“You did well to bring him in so fast.” He’s pressing John’s abdomen, feeling with his fingers as he talks to me. “Did the symptoms start this morning?”
“No. He had pain last night. It may have started sooner.”
“I’m taking him straight in.”
“Let me come with him.”
“No.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“I hope so. Ask me later.”
John’s face twists as an orderly rushes him away on the gurney. Watching the team hurry down the bright, sterile hallway makes me hurt more than I can bear. I could collapse right here and now.
Paul and Peter arrive together. Then Mary. She hurries over to me.
I raise my palms, turn my head to one side. She flings her arms around me anyway. I can’t decide if she just doesn’t read signals, or if she needs to act like she knows best. My body stiffens.
Still, I have to look her in the eye and tell her, “Mary, I need space.”
“Of course you do,” she says, still holding on. She starts to pull me. To steer me.
I hold her waist as gently as I can, and I look in her eye. “I need air.”
Finally she backs off.
Liam strides into the waiting area. There’s no expression on his face, only strength. His eyes are gentle, though. He and John are so much alike.
He stands near me. Big, strong and easily in command.
First he says, “He’s in good hands.” Then he asks me, “Are you okay?”
I nod and there’s a sparkle in his eye as he says, “You did well, stealing that show-off car of Peter’s. I’m impressed that you could handle it.”
I want to tell him about the pursuit and cross-country training I’ve had, but I can’t easily speak. Liam understands.
Softly, he asks me, “Did they say what it is?”
I shake my head, but I manage to say, “It looks like an appendicitis.”
His eyes shine into my face. “By God, he got a piece of luck when we found you, didn’t he?”
The wait feels like hours. I check the time on my watch. And my phone. And the clock on the wall. About every ninety seconds.
We’re in the waiting area for an hour and eighteen minutes before I see the dark-haired doctor shove through the double doors. I can’t read his face. I try not to run to him. But I can’t stop myself. He holds up both palms and shows me a trace of a smile.
“Appendicitis. We got it just in time.” He looks into my face. “He’s lucky to have you.”
He tells me, “We were able to perform laparoscopic surgery, so he may be fit in a week, but err on the side of caution. No strenuous activity. No lifting, running, stretching at all for three days at least. I’ll give him a course of pain meds.”
He tells me what John will need to do and all that he’ll be prescribed. I’m trying to listen, but the relief washes through me like ocean waves.
When he sees the blanched look on my face, he asks, “Should I prescribe something for you?”
“Just my husband, doctor. When I can get a few large doses of him, I’ll be fine.”
They let me take him home.
Every member of the whole immediate O’Malley family has urgent reasons to be at his bedside. The power of their bonds and affection amazes me. But I’m not going to have a wall of them between me and my husband. Not today. And not at all if I can help it.
Liam, as well as all John’s brothers and sisters, are in my hallway. I’m on the second stair, with my arms outstretched to hold both of the rails, blocking the way.
“He’s going to be fine,” I tell them all. “You can all come and see him, but not for a while. He needs complete rest for the next twenty-four hours.”
Liam catches my eye. It’s obvious he can see I’m making that up. I know he can see why, though.
“John couldn’t be in better care,” he announces. “This little angel certainly saved his life, so she’s the boss.” And he speaks clearly to me. “If you need anything, you’ll call.”
I can see we’re going to get along.
Firmly, over all of their heads, I tell him, “Definitely. Thank you, Liam. Thank you all. I’ll let John know you’re all thinking of him and sending love.”
In the evening, he’s sitting up in bed.
“What Dad told me is true,” he says, looking up at me. “I’m really lucky to have you.”
And he starts to get up.
I put a hand on his chest.
“Oh,” he smiles, “are you coming to join me?”
“Soon,” I tell him, though the urge is almost too much to resist. “Not tonight, though.”
Chapter Ten
John
I sleep like a rock. In the morning, Kiera is up, showered and dressed. Her skin glows softly in the morning sun. She stands by the bedside with pills and water.