Holidays at Crescent Cove (15 page)

“Yes.” But when she got to room four, only David was there.

“They've taken her down for a CT scan.” He stepped toward her and put his arms around her and Mimi. “They seem very competent here.”

The nurse left, another one took her place. “Are you the parents?”

Bri jumped away. “I'm Brianna Boyce, Lily's mother.”

“I see. We'll need you to come fill out the insurance and release forms, please.”

“Release forms?” Bri's mind couldn't seem to understand what was going on. She had to pull herself together. They were at the hospital, they were going to take care of Lily. She would be fine. She had to be.

“In order to allow the surgery,” the nurse explained patiently.

Bri looked at David.

“They'll need to remove Lily's appendix,” he said. “Go sign the papers.”

“Yes, of course.” She stepped away from him.

“Dr. Henderson, Dr. Mosley asked if you would explain to the patient what is going to happen.”

Bri heard David breathe but she didn't turn around. The nurse was already walking down the corridor, and Bri numbly followed. Had the nurse just called David Doctor?

The first thing she saw when she reached the waiting room was Nick coming through the door.

He saw Bri and hurried toward her. “I moved your car. You left the keys in it. Do you need anything out of it?”

“No. Thank you. You didn't have to come.”

“Of course I did. Margaux will be here soon. She's waiting for Jude to come stay with Connor.”

Bri burst into tears. Mimi began wailing.

“It'll be fine. But you have to fill out forms. Give Mimi to me.”

Mimi only screamed louder when Nick tried to take her. So the three of them went into the business office together.

Bri signed form after form, mindless, without reading them. Just scribbled a semblance of her name as fast as she could. So they could operate on her Lily. It seemed to go on forever.

Once the papers were signed and the insurance cards photocopied, they were told to take the elevator to the third floor where they could wait for the doctor. They'd barely sat down when Dr. Mosley came into the room. He shook hands with Nick and explained what was happening. They were going to remove Lily's appendix. They were going into the operating room immediately. The appendix was intact so far. The sooner the surgery, the easier on the patient it would be.

The doctor left. Bri signed more papers. The nurse left just as Margaux walked into the room.

“I got here as soon as I could. How is she?”

“They're operating now. David went with them,” Bri said. “Nick, what did you tell them when you called? When we got here they called him Dr. Henderson.”

Nick looked at his wife. Margaux looked at Nick.

“They called him Dr. Henderson because he is a doctor.”

Chapter Eight

“
A
DOCTOR?
A
real medical doctor?”

Margaux nodded and led Bri and Mimi, who was still clinging to her neck, over to a couch. “Nick, maybe you could go see if you could find us some decent coffee?”

Nick scowled at her, but left the room.

“I don't get it,” Bri said. “He's been practically living at my house, I've told him my life story, and he never said a word. He made it sound like his life was schlepping boxes of supplies to refugees.” She shifted Mimi in her lap. “And why the hell would a doctor hitchhike across the country?”

“He's been volunteering for the last ten years. I don't think he had the kind of patients who could pay for their care.”

“And how come you and Nick know this and I don't?”

“I guess David explained it to Nick while they were talking the other day. He wasn't going to tell me. It was one of those guy things. But I was worried about David staying in your caretaker's cottage. I mean, we really didn't know anything about him.

“Nick ended up telling me parts of it to keep me from coming over to your house and spending the night.” She shrugged. “The rest I either guessed or wheedled out of Nick when his attention was on something else.”

Bri passed her free hand over her face. “I should be thankful. I just wish I had known. Maybe then I wouldn't have panicked so badly if I knew that he knew what he was doing.”

She glanced up at the big round wall clock. It had been over an hour since they'd brought Lily to the hospital. Only ten minutes since the nurse had left with the permission papers. “Do you think she'll be all right?”

Margaux scooted closer and put her arm around Bri, stroked Mimi's hair. “I'm sure . . . I hope so.”

Nick was gone nearly fifteen minutes. When he did return he was carrying a big brown bag.

Margaux jumped up to relieve him of the bag. “Where did you have to go to get this?” she asked, pulling out cups, napkins, and plastic-covered pastries.

“I didn't. I called Finley and he dropped by Dottie's for the coffee. And Dottie being Dottie added what she thought you girls might want.” Margaux pulled out a thermos.

“It's Finley's. Dottie commandeered it because she didn't want the refills to get cold.”

“Well, thank your deputy for all of us. And tell him I'll return his thermos.” Margaux handed a cup to Bri.

Bri took it, but simply held it in her hands and looked back at the clock.

M
IMI HAD FALLEN
asleep at last and was lying on the couch with a hospital blanket over her. Nick and Margaux were talking quietly in the corner. Bri had finally stopped watching the clock and was pacing the floor when Dr. Mosley entered, followed by David, unshaven, wrinkled, and looking like he'd been through the wars.

Bri stopped pacing. Nick and Margaux automatically came to stand by her.

The doctor smiled. “Everything went very well. We were able to remove the appendix laproscopically. If everything goes as it should, you'll have her home for Christmas.”

Bri began to shake. “Thank you. Can I see her?”

“Of course. She's still groggy, but she wants to see her mama.”

“Oh.” Bri jerked forward. Turned back to Mimi.

“We'll stay with Mimi,” Margaux said.

Bri could only nod, she was too close to tears of relief, mixed with emotions she couldn't begin to name. Joy, confusion, hope, and, strangely enough, anger. She headed blindly to the door, passing David without a word.

D
AVID DIDN'T EVEN
watch her go. He felt numb. Sick. It had been years since he'd been in a real hospital, and yet it all came back to him in one blinding moment when he carried that little girl through the emergency room doors.

It was all so familiar, almost like he'd never left. And yet so much had changed within him since then. The admission procedure, the smell of the corridors, the white coats, the colorful scrubs. The things you didn't have in the field, where surgeries were done in Quonset huts if you were lucky, in a tent or worse if you weren't.

Here, everything was so clean. He'd forgotten how clean it was.

Margaux nudged him with a cup of coffee. He took it. Walked over to one of the prefabricated chairs and sat down, holding the cup in both hands. Felt a hand on his arm.

Margaux Prescott was looking down at him, concern in her eyes. “Are you okay? Hungry? Dottie from the diner sent over pastries, though you might want something more substantial after the night you've had.”

“No thanks.”

“We're all so grateful to you.”

He shook his head.

“Bri knows you're a doctor. Does it matter?”

“Was.”

“Whatever. She heard the nurse call you ‘doctor' and wondered why. I told her because you were one.”

“It's okay. Thanks for the coffee.” She left him alone after that, but he knew they were both watching him. They must think it weird that he denied his ability. His avocation. Hiding his light under a bushel, his missionary father would say. But that light had gone out months ago, had been diminishing steadily with each epidemic, malnourished child, blind old man, or barely recognizable body that still lived. A shudder went through him and coffee splashed to the floor. He rubbed it dry with his boot.

The room was still. Someone had turned the volume off in the old television that flickered from a wall shelf, like old televisions in waiting rooms everywhere, everywhere but in the field. The only sound was the maddening ticking of the institutional clock. And the thump and jump of his own heart.

He stood, put his cup in the trash. “I think I'll go see if Bri needs anything, and then if you could ask someone to drop me off at her house.”

“Sure,” Margaux said. “She'll need some clothes, at least. Knowing Bri, she'll stay here for the duration. I'll drop you off and take Mimi home with me, then come back for you. Connor can stay home from school today and entertain her. You're welcome to come, too.”

B
RI SAT CLOSE
to the hospital bed, holding Lily's tiny hand. The rambunctious, chubby-cheeked girl looked so small and fragile. Her black hair, spread across the white pillow, haloed a face so pale that fear raced up Bri's spine.

An IV that the nurse said was antibiotics ran from her little arm. Her stuffed rabbit sat on the bedside table where she'd be able to see it when she woke up.

She was so still. Bri wished she'd move or something, but knew she was sedated. She took in a long breath, eased it out.

What if David hadn't been there? What if she'd been alone and waited until the morning to see if Lily were better? What if she'd waited too late? Lily could have died.

Her eyes filled with tears. Maybe she didn't deserve these beautiful children after all. She'd wanted to do some good in the world, but maybe she wasn't up to it. Maybe the world didn't want her to be useful, caring, happy. Maybe she was a fool to think that she could do it alone.

“How is she?”

Bri turned her head, blinking furiously. David stood several feet away, as if he didn't want to get too close to them. “She looks so . . . so little.” Her voice cracked.

He smiled, but it was a tired smile. “She is little. But she'll be fine. Margaux said she'd bring you whatever you needed.”

Bri looked down at her pajamas, realizing for the first time she wasn't fully clothed. Her mouth twisted and the tears fell against her control.

David took two steps and pulled her up. Wrapped his arms around her and held her close while she tried not to cry. She cried anyway. And felt a little better afterward.

She pushed him away, not roughly but so she could see his face, the model in her raising her head long enough to realize her own face must looked blotched and hideous.

She meant to thank him for all he'd done. For going the extra mile when it was obvious all he wanted to do was deliver his letter and leave. But what she said was, “Why didn't you tell me you were a doctor?”

“It didn't come up.”

“Something that big? And it just didn't come up? Why didn't you want us to know? Or was it just me?”

“Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a doctor now. So it seemed superfluous.”

“What if you hadn't been there? What if I hadn't called you to talk to Lily? What if you'd left that first day?” She was talking to herself as much as David, questioning her ability to raise these girls she loved so much. She was wound so tight and so close to the edge of something that might turn into hysteria. She heard herself and couldn't stop.

“What if I'd never come?” He smiled at her. “You would have taken her to the hospital just like you did this morning. You'd be sitting here waiting for her to wake up or in the waiting room with Mimi and the Prescotts. Just like now.”

“How do you know? She might have died. Maybe I was crazy to think I could do this.”

He grasped her shoulders, shook her. “Stop it. You're just a little post-traumatic right now. Lily is fine. You'll learn as you go, just like every mother before you. And you have a terrific support system. You'll be fine. ”

She covered her face with her hands. “I just don't want to screw up again.”

“You didn't screw up. You just happened to have help. You really didn't need me. I saw you in action. You didn't need me at all.”

Something in his voice made her forget about her fears and her feelings of inadequacy. “Who are you trying to convince, David. Me or you?”

“Just tell me what you want Margaux to bring you from home.”

She didn't press him, but wrote out a list and handed it to him. He stuck it his pocket and walked to the door.

“David?”

He turned. “Hmmm?”

“Why did you quit practicing medicine?”

He shrugged slightly. “Because it didn't change one damn thing.” He turned and was gone, leaving Bri to stare at the empty doorway.

Chapter Nine

M
ARGAUX STOPPED HER
car at Bri's kitchen door. They hadn't talked much on the drive from the hospital, for which David was grateful. He was suddenly exhausted. He practically crawled out of the car.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem.”

He started walking toward the cottage.

“Hang on for a sec.” She pulled out the list and scribbled something at the end. Then she tore it off and handed it to him. “My cell number. Call when you want a ride back to the hospital, or if you want to come over for dinner or something. Do you have food? Should I go get you some lunch?

“No, but thanks.”

“I'm sorry I let the cat out of the bag about you being a doctor.”

“It's no big deal. Doesn't matter in the least.”

“She heard them call you doctor at the hospital. She had a right to know.”

“It's fine, Margaux. Don't give it another thought.” He didn't wait, but strode away before she could call him back again.

As soon as he was inside the cottage, he tossed off his jacket, took a long hard look at his backpack where it still lay on the floor. Stay or leave? Life would have been so much simpler if he had just dropped Ben's letter in a mailbox. Now he could feel those pernicious strings of caring tying him to the spot. How could he leave until Lily was totally recovered? How would Bri manage?

Just like she managed before you stumbled into her life, fool.
She didn't need him, those kids didn't need him. The truth was, nobody needed him. He thought he would like it here but he didn't. Blame it on his missionary parents, his decision to become a doctor. To go where he was needed, not where he could settle down in a nice town to a comfortable practice.

He sat on the edge of the bed and untied his boots, kicked them off. Lay down and pulled the blanket over him. He had done some good. But it hadn't lasted. What was the point of saving a village from disease just to have it raided by an opposing tribe and the people killed a few months later? Why set up triage centers when they were blown to smithereens before the fist patient could be seen?

What the hell was the point?

He fell asleep on the question.

David awoke a couple of hours later, feeling somewhat refreshed and immensely hungry. He wondered if Margaux had locked Bri's door.

Mercifully, the back door to the farmhouse was unlocked. He rummaged in the fridge, careful not to eat anything they might need. Then he read the note Margaux had left tented on the kitchen table.
I mean it, call me if you need anything.
Again she'd left her cell number. This time she'd added Nick's cell and their landline.

David shook his head. They were all bending over backwards to make him feel welcome. And it was the last thing in the world he wanted. He wanted to be alone, unattached, detached, uncaring. To be any other way was just too damn hard.

He made himself an egg sandwich and then went outside, where he chopped wood until his arms and back ached. He replenished the wood pile, then looked around for something else that needed doing.

The phone numbers sitting on the table kept beckoning. He wanted to know how Lily was doing. If Mimi was okay without her Mama Boy. Finally he gave it up, showered, changed into the last of his clean clothes, and started walking toward the hospital.

He hopped a ride in the back of a pickup truck that let him off a block away from the hospital. He stopped at the gift shop, and bought a helium balloon with a big yellow smiley face and
Get Well Soon
written across it, then he took the elevator to the third floor.

It was with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation that he opened the door to Lily's room. He checked on the threshold. The woman sitting in the chair next to Lily's bed was not Bri. For the briefest second he thought it was Margaux, but when she turned to see who had entered, he knew he had to be looking at Margaux's mother. What was her name? Jude.

“You must be David,” she said, breaking into a smile.

Why were they all so ready to be nice to him?

“I'm Jude Sullivan, Margaux's mother.”

“Nice to meet you. I just—” He looked up at the balloon.

“Well, come on in. Lily, look what Dr. Henderson brought you.”

“Day-did,” Lily said sleepily. “Boon.”

Jude beamed at Lily. “That's right, he's brought you a balloon.” She motioned for David to come closer.

David stepped toward the bed.

“Mama gone.”

Jude leaned over and patted her hand. “Mama's gone to see Mimi. She's coming back soon.”

Lily looked at David.

“She'll be back soon.”

She asked again in Mandarin.

“Back soon,” David repeated.

Lily nodded. “Back soo. Back soo. Back soo.” Her eyes closed.

David sighed and tied the balloon to the dresser across the room where Lily could see it.

“I think the saints must have brought you to us, David Henderson.”

“I'm afraid the saints gave up on me a long time ago, Mrs. Sullivan.”

“Hmmph. Call me Jude. Everyone else does. The saints never give up on a person. Maybe you've given up on yourself?”

David had been smiling at her, but her statement wiped the expression off his face.

“Have I offended you? Sorry. But I sense a man about to bolt. Stay awhile and give us a chance to thank you properly.”

“I didn't do anything but make the mistake of sleeping in the wrong barn.”

“Do you really think it was a mistake?”

“Well, it wasn't ordained, if that's what you're thinking.” He heard the bitterness in his voice. Started to apologize for his rudeness.

Jude laughed, a melodious sound that disarmed him. And confused him.

“I'm not
that
religious. I'm sure everyone's life would have gone on perfectly well, whether you entered it or not. But you've certainly enriched it.”

“I see where Margaux gets her tenacity.”

Jude smiled complacently. “I taught her well. We've all had our ups and downs. That's the beauty of family and friends. They give you a soft place to land. Now if you don't mind sitting here for a minute, I'll go get myself a cup of tea. Would you care for anything?”

Taken off guard, David could only shake his head and sit down.

B
RI SAT ON
Margaux's couch sipping tea and holding Mimi on her lap. Mimi had cried when Bri came in from the hospital. Bri just picked her up and held her. How could she ever make her tiny daughter understand that she would never leave her, if she had her way? And she wasn't looking forward to leaving her to go back to the hospital.

“Was I crazy to think I could do this by myself?”

Margaux frowned at her. “Of course not. Anyway, you're not by yourself.”

“It was just a fluke that David —Dr. Henderson—showed up out of the blue, like some flaming miracle.”

“I wasn't talking about David.”

Bri sighed. “I know. I'm sorry. I know I have you and Nick and Jude and Dottie and Grace . . . okay, a whole lot of people. It's just him showing up, speaking Chinese, and diagnosing appendicitis that showed me how incompetent I am.”

“Bullshit. If his coming has shown you anything, it's that maybe you're in need of a little companionship.”

Bri laughed in spite of herself. “You make me sound like an old woman with a hundred cats.”

Margaux laughed, too. “I did not. I just think he's ruffled your peace.” She cocked her head at Bri.

“Oh no. Not going there. You know what happens with me and men. I have responsibilities now.”

“I know what
happened
with you and men. Happened, past tense. That was ages ago. Exactly when was the last time you had any dealings with men?”

“Jake McGuire redid my banister and several treads this fall.”

“And don't think Nick and I didn't notice.”

“He's sweet but a little too good-natured for me.”

Margaux chuckled.

“What?”

“At least you thought about it.”

Bri sighed.

“Look, it's hard to suddenly have kids already walking around and going to school, without having time to wrap your mind around it and waiting for them to learn to talk and walk and all those things that most mother's have months to prepare for. Dealing with Connor is often beyond my expertise, and as for Nick, fuggedaboutit. That's why we have grandparents.”

“My parents came to visit a few weeks ago,” Bri said. “They lasted a day. It was too stressful for everyone. They did invite us to go there for Christmas, but I wanted the girls to have Christmas in their own home.”

“Absolutely. Plus we wanted you all to be here with us. And they have mom and Nick's mom to spoil them.” Margaux smiled happily. “It's our first Christmas together, too. Which reminds me. Are you all set for . . .” She glanced at Mimi. “S-A-N-T-A?”

“Yes, thank goodness. I've been buying stuff for months now. I probably shouldn't give it all to them at once. Talk about overkill.”

“Us, too. Trying to make up for all the bad stuff they've been through, Connor, and Lily and Mimi.”

Mimi looked up at the sound of her name. “Mimi,” she said.

“I should get back to the hospital,” Bri said. “Dr. Mosley said that Lily might be able to come home for Christmas Eve. That's tomorrow. I really, really hope that happens. Do you think they would let Mimi in to see Lily if I took her with me?”

“See Lily,” Mimi said.

Margaux smiled at Bri. “We'll all go.”