The Single Dad Finds a Wife. Felicia Mason

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СКАЧАТЬ doctors. Dr. Spring Darling is the pediatrician I took him to.”

      “Well,” Charlotte said with an assessing glance at Spring, “I can’t say I ever greeted your pediatrician like that.”

      David gave her a blank look and then whipped his head around to Spring, his eyes widening as the realization of what he’d done sank in.

      “I’m sorry,” he said, releasing her hand as if it were suddenly molten lava. “I got caught up in the moment.”

      Spring sent a professional smile his way, as if all the parents of her patients kissed her like that. “No problem,” she said. She extended her hand to the older woman. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs.—”

      “Camden,” Charlotte supplied, shaking the doctor’s hand. “Believe it or not, it’s the same as my son’s.”

      Spring tucked her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. “In my line of work, I never assume anything.”

      Charlotte’s shrewd gaze seemed to assess Spring, and David realized with a jolt that he needed to cut off her speculation before it went too far. Dr. Spring Darling had shown not a whit of interest in him. Her concern, and rightly so, had been solely on Jeremy.

      “I suppose that’s right,” Charlotte said. “Thank you for the news about my grandson. Do you have children?”

      “Uh, Mom, I’m sure Dr. Darling has some other rounds to make. Can we see him?”

      “I’ll show you the way,” she said.

      Jeremy lay in a hospital bed in the pediatric recovery ward, looking much smaller and younger than he already was.

      Going to his son, David brushed the hair back from the boy’s forehead. “Hey there, champ. You came through. To God be the glory.”

      Jeremy turned toward his father’s voice, but otherwise he didn’t stir.

      “He’ll come around in about ten minutes,” Spring assured him.

      And when he did, David knew his son would be delighted to see his pretty Dr. Spring waiting to greet him.

      * * *

      “May I talk with you a moment?” Charlotte Camden asked Spring.

      If she was surprised by the request, Spring didn’t show it. “Of course,” she said, leading her to the waiting room down the hall. The two sat, Spring facing the older woman. David Camden had his mother’s eyes, and she could see some of his other features in her face.

      “Thank you for caring for my son and grandson,” Charlotte said. “This is all my fault. I was supposed to be watching Jeremy. This never would have happened if I’d paid more attention.”

      “Mrs. Camden, appendicitis isn’t anyone’s fault. It just happens,” Spring assured her just as she had David. “It could have happened anywhere at any time. There’s nothing you or Mr. Camden could have done.”

      Charlotte didn’t look convinced. If anything, Spring thought, she looked more worried than she had just a few seconds ago.

      “He’s under an incredible amount of stress,” Charlotte said as she fingered the edge of one dangling scarf. “I just wish I could do more for him.”

      Since Spring didn’t know what the Camden situation was, she could only make the kinds of sounds that could be perceived as comforting.

      With little else that she could tell the distressed grandmother, she made a suggestion that Charlotte get a cup of coffee or tea.

      “Thank you, but no. I’ll wait here,” Charlotte said. “I’d like to see Jeremy again when I can. I should have been here. I was getting a massage while my grandson was in terrible pain.”

      Spring knew nothing about this family, their situation or relationships, so she couldn’t offer the woman any assurances one way or the other. She was awfully curious.

      But the nature of a hospital physician’s interaction with patients meant the back stories and the how it all worked out or even came to be were rarely, if ever, known after discharge. The same would be true of the Camdens once Jeremy was up and around and feeling better.

      “Sure,” Spring said. “That won’t be a problem.”

      A few minutes later, she saw Jeremy Camden and again wondered if there was another Mrs. Camden in his life.

      * * *

      Spring found she had not been able to stop thinking about the father and son duo, even after all the unexpected extra hours in the emergency department, getting home and going straight to bed.

      Three mornings a week she worked out at F.I.T. gym with her sister. Today, though, she’d begged off after promising that she’d run five miles to make up for it. She’d had specific and necessary errands to run before going to the hospital. There had been a place at Commerce Plaza she needed to visit.

      As she walked into the hospital, she carried a two-foot-tall brown teddy bear sporting a natty red-and-white-polka-dot bow tie around his neck.

      She wasn’t in the habit of buying gifts for her patients. Like many service professionals who worked with children, she kept a stock of small toys like yo-yos and coloring books with crayons to give to kids, but nothing like this plush bear that was built well and meant to last a lifetime.

      Spring was so thankful that Jeremy had come through the surgery and recovery with flying colors. She knew that she was getting emotionally involved. But she couldn’t help it.

      Jeremy Camden was now recuperating in a patient room in the pediatric wing of the hospital.

      She tapped on the partially open door, heard “come in” and entered the little boy’s room.

      “Dr. Spring!” the boy exclaimed when he saw her. He struggled to sit up, then let out an “Ow” and leaned back.

      “Easy, Jeremy,” Charlotte Camden admonished her grandson while rising from the chair near the boy’s bed. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

      Charlotte pushed the mechanism that raised the bed so Jeremy could sit up.

      “Is that for me?” the boy asked, eyeing the teddy bear.

      “It sure is,” Spring said. “But you have to do what Dr. Emmanuel and your grandmother say.”

      “I am. Gonna have a sore,” he said, tugging at the small hospital gown so she could see as she approached.

      “A scar, Jeremy,” his grandmother corrected.

      Spring ruffled the boy’s hair and handed him the bear, which Jeremy immediately hugged.

      “He’s almost as big as me!”

      The delight on his face assured her that she’d done the right thing in buying and giving it to him. “He sure is,” Spring said.

      “What do you say?” Charlotte prompted him.

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