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Pediatric Ward, he waved to a nurse coming out of
another room. Over the last six months he’d gotten to know most of the staff. Some days
he didn’t know how they did their jobs. The highs and lows of
Kaylee’s disease left everyone exhausted and she was only one of
the many children they helped.
    Anna and Tom had been beside themselves the
last time they’d had to make an emergency run to the hospital. He’d done what he could, but it
had been the nurses and doctors that had been there for them all.
They cared for Kaylee as if she was their own daughter and treated
Tom, Anna, and Dan as if they were
their own family.
    “Kate’s still sitting with Kaylee.”
    He turned and watched Linda Jones, the nurse
he’d seen earlier, stack a pile of towels on a table.
    “You can go on through, if you like. Kaylee’s not so tired this
afternoon.”
    “Did she manage to eat something today?” For
the last couple of weeks, Kaylee
hadn’t been eating much. They’d had to supplement her meals with
liquid food, giving her the nutrients she needed, but causing other
issues that were way down their list of priorities.
    “She had all of her lunch and Kate managed to
get her to eat some fruit.” Linda reached out and touched his arm.
“It’s been a good day, Dan. Go and see Kaylee.”
    He took a deep breath and moved toward his
niece’s room. He wasn’t sure she’d ever make it to the general ward
with all of the other kids, but he didn’t care. As long as she
stayed out of the Intensive Care Unit, he was happy.
    Kate sat on the edge of Kaylee’s bed, a pile
of cards in her hand. “Are you sure you didn’t peek?” Kate handed
her sister a card and picked up another one.
    Kaylee giggled when Kate raised her
eyebrows.
    “You got the pairs to all of my cards.”
Kaylee laughed. “Do you have a pink pig?”
    Dan watched Kate bite her bottom lip as she
sorted through her cards. He didn’t understand why his heart raced
whenever he was around her. Or why he was so damn mad with her half the time. He’d been out to the
ranch twice since she’d arrived, walking on eggshells around her in
case he scared her out of town.
    Kate smiled when she didn’t find what her
sister wanted. “Go fish, kiddo.”
    Kaylee leaned forward and picked up a card.
She grinned and waved the card in the air. “I’ve got a pink piggy.
That’s six pairs to your one.” She glanced across the room and saw Dan standing in the doorway. Her
smile grew even wider. “Uncle Dan, I’m beating Kate. If I win this game, she’s going to take me for a
walk in the garden to see the flowers and butterflies.”
    He frowned at Kate. He didn’t want her making
empty promises to his niece. Kaylee hadn’t been outside for two
weeks and he didn’t see a game of Go Fish changing that.
    “Doctor T said it was okay,” Kate said,
reading his mind like a carnival gypsy.
    “As long as I wrap up warmly and Kate takes
me in a wheelchair,” Kaylee chimed in with her sing-song voice. “We
can have ice cream as well.”
    Kate cleared her throat. “I didn’t hear
Doctor T say that.”
    “I’m sure he did.” Kaylee’s grin touched Dan.
“He said I need to eat more. Ice cream is more.”
    “I’ll tell you what.” Kate picked up her
cards. “If you beat me, I’ll check with Nurse Jones. If she says
it’s okay, we can have ice cream in the garden.”
    Kaylee laid her cards out beside her. “No
looking.”
    Kate pushed her hair away from her face and
grinned at her little sister. “Ice cream is serious business. Have
you got an orange kitten?”
    Kaylee ran her hand over the cards beside her
and sighed. “Here you go.” She handed Kate a card.
    And so it continued. Kaylee lined her cards
up in a row, counting each pair that came her way. Dan knew the
moment her pairs tipped the balance. The smile on Kaylee’s face
would have lit the sky on the fourth of July.
    “I won,” she cried. “I’ve got fourteen
pairs.”
    Kate looked at the cards Kaylee was