Читать книгу Healing The Md's Heart - Nicole Foster, Carrie Weaver - Страница 12

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting so long.” Lia hurried into the pediatrician’s patient room, interrupting Duran’s agitated pacing. “Overscheduling seems to be the rule these days,” she said, closing the door behind her.

The tension radiating from him was like a living thing in the room. He offered her little more than a terse nod in reply.

“Noah’s not with you?”

“Josh and Eliana offered to look after him while we talked. They’re meeting me here later,” he said tightly. “You said you’d rather talk to me alone.”

He didn’t look happy with that, but Lia knew it was better this way. “Did they bring Sammy along?” she asked, thinking Eliana’s little brother, only a year older than Noah, would have helped distract Noah from being away from his father again.

“Yeah, Noah was excited. He can’t get enough of his new family. Look, Lia, can we avoid the chitchat and get on with it? It’s been over a week and I don’t do waiting well, especially when it comes to this.”

Lia drew in a breath. She had rehearsed since the moment she’d gotten the results of his brothers’ blood tests. She had to make it clear that while there was hope, she could promise nothing at this point. And, despite the feelings, real or imagined, that had passed between Duran and her, first and foremost, she had to remain professional.

But more and more that obligation was becoming a challenge that was harder to meet. She’d deliberately avoided close contact with Duran in the past days, making sure the few times she did see him were because of Noah and always at the hospital or her office. It didn’t make it any easier to ignore the attraction between them and to pretend he’d never kissed her. She couldn’t ignore or forget, not with him ever present in her thoughts, despite her best efforts to relegate him to a safe father-of-patient status only.

He was watching her now with barely concealed impatience. Putting herself in doctor mode, she said, “I have good news.”

Duran stared at her, frozen in place, as if he were waiting for a blow and certain she was going to take her words back. “Go on.”

“Sawyer is a match for Noah.”

He said nothing, just stood there.

“It’s true, Duran,” Lia said softly. Moving close to him, she put a gentle hand on his arm. “Sawyer’s tests came back as a perfect match. There’s a very good chance he’ll be able to be a donor for Noah.”

A tremor passed over him and he swayed slightly, causing Lia to grab for the nearest chair and pull it near enough for him to collapse into it.

“I—I can’t believe…” he rasped. “All this time—and finally…” He leaned forward and dropped his head to his hands.

An ache tightened her chest and throat, threatening to become tears. All these years of fear and anguished waiting, wondering if and when he would lose his son forever. Had he ever truly let himself believe Noah had a chance for a normal life? Or had he resigned himself to the inevitable, certain that with so few close blood family members, the chance Noah would find a compatible donor in time was virtually impossible?

It wasn’t professional or even wise, but she didn’t care as she knelt beside him and put her arm around him; her instinct to comfort him was stronger than any common sense dictated.

His body shook with his effort to bank the tumult of emotions she knew he must be feeling. It touched her in a way for which she had no response except to tighten her hold, to offer him an anchor in the storm.

“It’s okay,” she murmured, stroking his hair. “You don’t always have to be strong. And you don’t always have to do it alone.”

“I told myself I had hope,” he said hoarsely. “That I believed this would happen.” He raised his head to look at her then, and his eyes were glazed with unshed tears. “When I couldn’t find a donor, though, and they told me it could be years, or never…” Leaning back in his chair, he squeezed his eyes shut, shoving his hands through his hair. “I wasn’t strong enough to believe it then.”

“Oh, Duran.” Lia touched her fingers to his face to bring his gaze to hers. “Noah has an excellent chance now. Once Sawyer knows, I’m certain he’ll more than willing to do whatever is necessary to help.”

His expression wavered, caught between desperately wanting to believe and being afraid it was all a mistake. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she said firmly, her smile tempered by the need to be realistic with him. “But you realize this is only the first step along a long, rocky road ahead. They’ll be more tests and the transplant procedure itself, then the recovery time for Noah—none of it’s going to be short or easy.”

“But it is the first step, isn’t it? At last…Lia—” He caught her hands in his. “Thank you.”

Now it was her turn to try to contain a whirl of emotion—empathy for his years of waiting, relief that the test results opened up new possibilities, a fierce happiness knowing Duran’s faith had been renewed—so many feelings rushing her heart that if she tried to speak them it would be through tears. So she only nodded, and said quietly, “All I’ve done is arrange the testing. You’re the reason you and Noah have gotten this far.”

“You’ve done a lot more than that.” He shook his head, a dazed look in his eyes. “It’s still hard to believe that I came here looking for my father and found five brothers and now one of them is going to save Noah’s life.”

Lia ached to echo his newfound certainty, but didn’t dare. Duran needed to be positive now. His mindset would determine Noah’s attitude and that in turn would give Noah strength. But she had to keep a balance, stating the truth in careful terms, cautioning Duran, yet encouraging him in equal measure. From now on it would be a delicate line to walk, especially given the other complications of her burgeoning attraction to him and her deepening affection for his little boy.

“It’s true. Sawyer is a match and he may very well be the one to help Noah get well. But we’ve got dozens of details to work out now. You need to start by finding a transplant clinic. You may have to go out of state for that. But there is one in Albuquerque. There’s another in Dallas. I’ll be glad to liaison for you, but that decision is yours. And keep in mind, the wait time for the actual transplant could be several weeks and Noah’s recovery will be a lot longer.” She backed away and drew herself to her feet. “What I’m saying is that this is good news, but you both have a long way to go yet.”

“I know. I’ve read everything I could get my hands on for years.” Duran stood up, walked across the room over to the sink and splashed his face with cold water. He grabbed a paper towel from the holder and turned back to her. “I’ll do whatever it takes, however long it takes.”

Lia nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she tried to banish thoughts of the myriad of things that could go wrong. Duran needed to know them all, but not today. Right now, it was more important he believe in everything that could go right. “Are you ready to talk to Noah?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, and for the first time he smiled.

In the waiting room, they found Noah and Sammy sitting happily at a children’s table playing video games and making all manner of boy sound effects. Josh and Eliana sat nearby watching them. They looked up simultaneously as Lia and Duran walked into the room.

“Dad!” Noah bounced up and ran over to them when he spotted Duran. “Sammy has that new game I was telling you about. It’s way awesome, come check it out.”

Duran swept his son into his arms and hugged him as though he would never let him go. “Sure, in a minute, okay?” he said, his voice breaking a little.

“What’s wrong?” Noah squirmed in his father’s embrace. “You’re squashing me.”

“Sorry, I guess I was.” Duran released his son, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “I missed you, that’s all. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, we went to the video store. I found three games I want,” he added with a hopeful look.

“No doubt,” Duran said with a chuckle. “We’ll see about that later.”

Noah’s mouth twisted. “That always means no,” he grumbled. Wriggling out of Duran’s hold, he ran back to the table to watch over Sammy’s shoulder as the older boy manipulated the game with quick fingers.

“So, you gonna keep us in suspense?” Josh asked when Noah was out of earshot.

Lia and Duran exchanged a glance and he nodded slightly, giving her tacit permission. “Sawyer’s a match,” she said, giving them a brief outline of what she’d told Duran.

Eliana, her eyes bright, caught Duran by surprise with a warm hug. “That’s wonderful. We’ve all been hoping and praying this would happen. I can only imagine how awful the waiting’s been for you.”

“Noah’s got a long way to go yet.” Lia repeated her gentle warning. She smiled at Duran. “But this is a very good start.”

“Does Sawyer know yet?” Eliana asked.

“No, I’m going to call him as soon as we’re done here. I’m sure he’ll be happy.”

“’Course he will, you know that,” Josh said, including Duran in his assurance. “We all are.”

Duran glanced at his son and then turned his smile to his brother and Eliana. “I appreciate everything you’ve all done. I’ll admit I had doubts about coming here but right now, it’s looking like the best decision I’ve ever made.”

“Good thing, since you’re stuck with us all now,” Josh said with a laugh. “Hey, you think Noah would be up for a little celebration? I promised Sammy we’d go ridin’ today. Cort and Tommy’ll be there, and Anna. Ellie’s little sister,” he added for Duran’s benefit. “She and Tommy are sweet on each other.”

Eliana grimaced. “They’re just kids.”

“They’re teenagers and if Tommy’s anything like I was…” He finished with a grin and a shrug as Eliana muttered, “God forbid,” and rolled her eyes. “So, what do you say?” Josh asked. “You and Noah wanna come along? You, too, Lia. We’ll make it a real party.”

“I don’t know,” both Lia and Duran started at the same time. He gestured her to go ahead and she said, “I’m going to be tied up here until at least three. I’m sure Noah would enjoy the outing, though, if you think he’s up to it.”

Duran hesitated then said, “I need to talk to Noah first, explain to him what’s going on.” He looked at Lia. “Would you—”

“Of course,” she answered his unspoken request. Josh and Eliana agreed to wait while she and Duran took Noah back to the patient room to tell Noah about the test results and to decide on the afternoon’s plans.

It was easier, this time, telling Noah the news, because all she had to do was echo Duran’s explanation, adding a few words of encouragement. She was pretty sure Noah didn’t hear anything beyond Duran telling him Sawyer was a match anyway.

What she hadn’t been prepared for, though, was the rush of emotion when Noah flung himself at her for an enthusiastic hug.

“I’m gonna get better!”

Lia returned his hug, swallowed her tears and put on a smile for him. “We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”

“You’re the best doctor ever,” Noah told her, grinning from ear to ear.

“I don’t know about that. Your uncle Sawyer is going to be doing more than me. But thank you.” She blinked hard as she gently brushed a wayward lock of hair from his forehead. “I think you’re pretty special, too.”

She was glad for the reprieve when Duran repeated Josh’s invitation to go riding. Noah was practically glowing with excitement.

“Can we go now?” he asked. “’Cept—” He frowned. “I don’t know how to ride a horse. I only ride bikes.”

Lia laughed and gently ruffled his hair. “You don’t need to know how. You can ride with your dad or maybe Josh will find you a gentle older horse who’s not in any hurry. Do you like to ride?” she asked Duran.

He shrugged. “I’ve enjoyed it the few times I’ve done it but I can’t say I’m any cowboy. I’m a cyclist and so is Noah.”

“That won’t be a problem. Josh gives riding lessons to special-needs kids like Sammy. He’s good at matching people and horses.”

“Can everybody come?” Noah asked. “All my cousins?”

“Not today,” Duran said with a smile. “And we’re not going anywhere ourselves until after you’ve had lunch and a nap. I want to call your grandparents, too, and give them the news.”

Noah’s grumbled objections accompanied them back into the waiting room, abating only when Josh told him it would be late afternoon before everyone else could go, too.

“I’ve got to put in a couple of hours at the school,” Josh said, referring to the training center for would-be rodeo riders he and a friend had launched several months ago. “And Cort and Tommy are givin’ Rafe a hand around the ranch. Why don’t we meet at four? We can ride down to the pond and let the kids mess around awhile and then you can come back to our place for dinner. That work for you, Lia?”

“You’re coming, right?” Noah looked at her and then glanced to his dad.

Lia saw the hesitation cross Duran’s face. It was all still so new, his brothers, nephews and nieces, her—probably her more than anything else. She sensed his uneasiness and the last thing she wanted was to add to it. “I’d love to, but—”

“Great, then it’s settled,” Josh broke in.

Doubting it, at least in Duran’s case, Lia nearly made the excuse of work to back out of it. The excitement and expectation in Noah’s eyes gave her pause. She hated to disappoint the little boy and at the same time she didn’t want to make things harder for his father.

“It sounds good,” Duran answered before she could say anything. He looked at her, his slight smile rueful. “Are you okay with that?”

She knew he was asking about more than the afternoon’s plans and she really wanted to ask him the question in return. But there didn’t seem to be a good way to do that in front of Josh and Eliana. “I guess I could take a few hours off this afternoon. My last appointment is at three and I’m not on call today.”

“Then it’s a date,” Duran told Josh. “And thanks for everything.”

“Hey, you know we’re here for you and Noah, don’t you? I know it’s not been easy, gettin’ used to havin’ so much family all at once. But I meant what I said before, you’re stuck with us all now.”

Eliana smiled warmly, “And that does mean all of us.”

They said their goodbyes then, gathering up Sammy and leaving Duran and Lia to face each other.

“I hope you know that I’m here for you and Noah, too, however I can help,” she said.

“Is that professionally or personally?”

“I—”

“Never mind.” He shook his head as if irritated at himself for asking her. He looked at her a long moment, the intensity of his searching gaze making Lia want to look away before he saw too much. Then he said softly, “I know I’ve said it before, but thank you.” Leaning to her, he brushed a kiss over her cheek.

Warmth spread through her from his light touch and for a second she let herself savor the feel of his mouth against hers and for so much more.

“Are you done? Can we go now?” Noah interrupted. “I wanna go ride the horses.”

Noah’s protest broke their spell and they laughed and moved apart.

“Come on, pal,” Duran said, taking Noah by the hand, “let’s get out of here so Dr. Kerrigan can get back to work.”

Lia bent and gave Noah a hug. “We’ll be talking again about some exciting things for you soon. For today, though, I’ll just finish up here so I can meet you at the ranch later.”

“We’ll be looking forward to it,” Duran said and after all her doubts about whether or not he wanted her there, Lia believed it was true.