A Full House

CHAPTER THREE

ON THE AFTERNOON of his fifth day in the hospital, a little girl walked into Jake’s room. She had pale blond hair plaited in two braids and large, dark eyes. She was wearing denim coveralls and a red-and-black plaid shirt. The sight of her rendered him momentarily speechless. He half believed she was an illusion his mind had created to while away the endless hours.

“Amanda?” He pushed himself onto his elbows, afraid she would disappear, but instead she approached the bed cautiously.

“Daddy?”

“C’mere, Pinch. Don’t mind all this medical stuff. Come give your daddy a big hug.” He reached out for her, and she was very real. She smelled sweet, her cheek was warm and smooth against his, and her chubby arms felt marvelous as they tightened around his neck. He tightened his own arms around her. “Amanda,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “Ah, my sweet baby girl.”

“Hello, Jake.” His ex-wife stood just inside the doorway, hands clasped loosely in front of her. She wore a white silk blouse, black trousers, a sage-colored linen jacket. Her hair fell in dark glossy curls upon her shoulders and she wore minimal makeup with a touch of lip gloss. She looked fresh-faced, young and beautiful. If she’d gone through the same hell as he had during and after their divorce, it certainly didn’t show.

“Hello, Linda,” he said, reluctantly relinquishing his embrace. Amanda squirmed out of his arms and climbed on the bed beside him, as endearingly affectionate as a puppy.

“Amanda, be careful,” her mother warned.

“It’s all right,” Jake said. “She can’t hurt anything. Thanks for bringing her.”

Linda nodded. “She’s your daughter. She has a right to see you.”

“It’s a long way for you to come. I appreciate it. I’ll pay for your plane tickets.”

Linda shook her head. “Your captain made all the arrangements. A police car picked us up at the airport and delivered us to the hotel and another car brought us here.”

Jake thought about this for a moment. “They must have thought I was going to die,” he said.

“From what I’ve just been told, you almost did.” Linda’s fingers were intertwined tightly. He could tell what a strain it was on her, just being in the same room with him.

“I had a good doctor,” he said.

“Yes, I know. I met her at the nurses’ station. She was the one who directed us to your room. Dr. Crawford, isn’t it? She seems very nice.”

Amanda tucked herself up against him, her little fingers tugging at his bandage. He took her hand in his as a sharp bolt of pain made him catch his breath. “Whoa, you with the quick fingers. Now’s not the time to be pinching your dad.”

“Get off the bed, Amanda,” Linda ordered, frowning.

“No, really. She’s fine.”

“What happened to you, Daddy?” Amanda asked. “Why are you all wrapped up?”

“I got hurt, honey, but I’m going to be okay. What about you? How’s my little Pinch? Still tearing up the house? How’s school?”

“Miss Markham’s very mean,” Amanda said gravely. “She made me stand in the corner.”

“What for? You didn’t pinch anyone, did you?”

“I pulled Jenny Flagg’s hair. Jenny said I didn’t have a father. So I told her I did, and I pulled her hair, and then Miss Markham made me stand in the corner.”

Jake pulled his daughter back into his arms. “You do have a father, Pinch. You have a father who loves you very much. Your teacher had no business making you stand in the corner. You’re my shining angel, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Amanda said.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and don’t you ever forget it. I’m going to call that Miss Markham and tell her a thing or two.”

“Jake,” Linda cautioned with a disapproving look.

At that moment Annie entered the room, brisk and businesslike in a white lab coat with stethoscope draped around her neck. Jake tweaked one of Amanda’s braids. “Amanda Macpherson, meet Annie Crawford, best doctor east of the Mississippi, and west of it, too. Pretty good, huh?”

“Pretty good,” Amanda agreed. She smiled shyly at Annie, and Annie smiled back.

“Hello, Miss Amanda,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. You look very much like your father, but I suppose lots of people tell you that. I’ll let you in on a little secret, young lady. Your father’s doing so well that I think we’re going to have to sign him out of here pretty quick. We’re going to need this room for someone who’s really sick.”

“Can he come home with us?” Amanda asked with the frank directness of a child.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well, he needs to stay here for a little longer. But you can visit him as much as you like.”

Amanda stared for a moment at Annie, then shifted her gaze to her mother. “Mommy, why can’t Daddy come home with us? He’s sick and he needs us to look after him.”

Linda’s face was pale and her hands were clenched tightly together. “Amanda, your father’s tired. We’d better let him rest. We can come back tomorrow morning.”

Amanda squirmed to face him. “Are you tired, Daddy? Do you want us to go?”

Jake tugged his daughter close for one last embrace. “You’d better do what your mother says,” he said. “But come see me tomorrow, Pinch. First thing. Promise?”

“I promise, Daddy.” Amanda’s eyes filled with tears. “I want you to come home with us,” she wept as Linda came forward and lifted her off the bed. “We could make you better. Don’t you love us anymore, Daddy? Why won’t you come back home?”

Linda refused to meet Jake’s eyes. She carried Amanda, still crying, out of the room and down the corridor. Jake watched them go and then dropped his head into his hands with a moan of pain that had nothing to do with his injury. He took a deep, shaky breath and expelled it just as slowly. “She’s five years old and Linda and I have been divorced for one year and two months.”

He pressed the heels of his hands to his burning eyes then lifted his head to look at Annie. “I’ve seen Amanda twice since then. The court awarded Linda full custody. Do you know why?” When Annie shook her head, he uttered a bitter laugh. “Neither do I. I have visitation rights, though. I can see her every weekend, for eight hours a day. And that would be a wonderful thing except that Linda decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

“I thought she’d eventually come back east, but her career took off and the only thing left for me to do is to go out there. I’ve sent applications to every police department within a hundred-mile radius, but so far, no strong bites.” He gazed out the window at the city skyline. “You know, getting shot isn’t much fun, but I’d go through it all again just to see Amanda. It’s not fair. I’m her father and I should be a part of her life.”

ANNIE CRAWFORD sat in the hospital cafeteria drinking a lukewarm cup of coffee. She couldn’t purge Lieutenant Macpherson’s heartbroken visage from her mind. What if Ryan had fought for and won sole custody of Sally? What would she have done?

Macpherson seemed like such a nice man. From his chart she knew that he was the same age she was, and in the conversations she’d had with him over the past week she’d discovered that he was the only child of an astronomer and a concert pianist who’d decided on parenting somewhat late in their careers. Jake’s father had died several years ago of a heart attack and his mother was nearly eighty years old, in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s. She played piano for the other residents, but no longer recognized her son.

“Dr. Crawford?” Annie glanced up, surprised to see Macpherson’s ex-wife standing across from her. “May I speak with you for a moment?”

“Of course.” Annie looked around. “Where’s Amanda?”

“We went out for lunch after we left Jake,” Linda explained. “Amanda wouldn’t stop crying, so I’m letting her visit her father again before we go back to the hotel. She was so upset…” Linda’s eyes dropped, but not before Annie saw the bright shine of tears.

“He’s going to be all right,” Annie reassured her. Linda nodded, fumbling in her handbag for a Kleenex.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes and attempting a shaky smile. “I’m not crying because I’m worried about Jake. I know he’s going to be fine. It’s Amanda. I feel as though I’m being cruel to her, and I suppose in a way I am. I just don’t know how to make it better.”

Annie nodded sympathetically. “It’s obvious that they miss each other a great deal.”

Linda wiped her eyes again and took a slow breath. “The divorce was nasty. We both said things we shouldn’t have. Hateful things. I couldn’t have stayed here. This town wasn’t big enough for the two of us, and there were better opportunities for me on the west coast. I never gave much thought to what was best for Amanda, but she really misses her father.”

“Yes.” Annie felt a twinge of guilt as she spoke. Sally missed her father, too.

“The thing is, I’ve been offered the leading role in a movie that’s being filmed in Europe this summer. I was going to bring Amanda along for the filming, but the director’s afraid she might be too much of a distraction.” Linda lifted her shoulders in a gesture of confusion. “I was planning to ask Jake if he’d like to take her for the summer, but now that he’s been injured, I’m not so sure. Do you think he’d be able to take care of her?”

“Yes, I do. Lieutenant Macpherson’s as strong as a horse. He’ll probably be out of here in a few days and I don’t foresee any problems with his recovery. He could certainly take care of a five-year-old girl. It would be a wonderful opportunity for them to spend some time together, and it would give you time to concentrate on your acting job.”

Linda’s expression was hopeful. “I’d have to ask him about it…”

“How about right now? I could take Amanda for a tour of the hospital if you’d like some privacy.”

“Would you do that?”

“Of course. Summer’s right around the corner, and you need to solidify your plans.”

An hour later Annie delivered Amanda back to Macpherson’s room and caught the happy gleam in his eye. Obviously everything had worked out. Jake would share the summer with his daughter.

Annie wondered if her own plans for the coming summer would fare as well.

MR. EDELSTEIN was removing his eyeglasses and massaging his closed eyes when Annie was ushered into his office two days later. It was after 9:00 p.m., late for him to still be at the hospital. He gestured to the comfortable chair opposite his desk, but she shook her head. “I received a letter from the captain at Macpherson’s precinct,” he said, replacing his eyeglasses and making a halfhearted attempt to locate the letter in the jumble of paperwork atop his desk. “It was mostly about what a miracle worker you were, saving the lieutenant’s life. I meant to give it to you but I seem to have misplaced it…”

“Mr. Edelstein, I won’t beat about the bush,” Annie interrupted before she could lose her nerve. “The reason I wanted to see you is that on June twelfth I’m leaving here to take my daughter to Maine for the summer to visit with her father, and I thought it would be nice to take some time off myself.”

Edelstein gave off the search for the letter with an exasperated shake of his head. “Can’t find it, but when I do I’ll pass it along. How much time?”

“I was thinking of taking a three-month leave of absence.”

Edelstein leaned forward at his desk, staring at her over the rim of his glasses. His laugh was an incredulous bark. “Well you can stop thinking about that right now. I can spare you for a week, maybe two at the most. You know how hospitals are. They don’t run well without doctors.”

“Mr. Edelstein, I haven’t taken any vacation time in over three years.”

“I’m aware of that, and I’m sure you’ve been more than compensated for your dedication. Please understand. I’m not telling you you can’t take a vacation, only that you can’t take the entire summer off.”

Annie felt a flush of anger warm her cheeks. “Three months of unpaid leave is all I’m asking for, sir, no less than what we routinely grant for maternity leave.”

Edelstein stood. “If you weren’t as valuable a member of this hospital’s staff, maybe I could grant it. But there’s no one to replace you.”

“There are six fully competent trauma surgeons practicing at this hospital, Mr. Edelstein. The ER doesn’t revolve around me.”

“Grant’s the only one who comes close to your level of expertise, and he’s going to be lecturing at Stamford. I’m sorry, Dr. Crawford, but I really can’t let you go.”

Annie nodded, her hands clenching inside her lab coat pockets. “I was afraid you’d say something like that,” she said. “I’ve come prepared with my resignation.” She stepped forward and laid the envelope on top of the mountain of paperwork. “I’m giving you four weeks’ notice. I’m sorry that things didn’t work out. I hope you’ll come to understand that this was something I really had to do.”

Edelstein’s mouth dropped open. “I won’t allow you to resign,” he blustered. “I won’t accept it.”

“You have no choice. I’ve given my best efforts to this hospital for over twelve years, but I have my own life to live and right now I need some time to think things through.”

“Dr. Crawford, be reasonable. Sit down and let’s talk about this,” Edelstein said, but his plea was in vain. Annie turned on her heel and without another word departed Edelstein’s office, closing the door firmly and hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

“YOU’RE PULLING MY LEG, right?” Matt Brink’s face was as shocked as Edelstein’s had been. “This is some kind of sick joke, something you thought up just to get out of our camping trip.”

“I assure you it’s quite real,” Annie said, still dazed by the sudden transformation from employed to unemployed. “I’ve been thinking about it a great deal lately, ever since Sally was arrested. I need some time off. I’ve also decided to spend the summer somewhere close to Sally, so we can still spend time together. I mean, three months is a long time not to see your daughter. But predictably, Edelstein wouldn’t grant me the unpaid leave, so I resigned.”

“Why don’t you stay for a week or two and then come back? Sally’ll be perfectly safe with her father. Annie, think about what you’re doing,” Matt pleaded. “You’re throwing away years of work. You’re at the peak of your career, the top of the ladder.”

“Not any more. I threw myself off and I’m starting all over again. And you know what? I feel great. Oh, Matt, I feel young again. I feel alive!”

Matt Brink slumped against the ER’s concrete wall. “This can’t be happening.”

Annie brandished the magazine she held rolled up in one hand. “I’m renting a house on a point of land overlooking the water in a place called Blue Harbor, which isn’t too far from Bangor, where Sally’s father lives. Listen to the description of this place.” She opened the magazine to the ads in the back of the well-thumbed magazine, but Matt turned away, raising his hands to his ears.

“I don’t want to hear it. You can’t do this. Not only is it crazy, but you’re welshing on your promise to go camping.”

“Oh, Matt, don’t be ridiculous. Take a week off and come up for a visit. You’ll have a great time.”

He dropped his hands and looked at her. “You’re asking me to visit you for an entire week?”

She smiled. “This house has four bedrooms, all with ocean views. It comes with a boathouse, a boat and its own private dock. Can you imagine such a luxury? I can hardly wait to see it.”

THAT NIGHT she visited Macpherson’s room for the final time. It was late, but he was awake, reading a Clive Cussler novel. He laid it down when she came into the room and propped himself up on his elbows.

“We’re kicking you out of here tomorrow,” she said with a rueful smile.

“No offense intended, but I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Though I’ll miss seeing you.”

Annie walked to the foot of his bed. She’d come to like Lieutenant Macpherson very much during his short stay. She admired him greatly for not dying on her, and she enjoyed his laid-back, easygoing attitude and the long conversations they’d had. Since his admittance, he’d been shaving daily and, of his own volition, he’d had his long hair trimmed quite short. He looked virile and handsome. It was hospital policy for the staff to keep a professional distance from the patients, but there was no denying that had she met Jake in a context other than the hospital or the police precinct where Sally’d been arrested, their relationship might have been very different.

“No offense taken,” she said. “I don’t blame you a bit for wanting to get out of here. I expect you’ll take some time off.”

“I’m thinking of taking all the sick leave and vacation time I have coming to me, especially since I’ll have Amanda for the summer while Linda’s in Paris. Speaking of the summer, rumor has it you’ve resigned your post and rented a saltwater farm in a place called Blue Harbor.”

“If there’s one thing this hospital never lacks for, it’s a lively rumor mill.”

He grinned that brash, handsome grin she’d come to like very much. “Gotta love gossip. Keeps things interesting. When are you leaving?”

Annie felt her cheeks warm and dropped her eyes, pretending to study his chart. “I’m bringing Sally to Bangor after school lets out. I’m hoping her court appearance will be scheduled before we leave, but if not, rest assured I’ll bring her back for it.”

“Sally’s not being summoned,” he said in a puzzled voice. “Didn’t you get the letter?”

Annie glanced up. “She doesn’t have to go to court?”

Macpherson shook his head. “The judge decided that because it was Sarah’s first misdemeanor, ten hours of community service in addition to attending the Jump Start program was adequate punishment.” At Annie’s skeptical look, he hitched himself higher in the bed. “The judge likes me,” he explained. “I helped his daughter out once.”

Annie’s breath left her in a soundless sigh. She stared at the man on the bed in astonished silence, then said in a dazed voice, very softly, “Thank you, Lieutenant. Thank you very much.” She paused at the door and turned back. “I won’t be here when you’re discharged tomorrow morning, so I’ll say goodbye to you now.”

That brash grin returned. “Oh, there’s no need for goodbyes, Dr. Crawford,” he said. “I expect we’ll be seeing each other again sooner than you think.”

“I certainly hope not,” Annie said. “I should think you’d want to avoid guns and bullets for a while.”

“I fully intend to,” he replied, “but all those talks we had about Maine brought back good memories of my grandparents’ camp. Seemed like a good idea to find a cabin like the one they owned, and it just so happened that the only rental I could afford isn’t more than twenty miles from yours. Inland, of course. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Annie gathered her startled wits and laughed. “Actually, I doubt that it is, Lieutenant, but I hope you and Amanda have a good time there this summer. And, thanks. I owe you big-time for Sally.”

Annie was halfway down the corridor, still smiling, when it occurred to her that she didn’t mind in the least the prospect of running into Lieutenant Macpherson somewhere along the rocky coast of Maine. In fact, she hoped she did. No doubt about it, a handsome good-natured man like Jake, a couple of steamed Maine lobsters and a nice bottle of wine suited her right down to the ground.

CHAPER FOUR

NEITHER ANNIE NOR SALLY had ever visited Maine before. Whenever Ryan wanted to spend time with his daughter, he simply flew to the city, using the opportunity to touch base with all his old friends and colleagues, as well. Although Sally had complained about having to leave the city and didn’t say an awful lot on the long ride up, preferring to keep her headphones on and listen to her CDs, Annie was sure the girl was excited. She felt the excitement herself when they crossed into Maine. It was as if they’d embarked on a rare adventure.

Ryan’s house was on the outskirts of Bangor, a modern ranch with attached garage and a lawn that looked as obsessively manicured as any golf course. Trudy was watering a circular flower garden in the middle of the lawn it when they arrived. She looked very pregnant. Annie hadn’t seen her since before the divorce and couldn’t help smiling as she noted how much weight Trudy had gained. Perhaps it was all attributable to the pregnancy, but Annie doubted that Trudy would ever return to her young and nubile sexiness. Trudy was seventeen years her junior, so Annie felt her satisfaction was completely justified.

Ryan was at the clinic, for which Annie was grateful. She helped unload Sally’s bags and carry them to the house, and stayed just long enough to give Trudy the phone number and address of the house she was renting in Blue Harbor. Sally trailed her back out to the car, scowling.