Scott Second Chance (Crystal Lake Series, #6)

1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9907796-1-2
Verlag: Laura Scott
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 149 Seiten

Reihe: Crystal Lake Series

Kidnapped!
When Janelle's sister dies, she doesn't hesitate to accept custody of her nephew Sebastian. As a nurse, Sebastian's kidney failure and dialysis isn't too scary, but it doesn't take long for her to feel woefully inadequate as a new mother. She's grateful for the support of her friend, Deputy Devon Armbruster, even though he's made it clear he's not looking for a relationship.
Devon lost his fiancée and unborn child three years ago, and watching Janelle and Sebastian only reminds him of his painful loss. Yet somehow Janelle's love and faith makes him realize that he might be worthy of a second chance. When Sebastian is kidnapped, Devon faces the biggest challenge of his career. He must find the little boy in time to save his life, or lose his chance of having love and a family, forever.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Scott, Laura

Leseproben

1
Janelle caught a glimpse of Devon leaving the ER with an obviously intoxicated Jimmy Campbell. It had been nice of Dev to come over to offer support. She closed her eyes for a moment, praying for strength. Leaning on God and faith would help her get through this. She loved Sebastian very much, but that fact alone hadn’t made the transition of becoming a mother overnight any easier. For the first few days, Sebastian kept asking about his mommy, and no matter how many times she explained that his mommy was up in heaven, he didn’t seem to grasp the concept. Finally she bought a stuffed angel and convinced him that his Mommy was an angel in heaven. Sebastian had calmed down after that, and slept with the angel every night. Janelle wasn’t sure if the fact that he’d stopped asking about his mother was a good thing or not. She bent down to press a kiss on his soft hair, breathing in the sweet scent of baby shampoo. He was such a good little boy, tolerating his peritoneal dialysis treatments better than she’d ever expected. Surely he’d pull through this latest threat without a problem. When Merry returned to start Sebastian’s IV, Janelle’s stomach clenched at the realization she’d have to help hold him down. Funny how different it was to be on this side of the bed. Usually, she was the one urging parents to help hold their kids during medical treatments. “Shh, Sebastian, it’s okay. I’m here. It won’t hurt for long,” she whispered as Merry inserted the catheter. Sebastian’s crying ripped at her heart, making her eyes well in sympathy. She hated knowing that he had to suffer more pain on top of everything else. “All done,” Merry said cheerfully, once the catheter was in place and the IV fluids running. “No more ouchies,” Janelle murmured to Sebastian. “Nana,” he whispered, cuddling close. She held him for a few minutes, until the trauma of being stuck with a needle passed. Sebastian used to call her Nanelle, but since she’d taken custody of him, he’d shortened it to Nana. She didn’t mind in the least. In fact, she hoped one day he might call her mama. “Anything else?” Merry asked as she adjusted the rate of his IV fluids. “No, but go easy on the fluids, remember he has kidney disease,” Janelle warned. “I haven’t forgotten, but fluids are key to battling infection. We may opt to do an extra exchange if necessary.” Janelle bit her lip and nodded. Of course Gabe and Merry knew what they were doing. When had she become such a worry wart? Since taking custody of Sebastian, she tried to tell herself to back off a bit, but then something like this happened, and she was right back to where she’d started. She was so afraid of doing something wrong, of failing as Sebastian’s surrogate mother, the biggest, most important role of her life. She couldn’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to Sebastian. She loved him so much. In just three weeks she’d found she couldn’t imagine her life without him. After about fifteen minutes Sebastian finally drifted off to sleep. His forehead still felt too warm, but she hoped his fever would come down once the fluids and antibiotics kicked in. She stroked a hand over his hair, then made sure the side-rails were locked on the gurney, before sinking into a chair and wearily rubbing her eyes. Sebastian had been fitful all day; she probably should have realized there was a problem sooner, but the catheter site had looked fine until the last exchange, right before bed. She’d never expected that the small amount of redness could become a raging infection so quickly. She was a nurse, but had needed to read up on kidney failure, to make sure she was well versed in Sebastian’s treatment plan. For some reason, she felt woefully inadequate to be Sebastian’s guardian. She tried to tell herself that her nursing background was a bonus, and other foster parents couldn’t provide the same care she could. At times like this, though, it was easy to have self-doubts. Especially since she still had a lot to learn about the nuances of Sebastian’s kidney failure. “Everything okay in here?” Merry asked in a whisper. Janelle raised her head and forced a smile. “Sure, we’re fine.” “Phoebe will be your nurse on the night shift,” Merry whispered. “She’ll be in shortly.” Janelle nodded, knowing they were in good hands. All the nurses in the hospital were great at their jobs. One of the things she enjoyed most about working here was the easy camaraderie amongst the staff, even the physicians. That hadn’t been her experience at the large Madison hospital where she’d worked prior to moving to Crystal Lake. Sebastian was on the kidney transplant list, which meant either moving back to Madison or enduring long commutes back and forth for treatment after his transplant. A problem she didn’t want to think about at the moment. Her stomach rumbled with hunger and she remembered she hadn’t eaten much more than the low sodium soup she’d tried to get Sebastian to eat for dinner. The cafeteria was closed for the night, though, so her only option was vending machine food; not the least bit appealing. Sebastian moaned in his sleep, and she shot to her feet, crossing over to make sure he was all right. Was it her imagination or did his forehead feel a bit cooler? She straightened out the IV tubing then bent over to brush a kiss across his temple, her heart aching for him. He had endured so much adversity in his short lifetime. She prayed again, this time for Sebastian to heal quickly and for the possibility of a kidney transplant, one he so desperately needed. There was a soft tapping on the doorframe, causing her to glance over her shoulder. She’d expected Phoebe, but it was Devon who stood there dressed in casual clothes: well-worn blue jeans and a soft long sleeved T-shirt, instead of the brown uniform he’d worn earlier. He was handsome no matter what he wore, with his thick dark brown hair, broad shoulders, and deep brown eyes. Something she hadn’t really noticed until just this minute. A realization that caught her off guard. What was wrong with her? Sebastian was fighting off a life-threatening infection and she was thinking about how handsome Devon looked. She should be ashamed of herself. “Hungry?” he whispered, holding up the bag. “I brought enough for both of us.” Touched by his thoughtful generosity, she nodded. “Yes, but how did you know?” He shrugged and gestured for her to come out of Sebastian’s room. “I feel bad eating in front of him, maybe it’s better if we head down to the cafeteria.” His voice went up on the end, as if he were asking a question. She hesitated, then shook her head. “How about the ER staff break room? That way I won’t be too far away if Sebastian needs something.” “Sounds good.” Devon smiled and gestured for her to lead the way toward the break-room. As they passed by the central nurse’s station, she caught a glimpse of Sebastian’s night nurse, a pretty girl with dark hair and wide light gray eyes. “Hey, Phoebe, Sebastian is sleeping. I’ll be in the back room if you need anything.” “Sounds good. We’re working on getting him an inpatient bed. I’ll let you know once we have one assigned.” “Thanks.” Janelle darted around the nurse’s station to the small break-room located in the back corner of the ER. “Do you want the cheeseburger or the chicken sandwich?” Dev asked, when they were seated next to each other at the table. She lifted a brow. “I’m fairly certain you want the cheeseburger, right?” “I like them both,” Devon said firmly. “Seriously, you pick.” “I’ll take the chicken...