Healing The Md's Heart. Nicole Foster

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СКАЧАТЬ finally…” He leaned forward and dropped his head to his hands.

      An ache tightened her chest and throat, threatening to become tears. All these years of fear and anguished waiting, wondering if and when he would lose his son forever. Had he ever truly let himself believe Noah had a chance for a normal life? Or had he resigned himself to the inevitable, certain that with so few close blood family members, the chance Noah would find a compatible donor in time was virtually impossible?

      It wasn’t professional or even wise, but she didn’t care as she knelt beside him and put her arm around him; her instinct to comfort him was stronger than any common sense dictated.

      His body shook with his effort to bank the tumult of emotions she knew he must be feeling. It touched her in a way for which she had no response except to tighten her hold, to offer him an anchor in the storm.

      “It’s okay,” she murmured, stroking his hair. “You don’t always have to be strong. And you don’t always have to do it alone.”

      “I told myself I had hope,” he said hoarsely. “That I believed this would happen.” He raised his head to look at her then, and his eyes were glazed with unshed tears. “When I couldn’t find a donor, though, and they told me it could be years, or never…” Leaning back in his chair, he squeezed his eyes shut, shoving his hands through his hair. “I wasn’t strong enough to believe it then.”

      “Oh, Duran.” Lia touched her fingers to his face to bring his gaze to hers. “Noah has an excellent chance now. Once Sawyer knows, I’m certain he’ll more than willing to do whatever is necessary to help.”

      His expression wavered, caught between desperately wanting to believe and being afraid it was all a mistake. “You’re sure?”

      “Yes, I’m sure,” she said firmly, her smile tempered by the need to be realistic with him. “But you realize this is only the first step along a long, rocky road ahead. They’ll be more tests and the transplant procedure itself, then the recovery time for Noah—none of it’s going to be short or easy.”

      “But it is the first step, isn’t it? At last…Lia—” He caught her hands in his. “Thank you.”

      Now it was her turn to try to contain a whirl of emotion—empathy for his years of waiting, relief that the test results opened up new possibilities, a fierce happiness knowing Duran’s faith had been renewed—so many feelings rushing her heart that if she tried to speak them it would be through tears. So she only nodded, and said quietly, “All I’ve done is arrange the testing. You’re the reason you and Noah have gotten this far.”

      “You’ve done a lot more than that.” He shook his head, a dazed look in his eyes. “It’s still hard to believe that I came here looking for my father and found five brothers and now one of them is going to save Noah’s life.”

      Lia ached to echo his newfound certainty, but didn’t dare. Duran needed to be positive now. His mindset would determine Noah’s attitude and that in turn would give Noah strength. But she had to keep a balance, stating the truth in careful terms, cautioning Duran, yet encouraging him in equal measure. From now on it would be a delicate line to walk, especially given the other complications of her burgeoning attraction to him and her deepening affection for his little boy.

      “It’s true. Sawyer is a match and he may very well be the one to help Noah get well. But we’ve got dozens of details to work out now. You need to start by finding a transplant clinic. You may have to go out of state for that. But there is one in Albuquerque. There’s another in Dallas. I’ll be glad to liaison for you, but that decision is yours. And keep in mind, the wait time for the actual transplant could be several weeks and Noah’s recovery will be a lot longer.” She backed away and drew herself to her feet. “What I’m saying is that this is good news, but you both have a long way to go yet.”

      “I know. I’ve read everything I could get my hands on for years.” Duran stood up, walked across the room over to the sink and splashed his face with cold water. He grabbed a paper towel from the holder and turned back to her. “I’ll do whatever it takes, however long it takes.”

      Lia nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she tried to banish thoughts of the myriad of things that could go wrong. Duran needed to know them all, but not today. Right now, it was more important he believe in everything that could go right. “Are you ready to talk to Noah?”

      “Oh, yeah,” he said, and for the first time he smiled.

      In the waiting room, they found Noah and Sammy sitting happily at a children’s table playing video games and making all manner of boy sound effects. Josh and Eliana sat nearby watching them. They looked up simultaneously as Lia and Duran walked into the room.

      “Dad!” Noah bounced up and ran over to them when he spotted Duran. “Sammy has that new game I was telling you about. It’s way awesome, come check it out.”

      Duran swept his son into his arms and hugged him as though he would never let him go. “Sure, in a minute, okay?” he said, his voice breaking a little.

      “What’s wrong?” Noah squirmed in his father’s embrace. “You’re squashing me.”

      “Sorry, I guess I was.” Duran released his son, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “I missed you, that’s all. Did you have fun?”

      “Yeah, we went to the video store. I found three games I want,” he added with a hopeful look.

      “No doubt,” Duran said with a chuckle. “We’ll see about that later.”

      Noah’s mouth twisted. “That always means no,” he grumbled. Wriggling out of Duran’s hold, he ran back to the table to watch over Sammy’s shoulder as the older boy manipulated the game with quick fingers.

      “So, you gonna keep us in suspense?” Josh asked when Noah was out of earshot.

      Lia and Duran exchanged a glance and he nodded slightly, giving her tacit permission. “Sawyer’s a match,” she said, giving them a brief outline of what she’d told Duran.

      Eliana, her eyes bright, caught Duran by surprise with a warm hug. “That’s wonderful. We’ve all been hoping and praying this would happen. I can only imagine how awful the waiting’s been for you.”

      “Noah’s got a long way to go yet.” Lia repeated her gentle warning. She smiled at Duran. “But this is a very good start.”

      “Does Sawyer know yet?” Eliana asked.

      “No, I’m going to call him as soon as we’re done here. I’m sure he’ll be happy.”

      “’Course he will, you know that,” Josh said, including Duran in his assurance. “We all are.”

      Duran glanced at his son and then turned his smile to his brother and Eliana. “I appreciate everything you’ve all done. I’ll admit I had doubts about coming here but right now, it’s looking like the best decision I’ve ever made.”

      “Good thing, since you’re stuck with us all now,” Josh said with a laugh. “Hey, you think Noah would be up for a little celebration? I promised Sammy we’d go ridin’ today. Cort and Tommy’ll be there, and Anna. Ellie’s little sister,” he added for Duran’s benefit. “She and Tommy are sweet on each other.”

      Eliana СКАЧАТЬ