Part 29 (1/2)
”Gram,” Dana gasped, and, losing all other thought, rose on one knee and touched her grandmother's face. It was warm, and the pulse at her neck was strong. But Ellie Jo couldn't speak.
Terrified, Dana touched a pocket for her phone and realized she had left it in her bag at the shop.
”Stay here, Gram,” she breathed quickly. ”I have to get help.”
She scrambled down the ladder, grabbed the cordless phone from the bedroom, and raced back up. First she called the shop. Then she called Hugh.
When she heard his voice, it all came back-the closeness they had once shared, the stability he offered. This was an emergency. She needed him now.
”Yeah,” he said in a tone that was oddly restrained.
Dana struggled not to panic. ”Where are you?”
”On the highway.”
”How far from the yarn shop?”
”Fifteen minutes.” He must have sensed her panic, because his voice grew concerned. ”What's wrong?”
”It's Ellie Jo,” Dana said. She was squatting in front of Ellie Jo, lifting a limp hand and pressing it to her own neck. ”They're calling an ambulance, but I may need your help with Lizzie.”
”Her foot again?”
”No.”
”Heart?”
”I don't think so.”
”Stroke?”
”Maybe,” she said. ”Can you come straight here?”
Hugh arrived at Ellie Jo's just as she was being put into an ambulance. Dana ran toward his car.
”They think it's a stroke, but they don't know,” she cried, looking terrified. ”I need to be with her, Hugh. Lizzie's over at the shop, and I have no idea how long I'll be. I can't bring her with me. We have those little bottles of ready-mixed formula. All you have to do is open them and screw on a nipple.”
”I can do that,” Hugh said. Granted, he hadn't done a feeding yet, what with Dana nursing, but he had read all the books.
”Excuse me?” called the EMT.
Dana backed away from Hugh. ”Everything you need is in the cabinet to the right of the refrigerator.”
”How long do I warm the milk?”
”Just so you can't feel it on your skin,” she called, climbing into the ambulance.
”Will you let me know what's happening?”
She nodded. As the ambulance door closed, Tara separated herself from the women who were watching anxiously, and came to his side.
”Thank goodness you're here,” she said. ”This isn't good. Want me to take the baby, so that you can go to the hospital?”
Hugh trusted Tara, but he wanted to be with Lizzie himself. ”Not yet,” he said, ”but we need a breast pump.”
”I'll pick it up. If I run it to the hospital, I can show Dana how to use it and bring you back milk.”
”That'd be a help,” he said and spotted Lizzie asleep on the shoulder of a woman who was worriedly looking after the ambulance. He had seen her before at the shop and been introduced to her at the hospital two weeks before. ”That's...Saundra?”
”Saundra Belisle,” Tara refreshed his memory. ”She's the best.”
Saundra met him just inside the shop. She was not much shorter than Hugh, and was stylishly dressed in white slacks and a chocolate-brown blouse. She had short gray hair, light brown skin, and eyes filled with pain. ”Did the EMTs say anything?”
”Not that I heard.”
Saundra looked distraught. ”She hasn't been herself lately. Looking back, I wonder if her first fall was the result of a mini-stroke, a TIA. It could be that she's had several, but she's been adamant about not seeing the doctor. We should have insisted.” Easing the baby from her shoulder with hands that were strikingly gentle, Saundra cradled her for a final moment before giving her to Hugh. Lizzie slept blissfully on.
”You're a lucky man,” the woman said.
Watching Lizzie, Hugh was. .h.i.t by a gust of emotion stronger than anything he had ever felt before. She was his child. ”Thank you for holding her.”
”It's my joy.”
Something in Saundra's voice made Hugh look at her more closely. He could see that joy and was comforted by it.
”If I can help at all,” she instructed, ”I live five minutes away. Tara has my number. Please call.”
”Thank you,” Hugh said, and watched her return to the shop. That was when he spotted Ali Johnson. She was sitting in a big chair at the long table, holding her dolls and regarding him with soulful eyes. ”Ali,” he approached, ”how did you get here?”
”Dana,” Ali said in a frightened voice. ”What's wrong with Gram Ellie?”
”I'm not sure.” He knelt down.
”Is she going to die?”
”I certainly hope not. I need your help, Ali. They're off to the hospital, and here I am alone with Lizzie and not really knowing what to do. It'd be a big help to me if you'd sit in the backseat and keep an eye on her while I drive. Think you could do that?”
Ali nodded.
Hugh smiled. ”That's my girl.” He stood. ”Got a bag for your things?”
A short time later, they pulled up at the house. In the ab.u.t.ting driveway, David was climbing from his car.
Ali was out the door in a flash and running to him. ”Daddy, Daddy, something awful happened to Gram Ellie. They had to carry her out of the house on a stretcher. Isn't that what they do for dead people?”
”She's okay,” Hugh called over, and took Lizzie from her seat. By the time he straightened, David was there.
”What happened?”
”She had a stroke, I think. The ambulance scared Ali. Is she inside?”