Page 9 of Holiday Haven

Krista tapped her fingers on the TV remote. The television itself wasn’t on, but there were several radio stations that could be tuned into. “I guess I don’t need to play Christmas songs for her.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to agree—he didn't need more reminders of Christmas. But her wistful expression confirmed his suspicion that Krista had put the music on as much for herself as for baby Joy. He knew what Krista and Danielle's lives had been like after they'd lost their parents. Danielle had told him how they'd ended up being shuffled from one relative to the other. No one had wanted them on a permanent basis.

Maybe holiday music reminded her of happier times.

“Leave it on.” He could put up with the Christmas tunes, for her sake.

A shy smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Okay, I will.”

Staring at her, he realized he'd come in tonight for more than just double checking on Joy.

Despite his desire to forget about the past, he'd come to see Krista.

* * *

The next morning,Krista overslept. So much for her plan to get some Christmas shopping done. After taking a quick shower, she pulled on a clean set of scrubs with a bright colorful Christmas tree pattern and had just enough time to grab something to eat before she needed to leave for work.

Staring down at her bowl of cereal, she wondered how Joy had fared through the rest of her night. Adam had left about the same time she had, at two o’clock in the morning. He’d insisted on walking her to her car.

Of course, he hadn't kissed her goodnight or anything but for a moment there when he'd gazed intently down at her, she thought he might.

Unless that hadn't been nothing more than her imagination working overtime. She sighed and took a spoonful of oatmeal. She really needed to get over her feelings for Adam. Especially as she didn't know how he felt about her sister. There had to be a non-threatening, casual way to mention Danielle. She hated the idea of Adam pining away for Danielle for a whole year. Her sister hadn't said much about her breakup with Adam, except to say they were fighting a lot and didn't have the same goals for their future.

And if that had truly been the case, Adam couldn't still be in love with Danielle.

Could he?

Had Danielle ever mentionedhercrush to Adam? She sincerely hoped not. She grimaced. How embarrassing.

Krista knew Danielle had been shaken up after their car accident. Krista had been away at school when it had happened and as far as she knew, Danielle had only spent one night in the hospital for observation. By the time Krista had discovered what had happened and rushed back to Milwaukee, Danielle had already been discharged home. Her sister had made arrangements to move to London within the week.

Krista hadn't seen or spoken to Adam again. Until now.

Enough brooding over the man. Even if Adam was over Danielle, he no doubt still thought of her as a younger sister. Now that she'd let her hair grow out, lost a few pounds and had laser surgery on her eyes, men did tend to notice her. Still, it wasn't as if she had dozens of men lining up to ask her out. She watched women flirt and often wondered why she couldn't seem to master the art.

Maybe it was Adam's fault. She couldn't send out those,I'm interestedvibes because she'd always measured other men against him, finding all others seriously lacking.

She forced herself to finish her breakfast, then rinsed her dishes and grabbed her purse. She'd spend so much time thinking about Adam she had less than fifteen minutes to get to work.

She ran down the hall of her apartment building, not wanting to be late. The tedious job of scraping ice off her windshield while the frigid wind blew against her face cost her an additional few minutes.

As she walked onto Six South with one minute to spare, she noticed a bustle of activity halfway down the hall, a few feet away from the nurses’ station.

Not Joy’s room, thankfully, but Krista hurried over to see if her peers needed help.

“What's going on?” She entered the room to find two nurses standing over a baby lying in a crib.

“Denny has been vomiting for the past hour,” Wendy said a small frown furrowing her brow. “Come here, Krista. Do you smell something funny?”

She stepped forward and nodded. “Yeah, something sweet. You better call Denny's doctor. The baby should be tested for ketoacidosis.”

“That’s what I thought,” Wendy admitted. “Would you do me a favor and call Dr. Monroe? I don't want to leave the baby alone and his mother went home for a while.”

“Sure.” She hurried back out to the nurses’ station and asked for Adam Monroe to be paged. He returned the call in less than a minute. “This is Adam Monroe. Did you page?”

“Yes, this is Krista. Wendy asked me to let you know that Denny Gibson, the baby in room 612, has been vomiting for the past hour. His breath smells sickly sweet and we think he might need to be tested for DKA.”

“Absolutely,” Adam agreed without hesitation. “Draw a basic chemistry panel and send it STAT. I want those results as soon as possible.”

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