Excerpt
“No, I can’t sleep,” Lydia said in a raspy voice. “Can’t sleep because I’m scared.”
Tyne frowned. “Are you worried about the surgery, Lydia?”
The thin, frail woman pursed her lips and gave Tyne a look that clearly questioned her intelligence. “Wouldn’t you be worried if you was gonna be cut open and didn’t know what they were gonna find inside you?”
Tyne reached out to take her patient’s hand where it lay limp and cold on the terry robe. “Of course I would, Lydia. I know you must be worried, but please believe me when I tell you that Dr. Mortenson is one of the best surgeons I’ve ever known.”
Forgive me, God, I don’t know if that’s true. I hardly know the man, but Lydia needs reassurance more than she needs my complete honesty right now.
Lydia coughed, not bothering to cover her mouth. She freed her hand from Tyne’s and reached into the pocket of her robe to pull out a pack of Players.
“It’s not just the surgery I’m worried about,” Lydia said as she extracted a cigarette and placed it between her lips. “It’s the kids.” She patted the pockets of her robe, then looked up. “Got a light?”
“Lydia.” Tyne reached out and gently removed the cigarette from Lydia’s lips. “You should not be smoking, especially in here in the middle of the night. I’ll give you a nice back rub if you’ll go back to bed.”
“Huh!” Lydia grabbed the offending smoke from Tyne’s hand and squashed it back into its package. “Hooray, a back rub … some substitute. What is it with you nurses and doctors anyway? Always telling people to quit with the cigarettes. I’ve been smoking for years and I ain’t quitting now.”
“Nevertheless,” Tyne said in her firmest tone, “you are not going to smoke this close to your surgery. But you said something about your children. What is it?”
Lydia’s eyes were like saucers in her pale face as she looked at Tyne.
Libros Libertad 