“I tried to,” she said.

Bracha nodded solemnly. “They didn’t fit?”

Ayala blinked at her and Bracha smirked. “In the suitcase.”

“Ha, ha. I’m serious. I worked very hard to convince them to move here, close to me. I mean, they need so much help, and my brother… he means well but there’s only so much he can do, especially with his little kids and Shaina—” She pursed her lips, in an attempt to stop herself from saying anything more about her sister-in-law, but Bracha gave a small, understanding nod.

“My mother was stubborn, of course, but I’m hoping that now that I’ve left and she sees how difficult it is for them to manage at home, she’ll change her mind.”

Bracha sat down on the couch, leaning her elbow on the armrest. Casually, but with a hint of amusement in her voice, she said, “Gosh, will you be really disappointed if, instead, your mother discovers that she is able to manage alone?”

Ayala stiffened. “I’d be thrilled, of course, if that happens.”

But Bracha shook her head, smiling at her fondly. “You’re lying, but that’s okay. That’s why we all love you so much. Superwoman Ayala to the rescue!” She punched an arm in the air.

Ayala pinched her lips together. Bracha loved joking about her need to save people but she’d never found it particularly funny.

“Speaking of,” Bracha continued lightly, “I’m shocked that you’ve been home for almost twenty-four hours and haven’t asked me for an update on Chesed Tzirel.”

Ayala blushed. “I was going to call you this morning, but you beat me to it.  Tell me how it’s been going. Every time we spoke on the phone, you seemed to have things under control, but now I want to hear for real. It must have been really hard for you.”

As Bracha gave a small shrug, Ayala felt a sting of remorse. She’d been so caught up in her worries about her parents that she hadn’t fully stopped to consider how much she was dumping on her friend. “I’m sorry I left you like that. It was horrible of me, now that I think of it. I mean, I’d brought you in davka because the caseload was too much for me to handle alone.”

Bracha waved her hand. “I meant it when I told you things were going fine. It was a bit overwhelming at first, and some of your regular patients were very wary about using an inexperienced substitute.” She grinned. “When I took Mr. and Mrs. Aaronson to the cardiologist, Mrs. Aaronson asked me twice if I was sure I was understanding the doctor correctly.”

“No! But she’s such a sweetheart!”

“Oh, she said it very sweetly.” Bracha flexed her fingers. “But I must have passed her translator test because last week she actually called me to say she’s scheduling their next appointment and she wants to find out first when I’m available.”

“Oh. Wow.” Ayala felt an uncomfortable tightening in her chest. “That’s great! You must have really earned her trust.”

Bracha smiled modestly. “Ah, she had no choice. It was me or muddling through it alone.”

Ayala shook her head. “But she did have a choice about this upcoming appointment and she chose you.” Why did her voice sound so constricted? She was happy that Bracha was doing so well in her new role; of course she was.

“Maybe she also had nightmares that you weren’t coming back.”

Ayala made a face. She didn’t like the too-understanding look in Bracha’s eyes. Or the way she felt the need to add, “You’ll always be the best, you know that.”

“I don’t need to be the best,” Ayala said quickly. “Are you kidding? My dream is that you’ll take over the Chesed Tzirel medical liaison division, with a whole staff working under you, and I’ll supervise while sipping iced coffees at the beach.”

Bracha burst out laughing. “The day I see you hanging out at the beach!” She shook her head. “Better get Dini prepared for the influx of staff salaries.”

Ayala’s smile faded. Fundraising. Ouch. “On second thought… maybe we’ll just stick to the two of us,” she mumbled.

Bracha lifted an eyebrow. Ayala shook her head. “Never mind, just… sore topic. I, uh — okay, embarrassing story, but while I was in the US, Dini asked me to meet with a wealthy friend of her father’s, to see if he’d be a potential mega-donor.” Ayala smiled ruefully. “Let’s just say, it did not go well.”

Bracha laughed. “Right, Dini mentioned that.” She reached out and patted Ayala’s arm. “Between you and me, I think we were both relieved to hear that even the great Ayala Wexler can make human mistakes.”

Ayala forced a smile in response. Dini mentioned it? They were both relieved? What, had they shared a good laugh together over Ayala’s humiliating meeting?

“I guess you and Dini have gotten to know each other while I was away, huh?”

Bracha nodded. “Yeah, we have, actually. And — surprise, surprise — I discovered that your rich friend has much more depth to her than I’d thought. She’s a good person and — and a good friend.”

Ayala’s chest tightened even more. She tried to ignore it. “What, you think I’d be friends with someone shallow?” she teased.

Bracha laughed. “Maybe I was just jealous.”

Ayala snorted. But as she abruptly stood up to bring drinks from the kitchen, the word echoed in her head.

Jealous? She, Ayala?

Leora Schwartz certainly sounded happy that Ayala was back. Ayala smiled to herself as she paid the cab driver — not forgetting to take the receipt for reimbursement, as Dini reminded her (“Of course you should not be paying for your cabs out of pocket! My dear, next on my fundraising list is to buy you a company car!”) — and headed into Hadassah’s oncology ward. Technically, she didn’t really need to be at this appointment; it was a follow-up with their radiologist and, as Leora had pointed out, she and Reuven had managed the last meeting on their own while Ayala had been away.

But as soon as Leora had heard Ayala’s voice on the phone — a courtesy call to let her know she was back — she’d immediately exclaimed, “Wow, what perfect timing! We have an appointment today!”

Which meant that, despite her backtracking afterward (“But you just came home! You must be exhausted! Really, we’ll be fine on our own”), Ayala had insisted she’d be happy to accompany them.

And she was. Taking a deep, satisfying breath as she walked through the hospital halls, she felt like she was back home.

“Ayala!” Leora stood up as Ayala entered the waiting area. “You are amazing. Absolutely amazing.” She turned to her husband who, Ayala was disturbed to note, was looking wan and thinner than last time she’d seen him. “Can you believe she came here from literally just off the plane?”

Ayala laughed. “Not literally. I came home yesterday.” She sat down next to Leora, instantly slipping into the role that came so naturally to her. “Forget about me, tell me about how you’ve been doing.”

“Baruch Hashem.” Leora threw a quick glance at Reuven. “We’re… y’know, hanging in there. Ezer Mizion is busy looking for a match for him. B’ezras Hashem, they’ll find the perfect donor soon.”

Ayala nodded. “We’re all davening.” Reuven nodded his thanks.

“And the kids?” she continued. “How have things been on the home front?”

“Fine. You guys are wonderful. That sweet newlywed Dini set us up with, Penina, has been absolutely fabulous. She comes to play with my kids, she brings them toys, and she even straightens up my house sometimes.”

“I’m glad Penina’s being so helpful,” Ayala said. “I’ll have to mention it to Dini.” She made a mental note to compliment Dini on the impressive job she’d done with her volunteer group. She had a guilty feeling that she hadn’t made enough of a fuss about this until now.

“Oh, I told her myself, when she called the other day,” Leora said. “I said how grateful I am, and how I don’t know how we’d be getting through this challenge without all of you, and that if she wants to quote me for a testimonial, I’m more than happy — without my name, of course.”

Ayala coughed. “Testimonial?”

“That’s what it’s called, isn’t it? Those little quotes you see on campaign pages, telling you how wonderful the organization is?”

Ayala dug her fingernails into her palms. “Yes. Testimonial. Um, thank you for the offer.” She felt her face reddening.

“Oh, that’s nothing! I only felt bad that I couldn’t be an ambassador, like Dini was asking. Well, she understood, of course. She said not to worry about it at all, she’d only wanted to let us know about the campaign, in case we knew of people who were able to donate.”

Ayala nearly choked. “She — she asked you to be an ambassador?” The wife of a cancer patient? If that wasn’t taking advantage of someone in their time of vulnerability, she didn’t know what was!

“Well, it’s only fair, I suppose.” Leora shrugged.  “Anyway, I wish you lots of success. It sounds like it’s going to be some campaign.”

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 903)