Chapter Four

      Valley Hospital was bigger than Maggie had expected. She somehow had a preconceived idea that any hospital in this minor town would be small and inadequate. On the contrary, it took up about a half-acre of land, had four floors and a staff that seemed as professional as any hospital the Bay Area had to offer.

      Fortunately, Doc Blake was the calm breeze to Maggie’s hurricane of emotions and knew exactly where to go and who to ask about Kitty. For the most part, he didn’t exactly have to ask anyone anything. Maggie witnessed firsthand the benefits of living in a small town.

      “Hey, Doc, Kitty’s up on the third floor in maternity,” someone behind a desk shouted as he and Maggie walked into the E.R. waiting room. “Room three-twenty-four, but she’s just getting up there so it might take a bit before you two can see her.”

      Blake nodded. Maggie hadn’t taken another step, though, when several people wanted to meet Kitty’s sister. Maggie was cordial with the introductions while her mind raced through countless scenarios that her sister might be dealing with.

      One of the people in the waiting room was an older woman. She didn’t appear to be an E.R. patient, rather, someone who was waiting for a loved one already inside. She walked up to Maggie and wrapped her arms around her, giving her a tight hug. “Don’t you worry about nothing, honey. Nothing bad’s gonna happen to your sister or them babies. They got the best doctors in all of Idaho working at this here hospital, so you just keep smiling ’cause that’s what your baby sister needs right now.”

      For some inexplicable reason, Maggie believed her and held on tight for a moment before she let go. “Thanks.”

      “Whew. Take it easy, honey. These bones of mine are getting mighty fragile,” the woman said. Then she looked over at Doc. “You gonna make a formal intro or do I gotta do it myself?”

      Blake chuckled and said, “Mrs. Abernathy, this is Maggie Daniels. Maggie this is Mrs. Esther Abernathy.”

      “Don’t mumble, son. Speak up.”

      Maggie raised her voice a couple of decibels. “Doc Blake has mentioned you. It’s great to finally meet you.”

      Esther turned to Blake. “I can hear her perfect. Why can’t you learn to talk like that?”

      She didn’t wait for Blake’s response. Instead, she turned back to Maggie. “What your sister is gonna need is complete bed rest till it’s safe for them babies to be born. She’s been having contractions for the past couple weeks and the poor thing didn’t know it. Caused her cervix to flatten to one-point-two centimeters. Not good. They pumped her full of terbutaline to stop them contractions and a corticosteroid to get them babies’ lungs to mature…just in case.

      “But we’re not going to dwell on that possibility now. If everything goes good, and there’s no earthly reason why it won’t, ’specially if I have anything to do with it, they’ll be letting her out of here in a few days. Once they do, I’ll be stayin’ right there with her to make sure she don’t get out of bed but to use the facilities and to bathe once in a while. I’ll need my own room, so honey, if you’re sleepin’ in the guest room, you’re gonna have to move on out. Sorry to put you in such a pickle, but I’m the only one who knows how to handle a spitfire like Kitty. Maybe you can sleep on Kitty’s sofa, but if I remember right, that sofa’s made out of materials that no man or beast can get themselves comfortable on. You might think of gettin’ a room somewhere. Or—” she turned to Doc Blake “—she can move in for a spell with you and Dodge. You got that nice big spare bedroom your ma kept that ain’t doin’ you no good. Your ma would’ve liked to see a pretty little thing like Maggie using it, instead of that nasty old wife you once had messing it up for some kind of business office that wasn’t never no business worth a lick.

      “Now you two go on up to Kitty’s room and quiet yourselves. She needs her sister to hold her hand for a spell and to tell her everything is gonna be just fine. I got to go home now and start packing and preparing before I can move into that all-natural house. It won’t be easy, but when God gives me a challenge I got no choice but to follow through, ’specially since tolerating Kitty’s ‘green’ ways is His way of getting me closer to heaven.”

      Then, as if that was all that needed to be said, Esther Abernathy abruptly turned and walked off, leaving Maggie and Doc Blake standing in the middle of the room wondering what the heck had just happened.

      * * *

      BLAKE SAT ON A hard chair against the wall in the tiny private room at Valley Hospital trying not to fall asleep. It had been almost five hours since they’d arrived, and the last time he’d checked, Maggie still wasn’t comfortable leaving her sister. She’d been sitting next to her sister’s bed, holding Kitty’s hand for almost four hours straight. Blake didn’t have the heart to try and convince her to leave, so there they both sat watching Kitty sleep.

      Maggie’s reaction and her dedication to Kitty had thrown him for a loop. Up until that urgent phone call, he had expected Maggie to react to these types of emergencies exactly as his ex-wife had, cool and indifferent. Even when Scout broke her arm at daycare, it was Blake who went rushing to the hospital to be with his child, not Beth. She had waited until that night to comfort Scout, when all the urgency was over and Scout was sleepy from the pain medication.

      That had been the final blow to their marriage. Blake knew right then and there he couldn’t continue to live with a woman who put her own needs before their daughter’s. Beth had chosen to remain at work and have Blake handle it, rather than finding out what Scout needed.

      He had filed for a divorce the very next day.

      The door opened and a dark-haired nurse Blake knew well walked into the room. “You two should go home,” she whispered. “Kitty’s contractions have slowed way down. Those babies aren’t going anywhere tonight. You can come back in the morning when Kitty’s awake. She’d probably like that much better. Right now she has no idea you’re here. Besides, Doc, my son Conner has an appointment with you tomorrow afternoon and I’m sure he’d like it much better if you weren’t sleepy when you have to extract his wisdom teeth.”