Count on Me (Bayview Heights Trilogy) by Kathryn Shay Page A

car.”
    “I will,” Zoe said. “And I’ll drive Cassie into town, too.”
    “And me,” Philip said.
    Kurt was all business now. “Philip, have Celia call the hospital emergency room and alert them we’re coming.” He bent to scoop the little boy into his arms and headed downstairs.
    Within minutes the caravan was on its way to the Bayview Heights hospital. Josh lay curled up in the back seat of the car with his head on his mother’s lap, in real pain now. Kurt checked his blood pressure. It was low. And his fever was 104.
    Lacey said, “I took his temperature at noon. It was ninety-nine. And he wasn’t in this kind of pain.”
    “It happens fast in cases like this, Lace.”
    Seth turned around. “Honey, it’s not your fault.”
    “Of course it’s not,” Kurt said, soothing Josh’s forehead. “You can’t run to the hospital for every tummyache.”
    Lacey bit her lip and nodded.
    In ten minutes—thanks to Mitch’s police light—they reached the emergency room. Kurt carried Josh in; the boy moaned pitifully at the jostling. As gently as he could, Kurt laid Josh on the gurney and followed it down the hall.
    The pediatric surgeon on duty introduced himself as Tom Ryan. “What’s going on with the boy here?”
    Kurt filled him in on the details as they wheeled Josh to an examining room.
    “You can come in with us if you like,” Dr. Ryan said.
    “Go, please, Kurt,” Lacey said.
    He turned. “Of course.” Squeezing her arm, he told her, “I’ll be back with news as soon as I can.”
    o0o
    FROM HER PLACE by the window, Zoe watched Seth stroke Lacey’s hair as he kept her close to him on the orange vinyl chairs.
    “I’m so scared,” Lacey whispered.
    Seth mumbled something Zoe couldn’t hear.
    Zoe was scared, too. The only thing that kept her together was Kurt’s calm demeanor and assurances. She prayed he’d come out soon. It had been twenty-five minutes.
    Cassie waited by the emergency-room door. Mitch paced in front of her. Philip, looking a little gray, sat stiffly in a straight chair at a small table. Zoe crossed to him. “Can I get you something, Philip?”
    “No. Sit with me, though.”
    She sank into a chair next to him and took his hand. “It wasn’t your fault, Grandpa.”
    “My head knows that. I just wonder if I was wrong to shoo Lacey out this morning. She might have realized Josh was so sick.”
    “Hindsight’s twenty-twenty.”
    He smiled weakly. “Same thing Kurt said.”
    “He’ll be—”
    The door swung open and Kurt strode out. He headed for the Taylors and knelt down in front of them. Tenderly he took Lacey’s hands in his. “He has acute appendicitis, Lacey. Fortunately the appendix hasn’t ruptured, but it’s inflamed. He’s being prepped for surgery right now.”
    Tears formed in Lacey’s eyes. “Surgery?”
    “We have no choice, honey. It has to be done. But the procedure’s relatively simple. He’ll be given a general anesthetic, hydrated with intravenous fluids and dosed with preoperative antibodies. We have to move quickly because we need to get the appendix out right away. They’re coming out now with papers to sign.”
    “Oh, my God, if you hadn’t gone over...if we hadn’t gotten him here, it might have ruptured.” Lacey’s tone was a little wild.
    “Well, it didn’t,” Kurt said, adopting his calm doctor voice. “And it won’t. We’re on top of this.”
    “Will you be in there with him?” she asked.
    “I’m going to scrub and watch, but I won’t assist.”
    Lacey gripped his arm. “But you’ll be there.”
    He smiled. “Yes.”
    “What does the procedure entail?” Seth wanted to know. He, too, had gone pale.
    “There’ll be a small incision in his lower belly, then they’ll tie the appendix off and cut it out. There shouldn’t be any complications.”
    “What about infection?”
    “In any operation, infection can set in.” Kurt stood. “But there’s no reason to expect anything to go wrong. The surgery shouldn’t