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“Twelve years ago I lay in a strange room, in a strange hospital, all alone while my baby passed away. I can’t risk Heath being alone right now. He’s got every reason in the world to hate me for risking his son,” she admitted, “but I can’t leave him there alone. I’ve got to go to the hospital, Corrie.”
“Then we go.” Corrie turned toward the house to collect what she’d need.
Lizzie jutted her chin toward the house. “The dog. Betsy. We can’t leave her alone.”
“I’d forgotten.”
Lizzie hurried into the house to retrieve her keys and purse. “You stay here. Stay with her, okay?”
“But…”
“Please?” She grabbed her keys and tucked her purse over her arm. “Don’t leave her to have those babies alone. Okay?”
“You’ll be all right?” Concern shaded Corrie’s tone, but understanding shone in her eyes.
“I will.” Lizzie started the engine, then faced her sweet mentor. “Because I have to be.”
“We will be praying for all. Drive safely.”
“I will.”
She turned south on the two-lane, determined. Heath might hate her for this tragic accident. She would deal with that as needed. But she understood the grief of facing loss all alone. No way was she about to let Heath…her hardworking, imperfect beloved…endure the same thing.
* * *
Zeke.
Heath’s heart pounded as he hurried through the ER doors. He sprinted to the desk, gave Zeke’s name, and raced down the hall once he had directions.
“And you are?” A middle-aged woman blocked his way to Zeke’s curtained cubicle.
“His father. Are you his nurse?”
The woman pierced him with a look before she sighed, pretending offense. “I’m his doctor. You did well sending him by chopper even though it’s a pricey form of taxi. We did a quick scan and see nothing really bad.”
“But he’s unconscious, isn’t he?”
She drew the curtain back so Heath could see. “Sleeping now. And he might sleep all day. It’s the brain’s defense against injury so the body can concentrate on healing. He’s got a broken wrist that we’ve splinted,” she explained softly as she moved into the small, curtained room. “You’ll need to have him see an orthopedic doctor in about three days. Do you have an ortho near your home?”
They had next to nothing near the ranch, he realized anew.
What if Zeke had died because there was no medical help nearby?
She must have mistaken his hesitation for confusion because she made a quick note before looking up again. “Never mind, I’ll give you a few names. You might have to travel an hour or so but if there’s ice cream involved at the end of the trip, it’s not so bad. All in all I’d say he’s a pretty fortunate boy.”
“How is falling from a tree considered fortunate?”
She brushed that off as she wrote something else in a handheld computer. “Having trees to climb. Places to explore. Things to do. These days too many kids are inside, playing on devices. Boys and girls should have adventurous spirits, shouldn’t they? Unless we want to raise them in a bubble.”
He stared at her, then Zeke. “Right now the bubble sounds good,” he admitted and the doctor laughed.
“I bet it does, but this will give him stories to tell later on. It does bear caution, though. Once a kid has had a concussion, the likelihood for another one is elevated. Just keep that in mind, but don’t curtail his curiosity because of it. I’ll be back in a little while, but so far, so good. There’s a very uncomfortable chair right here.” She pointed to it and made a face. “Unfortunately that’s all we’ve got available. The nurses will keep checking in.”
“I don’t care about the chair. As long as he’s going to be all right, I’m fine.”
The doctor left. Five minutes later, the curtain opened again. He looked up, expecting to see a nurse, but it wasn’t a nurse.
It was Lizzie.
She stood at the curtain’s edge, watching Zeke, then winced when Zeke winced. “How is he?”
“The doctor said he’s going to be fine. But he might be sleeping here for hours.” He stood up and crossed to her. “Did you drive here on your own?”
“Like you did. Yes.”
Because he’d been too crazed to have her drive along. What was the matter with him? “I should have just brought you with me,” he told her. “I wasn’t thinking. All I could think of was that chopper, whisking my boy away and no one would be here to greet him. None of his family, that is. So I rushed away, but we should have come together. I’m sorry.”
