"All the ball guys signed it!" he exclaimed. "And the Red Sox won!"
"Miracle," Karen said, earning a glare from me.
We caught up over supper with soccer talk competing with baseball chatter and both dished out with takeout chicken and mashed potatoes. Timmy and Paul finally out talked us. Our turn would come in a couple of weeks when Karen and I planned to travel down for our weekend at my sister's home in Connecticut. At one point, Paul turned to Karen.
"Timmy told me you were feeling sick when we left. Are you better?"
"Yup." Karen said. "Sarah cured me, the old-fashioned way."
"With tea and sympathy," I added. The conversation moved off in another direction. Nothing more was said.
Wednesday rolled around once more. Karen's session with Dr. Mason was earlier in the morning, and as she went directly to school from his office I had no scoop on their discussion when I met with him for my two o'clock appointment. I was in a particularly cheery mood. He picked up on it immediately. "What makes Sarah Jeanne so pleased with life today?" he asked.
"Why shouldn't I be?" I answered as I took my usual seat across from him. "It's a gorgeous day, I'm healthy as a horse, the store is selling lots of toys, and I have an adoring family."
"And just what caused this turn around? If I remember, last week you were upset because your step daughter . . ."
"Please call Karen my daughter . . ."
". . . your daughter continued to treat you like 'the evil witch of the north,' as I recall."
"A passing problem, that's all. Now things are moving along very nicely."
Dr. Mason considered my answer. "Care to elaborate?"
"Not particularly. Karen was ill and I played nurse. She seemed to appreciate my attention. Our relationship has been glossy ever since."
"Your nursing must have been impressive."
"I'd like to think it worked out well. What else do you want to discuss today?"
Dr. Mason ignored my attempt to change the subject. "Karen seemed in a happy mood too."
"Her soccer team won on Saturday. She scored two goals. Maybe that's it." If Karen had talked about our medical session and the doctor wanted me to discuss it, I wasn't going to make it easy for him. Not knowing what Karen had told him and absent her having done so, I wasn't about to detail what occurred.
I received the familiar sigh. "Karen mentioned what you did for her."
"Is your telling me that breaching her confidentiality?"
"No. She gave me permission. I thought you might bring the subject up on your own."