by V.K. Sykes
* * *
Beverly Crump leaned forward and held the back of her hand to Tyler’s brow. The tried and true grandmotherly method of taking body temperature, Holly thought with a smile. As old as time itself. There was a monitor beside the bed precisely displaying Tyler’s vitals, including his temperature, but Mrs. Crump relied on her own touch and instincts to tell her what was going on with her grandson.
The woman’s back was turned to her, so Holly knocked on the open door so as not to surprise her.
“How are you, Mrs. Crump? I’m so happy you could make it in today.”
Mrs. Crump maneuvered her chair enough to be able to see both Tyler and Holly. “Oh, I’m managing, Dr. Bell. My daughter was able to get away for the day and bring me.” The woman gave Holly an appraising look. “Is everything all right?”
Holly smiled. She probably looked like a patch of rough road, what with the bags under eyes that she could never quite camouflage these days. “I’m fine, thank you.” She touched Tyler’s foot under the bedcovers. “How are you doing, Tyler? You’re looking better every day.”
“Okay,” the boy said with a tired but sweet smile. “Grandma came to see me.”
“That’s wonderful.” Holly sat on the end of the bed, on the opposite side from Mrs. Crump. “I’ve got some news that I think will make both of you happy.”
Mrs. Crump smiled, and Holly returned it. “Tyler, we’re going to be able to go ahead with the operation you and I talked about last week. We’re going to give you a brand new heart valve, and that’s going to make you feel a lot better.”
Tyler’s blue eyes widened. “But Daddy said…” His voice trailed off.
Mrs. Crump squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Your daddy’s going to be very happy, because you’re going to be so much better in a little while.”
When she glanced up, Holly gave her a thankful smile. “We’ll get you into the operating room on Monday, Tyler. You’ll have to stay here in the hospital afterward for a while, but it won’t be too much longer before you can go home again.”
Tyler gave her a weak smile.
“Any idea how long that might be, Dr. Bell?” Mrs. Crump asked.
“We’ll have to see how it goes,” Holly said. “Every patient is different. I’m afraid I can’t be more specific than that. Hopefully not too long.” Holly put her hand on the woman’s thin wrist. “May I speak with you for a couple of minutes outside, Mrs. Crump?”
“Certainly.” She patted Tyler’s hand, then moved the lever on her motorized chair and backed away from the bed. “I’ll be right back, dear.”
“I’ll check in on you again soon, Tyler.” Holly stepped out into the corridor with Mrs. Crump right behind her.
She crouched until she was eye level with Mrs. Crump, gripping the arm of the wheelchair to keep her balance. “Have you talked to your son-in-law since the court order came down?”
The woman nodded. “He called to tell me that the hospital had won the case. Actually, I was quite surprised to hear from him, since he wasn’t returning my calls.”
“I don’t suppose he was very happy about it,” Holly said. Spitting nails is more likely.
Mrs. Crump’s mouth turned down. “I told him again he was wrong, and that he should be happy that Tyler was going to get the surgery he needed. But he called me a stupid old bitch again. I’m used to his filthy mouth, but then he said something that really did shock me.”
Holly’s grip on the chair tightened involuntarily. “Go on,” she said.
“Doctor, he told me that if the surgery goes ahead—and he said “if”—he might not be around to take care of Tyler.” The woman put her hand over Holly’s. “I’ll tell you, I almost fell out of this chair.”
Holly’s throat tightened. “Did he say anything else?”
“When I got my wits back, I managed to ask Lance what he meant. He just said that he couldn’t take it anymore. Then he hung up.” Suddenly, she looked terribly anxious. “Doctor, I’m the only one Tyler has in the world, apart from his father. And I’m a crippled old lady with barely enough money to live on. How am I possibly going to take care of the boy if his father abandons him?”
Holly let go of the chair and stood up. “Do you think he really meant what he said, ma’am? He’s obviously a mercurial man, and he must have been bitterly disappointed over the court order. Perhaps he’ll calm down and change his mind.”
She had precious little hope of that happening, but Mrs. Crump didn’t need any negativity from her.
“Part of me wants him to disappear,” the woman said in a bitter voice. “But what will happen to the boy, then?”
Mrs. Crump’s agonized face wrenched Holly’s heart. The poor woman had suffered so much, and now she might have to face the burden of trying to care for Tyler. Or, more likely, see him taken into the social services system.
That was so not going to happen. Not if Holly had anything to say about it. And she’d bet her life Nate would be willing to help out, too. She could ask him to sponsor a fundraiser. With his prominence and contacts, she was sure they could raise some serious money for a child in such dire need.
“Whatever happens, Tyler will be taken care of,” she said. “There are so many resources we can call on. And please don’t think that once the surgery is over I’ll be walking away. I’ll be there for Tyler and for you, and so will everyone else at this hospital. In fact, I’ll contact his social worker today and ask her to set up an appointment with you. How would that be, Mrs. Crump?”
The woman reached her hand forward and grasped Holly’s, her old eyes filling with tears. “God bless you, dear. God bless you for saving my grandson.”
Holly gave her hand a final pat and told her she’d stop by later to check on Tyler. She headed toward her office, pondering the best way to help the little boy. If she’d needed any confirmation that she’d done the right thing by facing down Lance Arnold, Mrs. Crump had just given it to her. Arnold had every intention of getting his son out of his life, and he didn’t care how he did it.
Chapter Thirty