Em came into the room from the kitchen area, with two children with wet hair. “Is something wrong?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“It’s my fault,” Melanie said quickly. It was all she could do not to throw herself into Em’s arms, sobbing. “Dan was fiddling with my earring and I startled him and he—he swallowed it!”
“Your earring? How big was it?”
Melanie held the other one out to Em in a hand that trembled. “It was like this.”
“Oh, thank goodness it wasn’t a big one.”
Melanie was somewhat relieved. “It seems big when you think of it going through that little digestive system.”
To Melanie’s surprise, Em patted her arm kindly. “These things happen. Quite a lot around here, as a matter of fact. What do you think, Dr. Cross?” There was concern in her eyes, but at least she didn’t look alarmed.
“He needs to go upstairs for an X ray,” Jared said.
“An X ray?” Melanie’s knees felt weak. Oh, no. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
Em put a hand on her shoulder. “Now, now. It’s just a formality, to make sure it’s not stuck someplace it shouldn’t be. We always have to have an X ray, then we just let nature take its course.”
“I’ll call up there and tell them he’s coming,” Jared said briskly, going to the small office in the next room.
Melanie nodded and took the child back into her arms. Immediately he leaned his head against her chest. A sob caught in her throat, and she laid her cheek against his feathery-soft blond curls. “I’m sorry, baby. You feel okay?”
He didn’t answer, but she didn’t expect him to.
“Why don’t you take him to the X-ray department on the seventh floor now?” Em suggested. “I can hold down the fort here.”
“Do you really trust me to do that?” Melanie asked, worried that Em had forgotten who’d caused all this trouble in the first place.
“Why, of course.” Em looked surprised.
“Thank you.” Melanie’s words came out in a rush of gratitude. “I won’t let you down.”
“Melanie, dear, it was a mistake. Please don’t beat yourself up about it. Just let them check Dan out, then call Linda on the hospital phone and let her know what happened.”
Melanie nodded. “I will, absolutely.”
When Jared came back he said, “They’re waiting. I’ll take you up there. I have to pick up a chart from the seventh floor anyway.” He turned to Em. “Is Lily Palmer ready? I came down to get her for an appointment.”
“She certainly is.” Em called a child of about six over to join them.
Melanie was glad that Em and Jared were not so worried about Dan that they couldn’t think about anything else. That had to be a good sign.
“Dr. Cross!” the little girl squealed when she saw him. “Are we going to talk about my baby brother again?”
He smiled at her. “If you like.”
They all began walking toward the door.
“Whatever.” The child flipped her hair. “I’m not so sad about him coming anymore. Mommy said she’d hire me to help her when he’s here, but I don’t have to change smelly old diapers!”
“Sounds like you got a good deal,” he said, and the child laughed and ran ahead.
“Is she a patient of yours?” Melanie asked, holding Dan close as they rounded the corner to the elevators.
“A temporary one,” he answered. “Fortunately her problems were not very serious. Her mom’s a doctor here and due to give birth next month. Lily’s been having a little trouble with jealousy.”
“Oh, she’ll probably be thrilled when the baby comes along,” Melanie said. “Who wouldn’t be?”
Jared shot her a look, but smiled. “I’m sure she will. And your point is taken.”
Melanie feigned innocence. “My point?”
“Press the button,” Jared said to Lily, who proceeded to press it about ten times in rapid succession. “Yes, your point,” he said to Melanie. “How are you enjoying working with the kids?”
“Piece of cake,” she said.
He looked from her to Dan and back again, clearly trying not to smile. “That so?” The elevator arrived and they stepped on.
Her face grew warm. “Okay, maybe it’s not quite as easy as I thought it would be. But you have to admit working in day care is very different from having a child of one’s own.”
“We’ll see.”
We’ll see? Her heart lurched. Did that mean he was going to give her the okay? She knew better than to ask. Instead she just nodded. “I feel as confident as I ever did. Maybe even more.”
He raised an eyebrow. “More?”
“Sure. Look, already today I’ve learned that you can feed babies rocks and metal and they can, hopefully, just poop it out.”
Jared watched the digital numbers change over the door as the elevator went up. Although he didn’t exactly smile, she recognized a lightening of his expression. “That should come in handy if you should ever go broke.”
There it was again. Was he hinting to her that he was going to approve her as an artificial insemination candidate?
The doors opened and they stepped out.
“Luckily my parents left me with enough to provide for my children,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll have to resort to eating the elements, but it’s good to know that we can.”
To her amazement, he laughed. “You’re resourceful, I’ll give you that.” They stopped. “X-ray is down that hall and to the left. You can’t miss it. They’re expecting you.”
“Thanks,” Melanie said, thanking him as much for easing up on her as for giving her directions.
“Sure. Come on, Lily,” he said. “We’re going to pick something up then go to my office.” He reached his hand out to the little girl, and she took it. Something in the gesture made Melanie’s heart ache. She watched them walk away for a moment before following his directions to the X-ray department.
Everything went smoothly, although the waiting took longer and was more nerve-racking than Melanie had anticipated. When they finally took Dan in, they allowed Melanie to come with him. Part of her felt she didn’t have the right to be there, that she should have called his mother for this, but Em had specifically told her to call Linda afterward, when everything was all right. And Em had been confident that everything would be all right, so there was probably no sense in getting Linda worried for nothing.
In the X-ray room, Dan fussed and complained at first, but he held still long enough for them to take the picture. Afterward, when Melanie took him back in her arms, he was happy again.
The technician took the film out of the machine and clipped it onto the light board to take a look. “There it is,” he said, pointing to a small dark shadow in Dan’s stomach. “Yum.”
“Is he going to be all right?” Melanie asked fretfully.
“Looks like it,” the attending doctor said. “He didn’t suffer from any gagging or choking on its way down, so it didn’t get lodged in his windpipe. The rest is pretty easy. With any luck it should come out painlessly.”
Melanie sighed in relief.
“Is he going to be here in the hospital for the rest of the day?” the doctor asked.