Read Online The Healing Place by Leigh Bale - Free Book Online Page A

warning, Angie threw up. With a cry of disgust, people scurried to get away from their table. Emma found herself cradling Angie as Mark raced for more napkins.
    “I forgot my sand bucket,” Angie cried, her nose dripping as tears ran down her pale face.
    “Shh,” Emma soothed, and pressed napkins into Angie’s hands, then rubbed the girl’s back in comforting circles. “No harm done. It’ll be all right.”
    Angie clutched Emma’s arm and whispered wretchedly. “Everyone’s staring.”
    “It doesn’t matter. Here comes your dad. We’ll get out of here soon. Here, let me.”
    Emma took the napkins from Mark and wiped Angie’s face.
    “Everything okay?” Mark asked in an anxious tone as he tossed a wad of paper towels onto the table to cover the mess.
    Emma’s heart went out to him. He was trying hard to be upbeat for Angie’s benefit, but Emma could tell how harried he felt.
    “Sure, everything’s fine,” Emma tried to reassure him. She turned Angie over to his care, then began to clean up the table.
    “Emma, you don’t need to do that. I’ll take care of it as soon as I get Angie comfortable.” Mark tossed an embarrassed look in her direction.
    “It’s okay, Mark. I don’t mind.”
    By this time, an employee of the store headed toward them carrying a bucket of sudsy water. With a half smile and a word of apology, Emma turned the chore over to the janitor.
    With some semblance of order returned, Mark picked up Angie in one arm and wheeled his cart outside. Emma followed, grateful to leave the place. Angie clung to her father, leaning her head against his neck, her eyes closed. His biceps bulged as he balanced the little girl and pushed one of the carts with his free hand.
    “Do you want me to stay here with Angie while you take the carts out to the truck? I don’t mind waiting with her,” Emma offered.
    “Nah, I can carry Angie and push a cart at the same time. I’m Super Dad.” He kissed Angie on the cheek. She showed a wan smile, but not much else. No doubt, she was ready for a long nap.
    Together, Mark and Emma made their way out to his black Silverado truck. After securing Angie inside the cab with her sand bucket in her lap, Mark climbed up on the tailgate and accepted the boxes of plates and cups Emma tossed to him.
    “Thanks for your help back there,” he said.
    “No problem. I’m sure it’s just the chemo causing her stomach to be upset. It’ll soon pass.”
    “We make a good team,” he observed.
    She wasn’t going to respond to that.
    “How did they rope you into serving on the advisory committee for Make-A-Wish?” Mark asked.
    “I got a call out of the blue one day. Larry Meacham is an old med school friend and he suggested my name to the board of directors.”
    Mark laughed. “What a coincidence. Larry’s our neurosurgeon at U.C.S.F. When I mentioned to Sonja that I was involved in Make-A-Wish, she suggested you might like to work with them, too.”
    Emma’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Sonja suggested it?”
    “Yep.” He grunted as he pushed all the packages to the front of the truck bed.
    Sonja? Doing a little matchmaking with Larry Meacham? The two knew each other, so it was possible. Or was Sonja just trying to get Emma out of her safe little cocoon? Emma needed to have a chat with her interfering nurse.
    Mark climbed down from the truck bed and closed the tailgate. He dusted off his hands and smiled at Emma.
    “I’ve got some questions for you,” he said.
    “Oh?” Emma held her breath.
    “First, what can I do to get Angie to eat a little more and keep it down? She’s getting really thin. She only weighs forty-two pounds and you saw what happened after she ate her lunch.”
    Emma sighed. “Yes, I’ve noticed she’s losing too much weight. If she gets down to forty pounds, we’ll have to start feeding her intravenously.”
    Mark grimaced, his voice low enough that Angie couldn’t hear. “Can’t we do something else? It’s killing me to watch