A nurse appeared through the swinging doors and called a name. The man clutching his stomach and the woman with him stood and followed her into the back. Ten minutes passed. Desmond grew bored. Niall found him a Ranger Rick magazine with pictures of wild animals that entertained him for a while. Anna’s cries dwindled into an occasional miserable whimper. She grew heavier as she relaxed. Rowan shifted to get more comfortable.
Niall suddenly stood, came to the chair on the other side of her. “I’ll take her for a while. You need a break.”
He meant it. Rowan didn’t know why she was surprised. Drew had been a good father. He’d have insisted on taking a turn, too. But that was different. Nonetheless, she gratefully shifted Anna to his arms and watched as he settled her against him as if he’d done it a thousand times. After a minute, Rowan turned her attention to Desmond. She found a crayon in her purse and they did a simple word match puzzle in the magazine.
The teenage girl went back. Five or ten minutes later, so did the mother and boy. None of them reappeared. An ambulance raced into the bay, lights flashing, briefly exciting Desmond. Hospital personnel hurried out and helped unload a man onto a rolling gurney, hooking a bag of fluids above him and adjusting an oxygen mask. Everyone moved really fast. After a while, the two EMTs came back out and drove away. Desmond fell asleep against Rowan’s shoulder. She peeked at Anna and saw that she was still awake, but barely, her eyes mere slits between puffy, red lids.
“Anna Staley.”
Rowan started.
“You take Anna and I’ll carry Desmond,” said Niall, standing.
He seemed to assume he’d come back with her. The independent woman she usually was thought she ought to protest, but, oh, this was so nice to be able to lean, if only a little. Why not enjoy it while it lasted? So, without arguing, she accepted the transfer and they all traipsed after the nurse as if they were the family they appeared to be.
The nurse led them to a curtained cubicle, where she took Anna’s temperature and pulse, made notes and went away. The wait after that was, thankfully, brief. Niall appeared completely patient. Beyond their small space, Rowan could hear voices; footsteps passed now and again. Then the curtain rattled on its rings and a woman her mother’s age in a white coat appeared. She wore a stethoscope around her neck.
“I’m Dr. Ellis,” she said briskly. “What seems to be the problem?”
Rowan told her, and with a lighted speculum Dr. Ellis looked into Anna’s ears, shaking her head as she did so. “You poor thing. Flaming red. Hmm.” She persuaded Anna to stick out her tongue and was able to look down her throat. She hmmed a bit more and said, “Her tonsils don’t look awful, but they’re a little ragged. You say she’s had frequent infections?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to give you an antibiotic tonight, but also a referral to an ear, nose and throat specialist. She needs to have her adenoids checked, and it’s possible those tonsils should come out. Worth a good look, anyway.”
“Yes. Please.”
She gave some suggestions for immediate relief, all of which Rowan had heard before and already tried, sent the prescription for the antibiotic winging off to the hospital pharmacy from the computer and breezed out.
“Let’s take the kids to the car,” Niall suggested. “Then I can go back in and pick up the prescription.”
She’d already given her insurance information, so they didn’t have to stop on the way out. Rowan had to hurry to keep up with Niall’s long stride. Desmond’s weight seemed to be nothing to him. She cringed to think what it would have been like without Niall. As much as she’d come to resent her parents-in-law, at least she hadn’t had to drag Des along the last few times she’d brought Anna to Emergency in the middle of the night.
“I’ll pay you back,” she said to Niall, when he closed the door on Desmond’s side and looked at her over the roof of the car.
“Looks like Anna’s asleep at last. Close your eyes, too, if you can.”
This time she sat in front. Once she’d locked the doors, she did put the seat back a bit. She couldn’t doze, but she came close. Time had a dreamlike quality. She didn’t know how long it was before he came back, handed her a bag and then started the car. They didn’t talk during the short drive.
When they got home, Niall said quietly, “I’ll carry him up to bed,” and she could only nod. Anna stirred when she picked her up, but Desmond stayed limp and unresponsive. Rowan had forgotten to lock the back door, which earned her a glance from Niall, but all he did was carry her son upstairs and turn into his bedroom. She gave Anna a dose of the strawberry-flavored antibiotic and another dose of painkiller, tucked her in, and looked up to see Niall waiting in the bedroom doorway.
“She okay?” he murmured when Rowan joined him in the hall.
“Mostly worn-out, I think. But maybe she’ll sleep for a few hours.”
He looked down at her with those gray eyes that didn’t reveal anything, however kind he’d been tonight. “You need to do the same.”
“Yes.” She smiled. “You, too.”
“Yeah.” His voice had dropped a notch, sounded husky. “I will.”
“Thank you,” Rowan whispered.
His hand lifted and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His knuckles seemed to linger against her cheek, but that might have been her imagination. He backed a step away. “I’ll lock up,” he said, low and gentle, then turned and went downstairs.
Rowan stood where she was until the lights downstairs went out and she heard the click of the back door. She was so tired she was swaying on her feet. It was hard to make herself turn out the hall light, too, and go into her bedroom. She stripped off her clothes and bothered with the T-shirt she wore as a nightgown only because she would probably have to get up again with Anna.
Sleep pulled her down. Just before she fell into it, she thought how lucky her grandmother had been to find Niall. How lucky she was.
Yes, but he didn’t want to be with us tonight.
What a strange thought. He’d been wonderful. And yet…something told her that the whole while, a part of him had strained to escape.
He was really a stranger, so it shouldn’t hurt to know that he’d helped because he felt he had to, not because of any tender feelings for her or the kids. Shouldn’t hurt? Didn’t. Of course it didn’t hurt, she told herself, and fell into the thick velvet darkness of sleep.
ROWAN STOOD AT THE KITCHEN sink, her hands in soapy water, and watched her son through the window. She hadn’t noticed in time to stop him from knocking on Niall’s door. She’d first spotted him standing there staring at it as if it would surely open any minute. Sam was at his side, Desmond’s hand gripping the dog’s ruff. For once, Sam’s tail wasn’t wagging. She saw the minute Des gave up; his shoulders slumped, his head bowed and he turned away, disconsolate.
Rage rose in her, almost choking her. How could Niall do this to a little boy? He’d systematically avoided them since that night. Three days now, and he had managed to come and go when none of them were outside. He didn’t
