New Beginnings (10 page)

“I’m going upstairs,” she said, although neither of her boys acknowledged her message. She smiled to herself. Howie had so needed a man’s attention and approval. He had been thriving since Heath had become a permanent part of his life.

Please, Lord, help them to always have a special bond between them
.

She stopped at Brooke’s door. Sprawled on her bed, Brooke was reading a book. “Hi, honey, how was your day?”

“Boring.”

“Well, I’m glad you found something good to read.”

“I guess.” She lifted her shoulders in a typical teenage I-can’t-be-bothered shrug.

In her own bedroom, Candace took off her work clothes intending to put on something more comfortable. But the bed looked so enticing. If she simply rested for a moment or two, she’d feel refreshed. She could be a better mother. And wife.

So she crawled beneath the sheets and closed her eyes.

Some time later, the bed shifted as Heath climbed in beside her.

“Is dinner ready?” Her voice croaked, thick with sleep.

“You missed dinner, sweetheart. You were so deep asleep, I couldn’t wake you. Are you all right? I’m worried about you.”

She raised herself on one elbow. “I’m fine. Just tired.” She couldn’t remember ever sleeping through dinner. That wasn’t like her at all.

“Your mother put your dinner in the fridge. She said you could microwave it if you were hungry.” He leaned over to kiss her. “The kids are in bed, and the toys are picked up.”

“That’s good. Thank you for watching out for us. All of us.” Candace dropped her head back on the pillow.

Actually, there was one time when she’d missed dinner. She and Dean had been married a couple of years by then. They’d had a lovely vacation together, just the two of them. When she returned to work, she’d felt exhausted. Readjusting to long hours on her feet had been particularly difficult.

With a gasp, she sat up, her back as straight as if someone had fused her spine together. She remembered why she’d been so terribly tired!

After a hastily pulled together dinner, Elena sat alone in the living room. It seemed so empty. Here it was, the twenty-sixth of December and there was no indication that Christmas had been celebrated in her home. Already the day with all of the hours of baking and cooking and excitement was nothing but a memory.

Just like her dream of visiting Andalusia.

Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away. She had so much to be thankful for; she shouldn’t be feeling sorry for herself. Andalusia was simply a dream delayed.

Cesar came and sat beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Disappointed. But I’ll be fine.”

“I just checked. O’Hare’s still closed. They think it will be for at least another twenty-four hours. Maybe longer. Thousands of people are stuck at the airport. They’ve brought out cots for them to sleep on.”

Elena shuddered. “Then I’m glad we didn’t drive all the way to Chicago. Spending two days at the airport doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“I’ll talk to Margo tomorrow. See what she can arrange for us.” He looped his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned her head on him.

“I’ll call the hospital in the morning. See if they need me.”

“You could take a couple of more days off and rest.”

“If Margo can reschedule our trip, I’ll need to take vacation time then.”

“You’re right. I guess we both need to go back to work so we don’t use up all of our vacation.”

She looked up at Cesar, noting the gray that had started to appear at his temples. With his thick head of hair, he would look very distinguished when he turned fully gray. She’d always admired good-looking gray-haired men.

She’d recently noticed a few gray strands appearing in her hair. She wasn’t quite so eager for her hair to turn silver like her mother’s and grandmother’s.

But then, it was right that she and Cesar grow older together. He was her best friend and the man she had vowed to love until death parted them. She prayed the Lord would grant them many more years together.

Cesar gave her a crooked smile. “You didn’t eat much dinner. There’s still a couple of pieces of pie in the refrigerator. Want to join me?”

“There’s also ice cream in the freezer.”

“Ah, apple pie à la mode. Perfect!”

“Since we’re on vacation, at least for today, the calories don’t even count.”

Laughing, he helped her up. Together they strolled into the kitchen to enjoy their last night of vacation and anticipate the next one.

J
AMES HEAVED A SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN HE REACHED
the hospital parking lot on December 27. He’d needed chains just to drive through town. It had been no sure thing that he or anyone else would reach their destination this morning. No telling when he’d get home again if the storm kept up.

Just in case, he’d brought an extra change of underclothes. Having clean outfits wasn’t a problem. He always wore hospital scrubs to minimize the need to wash clothes at home.

After changing in the locker room, he went down to the second-floor nurses’ station. Lorraine Wilder, his nurse supervisor, met him there. A woman with thirty years of experience, she wasn’t one to waste time with idle chitchat.

“The scheduled surgical nurse can’t make it in from Peoria this morning. That means Dr. Drew is going to need you in surgery,” she said. “The liver patient in 236 had a bad night. Dr. Drew is going to remove portions of her bile duct.”

James tensed. That meant Mrs. Witten’s condition was continuing to deteriorate. The surgery would only be a temporary fix. She’d still need a transplant.

“Okay,” James said. “You want me to prep the patient or are you going to take care of that?”

“Go ahead and prep her. I’ll take care of the rest of the patients in the unit. Dr. Drew is doing his best to get to the hospital, but the going is slow.”

“Tell me about it,” James mumbled as he gathered the necessary prep supplies. The second floor seemed unusually quiet. No linen carts rumbled along the hallway. Few pages sounded over the loudspeaker. Even fewer nurses and orderlies handling patient care.

Despite the early hour, he found Mr. Witten and Tammy at Trisha Witten’s bedside. He suspected Neil had stayed the night.

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot with fatigue. “I thought you might be the doctor.”

“Sorry. Dr. Drew is en route though. I’m going to prep your wife for surgery so she’ll be ready when he arrives at the hospital.”

“Neil, ‘oney, I don’t ‘ave time for surgery.” Trisha’s eyes were glazed, and her words were slurred. “I have to do my Christmas shopping. I wanna get you a nice new coat.”

Neil squeezed her hand. “It’s all right, Trisha. The coat I have is fine.”

Their daughter shot James a pleading look. “She’s been confused since yesterday afternoon. She doesn’t remember Christmas already happened.”

“It’s not unusual for a patient with a failing liver to experience some confusion and memory loss,” James assured her. “The surgery Dr. Drew plans should help.” Help, maybe, but for how long?

“Tammy, is that your young man?” With an unsteady hand, Trisha pointed at James.

“No, Mom. Jeffrey had to go to work.”

Trisha squinted at James. “Then who is he? Jeffrey won’t like you seeing another man.”

James stepped beside his patient. “I’m James, your nurse, Mrs. Witten. You’re at Hope Haven Hospital. I’m going to get you ready for a surgical procedure that will make you feel better.”

She seemed to have trouble processing what he had said. “Neil, is that all right?” she asked in a tremulous voice.

“Yes, sweetheart. You do what the nurse says.”

James nodded his approval of Neil’s support. “I’m going to ask your family to step outside for just a few minutes. Then they can come back and stay with you until you’re taken to surgery.”

Neil stood. Both he and Tammy eased their way to the door. “We’ll be right back, Trisha. Don’t worry.”

James thought the lines of worry etching both Neil’s and his daughter’s faces were enough for any family. It was best to keep Trisha as calm as possible.

As promised, it didn’t take James long to prep his patient. He stepped into the hallway and urged Neil away from the door.

“As soon as the doctor arrives, he’ll explain the situation and what he plans to do. He’ll ask you to grant permission for the surgery.”

“Anything that will help her,” Neil vowed. “I wanted to give her part of my liver. I wasn’t a match.” He drew his daughter close and hugged her with one arm. “Tammy was tested too.”

“I’m adopted.” Tears filled Tammy’s eyes. “I wish now that—”

“You’re the daughter of our hearts, Tamitha. Your mother and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Still tearful, Tammy nodded; and the two of them returned to Trisha’s room. James went back to the nurses’ station, arriving just as Anabelle whipped around the counter.

“Good morning, Anabelle.” He jumped back out of her way. “Haven’t seen you yet today.”

“You won’t be seeing much of me all day.” She stepped into the supply room. “Debbie Vaughn had to get home after her night shift. Her husband had to go to work, and they have young children. Somebody has to be home with them.”

She came out of the supply room with her arms full. “Becky called in. She can’t get out of her house. The snowplow left a six-foot-high berm across her driveway that’s turned to ice. Her husband’s trying to dig them out, but it may take a while. Which means Winona and I are it for the Cardiac Care Unit. Leila Hargrave is trying to round up more nurses.”

Leila, the nursing administrator for the hospital, was one tough cookie. She’d be a hard one to say no to if she had any sense you were available. She was also a good administrator who stood behind the nurses when needed.

“And wouldn’t you know,” Anabelle added, “we had two admissions last night. The holidays, between eating too much and shoveling snow, are so hard on hearts.”

With that, she dashed off at a near run.

James was beginning to suspect the hospital would be severely understaffed for the duration of the storm. He could only hope the bad weather would relent soon.

The moment he turned around, he spotted Elena coming his way.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be in Spain,” he said.

“Don’t I wish.” She pushed back a wayward strand of dark hair from her forehead. “We barely made it to the end of our driveway, which turned out to be a good thing. The flight was canceled.”

“Sorry to hear that, but I’m not surprised.”

“The good news is that Leila practically kissed me when I called in to see if they needed more nurses.”

“Boy, do we,” James said.

“I gathered as much. I’m assigned to ICU unless there’s no action there, in which case I’m to help out in the CCU.”

“Anabelle will be very glad to have you.” He gave Elena a quick hug. “Sorry about the trip though.”

“It’s okay. We’ll have another chance.”

Her words sounded optimistic but James couldn’t miss the wistful longing in her eyes.

He prayed her dream trip would yet come to pass.

Candace had barely had time to take a breath since she’d arrived at the hospital this morning. It was as if every pregnant woman in Deerford was determined to give birth—and gain a tax exemption—before the new year started.

She finally escaped from the Birthing Unit to go upstairs to the staff restroom where she could have some privacy.

The shock of realizing why she’d been so tired still had her reeling. Of course, she could be wrong. Her fatigue could be from not getting enough sleep. Or the frantic holiday pace. Or stress. Or tumors or diabetes or a thousand other potential causes. As a nurse, she knew the possibilities were endless.

She’d had no way at home to test her supposition. Until she knew for sure, she didn’t want to tell Heath.

For the moment, the restroom was empty. She stepped into the farthest stall from the door.

Her heart rate accelerated. Her breathing turned shallow. Her face flamed as though she’d been running a race. With shaking fingers, she tried to rip off the cellophane wrapper and nearly dropped the whole thing.

“Oh, for pity sake! It’s not that hard. Just do it!”

She heard feet shuffling a couple of stalls away. “Everything all right in there?”

“Fine.” Her voice broke.

She sat quietly, waiting for the other woman to leave. This was a test she wanted to perform alone. Maybe she should have waited until she was home. Not that she’d necessarily be alone at home, given that she had two children, a mother, and a husband living there with her, all of whom could be very attentive.

Finally, the other woman washed her hands and left.

“No more procrastination, Candace. Do it!”

Then the waiting began in earnest. She checked her watch. She didn’t want to look at the results too soon. If it came out negative, she’d be disappointed. But that wouldn’t be the end of the world. There was plenty of time to…

If the result showed positive—

Her heart skittered an extra beat. Perspiration coated her palms and formed between her breasts. A world of what-ifs scampered through her brain, making her dizzy.

She couldn’t stand it any longer. She looked at the test stick.

Positive!

Thank You, God!
She exhaled a shaky breath.

Before they’d married, she and Heath had discussed having another child. They’d both agreed it was a good idea. But instead of purposefully trying to get pregnant, they decided they’d let whatever happened happen.

Guess what? It had happened.

She tittered a ridiculous giggle. She, of all people, should have recognized her symptoms. She’d specialized in pregnancy and birth all of her nursing career. She’d already given birth to two babies.

It hadn’t even dawned on her. Until last night.

Two nurses banged in through the restroom door, laughing and chatting about their holiday.

Standing quickly, Candace adjusted her clothes and dropped the test stick into the pocket of her scrubs. As coolly as she could, her excitement barely contained, she exited the stall.

“Hi, ladies.” She stood at the sink, lathering her hands with soap, wanting desperately to find Heath, to tell him the good news.