Hope for Christmas Read online

  Cyan leaned closer, his voice low. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” No need to bother him with the worries of where any of the money was going to come from. She hurried through the rest of the forms and walked them back up to the desk.

  A nurse poked her head through the door that opened into the waiting area. “Calvin?”

  Maria frowned slightly but stood. Shouldn’t they have taken people in the order they got there? She glanced over at the others in the waiting room and offered an apologetic smile. “Come on, Cal.”

  “Can I bring your phone?” Calvin gave Cyan a hopeful look.

  “If your mom says it’s okay, sure.” Cyan glanced at Maria.

  “You don’t mind?”

  Cyan shook his head.

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  Cyan just grinned.

  Maria took Calvin’s hand. “We shouldn’t be long.”

  “It’s not a big deal. I’m fine.” As if to prove his point, he scooted down in his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him.

  She needed to stop worrying about Cyan and focus on her son. Except, of course, thinking about Cyan kept her mind off the possibilities of what could be wrong. That and the man was mouthwatering. Not that she was looking. Much.

  “Right this way.” The nurse, whose nametag proclaimed her “Lucy,” gestured to a doorway on their left that had a curtain hanging halfway across it. “We’ll go in here and get some vitals. Any fever?”

  Calvin turned and looked at Maria.

  “No.” Maria fought not to sigh. Calvin was terrible about speaking to adults, always looking to her to do it for him. She didn’t usually force the issue.

  “Okay. Have a seat.” When Calvin was settled, Lucy slipped a thermometer under Calvin’s tongue, wrapped his arm in a kid-sized blood pressure cuff, and clipped an oxygen monitor to his index finger. “Stay still, okay?”

  Calvin gave a tiny nod.

  Lucy looked at Maria. “Date of birth?”

  Maria rattled it off.

  Lucy consulted her tablet and tapped the screen. “It says here he’s been off—more tired than usual, edging on lethargic. Any other symptoms?”

  Were there? He’d been drinking more, but the air was always dry in the winter. She’d been drinking more, too. “I don’t think so. It’s just—something in my gut said he needed to be seen.”

  “You look up his symptoms online?” The nurse gave a small smile.

  Maria’s cheeks heated. “I wasn’t going to, but then I couldn’t sleep and...”

  “One thing led to another. Sure. What did you come up with?” Lucy took the thermometer out of Calvin’s mouth and tapped the tablet. “Temp’s normal, BP and O2 look good. Hop on the scale over here, okay?”

  “Nothing specific. One article said to ask about blood sugar, but there’s no history of diabetes in our family.” That she knew of. It’s not like she’d done a thorough medical workup of the one night stand that resulted in her son. But he wasn’t a diabetic, so really, what were the odds? She glanced at the large numbers on the scale and bit her lip. Had he lost weight?

  The nurse noted Calvin’s weight and pointed across the hall to an exam room. “Go on in over there. Has he been drinking more? Having to use the bathroom more often?”

  Maria nodded. “I thought with winter—drier air—it’s not really much more than usual.”

  “Okay. Get settled. The doctor should be with you soon.”

  Maria and Calvin crossed the hall into the exam room. Calvin crawled up on the table and sagged back, curling his legs up, and swiping listlessly at Cyan’s phone.

  She studied her baby, her heart constricting.

  Someone knocked.

  “Come in.” That was fast. Urgent care never seemed to embody the term urgent in Maria’s experience. At this rate, they’d be out of here in time for Calvin to make a little bit of his school day.

  “Just me.” Lucy came in with a clear plastic cup and a small rectangular machine. She looked at Calvin and smiled. “Think you could go to the bathroom for me?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay. I’ll show you where in a second. First, I want to check your blood sugar, then we can maybe put your mom’s mind at ease after her late night web searching.” Lucy winked at Calvin. “It’ll be a little prick on your finger, okay?”

  He nodded again.

  “See? Easy. You don’t even really need a bandage. Come this way, and I’ll show you the bathroom. You can wait here, Mom. I’ll make sure he gets back when he’s finished.”

  “Okay.” Maria fidgeted and finally stood up, peering out the door to watch Calvin and the nurse navigate the short distance to the bathroom. She waited in the doorway, offering a weak smile when Lucy spied her watching. It wasn’t wrong to be protective. Especially when her child was sick.

  Calvin was back in the hallway offering Lucy the plastic cup before shuffling back to the exam room. He threw his arms around Maria and buried his face in her side.

  Maria stooped and scooped him up, staggering a little before settling on one of the chairs. She kissed his head and rocked slightly from side to side as nerves gnawed in her stomach.

  There was a brisk knock and a stern-looking woman strode in. “Mrs. Sanchez?”

  Maria nodded. It was never worth explaining that it should be Miss. In the overall scheme of things, it didn’t matter. Let them assume she was married.

  “Would you like us to get your husband?”

  “My husba—oh, Cyan? He’s just a friend. I’m not married.”

  The woman nodded. “We’ve called an ambulance. Your son needs to be admitted and evaluated immediately. His blood sugar is over 400. We haven’t tested the urine yet, but it’s very likely with that reading that he has diabetic ketoacidosis. That can be very bad. On the positive side, you brought him in and from the symptoms you’ve described we’ve caught it quickly.”

  Maria’s arms tightened around Calvin as she tried to absorb the doctor’s words. “I have my car. Would it be faster to drive him?”

  “No. We paged the on-call when we called for transport, hopefully they’ll have instructions to start treatment on the ride.” The doctor cocked her head to the side. “Let me go get your friend. Maybe he can drive your car over and meet you there. Cyan, you said?”

  Maria nodded, her brain still scrambling to catch up. Diabetes. She’d read about it the night before. It wasn’t something that got fixed. It was permanent. She closed her eyes as they filled with tears. She couldn’t break down now. Now yet. Right now, Calvin needed her.

  “Hey.”

  Maria blinked rapidly before turning to see Cyan hovering uncomfortably in the door.

  “They said you wanted to see me?”

  She cleared her throat. “They’re sending us to the hospital.”

  “Oh. That doesn’t sound good.” He frowned. “Do you want me to drive?”

  “No, it’s not that. An ambulance is coming.” This time a tear worked its way out and slipped down her cheek. Maria ignored it. “Maybe you could take the car back up to the ranch? I don’t know when we’ll be able to come home.”

  “Do you have your cell phone?”

  “Of course.”

  “Where?”

  What did that matter? She nodded to her purse on the seat beside her.

  Cyan reached into the bag and drew out her phone. He pushed the button. “What’s the code?”

  Huffing out a breath, she unlocked it for him, jostling Calvin a little to be able to see what she was doing. “Why?”

  He tapped at the screen and handed it back. “Because now you have my number, and I have yours. If I can find my phone?”

  “On the bed.”

  Cyan turned and grabbed it. “Thanks. Want me to wait until the ambulance gets here? Or I can follow you to the hospital. I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  “I’m not alone. God’s got this. He’s got us. We’re okay. Would you tell Betsy and Wayne?”

  “Of course
. You know they’re going to want to visit.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded. He was right. And Thanksgiving. What was going to happen to the food she was supposed to be prepping? “You know what? I’ll call them when we get there and I know what’s going on.”

  He studied for several heartbeats before blowing out a breath. “All right. Did they say what’s wrong?”

  “Diabetes.” Her stomach sank. Saying it out loud made it seem so real. This wasn’t any part of the plans she had for their future.

  What was she supposed to do?

  5

  Cyan waited until he’d navigated the unfamiliar roads back to the ranch and caught Wayne and Betsy up on the situation before excusing himself to call his boss. That hadn’t gone well. All in all, it was shaping up to be a rather horrible day and it wasn’t quite lunch time.

  He didn’t want to be on site in New York City. Cities in general gave him claustrophobia. But New York? He’d been once—to visit this same customer, in fact—and had sworn he’d never go back. He should’ve done a worse job on that visit, though, because they’d asked for him by name. Oh, sure, they’d said if he was available, but his boss’s theory was that a good contractor made sure whatever the client asked for was provided. Right now, that was Cyan. At least they’d given him until after New Year’s.

  Running a hand through his hair—the hair he’d meant to get cut before showing up at his grandparents’ house—he sank to the edge of the bed. His cell buzzed, and Cyan groaned before checking the readout. The dread that was pooling in his gut dissipated when he saw it was his younger sister, Skye.

  “Hey.”

  “Yo.” Skye’s voice always made Cyan smile. “Heard through the grapevine that you’re at dad’s parents’. How’s that going?”

  “The grapevine? That would be Azure, I imagine?”

  “Mom, actually. But I think she got it from Azure. So?”

  “So, what?”

  “Come on, bro. What are they like?”

  “They’re great. Just about what you’d expect. Maybe not in looks—although Wayne is like a forecast of Dad in twenty years.”

  “Which means you in what, forty?”

  “Har. Har. I’m not a carbon copy of Dad.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. What about grandma?”

  “Betsy? She’s not plump and snuggly, but she’s still warm and welcoming.”

  Skye snickered. “Plump and snuggly? What were you thinking you’d find? Mrs. Claus?”

  Heat crawled up Cyan’s neck. His mental picture had been a lot like that. “Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know? It’s not like we’ve had grandparents before.”

  “But we’ve known people who were grandparents. They’re just people with kids who had kids.”

  “Whatever.” Cyan frowned. His youngest sibling was good at giving him a hard time. Too good. “Anyway, I like them. A lot. And the ranch is great, too. It’s like a slice of paradise.”

  “I thought you were in New Mexico.”

  “I am.”

  “Paradise is tropical, man. Preferably with a rainforest nearby.”

  Cyan laughed. “Maybe for you. For me? It’s here. I’m gonna hate leaving in January.”

  “Already making plans to go?”

  “Only because of work. Apparently they need me in New York for one of our biggest clients. I’m trying to wiggle out of it, but so far no dice.”

  “New York? Not City, right, just somewhere else in the state?”

  “I wish. Manhattan.”

  “Cy, man, get out of it. Do you not remember how crazy you were when you went there last time? How long was that? A week?”

  “Yeah, I know. But all my boss hears is that I don’t care for it.” He lacked the words to explain the tightness that pervaded every pore the longer he was there. “Maybe it’ll be better this time.”

  “Good luck with that. On the flip side, maybe you can stop in Virginia and meet this Matt guy Azure’s in love with.”

  “In love? You sure?”

  “According to Mom. For Az to be putting down roots, it has to be serious. She was always the most resistant to that.”

  “True. Then there’s you. Where are you now?”

  “Yeah, yeah. At least my travel is all for my job. I do have an apartment.”

  “Right. How many days have you lived there this year?”

  Skye sighed. “Not enough. I’m working on it. With Mom and Dad settling in Arizona, it’s kind of like it gave us all permission, you know? I’m not sure any of us were as in love with the wandering life as we let on.”

  Cyan shrugged. He didn’t hate it. He didn’t love it, either, but it was what he was used to. Even if he had a base of operations, his job did ask him to travel a good bit. He wouldn’t be as bad as Skye, but travel was frequent enough that the flexibility of his living arrangements had always been a checkmark in the plus column. “I could settle here, easy.”

  “You think the grandparents would let you?”

  “I think I’m going to ask and find out.” The words startled him as they left his mouth. He hadn’t planned to say anything of the sort. And yet, this could easily be home. He’d met the three ranch hands, Tommy, Joaquin, and Morgan, at lunch yesterday. From what he understood, they each had their own space. As did Maria. His heart clenched a little and he glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Still too early, probably, to check in with her and see how she was doing. They’d offered him one of the empty cabins. Was it possible that could be permanent? Just as soon as he was done talking to Skye, he was going to go ask Betsy.

  “Good for you. Think you’ll settle down, start a family?”

  “Where’d that come from?” Cyan dragged his thoughts away from the picture of Maria that started to form. Sure, she was pretty. And nice. And Calvin was a delight. But that was a far cry from even asking her out.

  “Dunno. Just figured you’d be next, after Azure.”

  “Indigo beat us all.”

  Skye laughed. “That’s true. She always did her own thing, didn’t she?”

  “Pretty much from day one.”

  “Hey, I gotta run. But maybe if you’re still around in the new year, I’ll swing down and you can introduce me to the grandparents?”

  “You can come even if I’m not here. I’ll text you their phone number—they still have a land line, though Betsy texts on her cell, too. Give them a call and get to know them.”

  “Yeah? Okay. Don’t be a stranger, Cy.”

  Cyan chuckled. “You either. Thanks for calling.”

  Tucking his cell in his pocket, Cyan headed toward the living room. He was going to ask about a cabin now. Before he chickened out.

  * * *

  “Cyan, honey?” Betsy came into the living room from the kitchen, phone in her hand. “Maria just texted me. Are you willing to take a bag down to the hospital for her? They’re going to keep Calvin a couple of days. With Thanksgiving on Thursday, she’s thinking probably Friday before they get home.”

  “Of course. You don’t want to go? So you can see her?” Not that he didn’t want to see Maria. Time had ticked extra slowly this afternoon as he played Chinese checkers with Wayne while waiting for Maria to get in touch with someone.

  “I’d just as soon not. I know they handle the roads fine, but Wayne and I are getting to an age where we try not to venture out in the snow if we can help it.”

  That made sense. Sort of. They weren’t that old. Maybe sixty? Sixty-five, tops? Both of them still got around like they were a lot younger. “She gave you a list?”

  Betsy nodded. “I can go pack it all up. Tommy and Morgan got the paths cleared just after lunch and there hasn’t been a ton more snow since then. I think we only ended up with six or seven inches. Once you get down the hill, you’ll probably find it’s stopped altogether. Give me ten, fifteen minutes?”

  “No rush on my end.” He glanced at Wayne. “Probably not enough time for you to beat me soundly again though.”

  Wayne chuckl
ed. “I still can’t believe your father never introduced you to this game. It was his favorite growing up.”

  Cyan sighed. There were, apparently, a lot of favorites of his dad’s that had been thoroughly abandoned when he left home. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I feel like I chased him off.” Wayne shook his head. “Parenting isn’t for the faint of heart.”

  “Dad used to say that a lot.”

  “Did he?” Wayne laughed. “Well, there you go. At least he heard something I said. I’m glad you’ve come, Cyan, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you the longer you’re here. Would you consider staying in the house through the holidays? If you want your own space sooner, I understand—the cabin’s yours whenever, but it sure would be nice to have you in the main house for a bit.”

  “If you’re sure, I’d like that.” There was something nice about having other people around. He’d been on his own long enough that he’d grown used to it, but he wasn’t in a hurry to get back to it.

  “Excellent.” Wayne sighed. “Then we’ll plan to get you settled after Christmas so you have a little time to get organized before they ship you off to the city.”

  “Or we can wait until I get back. If you need the space for something?” It had been a bit of a revelation to find out there were close to a dozen currently empty cabins on the property. Some were only set up for summer camps—no kitchens, just bunk space. Those were out on the property a ways where, apparently, there was a larger lodge-type thing that handled meals for campers as well. Churches and community groups used the spaces and the hiking trails on the property from June through August. The place was in high demand, and the fees they charged, though reasonable, paid for the bulk of the year-round operation.

  “Oh, no. Your cabin isn’t one of the camp spaces. Maybe I wasn’t clear. This used to be a cattle operation. That required quite a few more resident ranch hands than our current scope. So, we have living spaces for ten. We can go take a look at them tomorrow and you can make your choice.”

  “I’d like that. Wouldn’t mind getting the two dollar tour of the place, actually.”

  “Didn’t we—no, I guess we didn’t, did we? With all the chaos this morning for Maria.” Wayne shook his head. “Poor girl. That boy is the light of her life. I’m grateful it’s something that can be managed, though. Not that it won’t be a long road, but you can live a long, full life with diabetes if you take care of yourself.”