Prognosis: Romance (Doctors in Training 4)

By Sunday, Kyle’s recovery was well underway—so rapidly that the extended family was able to relax and start returning to their own activities. He was expected to remain hospitalized through Wednesday. Shannon wondered if they were keeping him that long mostly to make sure he didn’t reinjure himself during those days. Already he’d tried to escape his hospital bed a couple of times because he wanted to explore the hospital. It was no wonder, Shannon thought with the exasperation of a fond aunt, that her poor brother-in-law claimed Kyle was the cause of his prematurely gray hair.

Shannon walked into the hospital room early Sunday afternoon, carrying an electronic toy she’d picked out to keep Kyle entertained during his recuperation, one he could play with without risk of further injury. The boy lay in his bed, his right leg encased in a cast, his red hair tumbled around his face, which was only a shade paler than usual beneath the freckles. J.P. sat on the narrow bed beside him, and together they were reading the Sunday comics from the newspaper. On the other side of the smallish private room, Stacy and their mother sat in the two provided chairs, while their dad leaned against a wide windowsill, gazing out at the Little Rock skyline.

Perching on the end of the bed, safely out of range of her nephew’s injured leg, Shannon chatted with her family, learning that Kyle’s siblings were spending the day with their uncle Stu and aunt Karen, and that a doctor had been in earlier to inform them that Kyle was making very good progress in his recovery. He was still on track for release in a few days, though it would be another couple of weeks before he’d be cleared to return to school.

“I get a vacation!” Kyle crowed.

His dad leveled a look at him. “Hardly. Your teacher is going to send your work home and your mother and I are going to make sure you don’t fall behind.”

Kyle heaved a sigh and made an attempt to look pitiful. “But I’m hurt.”

“Not so hurt you couldn’t beat me at that video game earlier,” J.P. retorted, nodding toward the television and gaming system set up in the well-equipped room. “If you’re up to racing virtual go-carts, you can do your math and spelling assignments.”

Probably knowing that was a discussion he couldn’t win, Kyle buried his face in the comics again.

After tapping lightly on the door to announce his arrival, James opened it and peeked in. “Hello. How’s the patient today?”

Shannon hoped her family had no way of telling that her pulse rate had just increased at the sight of James’s handsome face. Glancing surreptitiously around, she decided in relief and bemusement that they were all too busy being delighted to see him themselves to pay much attention to her. Everyone smiled at him in warm welcome, urging him to come in and visit with them.

She knew he’d been by the day before to check on Kyle, though his visit had not coincided with her own. The family had seemed so pleased by his gesture that one would have thought a celebrity had taken time to visit.

He greeted the others, received a disjointed update on Kyle’s condition from parents and grandparents, then turned toward Shannon. “How did your party go yesterday?”

He was the first one to ask. It wasn’t that the others didn’t care about her business, she assured herself. They were simply preoccupied with Kyle—as they should be. “It went very well, thanks for asking. A dozen six-year-olds at a party with a paleontology theme. I had them dig in boxes of dirt for plastic dinosaur bones, make their own fossil rocks with plaster and play

pin the tail on the Brachiosaurus. They ate ‘dirt cake’ made of chocolate wafer cookies and pudding with gummy dinosaurs on top, and drank ‘swamp water,’ which was just green-tinted fruit punch. The party hats were plastic pith helmets, and all the party favors were dinosaur-themed. They had a great time, I think.”

“That sounds like fun, Aunt Shannon,” Kyle said enviously. “I want a dinosaur party.”

Stacy lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you said you wanted a superhero party. Or a race-car-driver party.”

“I want them all,” Kyle agreed with a grin. “You do cool parties, Aunt Shannon.”

“Thanks, sweetie.” Shannon smiled, then glanced at her watch, suddenly remembering something. “We have those tickets to the play tonight, Stacy. Are you still planning to go with me?”

Stacy wrinkled her nose. “No, I’m just not in the mood to night, sorry. Maybe Mom would like to use my ticket?”

Their mother shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m much too tired for tonight.”

Shannon nodded, figuring she’d have to forfeit the tickets this time, since she couldn’t think of anyone else to ask on such short notice. She didn’t blame her family for begging off—it had certainly been an exhausting weekend.

“Maybe James can go with you,” her mother suggested brightly, looking delighted to have come up with the spur-of-the-moment idea.

“Uh—”

“That would be nice,” Stacy agreed, looking eagerly from Shannon to James and back again. “You’d be welcome to my ticket, James, if you’re available this evening. You do like dinner theater, don’t you?”

“I’m sure James has other plans for tonight, you two,” Shannon said repressively. “He’s a busy man.”

“Actually, I don’t have plans for tonight,” James corrected rather quickly. “I was just planning to stay in and read, but I’d be happy to accompany you to the play, so your tickets don’t have to go to waste.”

“They were free, anyway,” she said with a slight shrug, self-conscious at having all eyes on her then. “A friend gave them to me when she had a chance to go on a cruise this week instead.”

“All the more reason you should get to enjoy them,” he replied promptly.

“There you go, honey. James will go with you, so you don’t have to miss the play.” Her mother looked as though she were mentally patting her own back for making this happen. “I’m sure you’ll both have a lovely time.”

Looking from her family’s smug smiles to James’s rather amused expression, Shannon told herself this was probably her own fault. She should have kept her mouth shut about the play.