One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,49
to wake up.”
“I can’t, darling. Sometimes after an accident, people kind of faint, from being jolted around. I think that’s what happened to her. You need to come over and talk to her a minute so she knows you’re here.”
“But she can’t hear me if she’s not awake.” Tears overflowed Alex’s eyes, and he seemed unaware of them.
Tears dampened her eyes as she spoke. “She hears you. She needs to hear your voice and know you’re with her. She’ll know. Mothers always know.” Piper looked up at the monitor. Vital signs were stable, so Caroline was probably okay to undergo surgery now. She sent up a quick prayer that Caroline could feel Alex beside her and know she was loved.
“Mom? It’s me. Alex,” he said, and his voice cracked.
“You can touch her hand.” Piper took Alex’s hand and placed it over Caroline’s, careful to avoid the IV site.
“Mom? Uncle T. took me rock climbing, and I’m in camp and everything,” he said.
The monitor showed that Caroline’s heart rate skipped a beat, then raced for a few before settling down again. “I think she hears you. Good work, Alex.”
Piper looked up at Taylor, and her breath lodged in her throat. Longing, such as she’d never seen in him, was etched on his face. She rose from her knees beside Alex. “Keep talking to her,” she whispered in his ear. She approached Taylor and placed a hand on his arm. “Taylor? Are you okay?”
Turning his attention to her, he nodded, then shook his head, then gathered her against him. Piper held his trembling body tight to her, hoping to instill some of the comfort she’d shared with Alex. It wouldn’t be enough. It was never enough, but perhaps it helped just a little.
She pulled back and touched her hand to his face. “Can I get you some coffee? Some juice for Alex?”
He nodded and released her. “I want to talk to the surgeon and see what they have planned, see if I can scrub in with him.”
“Oh, Taylor. That’s not a good idea. He probably wouldn’t let you anyway.” Piper bit her lower lip, knowing Taylor was desperate to do something, but this wasn’t it. He couldn’t sit idly by while someone else fixed his sister. Sitting on the sidelines wasn’t going to satisfy him.
“I know, dammit,” he said in a low growl. “But I have to do something. I just can’t sit here and wait.” Sitting and waiting weren’t what he did. It wasn’t his way. His way was to charge forward, take control of a situation and make it right. Frustration rocked through him, and he clenched his jaw.
“Let me get those drinks, get Alex settled a little, and we’ll talk.” She turned away from him, allowing her hand to linger on his chest for a second, needing that moment of contact with him. “Alex, come with me.” She held out her hand to the boy. “We need to go get your Uncle T. some coffee.”
Without hesitation, Alex launched himself at her, hugging her around the hips. His small body shook, and she held him tight. Then she felt the touch of Taylor’s hand on her shoulder. He knelt beside them, embracing them both. Tears clouded her eyes and pressure built in her chest. Here was the family she had longed for.
And it wasn’t hers.
With a sniff, she pulled away before she broke down in front of them. Now she had to be the strong one for both of them. “Come on, Alex.”
She led the boy away, and Taylor watched them go, feeling like a piece of him was leaving with them. Cursing, he shoved to his feet and grabbed the room phone and called the orthopod. A friend of his, Dr. Ian McSorley, was a man he could talk to. They’d climbed and base jumped together, and he trusted Ian like a brother. A curt conversation that ended the way Piper had said it would didn’t put him in any better frame of mind.
As he paced outside the trauma room, Piper returned with the drinks as promised. At least she had something to do. He reached for the cup. Taking a deep breath, he sipped the steaming brew, savoring the taste. Just the way he drank it. How had she remembered that? Taking a look at her, as if seeing her for the first time, he stared. She was a gem in so many ways, and he hadn’t seen it. He was such a bastard.
“Maybe I should have gotten