Someday: 3 (Sunrise)

Free Someday: 3 (Sunrise) by Karen Kingsbury Page B

Book: Someday: 3 (Sunrise) by Karen Kingsbury Read Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Kingsbury
Tags: Fiction - General, General Fiction
moment. Instead she opened her eyes, and in a voice choked with tears, she thanked Brooke. “I know you’re doing all you can do.” The corners of her lips lifted, despite her obvious pain. “We won’t give up. Everyone we know is praying for that little boy.” She glanced over her shoulder toward Ethan’s room. “God does His best work when we’re at the end of ourselves.”
    Brooke thought about her own daughter Hayley, who had nearly drowned and who—but for the miraculous power of God—might’ve been in a vegetative state at this moment and not attending school with her peers. “Yes.” Brooke hoped Mrs. Teeple could feel her sincerity. “I believe that. My husband and I are praying for Ethan too.”
    They headed back into Ethan’s room, and after a few minutes Brooke moved on to her next patient, a one-year-old recovering from a serious case of pneumonia. Things were on the upswing for Paige Tagliaferri, though, and Brooke expected this visit to have a much different feeling from the one with Ethan. She walked to the far end of the hall and turned down another corridor. Just past the nurses’ station, she gave a light knock on the door and then stepped inside. Paige’s parents had kept vigil at her cribside since she’d been admitted two days ago.
    Now, as Brooke looked in, what she saw made her breath catch in her throat. Paige’s mother, Megan, had climbed into the oversize hospital crib and was curled up beside little Paige. From a corner of the room came the soft refrains of classical music—Mozart, maybe. Brooke studied the picture they made, the young mother so concerned for her daughter that she had done the only thing she could do—place herself physically next to her child.
    Brooke took quiet steps to the place on the wall where Paige’s chart hung. She looked it over, and warmth filled her heart. Paige’s last X-ray was much better. Her white count was normal, her little body responding to the antibiotics. If her exam went well, she could go home in the morning. Brooke replaced the chart and stared once more at the mother and daughter. Paige had been a patient since she was born. Her parents had spent years trying to conceive, trying every possible option before finally giving up. Only then, about a month later, did Megan find out she was pregnant.
    Paige Tagliaferri was a beautiful child, with dark blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and the most delicate features. Every time Brooke saw her, she was smiling. Even after giving immunizations, Brooke loved her visits with Paige because her parents practically glowed with joy, as if having Paige and being parents was nothing short of a dream come true.
    Brooke went to the side of the crib, gripped the edge, and whispered, “Hello, Megan. It’s Dr. West.”
    The woman’s eyes flew open, and for a moment she didn’t seem to know where she was. Then she sat up, and a sheepish look filled her face. She leaned down and kissed Paige on the cheek before climbing out of the crib. “Sorry . . . I’m not sure I’m supposed to be in there.” She reached back through the bars and stroked her daughter’s hand. “She needed me.”
    “It’s fine.” Brooke smiled and pulled her stethoscope from her pocket. She slipped it on and moved in closer to the crib. “Her chart looks great. If she sounds good, she can go home tomorrow.”
    “I hope so.” Relief filled Megan’s voice. “We’re taking her to California next week to visit my parents.” A soft laugh came from the woman. “Like the rest of us, they can’t get enough of her.”
    Brooke finished the exam, and as she expected, the baby’s lungs sounded almost completely clear. She had finished making her recommendation that Paige go home and she was heading for her next patient when again the reality hit her. Ethan . . . Paige . . . children who were wanted and prayed for and who, by their very existence, were walking miracles.
    So what about the unborn babies of single mothers, babies

Similar Books

Bething's Folly

Bárbara Metzger

Joan Hess - Arly Hanks 08

Martians in Maggody

The Guardian

Bill Eidson

Of A Darker Nature

Michelle Clay

The Queen of Last Hopes

Susan Higginbotham

Guilty Minds

Joseph Finder