Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2) (4 page)

“I don’t know.”

The woman sighed.

Causing a scene
certainly wasn't Beth's style, but she had to stand up for
Kaylee
.
She leaned on the counter. “Look, she just needs an X-ray. Maybe it’s not
broken and we can go home.”

“How will you pay
for this?”

Beth pulled out
her Visa and let the woman swipe it. The bickering old couple walked past her
as they headed for an exam room. Beth looked around for the cougher, but he was
gone. Her spirits lifted in the hopes that
Kaylee
would soon get relief, but the receptionist told her to take a seat.

Making her way
back to
Kaylee
, she followed the child’s gaze to the
baseball game on the screen. “Do you like baseball?”

“Sure. My dad
played in the major leagues once.”

“Really?” Beth
thought of the tall man whose life seemed to be falling apart since his wife
died. Could he have been successful at one point? “What team did he play for?”

“The Chicago
Cubs.”

Beth didn’t
remember a player named Stein, but that didn’t mean anything. She didn’t follow
sports. For her, she’d rather spend a sunny day in the park, reading a romance
novel.

A voice came from
the left. “
Kaylee
Stein?”

Beth stood up and
patted
Kaylee’s
messy hair as they followed a
red-headed
nurse down the hall and into an exam room. The
woman in green scrubs stuck a thermometer into
Kaylee’s
ear for a few seconds. “No fever.” The nurse took
Kaylee’s
pulse. “So you fell off your bike?”

“I crashed.”

Beth cleared her
throat. “A car came barreling through the parking lot and she swerved to miss
it. Unfortunately, she ran into a parked car.”

“Oh, dear.” The
nurse cleaned the scratch on
Kaylee’s
nose. "I
like your nails. Did you paint those yourself?"

Kaylee
pointed at Beth with her good arm. "No, she
did."

Gently, the nurse
rolled up
Kaylee’s
torn pant leg to take care of her
knee. “Let’s get an X-ray before I bandage your arm. Mom, you can wait here.”

“I’m not her mom.
Just a friend.”

Kaylee’s
face lit up. “My best friend.” Beth’s heartbeat
accelerated.

Wincing a little,
Kaylee
let the nurse help her off the exam table and they
left the room.

It touched Beth
that
Kaylee
liked her so much, yet it seemed tragic
she didn’t have a best friend her own age. Beth picked up a nearby Midwest
Living magazine and flipped through it to help pass the time. She couldn’t
focus on any of the articles, but soon
Kaylee
returned and the nurse left them alone.

Within a few
minutes, an African-American doctor, with a stethoscope around her collar, swept
into the room. She smiled, revealing teeth as white as her lab coat. Her skin
was radiant and Beth thought she could’ve done absolutely anything she wanted for
a living—from doctor to model. “Good evening,” the doctor said with
perfect diction. “It sounds like you’ve wrestled with a car and didn’t exactly
win.” Again, with the brilliant smile.

Kaylee
smirked.

“Unfortunately,
the arm's broken. You’ve broken your arm before, haven’t you?”

Beth focused her
attention on
Kaylee
who shook her head.

The doctor
continued. “Have you ever been to a hospital before?”

Kaylee
stared as if she were scared to answer.

Waiting for a
response that never came, the doctor clicked the end of her ballpoint pen a few
times. She pulled out the black and white X-ray and placed it on a light box
mounted on the wall. “See there?” She pointed to a bone that seemed a little
out of line. “You’ve broken your arm and since you didn’t go to a doctor, it
healed poorly.” The doctor narrowed her eyes at Beth.

The judgment made
Beth cringe. “I’m not her mom. I’m her neighbor.”

“I see.” The
doctor took the X-ray off the wall and set it on a small desk. “Where are her
parents?”

She was so tired
of explaining this. “I’m trying to get a hold of her dad. I told him where we
are.”

Sympathy returned
to the doctor’s ebony face as she faced
Kaylee
.
"What color cast would you like? Pink, blue or yellow?"

Beth saw the girl was
looking to her for guidance. "Whatever you want."

Kaylee
swung her legs forward and back kicking the
examining table. "Do you have turquoise? That’s my favorite color."

“No, I’m afraid
not.”

Kaylee’s
gaze landed on Beth’s shirt. “I’ll take yellow.”

After washing her
hands in the corner sink, the doctor showed
Kaylee
how to prop her arm up as if she were about to arm wrestle. “Things are a
little slow right now, so I have time to put the cast on myself.” She slid what
looked like a sock up the arm then wrapped gauze strips around it. “Although
the cast is water-resistant, the padding inside is not. So, besides your arm,
have you ever broken a bone before?”

Kaylee
shook her head.

“How did you hurt
your arm the last time? Did you fall down the stairs?” No response. “Maybe you
fell off a piece of playground equipment?”

It was as if the
girl had gone mute.
Kaylee
shrugged.

“Did someone pull
on your arm real hard?”

The girl’s eyes
grew wide and Beth suddenly understood why the doctor had time to prepare a
cast; she wanted to probe for information about the untreated injury.

“If a grown-up
ever hurts you, you need to tell another adult, OK?”

At that,
Kaylee’s
raised arm started to fall like a chopped down
tree.

The doctor gently
lifted
Kaylee’s
arm back into the proper position. “It’s
neat that the casts come in different colors, isn’t it? When I was a kid, I
broke my leg and I just got a boring white cast.” When
Kaylee
didn’t respond, the woman turned her attention to Beth. "She needs to keep
her arm elevated for the next twenty-four hours. The cast will probably feel
tight at first, but that will get better by tomorrow.” When she finished with
the padding, she put on rubber gloves and wrapped the arm with colored strips.
“It's important that she doesn't stick a coat hanger or anything down into the
cast if it starts to itch."

Kaylee
used her good hand to touch the yellow strips.
“Yuck.”

Chuckling, the doctor
kept winding. “It’s sticky, isn’t it? Why do you think I’m wearing these
gloves?”

After she finished
applying the cast, the doctor looked up at her patient and asked her to wiggle
her fingers, which
Kaylee
did. “Any questions?”
Kaylee
shook her head. “Well, you’ve been an excellent
patient. It’s time for you to pick something from our treasure chest.” She
opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out a box filled with plastic rings,
toys and stickers.
Kaylee
grinned as she found a pack
of Trident gum buried beneath the pile. The woman stood to leave the room. “I’m
glad to hear you’re out getting exercise, but maybe a parking lot isn’t the
safest place to ride your bike.”

Reading between
the lines, Beth felt her shoulders clench. The doctor meant that
Kaylee
could afford to lose a few pounds. As if the girl
needed a medical professional to point that out.

After the doctor
exited, the nurse returned. “I see you found the gum in the treasure chest. We
used to have suckers, but the doctor said those aren’t healthy.”

“I love suckers,”
Kaylee
said as she stuck the gum in her mouth.

The nurse smiled
at the little girl. “Me, too.” She handed Beth a form. “Take this to the front
desk on your way out. And don’t come back to see us again soon.” She giggled
and so did
Kaylee
.

Beth checked out
and then grabbed her cell phone one more time. As she left another message
explaining that they were headed home, someone called out her name from behind.
She ended the call and turned around to see a somewhat familiar face—one
she hadn’t seen in years.

It was Ivy’s mom, wearing
jeans and a faded T-shirt. Unlike Ivy, her mom had gray hair and didn’t bother
with makeup. She marched up to Beth with that flat-footed confident gait of
hers. “Bethany, did you come to see the baby?”

“Uh, no. This is
Kaylee
and she fell off her bike. I brought her for an
X-ray.”

Her gaze fell to the
little girl. “I bet all of the kids in your class are going to want to sign
your cast.”

“Why?”

Ivy’s mom
chuckled. “Because that’s what people do.” She looked back at Beth. “Anyway,
you have to go see Ivy and the new baby. He’s precious.”

Beth’s back molars
crunched together. “I need to get
Kaylee
home, but
give Ivy my best.”

“Oh, it’ll only
take a minute. I’m on my way out—I have to get to the factory, but I’m
sure Ivy would love to see you.”

Clearly, Ivy
hadn’t filled her mom in on the downward turn their friendship had taken.
“Maybe some other time.”

Kaylee
tugged on the hem of Beth’s shirt. “I
wanna
see the baby! Babies are so cute.”

A deep breath
filled time while Beth tried to figure out a way to wriggle out of this awkward
situation. “It’s probably best we get you home so you can rest.”

“
Pleeeeease
, Beth. I still remember visiting my mom in the
hospital after my little sister was born. And now they’re both dead.”

The entire lobby
seemed to grow silent as if everyone had heard the word “dead.” Beth fidgeted
with her purse strap. How could she deny the girl anything after she brought up
her dead mother? And now it turns out her sister died, too? The tragedy was too
great for an eight year old. “OK. We’ll go. What room is she in?”

Ivy’s mom told
them and then waved good-bye. As they stepped into the nearby elevator, Beth
struggled to figure out a way to placate Kylee without a confrontation with
Ivy. She figured they could walk by the nursery and peek in the windows at all
of the babies. That should make
Kaylee
happy. Once on
the third floor, she followed the signs to the birthing center. She pushed
through some heavy metal double doors and on the left was the nursery. Scanning
the bassinets, she saw that they were all empty. A woman in scrubs carried a
swaddled baby away from the window and out the door.

Kaylee
stood on her
tip toes
looking through the glass. “Where are all the babies?”

“Probably in the
rooms with their mothers.” Beth felt pressure beneath her ribs. She remembered
being eighteen and insisting her newborn remain in the room for the two days
before the adoptive parents would take custody. An infant’s cry echoed down the
corridor. Beth’s knees buckled and she leaned against the wall for support.

Kaylee
gazed up at her. “Beth? Are you OK?”

It had been sixteen
years since she’d felt so alone. Yet seeing the polished tile floors and
hearing a baby’s cry brought it all back. Everything blurred in front of her. She
blinked her eyes a couple of times to regain her focus. “I’m fine.”

“Let’s go see your
friend. I
wanna
see the baby.”

She took a deep
breath. Ivy. The woman who married Parker before Beth could tell him she was
carrying his child.
The woman who had it all and didn’t
appreciate it.
The woman who’d cheated on Parker and took advantage of
his good nature.

“Um.” Beth chewed
on her lower lip. “She probably doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“
Pleeeease
! I love babies.”

“I can’t remember
the room number.”

Chewing her gum
with her mouth open,
Kaylee
reached for Beth’s hand
and pulled her down the hall. “I do. It’s right here.” They stopped outside of
an open door.

Beth looked inside
but could only see Ivy’s feet outlined by the bed linens. She knocked and heard
her old friend say, “Come in.” With a second’s hesitation, Beth finally stepped
into the small hospital room decorated with pink and blue wallpaper.

Ivy sat propped up
in bed, wearing a cotton hospital gown, and fluffing her curly brown hair. Her
hand froze, however, when she saw that it was Beth. “What are you doing here?”

Kaylee
stepped forward and Beth introduced her. “We ran
into your mom downstairs after
Kaylee
got her cast
put on and she said we should stop by. How are you feeling?”

Her head shook
from side to side and tears sprung to her eyes. “Horrible. Wonderful. I don’t
know why I’m crying.”

Seeing Ivy’s brown
eyes shine with tears softened Beth’s steely resolve. “It’s hormones. They’ll
even out and you’ll be fine.”

Everyone’s gaze
landed on the plastic bassinet next to the bed.
Kaylee
moved closer and used her good arm to reach in and touch the baby’s wisps of
dark hair. Beth lunged toward her. “Don’t touch. You should wash your hands
first.”

Ivy ran her hand
through her short curls. “Oh, I keep forgetting that. There’s a bottle of hand
sanitizer over there you can use.” Her tiny Adam’s apple bobbed as she
swallowed. “I suppose Parker told you about Rick.”

Beth nodded.

 
“He left me. I was about to give birth
and he left me.”

This level of vulnerability
from Ivy was rare and Beth didn’t know how to respond. She focused on the
sleeping infant with the rosy cheeks. “He’s precious.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s his name?”