Page 68 of Hiding Rose
“Have you talked to Ellie about this?” I asked. Ellie has the same syndrome Hope does. She has problems with a large port wine stain on her own leg. She’s the one who found Hope one night at the ER and changed Kate and Gideon’s life.
“I did. It turns out she had the same problems as a child. Now, of course, her problems are much more extensive, but she was in an orphanage when she was Hope’s age. Maybe if someone had treated her leg earlier it wouldn’t be almost twice the size of her other one.”
“You’re right, Ellie’s situation is different than Hope’s. Which means Hope has the best possible chance of getting better now that you’ve got her. Take one day at a time and you’ll know the right decisions to make for her.”
“I sure hope so,” she sighed. “All of this makes me respect and love my mom in a way I never have before.”
I rubbed her back to relax her. “You’re going to go through this year after year for the rest of your life, and every time, your gut will be right. Promise me you’ll take care of yourself while you’re taking care of Hope. If you need to sleep, call me and I’ll have the girls keep her at the center for the morning. Hope needs you at one hundred percent, and you’re not right now. I know my problems aren’t helping matters, but I want all your energy focused on Hope.”
“I’ve been telling her the same thing,” Gideon said from the doorway. “She’s trying to do it all, which is why she was sick last week.”
Kate leaned her head back on the couch. “We have two events in the next two weeks. I have to keep going. There’s no choice.”
I twisted on the couch to take her shoulders. “Kate, listen to me. We aren’t wonder women. We will crumble if we don’t rest. The phone call or email can wait an hour while you take a nap. You know what happens when you push yourself.”
Gideon sat down beside her and put his arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder, which told me right there she was exhausted. “She knows, and we’re working hard to make sure she doesn’t have any pacing issues. In the meantime, I think I’ll ask Winnie to keep Hope tomorrow morning for a few hours. I’ll take Hope in with me in the morning and Kate can sleep in.”
I patted Kate’s leg. “Good idea, and you let him. Hope might even forget about her leg if she’s playing with Katie-Bug.”
Kate smiled. “Okay. My day is actually relatively clear tomorrow.”
I glanced up at Gideon. “I’m at a standstill with the center until all the shelving is built. Give me work I can do in the office for the cook-off and the hula event. Phone calls, emails, whatever it may be. If I’m doing it, then she’s resting.”
Gideon saluted and winked. “I’ll have it on your desk in the morning. We’re in good shape save for the last few details. Lei and Ellie can answer any questions you might have.”
I nodded and peeked around the couch looking for Sawyer. “We should go and let you all sleep.”
“Sawyer promised to stay with her until she fell asleep,” Gideon said.
Kate groaned. “He could be here all night.”
“Nah, she just wanted Chef Veggie Bear to tell her the next installment in the mystery of the missing tomatoes. She’s out like a light.” Sawyer sat in the chair opposite me and reached out his hand. “I’m supposed to tell Auntie Rosie the bees don’t like cold and they went away.”
“Excellent,” I said, nodding and I turned to Kate. “Keep some icepacks handy and let her use them at will. Sometimes freezing the nerves is the only thing to break the cycle. Make sure they aren’t too cold though or she might get frostbite.”
Kate sat up and hugged me. “I will, thanks for the idea. I was trying heat, but maybe all it did was aggravate the nerves?”
“It can,” I agreed. “Sometimes heat brings blood to the affected area and we don’t want that if what she has is an arteriovenous malformation. I would stick with ice until you see the doctor on?”
“Tuesday,” Gideon filled in. “I’ll fly us over and back in the same day, but I’ll be out of the office for the entire time. Niko and Flynn are there for backup since Sawyer will be stuck in the kitchen most of the day. I want you within range of all your panic buttons and working from my office.”
“Your office?” I asked. “Why?”
“It’s rigged to security, and there’s a direct line to the cops at the underside of the lip, I’ll show you where. There’s room to spread out and you’ll be more comfortable in my office, which means you’re less likely to roam around the hotel alone.”
“I’ll have a bodyguard by then, right?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, but you can never be too safe.”
“It seems like overkill,” I insisted. “We don’t even know if he’s on the island.”
“Yes, we do,” Gideon said, sitting up.
“We know he’s around here somewhere, but not exactly where. For all we know, he’s still on the mainland,” I said dismissively. “He’s a coward.”
Gideon’s hands went into his pockets. “No, things have changed. I didn’t want to interrupt your night, but since you’re both here, I’ll tell you now. Niko called me earlier. His friend found Jarrett on a plane from SeaTac. He left at 5:07 p.m. on Friday and he flew into Honolulu.”
Sawyer put his arm around me in a protective gesture. “Then where did he go?” he asked.
