Page 16 of Fractured Reunion

“I figure the social worker will be all over that,” he said. “Here, I meant to give you Kyle’s phone number so that you have it.” After he pressed a few keys on his phone screen, her phone dinged with an incoming text.

“Great.” She added Kyle Flores’s name and number to her contact list. “I won’t abuse the privilege.”

“I know you won’t.” Aaron waved that off. “I should tell you that I spoke to Adam. He mentioned his wife, Krista, is still registered as a foster parent.” Aaron caught her gaze. “I can ask if Krista would consider taking Joey in on a temporary basis. Child Protective Services is more likely to place Joey with a medical professional to help him recover from surgery.”

“I was thinking of taking Joey in.” The words popped out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I mean, I know I’d have to go through the process of becoming a foster parent, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Aaron sat back in his seat. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

She took another bite of her sandwich, even though her appetite was fading fast. They were treading on dangerous ground. It had been a long day that wasn’t close to being over, and she wasn’t in the mood to rehash their past arguments.

“Look, Aaron, I appreciate everything you’ve done regarding Joey’s care. But I didn’t come here to discuss what went wrong in our marriage. I’d like to stay focused on taking care of Joey. I think it’s best if you get back to your job too. I’m not sure exactly what your role is here in the hospital, but you must have patients to see.”

He arched a brow. “Yeah, I kinda got the hint when you bolted out of my car when I pulled up to the hotel. Keep in mind, you came to the conference here in Milwaukee, not the other way around.”

“Yet you’re the one who followed me outside where we happened to witness the bus crash,” she shot back. Then she winced upon realizing they were beginning to sound like a pair of five-year-olds. She held up a hand. “Please, Aaron, I don’t want to argue. Let’s just move on from this unexpected reunion, okay?”

There was a long pause before he finally nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Thank you.” She finished the last of her chicken sandwich, then rose to her feet. “Take care of yourself.”

“You too.” To his credit, he didn’t stand or try to follow as she left the cafeteria. Rather than heading back to the lobby, she took the elevators to the seventh floor. Parents were usually allowed to wait in their child’s room while the patient was undergoing a procedure. Since Joey’s mother couldn’t be there, Maggie went up to the main nurse’s station to let the nurse assigned to Joey’s room know she was there for the little boy.

“I thought Joey Johnson lost his mother.” Nurse Clarice frowned.

“He did. I happened to respond to the bus accident, and he latched onto me while we tried to resuscitate his mother. I need you to trust me on this. Joey will be more relaxed after surgery when he sees me.”

“Okay.” Clarice did not look convinced. Maggie hoped she wouldn’t run into this reluctance with every nurse on the unit.

“Please let the PACU know that I’m waiting here and that I’d like to see Joey as soon as possible.” She’d used her best authoritarian tone but then softened. “I really don’t want that poor little boy to wake up in a room full of strangers all alone.”

That seemed to do the trick. Clarice nodded. “You’re right, that would be awful. I’ll gladly let them know.”

Maggie smiled and hovered nearby as Clarice made the call. A moment later, Clarice hung up the phone. “Joey is on his way to the PACU now, and Dr. Kyle said you can head up there. Do you know where it is?”

“No, but I’m sure I can find it. Which floor?”

“The OR suites are all on the third floor. The PACU is to the south, like directly beneath us.”

“Great, thanks again.” Maggie quickly turned and headed back to the elevators. The third floor looked similar to the operating room setup at Johns Hopkins. Or maybe most ORs looked the same. If not for the different shade of blue scrubs, she would have felt she was back in Boston.

The doors to the PACU opened when she stepped forward. She frowned when she saw Aaron standing and talking with Kyle. Why was he here? Then a horrible thought hit, and she quickly rushed over to join them. “What happened? Is Joey okay?”

“His condition is stable,” Kyle said with a tired smile. “But he’s not out of the woods yet. His fever has not come all the way down, so I decided to keep a drain in his abdomen in case he needs to have another irrigation with antibiotic solution.”

That wasn’t entirely unexpected, so she nodded. “But he’s otherwise stable. He hadn’t needed any blood products or anything, right?”

“Correct,” Kyle affirmed. “He’s in bay number three. You can go over and see him for yourself.”

With a nod, she turned and walked to the third bay. This area didn’t have individual rooms like the rest of the hospital. There were only curtains separating one patient from the other, mostly so the hospital staff could reach their patients quickly if needed.

Anesthesiologists cared for patients while they were in the PACU. Only once the anesthesiologist signed off did the surgeon take over.

Bending over Joey’s bedside, it felt strange to be there as a patient visitor rather than the doc in charge. Her gaze automatically went to the monitor where his vitals were displayed on the screen, then she checked the IV solution. She couldn’t fault the care Kyle and the anesthesiologist provided.

“Joey? Can you hear me?” She gently took his hand. He was still groggy from the meds and the anesthesia, but his fingers closed around hers in a tight grip.

Yes, this was where she belonged. And if she had her way, she wouldn’t be leaving Joey’s bedside anytime soon.

---