Danger Deception Devotion The Firsts

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  Jeremy started fussing, and Laura stuck a soother in his mouth and lifted him from the carrier. Andy glanced over and must have seen her struggling—he stepped closer and took Jeremy from her arms. As soon as he did so, Chelsea decided to fuss.

  “Can I speak with you two outside?” the doctor said, gesturing to the door. Laura and Andy stepped out into the hallway, each holding a baby. The hallway was busy with nurses and orderlies going back and forth while families waited. “Andy, as I said to you on the phone, what I suspected was leukemia has actually come back as AML, acute myeloid leukemia, which is very aggressive.”

  Laura looked to Andy. She’d never heard of this before.

  “How aggressive are you talking? You have treatment, right? I know leukemia is curable,” Andy said. He was using that all-business tone and he expected answers. Laura was glad he was talking because she didn’t understand and her mind couldn’t formulate any rational questions—unlike Andy. Treatment had come a long way over the years, that much she did know.

  “With the type your son has, we need to start an aggressive round of chemotherapy to kill all the cancer cells in the blood and bone marrow, which will put the cancer in remission. After the chemotherapy, we’ll need to perform a stem cell transplant. We don’t want the leukemia cells to spread to the brain or the spinal cord, and we still need to run more tests to make sure it hasn’t. Once we know what stage he’s in, we’ll begin treatment, possibly in rounds, but a lot depends on what these next tests show.”

  Laura could hear Gabriel crying behind her, and Chelsea, who was rubbing her eyes, was starting to fuss again. Her baby wanted a stress-free mama, but what she was getting was a mother wound so tightly she was barely holding it together. “So let me understand this: You’re going to start this treatment right now, and then what?” Laura asked. She knew she had to sound frantic.

  “Yes, but first we have more tests to do, and then his treatment team, the Oncologist and the social worker, will assemble. We need to find out how advanced the cancer is, then we’ll have a better idea of the outcome from there.”

  Laura was still stuck on the words “social worker.” What the fuck? She’d lived this nightmare once before. Andy must have been wondering the same thing, as he shook his head and added: “What exactly is the role of the social worker? Last I heard, they don’t have medical degrees and have no business getting into my son’s care.”

  “It’s nothing like that. I don’t know what you’re worried about, but a social worker is always provided for families to help with the emotional and physical aspects of treatment. They’re there to help you find services you may need,” Doctor Siegel said.

  Laura wasn’t sure she felt any better. The doctor still sounded like he was pushing some agenda. Maybe she was being unreasonable, but it still felt as if people were sticking their noses into her family’s business.

  “Any services we need, I’ll find them,” Andy snapped, and Laura was glad he had.

  “That’s your choice,” Siegel said. “The social worker is only there to make it easier for you and your family. Now, I wanted to talk to you about a donor for the stem cells. There’s a donor bank, but a family match is ideal. Andy, you’re not the father, but you can still be tested. We’re not looking to match blood type but rather six key antigens. The best match is always a family member.”

  “You can test me,” Laura said.

  “Of course. We also need to look for donors, which takes time, and we need to have the donor ready by the time the chemo has killed all the leukemia cells.” The doctor checked his watch. “Okay, I have to make rounds, but we need to do a lumbar puncture tonight. We’ll sedate Gabriel, but one of you should be here. One of the interns will be by to get you set up for your tests.” The doctor patted Andy’s shoulder and glanced Laura’s way, then he left.

  Laura couldn’t think of one intelligent thing to say or do. She just stood there, waiting for someone to say something, anything.

  “Laura,” Andy said.

  She started and looked up at him. “Yeah, what are we going to do?”

  “I’m going to stay tonight. You’re going home with the babies, and―”

  “No,” Laura said, cutting him off. There was no way she was leaving her little boy. She was almost frantic when Andy grabbed her shoulder and gave a little shake.

  “Hey, stop it. Listen, you go home. We can’t both stay tonight, not with the babies, and you’re still nursing. It’s just for tonight, Laura. Take the truck. I’ll call you later, after they do the tests…”

  “Excuse me,” a young man in blue scrubs interrupted. “Doctor Siegel said you were going to be tested as a match for your son.” He looked to Laura and then Andy. “We can do it right now, all of you. Doctor Siegel asked for a rush.”

  “You go first,” Andy said, “and then you take the babies home.”

  Gabriel cried out again and Laura started into his room when Andy touched her shoulder to stop her.

  “I’ll stay with Gabriel,” he said. “It’s important you be tested right now. You’ll be the closest match as his mother.”

  When Laura looked up at Andy, her strong, sexy alpha male who could handle anything, she could see the tension and worry he was doing his very best to hide. He was her super hero, her knight in shining armor and she wondered if he would ever ask for help.

  Chapter 10

  It was horrible, the way Gabriel cried when they stuck him with a needle again to sedate him. Andy knew his son was terrified, so he snapped at the nurse or the intern or whoever it was to give them a minute. Maybe that was why the doctor was called in.

  “Andy, you have a second?” Doctor Siegel asked after Gabriel was quiet and sleepy, which took less than a minute after the sedative had been given.

  Andy wanted to pull his hair out, he was so frustrated. He wanted Gabriel to be all right so he could take him home. He couldn’t believe this was happening. They were all healthy, every one of them, or they should have been. Andy had the money and resources to make sure of it, but the cancer inside the little boy, who was his in every sense except biologically…he couldn’t make that go away, and it left him feeling powerless.

  He didn’t say anything as he followed the doctor into the hallway, his shoes squeaking on the polished floor. The doctor had changed into blue scrubs, and he appeared even younger than when they had first met, maybe in his early forties.

  “I wanted to talk to you about your wife,” the doctor said.

  Andy stiffened and had to fight the urge to roll his shoulders back and keep his hands relaxed. He was ready to put his fist through a wall if it would get him somewhere, anywhere, because he wasn’t going to let anyone put his wife down or criticize her.

  “She’s not a match and you are a long shot,” Siegel said. We’ll look for an unrelated donor, but that can lead to complications. I need to stress that time is not on our side, and depending on the outcome of the test tonight…”

  “Stop,” Andy interrupted. He needed to get a grip, as he was misreading everything. “Explain in English, please. What are you looking for? What do I need to do? My wife isn’t here, so I don’t want you to hold anything back. Where are we, exactly?”

  The doctor’s expression turned grim. “Exactly? Well, not good. From the preliminary blood work that came back, I’m concerned about how far the cancer has already spread. The lumbar puncture for the spinal fluid and the bone marrow aspiration and biopsy will tell us a lot more, but this type of leukemia is aggressive and will spread to the brain, spleen, spinal cord, liver and lymph nodes. Right now, I don’t know the stage, so we need to find him a match quickly. The tissue type has to be identical to Gabriel’s, and that means a family match is what we need. You have to uncover every family member related to Gabriel and get them in here to be tested. Again, the outcome of the tests tonight will decide the course of the chemotherapy and possibly radiation, including how radical we need to be. We’re destroying all the cancer cells in the marrow along with all the hea
lthy ones, meaning his immune system will be damaged. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Andy didn’t need a medical degree to know how serious the situation was. “We need that match as soon as you finish the cancer drugs, or my kid’s dead. Does that sum it up?” he said. His chest squeezed with a pain he wished could be physical, because this was beyond anything he’d ever experienced.

  The doctor shoved his hands in his white coat pockets and squared his shoulders. “Yes.”

  “So I need to find someone from Laura’s family or the family of the kid who fathered Gabriel, and hopefully one of them will be a match, right?”

  “The more family members you can find so we can test them, the better chance we have of finding a match. Depending on the outcome of the biopsy, we have a week or two at the most.”

  It was worse than Andy thought. He rubbed his scruffy jaw, and the doctor was pulled away by a nurse only to return a few minutes later.

  “Okay, we’re going to take him up now,” Siegel said. “We’ll get you gowned up so you can come in with him, and you can see him right after the procedure.”

  Then the doctor was gone, and Andy stepped back into his little boy’s hospital room. For the first time ever, he wondered what the hell he was going to do.

  Chapter 11

  It wasn’t often that Laura drove, and she could count on one hand the number of times she’d driven Andy’s fancy truck. He would never let her drive him around, not in this lifetime. He’d once said to her that men drive women, not the other way around. Laura understood that was just the way Andy was. He took charge, made the decisions and protected her and her children. He just had a very strong opinion of what real men were, but then, all the Friessen men were like that. Meeting his cousins, Jed, Brad and Neil, Laura had seen it firsthand.

  She had also seen what it was to be loved by a Friessen man. It was a powerful and overwhelming feeling that she’d had to get her head around quickly, or else she was positive she would have lost her sense of self. She remembered how Andy had barked out that there was no way in hell she would drive while he sat idly on the passenger side like some useless namby-pamby—those had been his exact words. There was something about that memory that eased the overwhelming despair she felt now. Her husband saw the roles of men and women as being so very black and white.

  The headlights on the truck flashed over another pickup when Laura pulled up to the front of the house. When she turned off the truck and slid out, she saw Kim stepping out of her own truck and coming around the back end. She wore a heavy coat and blue jeans, her hair in a ponytail.

  “Hey there, Laura,” Kim said. “Hope you don’t mind me just showing up here, but your husband called from the hospital and asked if I’d check on his horse, feed her and give you a hand if you need it. He sounded worried on the phone.”

  Laura put her hand on the back door and wondered if Kim had picked up on her annoyance. She hated when Andy did this. It made her feel useless, as if he didn’t trust her. After all they’d been through together, she hoped he’d be past pulling stunts like this. “We’re fine,” Laura said, though she knew they weren’t. She ached and worried, and she knew she wouldn’t get a wink of sleep tonight. She was just being stubborn, digging her heels in to make a point, and she grumbled to herself.

  “I wouldn’t be, Laura,” Kim said. “I’d be a basket case if it was my kid in the hospital and I was sent home with the babies. I can only imagine how helpless you feel.”

  Laura’s eyes burned, and she fought back the tears. Maybe Kim really did understand. Maybe she should stop being such a cranky-pants.

  Kim reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “Hey, you’re not alone. Why don’t I help you in with these babies, make us some coffee or something, and you tell me when to go home? Around these parts, we tend to look after each other,” Kim said in a kind and supportive way that took the edge off Laura’s irritation.

  Laura didn’t say anything for the longest time, as she didn’t like asking for help from anyone. Andy knew that,. Maybe that was why he had phoned Kim. She was still irritated, because it felt as if he had done it behind her back, but she said, “Okay, sure.”

  Kim helped her inside with the babies. As Laura nursed, changed and bathed them, she could hear her neighbor in the kitchen, dishes clattering, most likely cleaning up the mess of their untouched dinner.

  With both babies tucked in and asleep, Laura walked with unease down her hallway, taking in the open concept and all the wood. She hesitated in the doorway to the kitchen, watching Kim, who was humming away and looked so pretty in a light blue shirt. She had a trim figure, with curves in all the right places. She was taller than Laura, older and more confident. Laura wondered why Andy would call her. It bothered her immensely.

  Kim glanced up. Her amazing deep brown eyes were filled with concern, which helped ease some of Laura’s anxiety. She kept jumping back and forth like a seesaw with this ridiculous jealousy, reading something into it, that probably wasn’t even there.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I cleaned up a bit,” Kim said. “Your dinner was out on the table, so I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge. It should still be good.” She gripped the washcloth in her hands and looked suddenly awkward. “I hope I’m not overstepping, here. If I am, let me know. When your husband called and asked me to come over and help, I could hear in his voice how worried he was about you.”

  “Well, my husband shouldn’t be calling other women to help me,” Laura said. The minute she did, she wanted to take it back. She felt her face warm. “Sorry, that was…” She wanted to say “inappropriate.”

  Kim shook her head and stepped around the counter. “I understand how you feel, Laura. I did feel a bit awkward when your husband phoned, but any man who loves his wife as much as yours does, well…let’s just say you’re lucky to have a man who loves you so much that he doesn’t leave you to figure out everything yourself. I can also see how you would find it irritating at times, though.”

  Kim had surprised her. Laura found herself wanting to confide just how frustrating it was at times, but she had to remind herself that she couldn’t change Andy. He was an amazing man—except for the fact that he made her so mad at times like these.

  “I’m sorry about Gabriel,” Kim said. “Andy mentioned what they found.”

  Laura had to blink back tears as she struggled to hold it together. She’d been numb from the news and had wanted a moment to sit by herself and just cry; but she hadn’t had a spare second to herself. Maybe that was why a tear leaked out before she could blink it back.

  “Hey, listen, come and sit down,” Kim said, rubbing her back and leading her over to a seat at the round oak table. Kim pulled a chair out beside her, and Laura tried to pull herself together. She nearly jumped when she heard the kettle shriek.

  “I boiled water, thought you might like some tea. I was going to ask, if I could heat you up some dinner. Have you eaten?” Kim slid back the chair and unplugged the kettle.

  “I’m not hungry, but tea would be nice,” Laura said. “I know Andy did the shopping. Not sure what he bought, but check the cupboard by the sink. That’s where the coffee and tea are.”

  Kim searched through the cupboard and pulled out a box. “Green tea,” she said, holding it up.

  “Sure,” Laura said. She was about to say more but was at a loss for anything else to talk about.

  “I understand if you’re not hungry, but you should try to eat something for those babies, at least. They need their mama healthy. I make a great omelette. Could I whip one up for you?” Kim offered as she made herself at home in Laura’s kitchen, setting two steaming mugs at the table.

  “You don’t have to wait on me, Kim,” Laura said. She glanced up at her neighbor, who was just trying to help and saw the awkwardness there. “Why don’t I just drink this tea, and I’ll think about the omelette?”

  Kim winked at Laura. “Sure,” she said, taking a seat across from her and setting her hands around her mug.


  “Andy’s supposed to call and let me know how Gabriel is...how the tests go,” Laura said. “The doctor is running more tests tonight. I just don’t know how this happened. I mean, before I met Andy, I really tried to make sure Gabriel was always healthy. I can’t help thinking this is because of something I did.”

  Kim appeared confused for a second before she asked, “Gabriel isn’t Andy’s son?”

  Why was Laura talking about this? The last thing she wanted was for more gossip to spread about her, for people to start talking about her misguided teenage years. She could feel her face burning. “No. Andy married me over a year ago, but he loves Gabriel as his own.”

  Kim reached forward and touched Laura’s hands that were gripped together on the table. “That must have been hard for you before. You’re so young. Is Gabriel’s father in the picture?”

  “No, Andy is Gabriel’s father in every way that counts,” Laura said. She wanted Kim to stop asking so many questions, but then, she needed to shut her own mouth and stop talking. She was only stirring the other woman’s curiosity every time she spoke.

  “I can tell,” Kim said. “Any man that would accept a child as his own, the way your husband has, is worth keeping. You’re lucky, Laura. I wasn’t as fortunate.” She glanced away, holding on to something that obviously bothered her a great deal.

  “Are you married?” Laura asked. The fact was that she didn’t know the first thing about Kim other than that she was their closest neighbor—and Andy, her husband, felt comfortable enough calling her.

  “Once upon a time,” Kim said. “I was very young and very stupid. I married the first young man to give me a lick of attention. It never would have worked. I was too immature, and he was too much a child himself. I grew up fast, though, and learned to stand on my own two feet. It was either swim or drown, and I learned a lot of things the hard way. At one time, I would have given anything to have a man as supportive as yours.”