Read Online Kentucky Sunrise by Fern Michaels - Free Book Online Page B

tub. I’ll see you tomorrow, Emmie.”
    Emmie sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off her boots and socks. Her eyes widened as her feet swelled to twice their size in front of her eyes. She reached down to poke at her puffy ankles and noticed that her fingers were the size of little sausage links. It was almost impossible to pull her jeans down over her swollen knees. Her puffy fingers couldn’t get a firm grip on the heavy denim. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she finally managed to push the jeans down to her ankles. It was another searing jolt to pull the pant legs past her swollen ankles and feet. A searing pain ripped up her back as she hobbled to the bathroom. Could stress make you swell up like this? A feeling of panic rushed through her. Maybe she needed to soak in a hot tub.
    Emmie sat on the edge of the tub watching the water swirl and splash. She continued to stare at her feet and hands. For a month, she’d noticed that at the end of the day, her feet and hands ached and were a little puffy. She’d ignored it just the way she tried to ignore the pain in her back. Now, she could no longer ignore her condition. What would happen in the morning if the swelling didn’t go down and she couldn’t get her boots on? Don’t borrow trouble, she cautioned herself.
    She looked at the time before she removed her watch. She had forty minutes before it was time for Willow to call. Maybe she should bring the portable phone into the bathroom so she could continue to soak while she talked to Nick’s wife. All it took was three steps across the bathroom before she found herself on the floor, a look of shock and pain on her face. She crab-crawled into the bedroom and reached for the phone. It slipped out of her hands. She pushed it forward as she crawled back to the bathroom. She cried then as she pressed 0 for the operator. “Please, I can’t dial the numbers. Will you ring the Inn and ask for Mrs. Littletree’s room. This is Emmie Coleman. Yes, thank you.”
    Emmie almost fainted when she heard her mother’s voice. “Mom, there’s something wrong with me. You have to come out here now. Please, Mom. I’m in the bathroom, and I can’t move. Hurry, Mom.”
    â€œWe’ll be right there, Emmie. Stay where you are. I’ll call the doctor on the way.”
    The phone slipped away from Emmie. She cried harder when Cookie waddled over to her and flopped down next to her, waiting for Emmie to scratch his ears. “I can’t, Cookie.” Her tears soaked into the bathroom carpet just as the tub overflowed. It took every ounce of strength in her body to get to her knees and turn off the faucet, using her wrists. She was soaked to the skin when she fell back onto the mat that was by then dripping wet. What is wrong with me? Hurry, Mom. Please hurry.
    Twenty minutes later, Nealy flew up the steps, calling her daughter’s name as she went along, Hatch lumbering behind her. She ran straight to Emmie’s bathroom and almost fainted at the sight of her daughter. Emmie’s name ripped from her soul.
    Hatch bent down to pick up his stepdaughter. He carried her to the bed and lowered her gently. “The doctor is on his way, Emmie.”
    Nealy sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked her daughter’s head. “Emmie, oh, God, Emmie, how did this happen? I know this might be a stupid thing to say but did you eat something that might have caused a reaction like this? You were fine, earlier.”
    â€œNo, Mom, I didn’t eat anything different. I wasn’t fine either. When I took off my boots, my feet started to swell. Sometimes they get puffy at the end of the day, my fingers, too, but never like this. The pain in my back has been getting worse. I’ve been hurting for a long time, but I didn’t want you to know. You know your motto has always been work through the pain. I tried. I gobbled aspirin by the handful and took hot baths.