The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [145]
Sophie shivered, from either the cool air, the Coke or the excitement, and Janine rubbed her daughter’s bare arms.
“Here,” she said. “Let’s put your sweater on you.” She pulled Sophie’s purple sweater from the back of her chair and handed it to her.
Sophie rested her Coke on an end table, then stood up to put on the sweater. Lucas stood above her, helping her with his free hand.
“I never knew it took babies so long to get born,” Sophie said, sitting down again. “How long did it take for me?”
“About twelve hours,” Janine said.
“Wow.” Sophie’s eyes were wide. “Sorry, Mom.”
Janine laughed. “You were worth every minute,” she said.
“It’s funny to be in the waiting room for a change, instead of in there.” Sophie nodded toward the double doors.
“It’s wonderful, actually,” Lucas said. He sat down in the chair on the other side of Janine.
“You can say that again.” Her father closed his Civil War book and rested it on his lap, apparently giving up the facade of reading.
Sophie had needed only one hospitalization since recovering from her traumatic misadventure in the woods the summer before. The outpatient surgery had occurred three months ago, when they’d removed the catheter from her stomach. It was no longer needed. Sophie was in the second phase of the Herbalina study, and she had not needed dialysis at all for over six months.
On the other side of the waiting room, a woman sat engrossed in one of the tabloid newspapers, and from where Janine sat, she could read the bold headline. Zoe Spotted In Cancun! Janine had to smile. For once, she wished the tabloids were reporting the truth.
Marti Garson had spent this last year in a psychiatric hospital, and it was doubtful she would ever be released. After the helicopter had dropped Janine, Sophie and Zoe off at the hospital in Martinsburg, Zoe had turned herself in to the police. Janine had heard her agree to lead them to the log cabin and her daughter, as she pleaded with them to help Marti, rather than send her back to prison.
Janine had lost track of Zoe then, as she focused on the needs of her own very sick daughter, and it wasn’t until the next day when the news was full of the bizarre story that her attention was once again drawn to Zoe and her plight.
No one really seemed certain what had happened as Zoe and the authorities approached the cabin. The official report was that Marti had panicked, barricading herself inside the cabin, threatening to kill everyone, including herself. According to the sheriff’s office, she began shooting wildly through the cabin windows, and one of her bullets had struck and killed her mother.
But there was another tale, one Janine preferred: Zoe had once again faked her own demise and was living in blissful isolation, away from public scrutiny and, yes, the barbs of the tabloids, somewhere in the mountains of West Virginia. Or perhaps, Janine wondered now, in Cancun. That was the explanation she would forever choose to believe.
Joe suddenly stepped through the double doors, wearing blue scrubs and a wide grin. His eyes were on Sophie.
“You have a little brother!” he said.
“Yippee!” Sophie ran to him for a hug.
“Wonderful news!” Her mother clapped her hands together.
“Congratulations!” Her father stood up to shake Joe’s hand, and Lucas put his arm around his brother’s shoulders.
“How’s Paula?” Janine asked.
“Great,” Joe said. He couldn’t lose his grin if he tried, Janine thought, and she stood up to kiss his cheek.
“Daddy?” Sophie looked up at Joe.
“Yes, Sophe?”
“Is he all right?” she asked. There was worry in her face.
Joe squeezed her shoulder. “They’re going to test him when they get him to the nursery,” he said. He and Paula had opted against amniocentesis to determine if their baby carried the gene for the kidney disease Sophie and Lucas shared. It wouldn’t have made any difference to them if he did. They knew there was treatment available for him.
“We can walk over to the nursery now, if you like,” Joe said to all of them. “You’ll be able to see him, then, Sophie.”
They left their coffee cups,