Family by Design

“Think about my offer.”

He blanked, looking at her in question.

“To watch Chrissy in the afternoons.”

“Still not enough to do?” he asked wryly.

“Actually, Chrissy kept Mom entertained the day you visited. That means more time for me to get things done.”

He was skeptical. “You forget, I know Chrissy. Much as I love her, right now she’s acting like a pain.”

“Understandably.”

“It’s easier to be understanding from a distance,” he warned her, thinking of Chrissy’s refusal to do any homework. He’d wrangled with her for more than an hour and had gotten nowhere.

Maddie laughed. “Isn’t everything? Keep the offer in mind. I’m not going anywhere.”

Sobered, he wondered. In his experience, that’s exactly what women did.

The phone jangled loudly. J.C. bolted upright, reaching for the receiver before the noise could wake Chrissy. Momentarily forgetting he was sleeping on the couch, he overshot the mark and slammed his hand into a lamp that crashed to the floor. Grabbing the side table so that he wouldn’t land on top of the broken glass, he smashed his toes into the unyielding wood base.

Muttering under his breath, he finally reached the phone. Bad car accident on the highway, possible spinal fracture. Flipping on the overhead light, he glanced at his watch. Nearly two in the morning.

J.C. dressed quickly, then wrote a note for Chrissy. Still uneasy with leaving her alone, he stopped at Blair’s apartment, knocking quietly.

Yawning, she rubbed her eyes. “I’ll try to listen, but I pulled a double yesterday and I’m beat.”

“Sorry I woke you.”

She yawned again. “Me, too.”

“Thanks, Blair.”

Still yawning she closed the door.

Once at the hospital, J.C. rushed to the trauma area. Fortunately, the situation wasn’t as dire as he expected, but it was still over two hours before he neared home.

Red lights flashed from an ambulance, strobing eerily in the darkness. Grabbing his bag, he ran toward an EMT. Chrissy! Had something happened to her? “I’m a doctor.” Panting, he caught his breath. “What’s the situation?”

“Heart attack. Nurse that lives here gave him CPR. Touch and go, but she kept him alive.”

“Nurse?” Blair? J.C. skirted the back of the ambulance, catching sight of Blair, then reaching her on a run. “Where’s Chrissy?”

Blair looked distracted. “In your apartment I imagine. Had my hands pretty full here.”

“Sorry. Of course.” He pushed one hand through his thick hair. “Saved his life, I hear.”

“Hope so.”

J.C. loped across the lawn toward his apartment. Even from a distance, he could see that the overhead light in the living room was on. Not breaking his stride, he burst inside. But the living room was empty. With the lights on, his earlier tangle with the lamp looked ominous. “Chrissy?”

No answer.

The bedroom light was off, but he could see the mound of little girl beneath the covers. He switched on the lamp. “Chrissy?”

Muffled cries penetrated her covering.

Gently he peeled back the duvet. “It’s okay.”

“Uh-uh.” She cried harder.

“I know one of the neighbors got sick, but it looks like he’ll be all right.”

“You weren’t here!” she accused.

“There was an emergency—” J.C. started to explain.

“The sirens came and everything!”

Logic couldn’t overcome her fear. “I’m here now.”

Chrissy burst into a new round of tears. It was too late. And it wasn’t enough. Worse, he couldn’t promise it wouldn’t happen again.

J.C. glanced at Lillian Carter’s chart. “No nausea or decreased appetite?”

Maddie answered for her mother. “Nope. If anything, she’s eating a bit more.”

“Now is that something we tell handsome young men?” Lillian fussed, then smiled at J.C. To Maddie’s surprise he didn’t smile back. Wasn’t like him. Not at all. Lillian smoothed her skirt. “You bake a lot of sweets. They’re hard to resist.”

“I do have a sweet tooth,” Maddie admitted.

Again no reaction from J.C. Had they somehow irritated him? “Everything all right?”

“Hmm.” Distracted, he glanced up from the chart. “I’m sorry, what?”

She frowned. “I said, is everything all right?”

He shrugged, then exhaled. “Not really.”

She searched his expression. “Chrissy?”

J.C. explained the emergency call and his neighbor’s heart attack.

“That’s dreadful!”

“Chrissy’s inconsolable.”

“Of course,” Lillian spoke up, surprising both of them. “A child must always feel safe. It’s the parents’ job to make sure of that.”