Visiting Hours

The little girl walked closely with her mother in the gift shop, eyeing all the ceramic figurines. Shelf after shelf contained tiny statues of light blue angels with outstretched wings or teddy bears with their paws in casts. The mother picked out a palm- sized jewelry box with a teddy bear sitting on top. She walked over to the to cash register where a white-haired woman promptly wrapped the box in white tissue and dropped it in pink plastic bag. The mother handed the bag to her daughter who tightly clutched the small bag close to her heart with both hands. She gazed downward so nobody could see her porcelain face with bright red cheeks. Mother exited the gift shop with daughter following closely behind, careful never to stray away more than a few inches.
The pair rejoined members of the their family waiting in the hospital lobby. The mother seated herself among the circle of cousins, aunts, and an uncle. The small girl took a seat on her mother’s knee, still grasping the pink bag that blended in with the pink stripes on her shirt. The girl’s mother began fixing the girl’s hair into two dark-brown pony tails that sprouted from her head. The mother struck up a conversation with the girl’s aunt. Meanwhile the little girl stared wide-eyed around the hospital. The blue chairs and couches of the lobby were nearly empty, only a few visitors and nurses strolled. There was a cappuccino station, but it stood abandoned in the corner. Nobody was going to get their strong brew this morning.
After almost an half-hour of conversation, the family began making their way down a corridor. Posted above them were glowing signs with navigating arrows guiding everyone through the web of hospital sectors; emergency, radiology, cancer center. The little girl still clung near her mother, like a moon that never dares leave its orbit. Next to her hung the pink bag in the girl’s small hands.
The group turned right into a room where even more family waited. Everybody entered the room slowly because of the limited walking space.
At last the mother and daughter entered the room.
“Go ahead mama,” said the mother, giving her daughter a gentle nudge forward.
The little girl walked to the side of her great-grandmother seated on a chair in a blue hospital gown with a green blanket draped over her legs. The little girl stretched out her arms, finally loosening the grip on the pink bag to give it to the smiling matriarch. The great-grandmother closed her eyes, grinned even wider and held the pink bag close to her heart with both hands.
“Thank you mama,” said the great-grandmother.
The little girl looked down and disappeared behind her mother.