Sing Me Back Home (3 page)

A short while later, Maya heard a commotion over by the food tables. Expecting another football mishap, she glanced over and saw her daughter, clearly distressed, her face turning red and blotchy, visible even from a distance.

As Maya rushed over, Carmen puffed up before her eyes. The boy she’d been talking to scrambled out of the way as quickly as he could, leaving Carmen to turn redder and more swollen by the second. As Maya reached her, Carmen clutched at her throat. “Can’t . . . breathe . . .” She turned wild, beseeching eyes to her mother.

Maya’s world stood still and her mind blanked for a moment. She realized Carmen must be having an allergic reaction to something. Before she could speak, Jack was at her side. “Does she have an epinephrine auto injector?” he asked her.

Adrenaline for allergic reactions? “No. She’s never . . . No, we don’t.”

“I need adrenaline right now,” he said in a voice she’d never heard. He didn’t shout, but he said the words clearly and forcefully. They’d drawn a crowd and Jack, busy with calming down Carmen, snapped again, “I need an auto injector of epinephrine. The nurse’s office will have one if no one else does.”

Maya started to go, but a woman handed Jack something. “Here, Dr. Gallagher. I have another one too, if you need it.”

“Thanks.” He took it and immediately shot the medicine into Carmen’s thigh. “This will help,” he told her frightened little girl. “You should be able to breathe easier very shortly.”

“What if she can’t?” Maya asked. She thought she sounded oddly calm, but her mind had been shrieking since she first saw Carmen puff up.

“We give her another shot. But she’s already breathing easier, so it’s helping. Come on, let’s get her to the Emergency Room.”

“We called 911,” another woman told him. “But they didn’t know how long it would take.”

“I’ll drive. That will be quicker.” He picked her up and started toward the door, taking Maya’s agreement for granted.

Heart pounding, Maya followed.

*

Some time later,
Maya followed Jack out of Carmen’s ‘room’ at the hospital—one of several curtained off cubicles in the Emergency Room of the Marietta hospital. “Are you sure she’s all right?”

He answered patiently, though she’d asked him the same question several times. “Carmen responded well to the treatment. To be safe, we’ll keep her here a few hours, but I don’t expect her to have any further problems.”

“But she might,” Maya said anxiously. “You said it was a possibility.”

“A remote possibility,” he said, and patted her shoulder. “At this point it’s very unlikely. She’s in the hospital, Maya. We’ll take care of her, I promise.”

“I know. I can’t help but worry.”

“Entirely natural. She’s your daughter. Of course you’re worried.”

“Carmen has never had an allergic reaction before. Nothing this severe, anyway. It scared the hell out of me. How do I make sure this doesn’t happen again?” Now that the immediate danger was past, the stress settled in to wreak havoc on Maya’s nerves. She’d done all right during the crisis. Afterward was a whole different story.

Jack spoke soothingly. “You can’t. The best she can do is try to avoid the allergen and keep an injection pen with her at all times.”

“You really think she’s allergic to grapes? She’s eaten them before with no problem.” The epinephrine injection had made the swelling in Carmen’s throat subside so that she could breath. Once at the hospital and after further treatment, she had improved even more rapidly. Jack and Carmen had then discussed in detail what she’d eaten. Apparently, she was in the process of eating grapes when she started to feel ‘funny.’

He nodded. “Yes, I do. She said she felt fine until after she had eaten several grapes. Her throat began to close up immediately. She swears she didn’t eat anything else. Even so, she could have drank something without thinking about it. I drew some blood and sent it to the lab to be certain. We should have the results soon. However, the fact that she was actually eating the grapes when she went into anaphylactic shock is a strong indication that they’re the culprit.”

Anaphylactic shock. Just the words were enough to scare her to death. “I’m really glad you were there. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been.”

“I’ve seen a number of these reactions before. It wouldn’t have taken you long to recognize what the problem was, too. I just happened to be quicker.”

While she had known Carmen was in distress, Maya wasn’t sure she’d have known that Carmen needed epinephrine. But thank God Jack had. Several important things had resulted from the experience. First and foremost, Carmen was going to be all right. Secondly, she and Carmen were now aware of her allergy and what to do if it happened again. “Thank you,” she said.

Jack smiled and patted her on the shoulder again. “Carmen’s going to be fine. Be sure and fill the prescriptions I gave you.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” Carmen would have an auto-injector of medicine to keep with her at all times, and Maya intended to see that every place her daughter frequented would have one too.

Plus, she’d make sure Carmen knew that she needed to carry her injector with her everywhere. No exceptions.

Maya watched Jack walk down the hall. Who would have thought all those years ago that Jack would become the doctor who saved her little girl’s life?

*

Indecisiveness was not
in Jack’s makeup. So, the fact that the following day found him staring at his cell phone screen between every patient irritated the crap out of him. Why was he debating asking Maya out?
Do it or not
, he thought,
but make up your damn mind
.

He’d dated since Brianna died. In fact, he’d been out with half the single women in town. Once, at any rate. One date didn’t mean anything. Except this was one date with Maya Parrish. Who, if anything, had only grown more beautiful over the years. More beautiful, more fascinating, sexier . . .

The sizzle was still there. For him, he thought, remembering his reaction to Maya prior to Carmen’s crisis. Maya felt something too, he was sure of it. She had looked as shocked as he was when they touched. When their hands met his had tingled. How crazy was that?

Not one of the women he’d dated since Brianna died had sparked more than a mild interest. He’d liked them all, but he’d rarely been tempted to have more than two dates with the same woman. He’d loved his wife very much, and he knew he always would. But Brianna had been gone for a long time now. Jack had thought his sex drive had died with her, but it came back with a vengeance the moment he saw Maya again, up close and personal.

One part of him said, “Oh, hell, yeah. Go for it.” The cautious part yelled, “Are you nuts? Remember what happened last time you got involved with Maya.”

He went with “hell, yeah” and punched in the cell phone number she’d given him. “Hi, Maya. It’s Jack,” he said when she answered.

“Hi.” She sounded surprised. “Are you calling about Carmen? She’s fine. She went to school this morning.”

“That’s great. Glad to hear there were no permanent ill effects.”

“I can’t thank you enough. I was scared out of my wits.”

“An allergic reaction like Carmen had is frightening, especially if it’s the first one you’ve seen. And even more so, when it’s your daughter.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Checking on Carmen wasn’t the only reason I called. I know it’s last minute, but do you want to go to dinner tonight?”

Silence. “Um . . . You’re asking me on a date?”

“Yes.”

More silence. “Do you think that’s wise?” she finally said.

He laughed. “Obviously, or I wouldn’t have asked you.” When she hesitated again he added, “It’s just dinner, Maya.” But was it?

“All right. Thanks. Casual or dressy?”

“Casual. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

After hanging up, he realized he was grinning like a fool. Wise? Probably not. But irresistible? Oh, yeah.

‡

“W
hy are you
getting dressed up?” Carmen asked Maya later that afternoon. She came in and threw herself on Maya’s bed, flat on her back and spread-eagled. “Aren’t you going to the movie with Aunt Amy and me?”

“No, I’m going to dinner.” Having changed three times, Maya contemplated a fourth. “Do you like this one, or this one?” she asked her daughter, holding up two different outfits.

Carmen ignored the question. “Dinner? With who?” she asked suspiciously.

“Dr. Gallagher.”

“You have a
date
?”

Maya turned around and looked at her daughter, who was now sitting up on the bed. Only a teenager could look so incredulous at the thought of her mother dating. “Yes. I’ve had them before, you know,” she added dryly. Not to mention, Carmen’s father had remarried. What was so shocking about Maya having a date?

“But . . . but you just met him.”

“Actually, I went to high school with him.” And almost married him, Maya thought. “Why are you frowning?” After placing both outfits on the bed, she rifled through her closet and pulled out another sweater. She held it under her chin and looked in the mirror.
You look like a corpse in that color
, she thought, sticking it back in the closet quickly.

“He’s my
doctor
. Isn’t it like, illegal for you to date him?”

Maya laughed. “He’s not
my
doctor. And even if he were, it wouldn’t be illegal for me to date him.”

“Whatever,” Carmen said with a shrug. “His daughter’s a snot.”

Maya stifled the urge to tell her to get over it. “Why do you think that? You’ve only just met her.”

“She thinks she’s hot sh—snot,” she amended hastily when Maya gave her the evil eye.

“Well, I’m not going out with her. I’m going out with her father.” She held up an outfit in either hand. “Now, which one of these outfits should I wear?”

“The black one,” Carmen said, and left.

Which, since that described both of them, was no help at all.

*

“You look amazing,”
Jack told Maya when he picked her up that evening.

“Thanks.” She had finally decided to wear dark skinny jeans, ass kickin’, black, Louboutin boots, and a double-breasted black knit jacket, loosely buttoned over a lacy black camisole. Did it say something that she was wearing all black? No, she decided. Unless, it meant she wanted to look her best.