of dust and a crowd of children at the base of the jungle gym. She ran over and found Jeremy fighting and clawing at an older, larger boy. They were rolling around in the sand at the base of the apparatus.
‘Jeremy, stop,’ Shelby cried, as she tried to get between them. Jeremy was flailing away, although taking the worst of the fight. ‘Both of you. Stop it right now,’ Shelby insisted.
‘He stepped on my fingers,’ Jeremy cried tearfully.
‘You pushed me,’ the other boy accused.
‘All right. All right, enough,’ said Shelby. ‘Let me see that hand.’
Jeremy displayed reddened fingers. ‘It’s his fault,’ Jeremy yelled.
‘I don’t care whose fault it is. There’s no need for a fistfight. Come on, Jeremy. Come with me. We’ve got to get to the hospital.’
‘The hospital! I’m not going to the hospital,’ Jeremy protested, drawing back his fingers and hiding them behind his back. ‘It doesn’t hurt.’
‘To see your dad,’ Shelby reminded him.
‘Oh,’ the boy said glumly. And then he brightened. ‘OK.’ He brushed the sand and dust off his clothes and began to run toward the car.
Once Jeremy was out of earshot, Shelby turned to the other boy, who was snickering. ‘And you,’ she said, causing him to look up at her, wide-eyed. ‘Next time, pick on somebody your own size. You hear me?’
Shelby tapped on the door of Rob’s room, and then looked cautiously around the corner. Rob, bandaged up and attached to an IV, was sitting up in bed looking at some program on the television. He looked up at her.
‘I brought someone to see you,’ she said.
Jeremy barreled past her and headed for the bed. Rob’s eyes lit up at the sight of his son. But Shelby practically had to tackle the boy in order to keep him from jumping on to his father’s fractured body.
Father and son managed an awkward hug. Jeremy looked at his father in amazement. ‘You look bad,’ he said admiringly.
‘I feel pretty bad,’ Rob admitted. ‘How are you? How’s school?’
‘Miss Darcie is nice. She said I did the best picture.’
‘Did you bring it?’ Rob asked.
Jeremy looked disappointed. ‘I forgot.’
‘It’s OK. I’ll see it soon.’
‘I talked to your doctor in the hall,’ said Shelby. ‘Looks like they might spring you soon. Although you’re going to need some help.’
Rob nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Shelby, about what I said to you.’
‘What did you say?’ Jeremy asked.
‘Nothing, honey,’ said Shelby firmly. ‘Your dad has had a lot on his mind. But I have some good news for him. Your grandparents are on their way here from Indonesia.’
Jeremy’s eyes were wide. ‘Are they Indians?’
Rob and Shelby both laughed.
‘No, they’re just working there,’ said Rob. ‘Really? Are they headed back?’
Shelby nodded. ‘I think Darcie took care of it, through the church. They were able to locate them.’
‘That’s great,’ said Rob, a catch in his voice. ‘It’ll be so good to see them.’
Shelby cast a glance at Jeremy. ‘I figure they can handle things for a while.’
‘I want to thank you for all you’ve done,’ he said sheepishly.
‘No thanks necessary,’ said Shelby. ‘It’s my grandson.’
‘I know,’ said Rob.
‘You might want to thank Darcie. I’ve really relied on her help.’
‘She has been great, hasn’t she?’ said Rob. ‘A lot of people say they’d do anything for you, but she really means it.’
‘Well, she really cares.’ said Shelby. She watched Rob’s face to see if he understood what she was saying.
‘I can’t help it. I still think of her as a little kid,’ said Rob.
‘She’s no little kid,’ Shelby said. ‘She’s a very capable young woman.’
Rob looked at her in surprise. ‘I’ll be sure to thank her,’ he said.
‘Can I watch cartoons?’ Jeremy asked, crawling up on to a chair beside Rob’s bed. Rob handed him the remote, and Jeremy began to flip through channels with an authoritative ease, finally settling on a cartoon show that immediately engrossed him.
A nurse bustled into the room and took Rob’s blood pressure. Then she handed him a paper cup with pills in it. ‘Down the hatch,’ she said cheerfully.
Rob swallowed the pills.
‘Those are for the pain,’ she said as she headed back toward the door. ‘If you need more, push the call button.’
Rob thanked her and then looked back at Shelby. ‘Look, Shelby. About this business with the detective you hired to look into . . .’ He glanced at his son, curled up in the chair, staring at the television. ‘What happened . . .’
‘I went behind your back,’ said Shelby. ‘I can understand why you felt blindsided.’
Rob shook his