Sophia Sasson - Mending The Doctor's Heart

“As a doctor, it’s my job to save people, and your mother is by no means terminal. If you want to be obstinate, fine. There’s only so much I can do.”

“It’s not your place to say how I should or should not live my life.”

Nico turned to see his mother standing there and groaned. Why couldn’t he catch a break? First Uncle Bruno and now his mother. The look in her eyes told him he was in for a long lecture. Approaching her, he spoke softly in Chamorro. “Nana, Anna is trying to help. Please don’t start something. We don’t have to listen to her.”

“You do know I speak Chamorro, and my hearing is perfect.” Anna’s tone reminded him of the time he’d taken her to see the Fish Eye Marine Park and she’d been asked to pay the tourist fee, which was twice as much as the residents’ ticket price. She had planted her feet and given the baby-faced teenager working the counter an earful about how she was just as much a resident as Nico. The poor kid probably hadn’t received that kind of scolding since he was a toddler.

He gave her an exasperated look, remembering why they’d had to buy the house in Tumon Bay to begin with. For some reason, Anna and his mother just rubbed each other the wrong way and he always had the misfortune of being caught in the middle.

Anna stepped up to his mother, and short of physically separating them, Nico realized he wasn’t going to avoid an argument today.

“Nana, I understand that you want to die at home, I respect that. But you don’t have to die at all. Women survive breast cancer and go on to have happy, healthy, productive lives. You can see your grandchildren grow up. Surely that’s worth the sacrifice of getting treatment.”

She’d called his mother Nana. That’s what Anna had always called her. When he’d first introduced the two women, Anna had insisted on calling her Mrs. Atao. That had changed when they got engaged, but it warmed his soul to know she still thought of his mother as Nana.

“Child, when you’re my age, you’ll see that life is about quality rather than quantity. It’s time for me to go. You mainland people fight to the end, painfully eking out every breath. That’s not how we do it here.”

He watched Anna blow out a frustrated breath. She didn’t understand; never had.

“Thank you for looking at her chart,” Nico said. “Let me drive you back.”

She blinked up at him, then shuffled her feet. “Is there someone else who can give me a ride?”

It was just as well. They’d just fight all the way back, and it wasn’t worth it anymore. “I’ll arrange it.”

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