by Jill Sanders
There was so much blood. Too much. His eyes were closed and his body was lax as she held him.
Her mother was scolding the dog in the hallway as she rushed out the door and headed straight for her car.
She drove with Connor in her lap, holding him tight to her body. Rowan’s clinic was less than five blocks away and she made it there in under three minutes.
When she ran in, holding Connor in her arms, nothing else registered other than seeing Rowan standing just inside the doorway.
“Help!” she cried out. She was thankful when he moved quickly to her side and took her son into his arms gently.
“Sarah, stay with Kayla.” He rushed Connor to the back, through a wide door.
When she tried to follow, a hand stopped her.
“Let’s stay out of his way,” Sarah said softly.
Kayla turned, and for the first time, realized Rowan’s cousin was standing there, her hand on her arm, with a worried look on her face.
“I have to—”
“It would be better to let him work. He’ll take care of him.”
“I’ll go see if he needs some help.” Ben, Sarah’s husband, disappeared through the doors.
“I need—”
“Come sit down.” Sarah motioned towards a row of chairs. “I have to get off my feet.” She glanced down.
Kayla glanced down at Sarah’s large belly and followed her to the chairs. She sat down, but her eyes remained glued to the door.
“Is that your son?” Sarah asked once they were sitting down. Kayla nodded as she bit her bottom lip with worry. “How old is he?” Sarah asked.
“Three.” She started biting her nails, then remembered what she’d been cleaning when she’d heard Connor and stopped the old habit. She glanced down and noticed how bloody they were. Some of it was hers but most of it was her son’s. Worry flashed again in her mind, so powerful, she felt her heart skip several beats. Her chest ached, her mind whirled, and for a moment, she wondered if she was going to pass out. Then she bit her bottom lip again until she tasted blood. She would not pass out. Connor needed her.
She moved to get up, but Sarah broke in and placed her hand gently on her arm again.
“What’s his name?” Sarah asked.
“Connor James.” She felt tears stream down her face. “It was a dog.” She felt her shoulders sink. “I shouldn’t have… I didn’t know my mother… it had gotten this bad…” She knew she was speaking in broken English, and that Sarah probably didn’t understand what she was saying, but it didn’t matter. What mattered most was lying unconscious in the next room.
She moved to get up again, just as Ben came back out to the waiting area.
“It’s not as bad as it looked.” Ben held up his hands. “There was only one bite and a small bump on your son’s head.” Ben sat next to her and took her hand. “Rowan is stitching up the bite now.” He ran his finger over his right forearm and showed her where she already knew the dog had bit Connor. “Rowan says you can go back in just a minute, and that Connor is awake.”
“He’s awake?” She held in a cry as her entire body started to shake.
“Yes, he woke up when Rowan gave him a shot.”
“A shot?” Her voice cracked as tears slid down her face. “I… I’m going back.” She stood up, then looked back down at Sarah. “Thank you for trying to keep me sane.”
Sarah smiled and chuckled slightly. “Anytime. We’ll wait around until we can meet Connor.”
She nodded, then rushed past the doors and followed a nurse to where Rowan was finishing up with her son.
Rowan watched Kayla with Connor and couldn’t stop his heart from skipping. It had scared him, he had to admit, when he’d seen the kid covered in blood and unconscious.
Seeing mother and son together assured him that he had chosen the right profession.
“Two small stitches.” He smiled when she rushed into the room. “I would have liked to use glue for it all, but where the dog’s canines sunk in, it was too deep. But I took my time and CJ held super still for me, so I don’t think he’ll have a big scar.” He smiled down at the small boy and patted his knee.
“Thank you.” Kayla didn’t even glance up at him as tears streaked down her face. She was holding Connor tightly as her eyes ran over her son.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to salvage the cast.” He frowned down at the mess. “So, Connor has decided that you get to pick the new color.”
“We made an agreement that next time anyone broke a bone, I would get to choose the color of the cast.”
He wanted to ask how many bones they had broken between them, and how, but held in his question.
“So, what will it be?”
She glanced up at him and blinked a few times as if she didn’t know what he was asking.
Then she looked down at her son and smiled. “Blue.”
Connor nodded and gave his mother a reassuring smile. In all honesty, the kid was holding up better than the mother was at this point. He could tell that Kayla was trying to get her shit together, but the worry was still consuming her eyes.
She wiped her eyes dry and gave her son a smile. Then he noticed the blood on her hands and frowned as he watched some drip on the floor.
“Did you get bit, too?” He took her hands in his and examined them. He could see two large gashes on the palm of her left hand. One was deep enough to need stitches as well.
“I… I punched the dog,” she said, looking down at her hands.
He glanced up and smiled over at CJ, making sure to mask the worry in his voice for her son’s sake.
“Looks like your mom is going to get some stitches and a shot too.”
The boy’s eyes were starting to look clearer, a good sign.
“Does she get a sucker too?”
Rowan smiled and nodded. “If she holds real still for me like you did.”
Rowan motioned for Kayla to sit down, and she sat next to her son on the table.
“What kind of shot?” Kayla’s eyes scanned his.
He held in a chuckle as he filled her in while he and one of his nurses cleaned and prepared her hand for stitches.
“There, three stitches.” He smiled down at his handy work, two stitches on the palm of her hand and another one holding the skin on her middle knuckle closed. He gently put bandages over the stitches like he had with Connor.
He turned to the boy. “What do you say we get this mess off you and get you a new cast?”
As he worked on removing the shattered cast, he talked about the bump on Connor’s head. He went through the spiel on what to watch out for in head injuries. Then he told Kayla how to care for the stitches and wounds. He told her he wanted to see Connor tomorrow as he added the new blue fiberglass cast. He’d checked Connor’s arm after removing his old cast. As far as he could tell, the boy’s arm was healing nicely. He wanted to see his original X-rays and have his medical files shipped over from his other doctor.
“I’ll want to X-ray this soon. How far back did he break his arm?”
Kayla glanced up at him and looked like she was thinking. “Two weeks ago.”
He nodded. “How did he break it?”
Here, she bit her bottom lip and looked worried. “He fell.”
He nodded but felt like she was holding something back from him.
“We need to talk about the dog that bit him,” he said, finishing up with Connor’s cast. “Is it up to date on its shots?”
She shook her head and worry flooded her eyes once more. He could tell that she hadn’t thought about the possibilities. “I don’t know. I didn’t know my mother had such a big dog.”
“I’ll call—” he started to say.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Dr. Holley, Mrs. Thomas is out front. Should I send her back?” Jenny said, poking her head in.
“Yes.” He nodded as he turned to Kayla. “If that’s okay with you?”
“Yes.” She glanced down at her son and her
shoulders sank.
“Give us a few minutes first, then send her back.” Jenny nodded and left.
“I can’t stay there,” she said when the door was shut. “Not after…”
His mouth often worked faster than his brain. In this case, it ended up being a good thing.
“You can stay with my aunt,” he said.
Kayla glanced up at him and blinked.
Both Connor and Kayla looked at him like he’d just sprouted another head. “Crystal is… has always been… eccentric, but she doesn’t have any animals and her place is a lot… safer.”
Kayla her bottom lip, then a few seconds later, she nodded her head slowly. “It might be best until… I can find someplace else or…” She fidgeted with the bandage on the back of her hand.
The door opened again and, this time, her mother walked in.
It had been years since he’d seen Mary Thomas. The last time he’d knocked on her door to check on her, she’d peeked out through the window and told him to go away.
Since he’d last seen her, she must have lost fifty pounds. It appeared that she was nothing more than bones and skin. Her once long brown hair had been cut short and had turned pure silver, making her look much older. The woman looked haggard and extremely upset.
“I’ve taken Bruno to the pound.” Her eyes flew to his. “He is up to date on his shots.” She rushed to Connor’s side. “I didn’t know…” She shook her head. “I had just gotten him last month.” She wiped a tear from her eyes. “I didn’t think…”
“Mom.” Kayla turned to her mother, still holding Connor’s freshly casted arm in hers. He watched her shoulders square and rise slightly. “I think it would be best if… until it was safe to return, we stay at Crystal’s place.”
Since he was done, he rolled his chair back, stood quickly, and exited the room while she spoke to her mother.
“How’s the kid?” Sarah asked when he walked out into the hallway.
“He’ll live. A few new scars and a bump on the head. He was lucky.”
“How’s his mom?”
“She has three new stitches herself and is scared and unsure of how to help her mother.” He sighed.
Upon Ben’s look, he explained quickly how her mother had become a hoarder and how her house was most likely unsafe for a young boy of three.
“That’s rough.” Ben shook his head.
“I suggested they stay with Crystal. At least for a while,” he explained.
“That’s a great idea,” Sarah said, stepping into the hallway.
“I told you to stay put.” Ben turned around and smiled at her.
“Just when did you start believing that I listened to you?” she joked as she nudged him back, then turned to Rowan. “Want me to go in and invite her to stay with Mom? Better yet, there’s room on the island…”
“No.” Rowan shook his head. “I’ll need to see the kid a couple times in the next few days. It would be easier if he was close.”
Sarah nodded. “Holley Hall it is then. Mom’s been driving me nuts lately. Maybe Connor and Kayla are just the distraction she needs,” Sarah said as the door to the room opened.
Kayla held Connor in her arms as her mother stood beside her. “We’ve agreed, that for a while, if your mother has room…”
“She’ll be tickled pink.” Sarah smiled and took Kayla’s arm and walked her towards the front desk. “She’s been consumed with baby things ever since we told her we were expecting.” Sarah continued to talk as they made their way into the waiting area.
Rowan stood back and stopped Mary from following them. “I’ll need to check with the vet,” he nodded. “For the dog’s paperwork.”
She sighed heavily and then nodded. “I… I would never do anything to hurt my grandchild. I talked to the vet about taking the other dogs I have as well.”
“Young kids can get infections from other animals. What else do you have in your home?” he asked.
Worry flooded her eyes. “A few cats.”
“How many?” he asked as Ben disappeared down the hallway.
Mary thought about it. “Well, I haven’t counted them, but less than a dozen.”
He wrote a few notes in the file for Connor that Jenny had handed him. The boy’s name was printed on the side and, so far, there was only a new medical chart inside. He jotted down a note for Jenny to look into getting the boy’s previous charts and medical history.
“Are all of the animals up to date on their shots?” he asked.
Mary bit her bottom lip, a move he’d seen Kayla do several times. It was strange how the simple move had a very different effect from mother to daughter.
“I… no, probably not.”
He nodded. “Until then, I’m going to officially recommend that Connor and Kayla stay with my aunt until living arrangements can be assessed as safe. Of course, the final decision will be up to your daughter.”
“Yes.” Mary glanced down at her hands. “I see. She’s already told me they will move their things over there this evening. Thank you, Dr.—”
“Rowan,” he interrupted. “Just Rowan.”
Mary glanced up and smiled at him. “Thank you, Rowan.”
Chapter 3
Kayla was once again dragging her bags up a set of stairs. Rowan had insisted on following her to his aunt’s house and carried their heavy bags upstairs.
This time, the stairs were wide and clear of debris. The house smelled like… was that sandalwood? Whatever it was, it smelled great.
The house was gloriously spotless. Spotless and huge. The house had been built by Crystal’s great-grandfather back in the seventeen hundreds. She’d never really been inside it before. Actually, few people she knew had been inside.
The stairs were a dark cherry and they shined as if they were brand new, as did the floors in the main entryway. The staircase twisted at an angle towards a massive window on the second floor. As they passed it, she noticed that there was a wide window seat that ran the entire length of the wall. She could just imagine sinking into the spot and reading a book. She shook her mind clear and wondered when she’d have time to read a book in the near future.
She tried to take everything in as she followed Crystal to their rooms. She shifted Connor’s large bag in her hands, her small bag tossed over her shoulder.
Crystal, Sarah’s mother, carried Connor in her arms as he chatted about his new blue cast and stitches and scar.
She was still a little shocked that her son had taken to Rowan’s aunt so easily.
Crystal Holley could have easily passed as a woman in her early thirties, except she dressed and acted like someone stuck in the seventies. Her long blonde hair lay flat, down to the middle of her back. Her skin and face were clean and clear of any product, and Kayla doubted any product could make her more beautiful than she was already. She was wearing one of her signature long flowing sundresses. Kayla had always admired the freeness she had in not needing a bra. The back of the sundress was open, with just a few straps of material crossing her spotless skin.
She could see a large tattoo on her back, but couldn’t make out what it was. From this point of view, it appeared to be the top of a brightly colored tree.
When they had first arrived at Holley Hall, Connor had still been a little sleepy from his ordeal. But after Crystal had made a grilled cheese sandwich for him, his most favorite meal in the entire world, her son had perked right up and started chatting with everyone who would listen about the black dog that bit him. He seemed to be handling the entire ordeal as a very grand adventure.
They had spent almost an hour downstairs in the most beautiful kitchen Kayla had ever seen. Crystal had made sandwiches and heated up some homemade soup while they talked about her plans to get a job and find a place of her own.
She tried not to think about the lonely five hundred dollars in the bottom of her purse, the entire sum of the savings account she’d cashed out. She’d planned to use it to help settle them in to Silver Cove, but it would probably jus
t cover their new medical bills.
She knew she was probably dreaming of finding a place of their own so soon, but she had to think about Connor, and it was clear now that she couldn’t stay with her mother anytime soon. She didn’t want to be a burden to Crystal and mentally determined to only stay as long as she had to.
She’d felt bad about leaving her mother, but she had to think of Connor first and foremost. The safety of her son outweighed her loyalties towards her mother.
She thought of heading out to stay with her brother, but JT had his own place on a small island off the coast. She doubted shuttling out by boat every day would be good for her or for Connor.
Her mother had cried and apologized profusely about everything. Kayla had agreed to stop by tomorrow and discuss their living arrangements further. It had been nearly dinnertime and she’d been too tired and worried about Connor to focus.
So, she’d followed Rowan to his aunt’s place and had, after eating, let them lead her upstairs in almost a daze to two of the largest and nicest rooms she’d ever seen.
“They’re adjoining,” Crystal said, setting Connor down on the massive king-size bed in what would be her room. “Connor’s room is just through here.” She opened a door and flipped on a light. “I keep this room for guests with small children. There are plenty of toys and other things to keep a three-year-old happy and busy.”
Kayla poked her head into the soft blue room and smiled. Sure enough, there were two single beds, a chalkboard, a large box of toys for young kids, and plenty of other things to keep Connor happy.
“The bathroom is just there,” She nodded to a door on the opposite wall. “You’ll have the entire floor to yourself for as long as you want. I’m up on the third floor.” Crystal smiled. “I’m not expecting guests for a few weeks, so you take your time deciding where you want to be. There’s no rush.” Crystal laid a hand on her shoulder. “I have plenty of room and always love the company.”
She glanced over as Rowan set down the last of her bags. She’d been thankful that she hadn’t unpacked anything at her mother’s place yet.
