Read A Marriage In Wyoming (The Marshall Brothers 3) for Free Online Page B

put a hand on his arm. “We’ll work it out, Garrett. All of us together will support you and Lena through this.”
    He put his palm over her fingers. “Thanks. Between the Marshalls—you included, Caroline—and Rachel Vale, Lena’s got the best family available.”
    But the next morning, Garrett wasn’t sure even the Marshalls and Rachel Vale would be enough. When he and Justino arrived at Lena’s room, Kim Kaiser was there. And Lena was in tears.
    “No, no, no,” she wailed. “I can’t.”
    Justino rushed to the bed. “What’s wrong?”
    She threw herself against his chest. “I can’t give myself shots. It hurts!”
    Kim stood calmly on the other side, with a syringe and other equipment laid out on a cloth. She glanced at Garrett. “This isn’t unusual. It’s a pretty challenging prospect, giving yourself a shot. But—” she moved her gaze to Lena “—it has to be done.”
    “Even with the insulin pump?”
    “The pump portal has to be changed, which is similar to an injection.” As the sobs continued, Kim moved her equipment to a nearby table. “I’ll give her a few minutes,” she said and left the room.
    As if Rachel were there to tell him so, Garrett knew he had to respond rationally to help Lena calm down. She was a high-spirited, emotional girl. But she would have to exercise some logic in order to save her own life. Still, there was something to be said for the empathetic approach he’d learned as a minister. Maybe the two could work together...
    He waited until she quieted and reclined again on her pillow, still holding tightly to Justino’s hand. “I can understand how upsetting this is,” Garrett told her. “Why would you deliberately stick yourself with a needle?”
    Lena sniffed. “I hate shots. Since I was little.”
    “Here’s the thing, though.” He’d stayed up reading and now had a good grasp on the facts. “Your blood sugar will change during the day depending on what you eat but also on what you’re doing and other factors you can’t even control. Because your body isn’t monitoring that level for you, you have to do it yourself. Sometimes your blood sugar will be low, and you’ll need to eat. Sometimes it will be high and you’ll need insulin.”
    He paused and made sure he had her attention. “The thing is, if you want to stay well—to feel good and do the things you enjoy, including being with Justino and your friends—you must take injections. Now, you can find somebody to do that for you—me, for instance. But that would mean finding me, interrupting whatever I’m doing, pulling up your shirt or pulling down your pants so I can inject you.”
    “No!”
    “Or you can take responsibility for your health. Learn to accept that this is something you have to do to take care of yourself, like brushing your teeth.”
    As Lena gazed at him, tears flowed down her cheeks. “I don’t want to.”
    Garrett put a hand over hers. “I know. And I’m sorry. But it’s necessary in order to keep you happy and alive.”
    When Kim returned, Lena was resigned, though far from cheerful. “I guess I have to do this,” she said. “But I hate it.”
    “You’ll get used to it,” the nurse reassured her. “Eventually it’ll be no big deal.” She moved her equipment back to the side of the bed. “Now, here’s what you’ll do.”
    Garrett drew Justino out of the room with him, to give Lena privacy. “It’s a hard thing,” the boy said. “I can’t stand that she has to suffer this way.”
    Another parental moment. Garrett sighed silently. “But if you are going to help Lena manage her health, you can’t feel sorry her. You have to be brave so she can be brave. Does that make sense?”
    The boy heaved a deep breath. “I guess so. I can try.”
    “Lena’s dad isn’t much help.” Garrett decided to be honest. “So you and I and Dr. Vale are going to be her team. Her cheerleaders. Can you do that? For Lena?”
    Justino nodded decisively. “I