Knocking at Her Heart (Conover Circle #1) (5 page)

Something that she’d recover from
quickly with very little scarring.

After thirty minutes of channel
surfing, she gave up and picked up the thriller that she’d started reading the
night she’d cut her hand. Twenty pages later, with no recollection of what
she’d read, she tossed the book aside. Across the room, Snowball lifted his
head.

“Desperate times call for
desperate measures.”

She went back to the kitchen,
opened the freezer door, pushed her good hand all the way to the back, and
grabbed the familiar box. Then, not wanting to break off a tooth, she nuked the
cookies in her microwave for a couple minutes. 

She poured herself a big glass of
milk and took her stash back to the couch. She broke off a corner of a cookie
and tossed it to Snowball, who batted it around with his paws. Her cell phone
rang.

“Hello,” she said.

“What? My spaghetti isn’t good
enough for you?”

“Hi, Dante. Your spaghetti makes
me weep with joy,” she said truthfully. Dante’s sweet mom still made the sauce,
and there was always a pot simmering on the big black stove. 

“I saw you talking to Sam
Jordonson.”

“How do you know him?” she asked.

“He comes in once in a while.
Picks up to-go stuff fairly often. Likes Canadian bacon on his pizza.”

“That’s helpful to know,” she
said drily, making sure that Dante could tell that she was
not interested
.
“Will I see you at the Auction?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.
Dante was always a big supporter of the annual Bid on a Bachelor charity event.

“Of course. Bring your money.”

“I don’t have a trust fund,” she
said. Dante would fetch a good price. His reputation was legendary. He loved
women and they loved him. He just didn’t keep any one of them around for too
long. But his old girlfriends never seemed to hold any grudges against him. He
was friends with all of them.

“Look, I have to go,” she added,
staring at the box of cookies. “Talk to you later.”

She ate the entire box, stopping
only once to refill her milk glass. After she finished the last one, she
crumbled up the flimsy cardboard and fell asleep with crumbs still on her lips.

*

The next morning, Maddie stood
with both hands braced on the kitchen counter, afraid that if she pulled them
away, she’d slip to the floor. She lifted her head when she heard Carol’s key
in the back door and forced up a smile.    

Carol pulled the door shut and
sniffed the air. “You haven’t made any coffee,” she accused. “Did you
oversleep?”

She wasn’t sure she’d slept at all.
“I’m not feeling great. I think I ate too many cookies.” It was the only
explanation she could come up with. “Plus, my mother should be here any day
now.”

Carol didn't appear convinced.
She took another step closer. “You’re pale and those circles under your eyes
are not attractive.”

“Be nice. I have a fur ball in my
stomach. And, maybe, a temperature."

Carol laid the back of her hand
across Maddie’s forehead. “I don’t know about the fur ball, but I do think
you’re running a fever. Neither overdosing on cookies nor parental apprehension
would have much to do with that. You must have some kind of bug. I’ve heard
there is flu going around.” Carol wrapped her arm around Maddie’s shoulder.
“Get your fanny upstairs before you infect the rest of us."

“I can’t do that. In ten minutes,
kids are going to be here.”

“I’ll call Terese. She’ll be
happy to help out. The kids will be thrilled if they get to have macaroni and
cheese for lunch.”

Maybe if she could just get
another hour or two of sleep. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure you’re going to fall
down. Go. Now.”

She might have argued had she had
the strength. Instead, she worked her way up the stairs, each step taking more
effort than the last. She was halfway up when her cell phone rang. She glanced
at the number.
Faith
. She answered it.

“Hi,” she said.

“Oh my God. You sound bad. Your
mother must have arrived,” Faith said.

Faith Wheaten had moved to
Conover three months after Maddie. The two women had met at a charity walk, and
they’d been friends ever since. Faith was an actuary and actually liked math.
Maddie didn’t claim to understand how the woman’s mind worked, but nobody made
her laugh the way Faith could.

“Not yet. I’m sick.”

“With what? Bubonic plague? Were
you hoping a quarantine sign would keep your mother away?”

“Maybe.”

“I was calling to see if you
could stop by and check on Cuddles while I’m at my conference,” Faith said.

“I thought your conference was
local.”

“That’s next month. I’m off to
Cleveland today.”

No way. That’s where Jeff is
headed. He has to do some kind of audit. Maybe the two of you can have dinner
together.”

There was a distinct pause on the
other end. “I don’t think so,” Faith said.

Maddie knew that Faith wasn’t
crazy about Jeff, which was odd since an actuary and an accountant had to be
wired sort of the same. Both liked numbers and formulas. Things that made
Maddie’s eyes cross.

“I’ll check on your bird,” Maddie
said.        

“Never mind. I’ll ask Dante. You
need to be in bed,” Faith said.

She was too sick to argue. “On my
way.”

*

Sam exited the staff entrance of
County General and took a deep breath of the warm spring air. He’d been inside
all day. He started toward his car then swerved the opposite direction. He
would walk to Kids Are It, pick up Kelsie, and the two of them could walk back
for his car.

He hadn’t mentioned to Tom that
his niece had a spot at Kids Are It. Hadn’t wanted to face the daily
inquisition about whether he’d talked to Maddie and figured out what kind of
offer would have her signing on the dotted line.

When he got to the daycare, Carol
had at least six kids in the sunny play area. Kelsie saw him and waved. Carol
looked his direction.

“Hi Carol,” he said, standing in
the doorway. “Where’s Maddie?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“Sick. Every time I checked on
her today, she looked a little worse to me.”

Sam didn’t like the sounds of
that. Had her hand somehow become infected? Was bacteria spreading through her
body? “I think I should take a look.”

Carol rubbed her chin. “Maddie
will absolutely kill me.” She paused. “Okay, fine.”

“Let’s go," he said, nodding
at the stairs.

“I can't leave the kids alone. My
helper already left for the day. You'll have to go on your own.”

“Fine.  Kelsie, you stay
here with Carol.  I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Sam knocked on the door at the
top of the stairs. Waited. Knocked again. Looked downstairs to see if he could
get some direction from Carol but she was busy with the kids. He reached for
the doorknob. Maddie's living room surprised him. While the downstairs was painted
in bright primary colors, the choices here were more subtle. There were blues
and violets and deep pinks. Fresh flowers poured out of several vases and
plants covered the sill of the bay window. Lacy curtains fluttered in the
spring breeze. A braided rug highlighted the polish of the oak floor.

“Maddie?” he said, his voice loud
enough to carry through the space. When there was no answer, he didn’t
hesitate. He walked toward the open doors down the hall. His concern mounted as
he saw Maddie sprawled face-down across her bed, the sheets twisted around her
legs. Her breathing was loud yet shallow. Her white kitten was sleeping at the
end of the bed.

“Maddie?”  When she didn’t
respond, he placed two fingers on the soft part of her inner wrist. Strong and
steady. A bit fast perhaps but nothing unusual. He felt her skin. She most
definitely had a fever. He wanted a more accurate reading but didn't see a
thermometer close by. He looked at her laceration. She’d removed the bigger
bandage and had a simple strip covering the cut. The skin around the area
looked fine. No red streaks running up her arm.

Her hand wasn’t the problem. But
whatever it was, it was kicking her butt.

Maddie’s eyes fluttered
open.  “Sam?”

Her voice was weak, and his
presence clearly confused her. “Carol was worried,” he said. “Can you turn over
so that I can get a better look at you?”

By the quick set of her jaw, he
could tell she wanted to refuse. But then common sense, fear, or perhaps just
plain exhaustion took over, and she slowly turned over, taking care to keep the
sheet pulled up past her waist.

He reached behind her and plumped
up a pillow so that she could prop herself up. She had on one of those shirts
with really thin straps and a built-in bra. Her arms had nice muscle tone and
her skin was lotion-smooth. It would have been nice to focus only on those
things, but now definitely wasn’t the time. He gently grasped her chin and
turned her face toward him. Her pretty eyes were shadowed with dark circles,
but her pupils looked about right. 

“I think I'm dying." 

She didn’t sound like she was
kidding. “Not on my shift, you don't." He pushed her hair away from her
face. "When did you eat last?"

“Around eight last night.”

“What did you have?”

“Cold pizza and cookies.” She sighed.
“It was a bad combination. Or maybe it was because I ate the whole box. Do you
think that’s what is wrong?”

He shook his head. “What have you
had to drink today?"

“I had some juice this morning,
but I … I wasn't able to keep it down.”

“How many times have you
vomited?”

“A couple.”  Maddie closed
her eyes and sank back against the pillow. “Don’t get too close. I’m sure I
smell.” 

She and everything else in the
room smelled like the lilacs next to her bed. “You're probably dehydrated on
top of everything else,” Sam muttered. He tapped on her chin. “Open your eyes.”
When she did, he asked, “Anything else I should know?”

She pointed at her abdomen. “This
hurts.”

Fever. Vomiting. Abdominal pain. Sam
had an ugly suspicion of what might be the problem. He started to pull down the
sheet at her waist. With more strength than he’d thought possible, she yanked
it the other direction.

“Maddie, I’m not making a pass,”
he assured her. “I need to examine you. I’m a doctor.”

She shook her head. “You’re an
orthopedic surgeon.”

“That means I did go to medical
school.” If he was right, there might not be a lot of time to waste. “Let go.
Now.” 

Looking even more miserable, she
released her tight grasp. He pulled the sheet down and studiously ignored her
soft skin and the bright blue bikini panties she wore. Her waist was narrow,
her hips slim, and her abdomen flat.

Pressing down with just the tips
of his fingers, he made a series of small circles. When he pressed into the
soft flesh on the right side of her bellybutton and quickly released, she cried
out. He pressed and released again. She arched her back and pressed her lips
together.

Sam pulled his cell phone off his
belt and pressed a couple buttons. “This is Dr. Jordonson and I have an
emergency. Page whoever is covering the OR tonight.” 

Maddie struggled to sit up in
bed. Sam motioned for her to lie back down. “Relax,” he whispered, his mouth
turned away from the phone. “You’re going to be fine.”

“The OR?” she repeated. “Why—”

Sam held up a finger and turned
his attention back to the telephone. “Oh, good, Harry, I’m glad it’s you,” he
said. “I'm bringing in a female, late twenties, febrile, abdominal rebound
tenderness in the lower right quadrant.”

“What?” Maddie interrupted him.

“I’ll explain,” he mouthed to
her. He listened for a moment. “Fine. I'll bring her straight up to four. I’ll
see you in three minutes.”

He ended the call and put his
phone back on his belt. “Maddie, I think you have a hot appendix. If I'm right,
you need to get to the hospital so that it can be taken out before it
ruptures.” Sam looked around the room, spied a pair of lightweight pajama
pants, and grabbed them. “Let’s get these on you.”

He dressed her, like he would
Kelsie, but he was very aware of her slender legs and her round bottom. He
picked up a blanket that lay across the end of the bed. “I’m going to wrap this
around you. You’ve got a temp, and I don’t want you to get chilled.”

When she hesitated, he said, “We
really don't have time to waste."

She sat up. He helped her stand.
She wobbled and he could tell her legs were not steady. He hurriedly draped the
blanket around her and then bent down. In one quick motion, he put a hand under
the back of her knees, one in the middle of her back for support, and lifted
her.

“You can’t carry me,” she gasped.
“Not all the way to the hospital.”