Chapter Text
A Christmas Who
Chapter 1
August 18, 1985
Man O War Elementary
Miss Foreman's 4th grade
Lexington KY USA
"This afternoon boys and girls we are going to learn how to write a letter correctly." Lilly's eyes glazed over as it did in most of her classes. She was too smart for her grade. She was a 10-year-old with the brain of a 30-year-old. So, as the teacher, Miss Foreman wrote on the chalkboard Lilly drew her trademark four leaf clover.
August 18, 1985
Coal Hill Academy
Mrs. Tyler's Year 5
London, England
"Alright class today we're going to do something exciting" Mrs. Tyler started as she wrote an address on the board. Donna sat in her seat anxiously waiting for this day to be over. She was bored. She hated school. It didn’t help she didn’t get much sleep because her three cousins, Chris, and his twin brothers James and John had moved in with her. They were all trying to get adjusted to the new living situations. Chris, James and John lost their parents, Faith and James, in a car crash in the spring. They were living with their oldest brother Peter and his wife Jodie until Jodie gave birth to their first son Matthew. Suddenly having three preteen boys and an infant in the house became a little too much. She was adjusting to a lot.
4th grade
Lilly was going along with everything as she always did. She knew the answers to the questions before they were even asked. The one thing that did intrigue Lilly was Miss Foreman, a new teacher this year, said they were going to have pen pals from her home country, England. She wanted her class to learn as much as they could about England from some actual students in England. It was going to be a school year long project. Every month the students would write to students in Miss Foreman's old school and vice versa. Lilly was interested in this.
5th year
Donna was a little intrigued to find out that they were going to write to kids from America. She had always wanted to go to America. She got the name of her pen pal. Liliana Patrick. This was one assignment she was going to enjoy.
November 18, 1985.
Lilly and Donna have been pen pals since the schools brought them together. Lilly learned about Donna being an only child but that she had three cousins living with her. They had adjusted as well as could be. Chris was having issues more than the twins. He was lashing out and was even more sarcastic than normal. He and Donna have gotten into trouble more than their fair share. She is however closer to the twins. Chris is a year older than the three of them. John and Donna are thick as thieves and James tags in whenever they let him.
December 1, 1985
Lilly sent out her Christmas card. It was a picturesque card describing what life was like in America. The rolling hills and horses were in the picture on her card. Donna's card was of the Queen, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Donna sent her pictures of where she lived in a quaint town called Nevada City. It reminded Lilly of the small town where her uncle lived.
Lilly and Donna remained pen pals till the end of the school year. Then as summer came on the girls lost touch. Lilly grew out of Care Bears and Rainbow Brite. Still too smart for her own good she eventually graduated high school and earned a free ride to Harvard University. She graduated top of her class and got her medical degree. Little ten-year-old Lilly was now Dr. Liliana Patrick neurosurgeon.
It is now the turn of the century. Lilly has been a doctor for most of her life. She's still single and has no kids. Her life revolves around her work and her volunteering at animal shelters and equine charities. As chief of staff at a prestigious hospital in Chicago, Lilly is responsible for the day to day comings and goings.
It is the week before Thanksgiving and just like every major holiday she works so someone else can spend time with their family. She's dressed in blue scrubs and takes the children in the pediatrics around to help decorate the tree. Those that can handle it help decorate the rest of the hospital. Today she came dressed as a turkey. She'll do anything to brighten someone's life. "What does the turkey say?" She asked the children that sat around as she read the book about Thanksgiving. "Gobble gobble gobble!" says a little blue-eyed blond hair girl with a toothless smile and pink cheeks. She was always wearing her princess outfit. She wanted to be known as Princess Kaylee. Princess Kaylee it was then. Princess Kaylee had a rare form of heart cancer. At 4 years old this was probably going to be her last Christmas. "That’s right!" smiled Lilly at the little girl. Princess Kaylee ran up to her and gave her a hug. Something about a hug from a child always cheered Lilly up when she had a bad day.
Lilly had a local children's celebrity to come in and pay the kids a visit on Thanksgiving so they could enjoy the day wit their parents. When she went home that night, she got a call from a nurse. "Doctor Patrick"
"Yes"
"Princess Kaylee passed a couple hours ago." Lilly hung up the phone and fell on her bed. She cried her heart out. That was the final straw. Kaylee Williams wasn't her patient, but she always lit up like a Christmas tree when Lilly came by. She made sure to run up and give Lilly a hug and tell her all about her day. Lilly took time and played Barbies with her and for a few minutes the child, who had no one had someone to love her. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Lilly placed a little flower on Princess Kaylee's casket. The nurseing staff and doctors where the only ones around to wish her goodbye. At just four years old Princess Kaylee touched so many lives. She lost her parents in a car crash when she was 2 and then diagnosed with heart cancer when she was three. She was all the time telling everyone she was going to meet Jesus soon and he promised her a kitten. "Enjoy your kitten sweet baby" Lilly kissed her head and then left the cemetery.
Lilly went home and she felt herself getting cold. She was getting angry at the world and life in general. She yelled and screamed and cursed and asked why a little child had to suffer so much when there are horrible people that get to live real meaningful lives. She wiped her eyes and took a shower. It was time to go back to work.
Lilly had been working nonstop through the first part of December. She was no longer the friendly, jovial, sweet, bubbly doctor the hospital knew and loved. She was hardened. She built walls around her heart and let no one in. No, she was done caring so much. It hurt too bad and the payoff wasn’t worth it.
The hospital noticed a change in Lilly's demeanor. Lilly's main boss got her to the side. "Dr. Patrick what is the matter?"
"What? Nothing I’m fine." She got defensive.
"You're not fine. Something's happened and you have changed." Lilly wouldn’t answer she just looked down. "Lilly it is time you take some time off"
"What? Amanda no! I am fine." Lilly was getting panicked. What would she do if she couldn’t work? That caused her more panic.
"Dr. Patrick that is an order" and with that Dr. Dean spun on her heel and walked off her curly red/brown hair cascading side to side. Lilly felt the inside of her chest get heavy. She's known Amanda for many years, and never once has she pulled the bosses card. Lilly looked up at the ceiling almost in tears. This year was only getting worse.
Lilly walked home in the cold, sleeting, wet Chicago weather. She needed the fresh air to remind her to breathe. She was smothering in her own skin. The cold made her eyes water and the tears chapped her eyes. She went inside her three-bedroom townhouse and flopped on the couch. The cream color walls seemed to be closing in on her. She felt her chest tighten and had to run. She ran to a spare bedroom and started throwing things around. She screamed in anger and fits of rage as she finally let lose all the hurt and bitterness she's been keeping inside. She fell into a puddle of tears and when she opened her eyes, she saw a little cedar jewelry chest she had as a child. Lilly opened that chest and smiled as she read the letters she kept from Donna.
"Chris is such a jerk. He thinks because he's older than me he can boss me around. Well sunshine that is not going to happen!" Lilly laughed at the ten-year old's sassy sarcasm.
"John and James get to spend more time with gramps than I do and it's not fair! He's my grandpa too! I call John spaceman because he's all the time going on about the stars. James well he's a dunce. I wish I had a sister. I wish you lived closer. You sound like you would be a cool sister! Wouldn’t that be wizard to have a sister?" Lilly smiled as she remembered writing to Donna saying she'd love to have a brother or a sister. She was an only child and never had anyone to play with. She also laughed as she remembered how she had a hard time telling the twins apart. Thankfully John's favorite color was brown so he would always wear brown while James liked blue. Lilly smiled as she looked over the Christmas card Donna sent her. Amanda’s voice kept ringing in her ears. "it's time you take some time off" Lilly took a deep breath and admitted the one hing she never admitted in her 35 years. She needed a break.