Only Yours (Fool's Gold #5)(29)

MONTANA RODE THE HOSPITAL elevator, a clean and excited Cece in her arms. The poodle seemed to recognize the setting. Montana wondered if her quivering was at the thought of seeing Kalinda or Simon. The little dog had liked them both, although Simon was by far her favorite.

If she were being completely honest with herself, Montana wouldn’t mind a little Simon time, as well. Not just for kissing, although that was pretty fabulous, but also to talk to him. She wanted to know more about his life. She wanted to find out about his scars—how he’d gotten them and why he didn’t get them fixed.

She stepped out onto the floor and headed to the burn ward. After checking in with the nurses’ station, she walked toward Kalinda’s room. Fay moved into the hallway and spotted her.

Although it had only been a few days since Montana had brought Cece by, Fay looked more exhausted and frail than she had before. The dark circles under her eyes looked permanently etched into her skin and her mouth trembled with what Montana would guess was overwhelming emotion.

“Thank you for coming,” Fay said quietly. “Kalinda’s in so much pain. The nurses keep telling me they’re doing what they can, but then she cries for me to help her and there’s nothing…” Fay swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

Montana felt helpless. “Don’t apologize, please. This is so hard for you and your family. You need to vent, so feel free to use me.”

“You’re very kind.”

Montana wasn’t sure of that, but she would do whatever she could.

“I didn’t tell her the dog was coming,” Fay admitted. “She’ll be so happy.”

“Cece is pretty excited, too.”

They went into the room. To Montana’s untrained eye, the girl’s burns looked worse than they had before. The raw skin was more angry, the smell worse. Cece quivered and squirmed to get out of her arms, as if she remembered Kalinda from her last visit.

The girl opened her eyes. “Oh, you brought Cece.”

“I thought she might make you feel better,” her mother said.

Kalinda managed a shaky smile. “Thanks, Mom. She does.”

Montana set Cece on the bed. The tiny poodle walked carefully across the blankets to Kalinda’s side. She stared at her for a few seconds, then licked the girl’s fingers. Kalinda managed a weak laugh. “She likes me.”

“Of course she does,” Montana told her, feeling a bit of emotion herself.

Cece curled up beside Kalinda. The girl petted her gently, her eyes closing.

“This is nice,” she whispered.

Fay motioned for Montana to follow her into the hall. “Can you stay for a bit? I was thinking she might relax enough to sleep.”

“Of course. I’ll sit right here.” Montana looked at her. “Why don’t you take a break? Get something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, but I would love to take a shower.” She glanced back toward the room. “I hate to be away from her.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Montana pulled a book out of her purse and held it up. “I promise.”

“The nurse has my cell number if anything happens.” Fay still hesitated. “I wish it had been me instead of her. Everything about this is so hard. The pain, the healing, all the surgeries. She misses her friends but they’re too far away to visit. Plus, I’m not sure her friends would want to see her while she looks like this.”

Montana remembered her mother telling her about Reese’s desire to visit children in the hospital.

“Do you think she’d like a visitor closer to her age?” she asked. “My nephew is ten. I could bring him by for a few minutes.”

Fay looked more worried than pleased. “Could he handle it? I wouldn’t want him saying anything that might hurt her feelings, or acting shocked.”

“I’d talk to him first. We could go online and do some reading about what she’s going through, so he knows what’s going on. Reese is a pretty good kid. Plus, Kalinda’s hands aren’t burned very much, so maybe they could play a game or something.”

Some of the worry faded. “I would like her to see someone other than me and the staff,” Fay admitted. “We’d have to make sure it was a good day. So far there haven’t been very many of those.”

“You think about it,” Montana told her. “In the meantime, I’ll talk to Reese and his dad. If Reese is game, we’ll do the research so he’s prepared.”

Fay nodded. Tears filled her eyes. “We’re not from around here. We only came to Fool’s Gold because Dr. Bradley’s here. He’s the best. And everyone in town has been so welcoming. It’s very unexpected.”

Montana impulsively hugged her. Fay hung on for several seconds, as if she needed the support.

“If you need anything, just let me know,” Montana told her. “Whatever it is, I can probably figure out how to get it.”

“Right now a shower is plenty.”

Fay collected a change of clothes from the small suitcase she had stored in her daughter’s room and went down the hall. Montana slipped back into Kalinda’s room. The girl was asleep, her hand tucked protectively around the little dog. Cece’s head rested on the child’s palm.

“You do good work,” Montana whispered.