Losing Gabriel by Lurlene McDaniel

Author:Lurlene McDaniel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2016-06-14T04:00:00+00:00

“What do you mean you’ll be spending nights at this guy’s house?”

The sharpness of Ben’s voice on her cell phone made Lani’s stomach clench. “It’s an emergency, Ben. Gabe’s grandfather underwent triple bypass surgery this morning and is in the ICU. Dawson wants to be with his father through the crisis. I need to stay with Gabe. What’s so hard to understand?” She hadn’t told him about the first night she had slept over at the Berkes’ that allowed Dawson to stay the night at the hospital, and now the irritation in Ben’s voice reminded her why she’d held back. But early that morning Franklin Berke had gone into surgery and Dawson had asked her to stay more nights. She had quickly agreed.

“Where will you be sleeping?” Ben asked, in a tone she didn’t like.

Lani was sitting in her car in front of the Berkes’ house, having already explained what was happening to Melody while she packed a small suitcase. Inside the house Dawson and Gabe waited for her, Dawson anxious, Gabe excited Lani was staying another night. She wanted to scream at Ben, but she held back. “I’ll be sleeping in Gabe’s room. Dawson put a twin mattress on the floor for me so I’ll be there when he wakes up. And we’ll keep to his normal routine. He’s not yet three, Ben. He doesn’t really understand what’s going on. It’s not easy for him.” She wanted to say, “Or for any of us,” but didn’t.

“A lot to ask from a babysitter,” Ben said, his displeasure flowing through the cell phone.

She gritted her teeth. “On top of everything, Gabe has a chest cold and I’ve had to administer his quick-acting inhaler several times. I need to be close by.” She didn’t explain that she had to put him on his nebulizer three times a day but that his breath tests on his peak flow meter still weren’t where they should be, because Ben didn’t get the dangers of asthma. Ben had no idea the serious condition could actually kill a child. “Dawson doesn’t need his father and his son in the hospital at the same time.”

Ben went silent, then mumbled, “Call me tomorrow, okay? Let me know what’s going on. And if you’ll be seeing me like we planned this weekend. I expect that.”

His last words were a dig, but she let them pass. “I will.” No promises, though. She cut the connection and sat brooding in the car, remembering not Ben’s words but Melody’s warning just before Lani had dashed out the door.

“Don’t get too attached.”

“To what? Helping a child?”

“To this job, and this child, and his family. Getting emotionally involved was one of the things they warned us about in law classes. It’s easy to get caught up in a case. And with a client. So we were counseled to keep our emotional distance. I’m sure they teach you that in nursing classes too.”

Lani bristled, jerking open the front door. “Thanks for the warning, but I know how to behave like a professional.

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