guilty. "No..."

Tatum feigned offense, gasping dramatically. "You would leave me out on my birthday?"

"I can make it up for you!" Jamie swore passionately. Before Tatum could assure him that it was only a joke, he handed her a piece of paper. She gave him a quizzical look, a smile tugging at her lips. She accepted it gently, holding it between her fingertips tenderly.

It was a drawing. It took her a moment before realizing what he had created. It was a drawing of him and Tatum. It looked like they were in a park. It was a simple drawing, but it was everything to her. They were rough sketches of stick figures likely using crayon. They both had absurdly sized smiles on their face that didn't match the proportions to anything else, but Tatum absolutely adored it. In the blue sky, Jamie had written, 'Happy Birthday Miss. Tatum!' in big letters.

"You made this for me?" Tatum asked happily, holding up the drawing.

"It's your birthday gift!" Jamie exclaimed in an excited voice. Tatum felt a stinging in her eyes, looking at him fondly.

She gave a watery smile, holding the drawing close to her chest. "I love it, Jamie. Really, thank you."

"You're welcome, Miss. Tatum," Jamie said as he beamed at her. "You going to see Miss. Eliza?"

Tatum nodded as she stood, placing her hands on her hips. "That's my next stop."

"Tell her I say hi!" Jamie shouted happily and Tatum laughed gently, nodding.

"Will do, see you in a bit," she called out as left his room.

She took a moment outside of the rooms. Tatum prepared herself as she sucked in a breath, plastering a smile on her face. She would not be sad today. Today was a good day. Eliza would see through her right away if something was wrong. They both deserved to have a good day. She could do this.

Tatum hurried into the room a bit down the hall, a smile on her face. "Hey, Mom."

Her mother beamed at her from her hospital bed. "There's my beautiful girl. Happy birthday, sweetheart."

Tatum's smile was laced with a sadness she tried not to let her mother see.

Two words occupied her thoughts as she walked in.

Dilated cardiomyopathy.

There was a point in time where that term was nothing but a bunch of meaningless, complicated words. But now, Tatum knew every single thing she could possibly know about it. It started slowly. Her mother was always a very active person. But she started getting more tired by activities she would do often. It got harder and harder for her to catch her breath. Her brown skin was getting paler with each passing day. Finally, Tatum had enough. She forced her mother into the car and to the doctors. It was a bit of a blur... the entire process.

But essentially, dialed cardiomyopathy was the enlargement of the heart chambers. It made it so the heart muscle was weakened, and it impaired the heart's ability to pump blood effectively. She had been given various medications to work, but it didn't work. Her condition got more and more severe with time. Eventually, it was clear that the only option left was a transplant. But the transplant list was long... and it seemed like there was no end in sight. Her mother was often in the hospital for either complications or adjusting her medications. It wasn't unusual for her to spend a night or two in the hospital when these things came up. When these visits became more frequent, her mother decided to move into the city. If something came up, she couldn't afford to be far from the hospital. It also allowed Tatum to visit her frequently.

A strange part of Tatum almost wished she had never dragged her mother to the doctors that day. Because then maybe they wouldn't be here right now. Maybe she and her mother would be decorating her cake with an insane amount of frosting and sprinkles. They could be waiting for the bazella to finish cooking, inhaling the scent that always reminded her of home. But she knew if they hadn't gone that day, her mother may not have even made it to this point. The thought alone made her feel sick. Her stomach churned... it wasn't something she could think about. Not right now. Not today. Today was supposed to be a happy day. She wasn't going to let herself rot, she decided.

"Thank you, Mom," Tatum said brightly, leaning over and gently giving her a hug as she kissed her cheek. "How you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine," her mother, Eliza, dismissed with an enthusiastic smile. Tatum decided to not press it today. Her mother was never truthful about how she was feeling. Tatum knew she was trying to spare her, but there wasn't much use in that. "How's everything going? Having a good birthday?"

Something about this made Tatum want to break down and cry. To just beg the universe to put everything back. To put things back to how they used to be. All she wanted was for things to feel right again. But she pushed that feeling to the back of her mind, deciding to deal with that another time. "Yeah, better now that I've gotten to see you. Was thinking I could stay through dinner. Maybe crash on the couch."

"That sounds nice," Eliza agreed softly, leaning forward and placing a hand on the side of Tatum's face. Tatum leaned into it, feeling a pull in her chest. She forced a smile on her face. "Are you doing okay?"

Tatum nodded instantly, sitting up a bit straighter. "Just tired from classes and work."

That wasn't exactly a lie, either. She knew she was doing too much for her to handle. But Tatum had always been like that. She lived her life like she had something to prove, and in her mind, she did. Her mother had her when she was a freshman in college. She tried her best to stay in classes and finish her degree... but it just got to be too much. Her Mom dropped out before she could finish. She had done well for herself considering the lack of a degree.

Tatum could count on one hand the number of times she had spoken to her father. When Eliza got pregnant, her father bailed. Apparently, he didn't want to be a father at the age of twenty. It wasn't exactly in her mother's plan either, to be honest. But she was a believer that everything happened for a reason. And so, she was pregnant for a reason. Tatum wasn't sure what the reason was, but she was going to make sure it was all worth it.

While her mother never put much pressure on her, Tatum couldn't help but feel like she had something to prove. Like she had to show her mother that she had made the right choice to keep her. Tatum wouldn't waste the sacrifice that Eliza gave her. And so, she had to be the best at everything she did. Everything she touched had to turn to gold.

"You're working yourself too hard," Eliza scolded pointedly. Tatum shrugged, not bothering to argue that. Her mother gave her a stern look. "But I know something else is wrong too."

She let out a sigh, like she was holding her breath in fear of being caught. "I just... I just hate this."

It was a childish way of putting it, but she couldn't help it. Her mother gave her a tired yet wry smile. "I'm not overly fond of it myself."

"No kidding," Tatum quipped, letting out a sound that was a mixture of a scoff and a laugh. "I just wish I knew how to help."

"You're doing it," her mother assured her. "You're living your life. You're studying to be who you want to be. And... you still make time to visit."

Tatum's voice was fierce as she swore, "Always. Can't get rid of me."

"Don't I know it," Eliza said jokingly, a fond gleam in her eyes.

Tatum laughed, giving her mother a genuine smile this time. She felt a bit lighter. "We should order food soon. Don't want everywhere to close."

"Speaking of dinner, I got you something," Eliza started, turning to the side of her bed. "You'll have to forgive me, I didn't exactly know how to wrap it."

"Mom, you didn't need to get me anything," Tatum told her, giving her an incredulous look.

But she recognized the smell the second her mother pulled it into view from her bedside table.

Eliza grinned widely as she held a large container of bazella in her hands. Tatum felt herself on the verge of tears once more at the sight of it. Bazella was a stew, of sorts. It was rice pilaf with a meat and pea mixture on top. It was just one of those foods that was always comforting. She had two pieces of Syrian bread on top, which served as perfect pouches for the dish.

"How did you even do this?" Tatum asked in shock, eyeing the container hungrily.

"I have my ways... and nurses who love me," Eliza admitted proudly, pulling out two spoons.

Tatum's jaw dropped. "You gave the nurses the recipe! I've been asking you for it for years!"

Her mother cried out, "I've given you the recipe!"

"You always say stuff like, 'use this much water'," Tatum retorted instantly, holding her hand up with her pointer finger and thumb about an inch apart from each other. "That's not a recipe! That's a challenge!"

"The nurses figured it out," Eliza grumbled out with raised eyebrows.

"Well, we'll see about that," Tatum said teasingly, gently taking one of the spoons.

As the two ate, Tatum filled her in on everything. She started off easy with some of what she had been up to, like the party last night. Her mother looked incredibly touched by the fact that Kinsley and the hockey boys had made it so special for her. Tatum also told her about how she had gotten assigned to do the PT plan for Brady and how he stood her up for their first session. She gave her a play-by-play of their argument.

"I know you like to do things people claim as impossible, but do you really need to add this?" Eliza asked with a shrug.

"Doctor Evans said she'd help me with Doctor Ashford if I managed it," Tatum explained and her mother's eyes widened. "I know."

Her Mom leaned forward excitedly. "You mean the same Doctor Ashford who's accomplishments I've been hearing about for almost five years?"

"The very same."

"Then fix the god damn knee, Tatum," her mother said easily and Tatum scoffed.

She leaned back into her chair, shaking her head and looking off. "If it were that easy, then I'd have him doing freaking triple axels by this point, but—"

"Don't think that's hockey, hon."

"—I don't know how to make Brady do the plan," Tatum admitted, glancing at her mother hopefully. She always had all the answers. That better not have changed.

Her mother looked thoughtful for a moment, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Everyone's quit, right? He's used to people backing down. Just don't give in. Give him a bit of it back."

"You're encouraging me to be unpleasant?" Tatum clarified with a grin twitching at her lips. Her Mom laughed, seeming to recall the many conversations they had had in the past. Tatum wasn't rude by any means, but she also was quite blunt and out-spoken. Eliza had tried her best to teach Tatum time and place for all that: when to speak up, and when to bite her tongue. The former came easy to her. The ladder? Still a challenge. "Mom, what happened to 'try kindness first'?"

"I didn't raise you to let anyone stop you from getting what you want," Eliza reminded her firmly, tilting her head. "And there's a second part to that sentence."

Tatum raised her eyebrows. "Yeah?"

Eliza hummed. "Try kindness first, and if that doesn't work, twist arms."

Tatum considered that for a moment, smirking slightly. Her mother was known for how nice she was. Everyone knew her as being a genuinely good person, which was rare. But she had kindness in spades. However, she didn't let people walk all over her. She always said she was "nice with an edge", which Tatum adored. Tatum was glad that her Mom was encouraging her to get what she wanted. She needed to have Eliza's backing. It felt like she was right whenever her mother agreed with her. It set a fire underneath her, and she had a new sense of confidence.

And then she thought about it for a moment, fighting a grin as she remarked, "He's already got a busted knee, Mom."

"So, what's adding a broken arm to the list?"

●・○・♥︎・○・●

Reminder to leave a vote and a comment :)

Also fun fact, any of the mentions of Lebanese food or anything is from stuff with my family! My Mom makes the absolute best bazella but the recipe is actually an obstacle course. Definitely gonna sprinkle in more mentions of being Lebanese— it's been so fun to write it in!!

Another fun fact, that part with Kinsley and Tatum is from my Mom and her best friend. She let me use the story, so, thanks Mom!