it?
Conner snorted at the sound of someone clearing a throat, opened his eyes and looked up at Kate.
“I think I fell asleep.” He bent his head to check on Ellie. She slept. Her cheekbones pushed against her skin. Such a frail baby. His resolve tightened his chest. She needed him. He would do everything possible for her.
“It’s time to feed her again.” Kate leaned over him and gently shook Ellie to waken her. The baby’s eyelids came up slowly. Her pupils remained unfocused. She stared past Kate as if unaware of her.
He shifted the baby so Kate could feed her. But Ellie’s mouth hung slack and the liquid ran down her neck.
Kate’s face filled with purpose. “Did anything you tried last night get her attention?”
“She seemed to like to hear me sing.” Heat swept over his chest at how foolish he felt admitting it.
“Well, then, I suggest you sing to her.”
“No one but Ellie listened last night.” He could barely squeak the words out as embarrassment clogged his throat.
She chuckled. “I’ll assume she is a good judge of your singing ability. Now sing.”
“Can’t. My throat’s too dry.”
“I can fix that.” She hurried to the kitchen and returned with a glass of cold water. “Drink.”
Seemed she wasn’t prepared to accept any excuses from him. “You’re bossy. Did you know that?” It was his turn to chuckle as pink blossomed in her cheeks.
She gave a little toss of her head. “I’m simply speaking with authority. You did ask me to stay and help. I assumed you wanted my medical assistance.”
No mistaking the challenge in her voice.
“Your medical assistance, yes, of course.” He humbled his voice and did his best to look contrite.
“You sing to her and I’ll try to get more sugar water into her.”
He cleared his throat. “Sleep, my love, and peace attend thee. All through the night; Guardian angels God will lend thee, All through the night.” The first few notes caught in his throat and then he focused his eyes on Ellie at the words of the familiar lullaby.
Ellie blinked and brought her gaze to him.
“Excellent,” Kate whispered and leaned over Conner’s arm to ease the syringe between Ellie’s lips. The baby swallowed three times and then her eyes closed.
“Sleep is good, too,” Kate murmured, leaning back. “I think she likes your voice.”
He couldn’t stop himself from meeting Kate’s eyes. Warmth filled them and he allowed himself a little glow of victory. “Thelma hated my singing.” He hadn’t meant to say that. Certainly not aloud.
Kate’s eyes cooled considerably. “You’re referring to Ellie’s mother?”
“That’s right.” No need to say more.
“Do you mind me asking where she is?”
“’Fraid I can’t answer that.”
She waited.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in over a year.”
“I see.”
Only, it was obvious she didn’t. But he wasn’t going to explain. Not until he figured out what Thelma was up to.
Kate pushed to her feet.
The side where she’d been sitting next to him on the couch grew instantly cold.
“How long before we wake her to feed her again?”
“Fifteen minutes. You hold her and rest. I don’t suppose you got much sleep last night.”
There she was, being bossy and authoritative again. Not that he truly minded. It was nice to know someone cared how tired he was and also knew how to deal with Ellie.
The fifteen minutes passed quickly and Kate wakened the baby.
“She’s weaker.” His voice cracked. “Wasn’t she supposed to be getting better by now?”
“It’s a fine balance between getting fluid into her and not overtaxing her strength.” She tried to get the baby to swallow, but her head lolled and her eyes had a distant unfocused look to them.
“Sing to her again,” Kate said. “It makes her more responsive.”
“I find it hard to believe you don’t beg me not to, but if it helps Ellie, I’ll do it.” He again sang the words of the lullaby.
The baby turned her eyes toward Conner. Kate leaned close to feed her some sugar water. Ellie swallowed without urging.
“My grandmother used to sing that to me,” Kate said.
Conner stopped. “I remember my ma singing it to Annie and then Mattie. I expect she sang it to me, but I don’t remember.” He thought of the number of times he’d heard her crooning to his little sister and his niece. Memories of his ma and her steadfast love almost choked him.
“I don’t recall my mother singing to me either, but then I was young when she passed away.”
The baby stopped swallowing as soon as Conner stopped singing. Kate pointed it out to him and he turned back to Ellie and sang again the same lullaby. Only, he added his own words to the tune. “Didn’t I hear that your mother died when you were fourteen? Did I misunderstand?” he asked Kate in a singsongy voice. He was curious about this woman and wanted to know more about her.
* * *
She didn’t normally talk to patients or their parents about herself, but she rather found she wanted to tell him about her parents.
“My birth parents died from a fever when I was four. I went to live with my Grammie, but she wasn’t well. Dr. and Mrs. Baker cared for her until she died when I was ten. She asked them to adopt me and they did. Grammie said I had a gift for healing and helping and wanted the Bakers to help me follow that path.” Why had she said that? He surely wasn’t interested in why she’d chosen this goal. “Mother died four years later. It’s just been me and Father since.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
The knot in her chest disappeared at the comfort of his warm palm.
He shifted his attention back to the baby, removing his hand from Kate’s for her to squeeze out a drop of sugar water.
“So you’re following your grandmother’s and your parents’ dreams.”
“Their
