My smile is watery as I get up from my chair. “Thank you so much, Dr. Snyder. I’d really like to hug you right now, but I’m sure that would be considered inappropriate.”
The doctor laughs and holds out one of his arms. “I won’t tell if you don’t. Maisy’s been such a dear the last few months. I’ve developed a soft spot for her.”
I walk forward and wrap my arms around the man that just saved my daughter’s life. Tears slip down my cheeks when I pull back. He smiles down at me.
“Hang tight for a few minutes, and a nurse will come escort you to their room.”
I nod and wipe my cheeks.
Declan holds his hand out to Dr. Snyder. “Thank you. For everything.”
After the doctor leaves, I fall back into my chair. My elbows go to my knees and my face falls to my palms. More tears flood my eyes and I don’t attempt to stop them. Finally, some good news. It’s been so long since we’ve had anything good happen to us that I don’t know how to react. Actually, yes there has been. Judge coming back into our lives, him offering one of his kidneys to our daughter, and paying for the procedure was very good news. There’s no way I could ever repay him.
“I told you that girl would survive this. She’s too much like her mama to let faulty kidneys take her down.”
My laugh is strained, but it still feels good to find humor in something. I scrub my hands over my cheeks and sit up straight.
“I haven’t said it near enough, but thank you, Declan. I don’t know how Maisy and I would have survived without you.”
“You both would have been just fine without me.”
I shake my head. “No, we wouldn’t have. You’ve helped in so many ways. Mom and Dad—”
“None of that. Let’s leave them out of this. My brother and his wife made their decision to not have anything to do with you and Maisy. They’ve lost two of the most precious females there ever was. It’s their loss.”
I rest my head back on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around mine. I push all thoughts of my parents away. Once again, he’s right. They’ve got no place in this waiting room. I’ve stopped crying over the loss of them years ago. If they refuse to see the amazing girl Maisy is, I certainly won’t give them the satisfaction of thinking of them.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, my tennis shoes squeak on the floor as I follow the nurse down the hallway in the ICU. I want to scream at her to hurry up, but figure it wouldn’t do me any good. As it is, I’m so close to her that I’m surprised I haven’t stepped on her heels yet.
Finally, we stop at an open door with the number 313 on the wall. She holds out her arm. “Here you go. She’s still asleep, but when she wakes up, just press the call button and the doctor will come check on her.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”
She smiles kindly at me and walks off. I rub my sweaty palms down my pants legs before stepping inside the room. The first thing I notice is the steady beeps of the monitors. Those beeps send a mixture of emotions through me. Relief that my baby made it through her surgery. Misery that she needed the surgery in the first place. Worry that something will go wrong. Gratitude to the man who gave a part of himself to save our daughter.
My eyes land on the bed with the small body draped in a tan cover. She has a cannula at her nose and two IVs in her arms. Her long, dark hair has been braided and the thick rope is draped beside her on the pillow.
My legs feel numb as I walk closer to the bed. My throat closes and my eyes prick with tears. I blink rapidly to force them away. The last thing I want is for Maisy to see me crying when she wakes up. I grab her small hand in mine and gently bring it to my lips.
“Hey, baby,” I whisper, not wanting to wake her up until she’s ready.
I take a closer look at her face. She looks like she’s just sleeping, so peaceful, and I guess in a way she is. My mothering instincts have me wanting to crawl in the bed with her and hug her to my chest. Obviously, I can’t, so I do the next best thing. I lean over and kiss her soft cheek. Smelling her innocent scent has some of my nerves settling.
“I’m right here, Maisy,” I say and lay my forehead against hers. For what seems like the thousandth time, I send up a prayer that she’ll be okay.
The rustle of sheets has my head lifting. I look across the room to the second bed and find a pair of stunning green eyes looking at me.
“Hey,” I say quietly. Settling Maisy’s hand back on the bed, I walk around until I’m standing beside Judge. “How are you feeling?”
He looks tired, but no less the strong man I know he is.
“A bit sore, but nothing I can’t handle.” His eyes move past me to Maisy. “How did the surgery go?”
“Dr. Snyder said it went well and he expects her to make a full recovery with her new kidney.”
His eyelids shut and he exhales a long breath, no doubt relieved at the news. Judge may not have known Maisy long, but I’ve seen the way he looks at her. It’s the way he looked at me twelve years ago, with a deep sense of love. I didn’t realize until now how much I miss that look.
“She, uh…. Before she went in to surgery, she asked if she could be put in your room afterward. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”