Charlotte’s shrewd gaze seemed to assess Spring, and David realized with a jolt that he needed to cut off her speculation before it went too far. Dr. Spring Darling had shown not a whit of interest in him. Her concern, and rightly so, had been solely on Jeremy.
“I suppose that’s right,” Charlotte said. “Thank you for the news about my grandson. Do you have children?”
“Uh, Mom, I’m sure Dr. Darling has some other rounds to make. Can we see him?”
“I’ll show you the way,” she said.
Jeremy lay in a hospital bed in the pediatric recovery ward, looking much smaller and younger than he already was.
Going to his son, David brushed the hair back from the boy’s forehead. “Hey there, champ. You came through. To God be the glory.”
Jeremy turned toward his father’s voice, but otherwise he didn’t stir.
“He’ll come around in about ten minutes,” Spring assured him.
And when he did, David knew his son would be delighted to see his pretty Dr. Spring waiting to greet him.
* * *
“May I talk with you a moment?” Charlotte Camden asked Spring.
If she was surprised by the request, Spring didn’t show it. “Of course,” she said, leading her to the waiting room down the hall. The two sat, Spring facing the older woman. David Camden had his mother’s eyes, and she could see some of his other features in her face.
“Thank you for caring for my son and grandson,” Charlotte said. “This is all my fault. I was supposed to be watching Jeremy. This never would have happened if I’d paid more attention.”
“Mrs. Camden, appendicitis isn’t anyone’s fault. It just happens,” Spring assured her just as she had David. “It could have happened anywhere at any time. There’s nothing you or Mr. Camden could have done.”
Charlotte didn’t look convinced. If anything, Spring thought, she looked more worried than she had just a few seconds ago.
“He’s under an incredible amount of stress,” Charlotte said as she fingered the edge of one dangling scarf. “I just wish I could do more for him.”
Since Spring didn’t know what the Camden situation was, she could only make the kinds of sounds that could be perceived as comforting.
With little else that she could tell the distressed grandmother, she made a suggestion that Charlotte get a cup of coffee or tea.
“Thank you, but no. I’ll wait here,” Charlotte said. “I’d like to see Jeremy again when I can. I should have been here. I was getting a massage while my grandson was in terrible pain.”
Spring knew nothing about this family, their situation or relationships, so she couldn’t offer the woman any assurances one way or the other. She was awfully curious.
But the nature of a hospital physician’s interaction with patients meant the back stories and the how it all worked out or even came to be were rarely, if ever, known after discharge. The same would be true of the Camdens once Jeremy was up and around and feeling better.
“Sure,” Spring said. “That won’t be a problem.”
A few minutes later, she saw Jeremy Camden and again wondered if there was another Mrs. Camden in his life.
* * *
Spring found she had not been able to stop thinking about the father and son duo, even after all the unexpected extra hours in the emergency department, getting home and going straight to bed.
Three mornings a week she worked out at F.I.T. gym with her sister. Today, though, she’d begged off after promising that she’d run five miles to make up for it. She’d had specific and necessary errands to run before going to the hospital. There had been a place at Commerce Plaza she needed to visit.
As she walked into the hospital, she carried a two-foot-tall brown teddy bear sporting a natty red-and-white-polka-dot bow tie around his neck.
She wasn’t in the habit of buying gifts for her patients. Like many service professionals who worked with children, she kept a stock of small toys like yo-yos and coloring books with crayons to give to kids, but nothing like this plush bear that was built well and meant to last a lifetime.
Spring was so thankful that Jeremy had come through the surgery and recovery with flying colors. She knew that she was getting emotionally involved. But she couldn’t help it.
Jeremy Camden was now recuperating in a patient room in the pediatric wing of the hospital.
She tapped on the partially open door, heard “come in” and entered the little boy’s room.
“Dr. Spring!” the boy exclaimed when he saw her. He struggled to sit up, then let out an “Ow” and leaned back.
“Easy, Jeremy,” Charlotte Camden admonished her grandson while rising from the chair near the boy’s bed. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
Charlotte pushed the mechanism that raised the bed so Jeremy could sit up.
“Is that for me?” the boy asked, eyeing the teddy bear.
“It sure is,” Spring said. “But you have to do what Dr. Emmanuel and your grandmother say.”
“I am. Gonna have a sore,” he said, tugging at the small hospital gown so she could see as she approached.
“A scar, Jeremy,” his grandmother corrected.
Spring ruffled the boy’s hair and handed him the bear, which Jeremy immediately hugged.
“He’s almost as big as me!”
The delight on his face assured her that she’d done the right thing in buying and giving it to him. “He sure is,” Spring said.
“What do you say?” Charlotte prompted him.
With one small arm flung around the stuffed animal, Jeremy reached for Spring with the other. The hug came naturally to him. It was awkward with the bed rail, the IV and the bear, but so worth it when he said in her ear, “Thank you—I love him.”
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she checked his readings on the monitors near the bed and on his chart. Everything looked good and so did he.
“I get to stay here in the hospital!”
Spring smiled.
“Only a child would see that as a good thing,” Charlotte said with a laugh.
Only a child who was never or rarely sick, Spring amended silently. Now came the recuperation period, and she knew from experience that if he was feeling better, he’d be itching to run around like a little boy with boundless energy.
“Because it was so late when David brought him in, the doctor said they’d like to keep Jeremy for a full day of observation.”
Spring wondered where David Camden was. The nurses said he hadn’t left his son’s side since he’d come out of surgery.
“You just missed David,” Charlotte said as if reading Spring’s mind. “I sent him to the hotel to get some proper rest. He has a business meeting later today and several tomorrow morning and needs to be ready for them. We’ll probably both end up staying the night.”
“Oh.” Spring was surprised at the deflated feeling that rushed through her, but she responded to the older woman. “Yes. That’s good.”
Then she questioned her own actions and second-guessed her motives. Had she brought Jeremy a gift simply to be able to see his father again?
No, she realized. When she saw the bear, her first thought had simply been the towheaded little boy who’d been in so much pain and had