Read Online Healing Hearts by Margaret Daley - Free Book Online

to the new electric wheelchair. “I have another surprise for you.”
    Madison locked her hands together around his neck. “What?”
    “Miss Impatience, give me a chance to show you how to use—”
    Madison put the wheelchair into a forward motion and made a large circular path in the den around the grouping of couches and chairs with only one mishap when she drove into the long table behind one of the sofas. A vase wobbled near Abbey, and she lunged toward it, catching it before it toppled to the floor.
    “I think I need to adjust the speed. You’re going a little too fast.”
    “You call this fast?” Madison headed toward the exit.
    Dominic hurriedly planted himself in front of the doorway. Madison came to a quick halt, then put the wheelchair in Reverse. Gabe scrambled out of the way. Dominic leaped toward the chair and switched it off in back.
    “What’s the problem? I don’t need to learn how to operate it. It’s easy. Push this to go forward and pull it to go backward. Piece of cake.” Madison giggled. “You did have Mrs. Ponder make my favorite cake, didn’t you? Is that the surprise?”
    “Maybe, maybe not.” Dominic hovered over the right arm of the wheelchair in case his sister decided to put it in motion again. “Aren’t you ready for a nap? I sure am.”
    Madison’s laughter increased. “No, I’m tired of being in bed and sleeping.”
    “It’s only been six days since your surgery.”
    “Forever when you’re stuck in a hospital room.”
    “You weren’t in your room all the time.”
    Abbey decided to step in. “What’s the other surprise? Madison may have forgotten about it, but I haven’t and I am definitely impatient.”
    “Yeah, what is it?” Madison directed her look at her brother.
    “If you hadn’t interrupted me with your antics, I’d have shown it to you by now.”
    “I’m not stopping you now.”
    He shook his head and started for the hallway. “Mrs. Ponder told me I would regret getting you an electric wheelchair for places that would be hard to roll your other one.”
    With Abbey next to the girl, Madison trailed after her brother. Gabe hung back and didn’t come when Abbey patted her hand against her leg. Abbey stopped and looked back a few seconds at her dog.
    The child frowned. “What’s wrong? Gabe, come on. I want you to see my surprise, too.”
    Gabe’s tail swept the floor, but he stayed put.
    That was when Abbey remembered an incident with another kid at the hospital the week before. “I think he’s scared of your electric wheelchair. A little boy ran over his tail with one. Gabe yelped and refused to visit the child again.”
    “I don’t blame him, but I wouldn’t do that, boy.” Madison slapped her hand on the top of her thigh. “Come, Gabe. Please.”
    Her dog barked twice.
    “That’s his no.”
    “What’s his yes?” Dominic asked from the entrance.
    “One bark.”
    “Why isn’t he scared of my other wheelchair?” Madison turned her chair completely around and moved toward the Lab.
    Gabe stood and backed away, positioning himself between the coffee table and couch where Madison couldn’t go.
    “Gabe knows the difference. I haven’t had a chance to work with him yet on getting used to the electric one.”
    Madison glanced at her brother. “Will you move me to the other wheelchair for now? I don’t want him to be afraid of me.”
    “Are you sure?”
    With her solemn gaze fixed on Gabe, Madison nodded.
    Dominic transferred his sister back to the manual chair. “Let’s go. I’ll even run with you.”
    Before Madison could say anything, he pushed her out into the hall at twice the speed he had coming into the house. Abbey signaled to Gabe to come to her side. Her Lab made a wide detour around the abandoned electric wheelchair. Abbey hooked the leash to his collar and headed into the hallway to find that Dominic had parked Madison in front of a panel wall.
    Madison grinned from ear to ear. “My very own elevator?”
    “Yep. I can