Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 59913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
“Please stop.” I held her head against my chest and rocked her in my arms the way she’d done with little Amber.
I never knew a woman’s tears could have such an affect on me. I’d have given half my wealth just to stop her from crying.
Each sob felt like a dagger piercing my heart and I felt helpless, something I am not used to and did not handle well. I wanted to put my fist through something, but what? And what good would that do?
“Baby I told you to stop crying I can’t take it. Everything is going to be okay. The specialist will be here and he’ll see to Amber and she’ll never have to go through this again.”
I was talking fast, saying whatever came into my head, anything to stop her from ripping my heart out of my chest. But the more I talked the harder she cried so I just shut up and held her close.
When she’d cried herself out and her sobs turned to sniffles thank fuck, she tried to jump off my lap. I tightened my hold.
“Where do you think you’re going?” She stopped all movement and did that stiffening thing again.
“The food’s getting cold.” I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking about. I let her go but never took my eyes off of her as she opened the containers and looked at the food that was still hot thankfully.
She chose the fish with vegetables and I had the steak. I had to browbeat her into eating every damn morsel that went into her mouth and it was obvious she was back to being her pain in the ass self.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?”
“All this. The specialist, the…”
“Would you have preferred me to let your child suffer? What do you take me for? Eat your food and don’t annoy me.”
I said it with enough warmth in my voice so she’d know I was just playing with her. Another first for me.
From her reaction to my interest it was obvious that she’d been alone for way too long. That there was no one else taking care of her, of them.
I can’t imagine the burden of having a sick child and no one to help. I tried to imagine my own mother in the same predicament and didn’t like the results one bit.
I asked her about her life, avoiding anything to do with the man she’d been married to. I wasn’t ready for that shit, didn’t know how to handle the feelings it evoked in me whenever I even thought of him.
I learned about her years in school, her dedication to making something better of her life after being raised in the foster system.
I learned of the struggles she’d faced since being orphaned at an early age, all alone in the world without anyone to care for her. Every word broke my fucking heart in pieces.
I wanted to tell her that that was all behind her now; that she never had to worry about anything ever again.
But I knew if I moved too fast I’d only spook her; she had no reason to believe me besides. Plus I was pretty sure she’d only argue me to death at this early stage in the game. So I kept my thoughts to myself. I’ll just show her.
10
It was obvious that she planned to spend the night so I arranged with the nurses to bring her a cot to sleep on. I couldn’t have her sleeping on the chair that was sure to be uncomfortable.
I was just my usual self when they tried explaining to me that that wasn’t possible, and it wasn’t long before someone was bringing a cot into the room.
“Go to sleep, I’ll watch over you both.”
“I can’t ask you to do that you’ve been here all day as it is. There’s a lot that needs to be done to prepare for the trip…”
“That’s been postponed. I can’t imagine that you’d want to leave your child like this so I’ve asked Gavin to call the client…”
“What, you can’t do that.”
“Were you planning to go and leave Amber here like this?”
“No, but we can send someone else in my place.”
“No we’re not. This is your hard work no one else is taking credit for it. I’m sure the client will understand. In fact Gavin got back to me already with their answer and they’ve given us an extension.”
“But…”
“It’s settled Giavanna, all you need to do right now is concentrate on Amber and let me handle the rest. Who takes care of her while you’re at work?”
“I have a sitter from an agency…”
“Is she reliable, is that who you were planning to leave her with while you go to Europe?”
“Yes, she’s very reliable she’s been with us since we moved here a couple months ago and she knows all about Amber’s health issues.”