Two Weeks (The Baxter Family #5)(19)

This was a part of the job Elise hadn’t expected, the idea that even very old people still wanted their parents. Still called out for their moms and dads when things felt out of control. When they needed comfort.

It made her hate herself for how she’d treated her mom.

Elise looked deep into the woman’s frightened eyes. “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so . . .” Gradually, she felt her voice getting stronger. If this was what the dear woman needed, then this was what she was going to do. She would deal with her feelings about her own mother later.

As the song grew and filled the room, Evelyn’s fears seemed to fall away. Elise watched it happen. And by the time she was on the last line of the last chorus, the woman was asleep. Elise looked at the monitors by her bed. She didn’t know how to read them, but this much was obvious. Evelyn was more peaceful now than she’d been before Elise got here.

Not only that, but Elise was feeling better. The nausea was gone. Probably just the salad dressing, like she’d thought earlier.

As Elise left the room, she checked her work sheet. The woman in the next room needed a visit, too. But before Elise was done today, she would do what she had promised herself. She would end the day back here with Evelyn. Because if anyone needed extra love this afternoon, it was her. And as Elise stepped into the next room and cleaned her hands, she told herself something else. When she got home she would do what she hadn’t done all week.

She would call her mama.





6




Baseball practice was canceled because of the rain, and though there were a dozen things Cole could’ve done with his afternoon, there was only one place he wanted to be.

Bloomington Hospital.

Far too much time had passed without him stopping in to say hello to his aunt Brooke and uncle Peter—both doctors who did rounds at the hospital. And today happened to be a day when his papa would be there.

So it only made sense that he’d stop by on the way home from school.

True to his word, Cole went to the pediatric floor first and found his aunt and uncle in one of the offices. They talked for a minute about how excited Cole was to finish school and attend Liberty, and how sure he was that he wanted to become a doctor. Like them.

They shared how Maddie was enjoying her sophomore year in college and how Hayley was going to stay home after high school graduation next year and take classes online. She was working at a center for kids with disabilities—a job she loved.

After a while, Cole bid them goodbye and took the elevator to the emergency room. When his papa worked at the hospital it was usually in the ER. That’s where he did his best training. It was also where Cole hoped to work once he finished school.

Sure enough his grandpa was busy with two interns when Cole checked in at the desk. Ten minutes, he was told. Then Dr. Baxter could be with him. Cole’s heart raced. All he really wanted to do was get to the fourth floor. The place where Elise was volunteering today. But he had come to say hello to his papa and he wouldn’t leave without doing so.

He sat in the waiting room and pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. No text messages, so he shot a quick one to his mom.

What’s for dinner? Could I bring Elise?

As soon as he sent the message his heart beat even harder. He still hadn’t brought her home. Hadn’t met her parents or taken her on a real date. Like where he paid and it was more than friends. But every time he was with her he felt himself fall a little deeper. Cole had once watched a movie with his mom, a sappy film about some Christmas love story.

But one of the lines had stayed with him. The guy was talking to his friend, trying to describe how he felt about this girl. And all he could say was “She captivates me. Completely. When I’m with her I don’t know anything else except her. Right there beside me. Only her.”

Cole could’ve written the words himself. It was exactly how he felt about Elise.

The question was how to tell her. In the times he’d been out alone with her, the topic never naturally came up. He’d never had a girlfriend, so he wasn’t sure what to say. Was he supposed to bring it up between talking about her classes or her love of painting? “Hey, Elise. Wanna go on a real date?”

Was that what he was supposed to say?

Or maybe first he should tell her how he felt. “Elise, here’s the crazy thing. I can’t think of anything but you lately. And I wondered if you felt the same way?”

Just running the phrases through his head made him sick to his stomach. There was nothing the least bit natural about any of that. So how should he do it? How was he supposed to move things from friends to . . . more than friends?

God, do you hear my crazy thoughts? He ran his fingers through his hair. Of course God heard him. God knew all things. So, then, what should I do? This girl has my heart in her hands.

My son, a different voice shook Cole’s soul, honor your father.

The whispered words made Cole jump in his seat. He looked over one shoulder and then the other. Who had said that? After a few seconds he settled into the chair again and tried to catch his breath. God. That was the only possible answer.

The Lord had actually spoken to him. Cole wiped the back of his hand across his damp forehead. His mom and dad had talked about hearing from the Lord. But Cole had only experienced something like this a couple times before.

So what was it God wanted him to hear? What did He want him to know?