in. “I’m pretty sure JT just has a virus, but I want to make sure I’m not missing something, like strep. I’ve peered down his throat so many times I’m starting to doubt myself.”
“That’s because you’re thinking like a parent, not like a doctor.” She’d seen plenty of stressed parents and those with medical backgrounds weren’t any different.
“Yeah, maybe.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I know I’m probably overreacting, but this is the first time JT’s been sick.”
“The first time, ever?” She was taken aback by the news, considering the boy was five years old. Most kids at least had the occasional ear infection or bout of flu before the age of five. “I’m surprised.”
She barely had time to notice the warm, welcoming earth tones of his living room before he dragged her down the hall to his son’s room. “I’d like you to take a look at him. My first instinct was to treat him with a pain med and wait to see how he does overnight, but he’s been so listless I’ve started to doubt my objectivity. Be honest. Tell me if you think I should take him into the clinic.”
“All right.” Odd, it wasn’t at all like Gabe to doubt himself. He was after all board certified in emergency medicine. Taking care of sick kids was his specialty.
But, then again, she’d made similar mistakes with horrible consequences. Assuming her cramping pains during her pregnancy had been from stress and not from placenta previa, a condition where the placenta broke away from the wall of the uterus prematurely. She’d down-played her situation and had lost her daughter as a result.
Even if she had gone to seek help earlier, there really hadn’t been a chance of saving the baby, not at only twenty-five weeks gestation. Still, her medical knowledge hadn’t helped her then.
Gabe’s might not be helping him now either.
He pushed open the door to a small, cozy bedroom. “JT? Hey, buddy, this is Dr. Holly. I’ve asked her to take a look at you.”
“Hi, JT.” She approached the boy, who was curled up on the bed.
“Hi.” His dark blue eyes, so much like Gabe’s, stared up at her. “I don’t feel so good.”
“So I hear.” She sat on the edge of his bed, noticing his face was flushed. She offered a reassuring smile. “Does anything hurt you?”
“My head hurts.”
“Hmm. How about your throat?” She felt his forehead, noting he was indeed running a slight fever but not one that was dangerously high. She trailed her fingers down to his throat. No swollen glands from what she could tell. “Can you open wide for me?”
Obediently he opened his mouth. “Ah-h-h.”
Using her penlight, she peered down his throat. No sign of any infection at all, from what she could see. Although maybe it was too early to tell. “Great job. How about your tummy? Does that hurt?” She gently palpated JT’s abdomen, and he didn’t wince, neither did she find any enlargement of his liver.
“No, just my head. The lights are too bright.”
Hmm. Strange that he would have photosensitivity. She spent another minute or so examining him, but didn’t find anything seriously wrong. His pupils were equal and reactive. Yet, like Gabe, she sensed something just wasn’t quite right. She glanced back at Gabe, who hovered over her shoulder. “You treated his fever?”
“Yeah, I gave him a dose of pediatric pain med right before you came over.”
“Good.” JT closed his eyes, either because the light was too bright or he was simply tired and falling asleep.
“He was fine at noon when I came home for lunch,” Gabe muttered. “Suddenly I pick him up from his preschool class and he’s running a fever and not acting at all like his usual self.”
“I’m sure it’s just a virus,” she assured him.
“So you don’t think I need to take him in?” Gabe asked.
She hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head. “No, I think I’d wait and watch him. If his headache persists tomorrow, though, I’d take him in. Kids do get headaches with fevers.” She rested her palm against JT’s flushed cheek for a moment, thinking how young and innocent he looked.
JT’s eyelids fluttered open. “You’re pretty,” he murmured.
His sweet expression tugged at her heart. It was no secret where the boy had gotten his charm. “Thank you.”
She glanced up to find Gabe watching her intently.
“JT obviously has good taste,” he murmured in a low tone.
Raising a brow, she didn’t try to come up with a response. Since JT was starting to doze off, she gently stood and tiptoed out of the room. Gabe followed her, softly closing JT’s door behind him.
By mutual consent, they moved into the living room so they wouldn’t wake him. Gabe’s expression held chagrin. “I suppose you think I’m an idiot for calling you over.”
“Not at all.” Holly subtly looked for pictures of JT’s mother, but didn’t find any. “I’m sure it’s not easy being a single parent.”
“No, it’s not.” Gabe dropped onto the sofa with a sigh. “I don’t know what got into me, but suddenly I was staring down at him, thinking the worst. And then I thought of how stupid I’d look if I took him in for nothing. But if you hadn’t answered your page, I probably would have risked it.”
“Hey, it’s all right. I really don’t mind.” She sat in the matching love seat across from him. “I know it’s none of my business, but where is JT’s mother?”
Gabe stared at his hands for a long minute, before lifting his head, his eyes dark with pain. “She died in a car crash less than five weeks ago.”
“How awful,” she murmured, thinking it was a good thing JT had someone like Gabe as his father.
“Yeah, it’s been a little rough, more so for JT.” Gabe abruptly stood. “Are you hungry? I made some spaghetti for dinner but JT wasn’t hungry. The least I can do is feed you for your trouble.”
His abrupt change of subject caught her off guard, but hearing that JT’s mother had died so recently she supposed she couldn’t blame him for not wanting to talk about it.
Gabe headed for the kitchen, leaving her little choice but to follow him. She knew being here with him was like tempting fate to repeat itself, but the spicy garlic and oregano scents drew her forward.
“Have a seat.” Gabe waved at the small, oak kitchen table. “This will only take a few minutes to warm up.”
Her stomach chose that moment to rumble loud enough for Gabe to hear. Leaving now that he knew she was famished would be too obvious, so she sat. “Guess I am a bit hungry after all,” she admitted with a sheepish smile.
Gabe flashed a grin and opened his fridge. “Let’s see, I really wish I had a bottle of fine Italian wine to offer you, but it seems all I have at the moment are two of
