Again, she gave a single nod.
“Just relax. You’re going to be fine.” With that reassurance, she drifted away.
The next time she awoke, she was lying on a gurney in the pre-op area and Mac sat in a nearby chair. His hand was warm as he held hers, and as soon as she moved he jumped to his feet and smiled. “Hi.”
Her mouth was dry and her throat hurt, but the tubes were gone and her voice worked. “Hi, yourself. What’s wrong with me?”
“Your throat is bruised and you have some swelling, but nothing’s broken. In a few days you’ll be yelling again.”
“I doubt it,” she whispered.
“I was never so worried in my life,” he admitted.
“Me, too.” An image of Brad’s furious face swam before her eyes and she clamped them tight to shut out the image. In spite of her fear, she had to ask. “Brad?”
“He’s in custody. He confessed that you’d caught him taking drugs. Apparently he’s been diluting meds and charting doses that he’s given himself for quite a while.”
No wonder she’d seen a higher incidence of Brad’s patients who needed more morphine than others.
“He’s on his way to jail and eventually, I presume, to drug rehab.”
Raction set in. Her hand shook as she rubbed her eyes. “I was so scared.”
Mac gathered her close as if he needed the contact as much as she did. “I know.”
“I was so afraid I’d never see you again.”
“Me, too.”
“Oh, Mac.” Unable to hold back her emotions, words failed her and she burst into tears. She hardly noticed how he sat on the edge of the bed and held her.
“Just let it out,” he murmured against her hair. “You’re safe now. He can’t hurt you.”
It was several minutes before the fountain inside her slowed to a trickle and she regained her composure.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “I love you, Lori.”
“I know. I was going to tell you that when I ran into Brad.”
“Then you do believe me?”
She spoke fervently as she smiled. “Without a doubt.”
“What convinced you?”
“I realized that you’re too honest for your own good.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later. When I can talk without my throat hurting. Do I have to stay here?”
“Not unless you want to.”
“I don’t.” She wanted her own bed and her husband beside her to keep her living nightmare at bay.
“We’ll go home as soon as you’re ready to leave.”
“What about your surgeries? And Talia?”
“All taken care of,” he informed her. “Right now, I want to spend time with my wife, reassuring myself that she’s still in one piece.”
“A kiss won’t hurt me, will it?” she asked. At his answering grin, she added, “Then what are you waiting for?”
She raised her mouth to his, pleased to discover there were times when a doctor would follow a nurse’s orders.
One year later
Lori carried the shoe-box of IOUs outside to the patio where Mac, Corey and Ronnie hovered around her ancient barbecue grill.
“You’re being awfully slow,” Mac teased her.
“Yeah, Mom,” Ronnie said. “We’ve been waiting for hours.”
“It’s only been a few minutes,” she replied, dumping the scraps of paper inside the empty grill.
“Yes, dear, but it’s cold,” Mac told her.
“Weakling,” she teased as he pulled the collar of her coat around her ears. “OK. Who’s got the matches?”
“We do,” Corey and Ronnie shouted together. “Can we light it now?”
“Yes, you may.”
The children struck the matches and tossed the flaming sticks into the nest of papers. Fire devoured the notes like a greedy dragon and smoke spiraled into the chilly late afternoon air.
She’d brought these small scraps of paper to her marriage, and now she was sending them and the mistrust they had caused into oblivion, where they belonged. She didn’t have room for either in her life any longer.
Mac pulled her against him. “You did it,” he said. “I’m proud of you for having the integrity to pay off those debts when no one would have faulted you if you hadn’t.”
“Thanks. I’m proud of me, too.”
As the scraps slowly turned to ash, Mac asked, “What is my frugal wife going to splurge on now that she’s debt-free?”
“I’m not splurging on anything,” she said. “I’m saving it for a downpayment on a bigger house.”
Mac stared at her in surprise. “A bigger house? Isn’t this one large enough?”
“It would be, but we need an extra bedroom.”
“An extra bedroom? What for?”
Lori threaded her arm through his as she leaned on him. “We’re going to have a guest…for about eighteen or nineteen years.”
His eyes suddenly gleamed with understanding. “You’re pregnant?”
“Dr. Ratna confirmed it this morning. You’ll be a father again in about seven months,” she said happily.
Ronnie tugged on her sleeve. “We’re going to have a brother or a sister?”
“Yes, you are,” Lori answered.
The two children whooped and hollered as they danced around the yard, suddenly oblivious to the cold. While they were out of earshot, Lori pressed her hand to the area over Mac’s heart. “Do you think you have room for one more in here?”
“With plenty to spare.”
As he kissed her, Lori hoped their children would someday discover the joys of a love that came softly and lasted a lifetime.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5747-7
A MOTHER’S SPECIAL CARE
First North American Publication 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Jessica Matthews
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