Read Online Just for the Summer by Jenna Rutland - Free Book Online Page B

cup to his lips, she encouraged him to drink. “One more, honey. Great. How about another?”
    After a few sips, he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the couch. “I feel
     dizzy.”
    Matt. She needed to find Matt. Sam needed medical attention. “I’ll be right back,
     honey. I’m going to get your dad.”
    She launched herself up the stairs. “Matt!” She stuck her head into one the bedrooms.
    Empty.
    “Matt?” she called again. They collided in the second bedroom doorway.
    He removed his ear buds. “Miss me already?”
    “Something’s wrong with Sam. We need to get him to the hospital.” She tugged on Matt’s
     hand.
    His eyes widened. “What?” The tape measure dropped to the floor with a thud .
    “We’ve got to go.” She yanked him toward the hallway. “Maybe we should call 911.”
    “I can get us there quicker than a rescue squad.” He pushed them toward the staircase.

Chapter Six
    Four minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. The double glass doors of the emergency
     department opened with a near-silent whoosh and inside, a tinny, amplified voice from the overhead speakers requested a doctor
     in X-ray. Matt carried his drowsy son through the cramped waiting room and cringed
     at the smell of antiseptic and sickness. Dani guided them to the check-in counter.
    “We have an eight-year-old boy who needs immediate attention,” Dani spewed before
     the clerk even had a chance to ask a question.
    The clerk—Janie, according to her name tag—slapped a clipboard full of forms on the
     counter then tossed a pen on top. “Fill these out. Have a seat,” she said in a rehearsed,
     monotone voice.
    Dani leaned forward. “I’m a registered nurse. This child needs immediate attention.”
     She enunciated every word. “That means now.”
    The hell with forms. Matt headed for a set of double doors that opened on a buzz and
     slipped inside, followed closely by Dani.
    She pointed her finger toward the hallway. “Don’t stop until you find a doctor.”
    “Sheriff! Ma’am,” the clerk shouted. “You can’t go back there. There are forms to
     sign.”
    As Dani ran interference, Matt began a systematic search for a doctor. From room to
     room, he poked his head in, intent on finding someone who could help.
    “What’s going on here?” a woman demanded from behind him. And then in the next second
     it softened. “Matt?”
    He swung around and relief clotted his throat at the familiar face. “Marcy. Please.
     It’s Sam.”
    She glanced at Sam and waved off the ruffled clerk who’d pushed past Dani. “I’ve got
     this, Janie.”
    The clerk handed the clipboard to Marcy with an expression that said, “good riddance,”
     then Marcy took charge. “Talk to me.” She hustled them through a maze of corridors,
     past rooms full of medical machines and anxious families.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t notice anything.” He looked at Dani.
    She reeled off what Sam had experienced at her cottage.
    Matt stared down at his son. What if he hadn’t been with Dani? Matt’s stomach rolled.
     By the time he would have found Sam, it might have been too late.
    As they walked past the nurses’ station, Marcy yelled to no one in particular, “I
     need an attending in bay four.” She flipped the lights on in an exam room and patted
     a sheet-covered gurney. “Let’s have a look.”
    Matt gathered his son a little tighter in his arms. The boy’s eyes were sleepy, his
     breathing slow. What if he had an incurable disease? A brain tumor? Cancer? His chest
     tightened, and he had to concentrate to breathe. A hand on his shoulder got his attention.
     Dani watched him with concern.
    “It’s okay,” she said softly. “They need to examine him.”
    He settled Sam on the bed and stepped back, suddenly shaky from relief and gratitude.
     Grateful that he wasn’t alone to fix this, that Sam’s care wouldn’t fall on his shoulders
     alone. What kind of horrible father experienced solace at putting the