We finished what we’d been working on and left the cabin. I was pretty sure I saw Mrs. Benson looking out at us from a crack in her curtains, but I was too upset to find it funny.
I kept thinking about little Jeremiah and how cute he was with his blond curls. I hated that he was sick. If I really had a healing ability, I would gladly help him. But David and the others had the wrong idea about me, and I was going over there with the Borders expecting me to make him well when I couldn’t. I felt like a sham.
Colt seemed to sense my mood and didn’t say anything on the ride there. He parked out front, and we climbed the new porch and knocked on the door. Laura opened it.
“Hi. I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, opening the door wide and stepping back. She nodded to Colt as we stepped in, whispering, “Jeremiah is very, very ill. I can’t do anything for him.”
“I don’t know why anyone things I can help,” I whispered back. “I’m an ordinary omega. I’m sure Ollie was already on the mend when I held him.”
“It won’t hurt, though, right?” Laura said. “I understand you have reservations. I didn’t tell Nova and Eric you were a miracle worker, just that you sometimes helped me do my work and I could use your assistance. Okay? So, there’s no preconceived idea that you’re coming to heal him.”
That made me feel a little better. “Okay. That sounds good.”
“Colt, do you want to wait in here with Kate?” She led him into the living area where the little girl was sitting on a new rug, playing with a set of Ninja Turtles, while I hung back in the hall. “I’m going to send Eric and Nova out in a minute. Maybe you can get their mind off things for a while.”
“I’ll do my best,” Colt said. Looking at me, he winked. “You’re doing the right thing, Ben.”
Taking a deep breath, I followed Laura down the hallway, noticing that the walls had been painted a fresh white since the last time I was there. Eric and Nova must have been hard at work before Jeremiah got sick.
Laura knocked softly on a door before pushing it open. Nova and Eric sat by the bed where Jeremiah lay, faces creased with worry and lack of sleep.
“Colt’s in the living room with Kate. Go sit with them while Ben helps me get Jeremiah more comfortable,” she urged them quietly.
“I laid the bath things on the table,” Eric said before following Nova out.
I sat down in the chair Nova had vacated and leaned toward Jeremiah.
“Is he hot?” Laura asked me.
I rested the back of my palm on his forehead and nodded. “Very.” Gently, I stroked the sweaty curls from Jeremiah’sforehead. The little boy’s breathing was shallow and sounded congested. My heart went out to him.
“I wish I could help him,” I said miserably.
“Just keep touching him,” Laura said, going to the bath supplies. As I continued stroking Jeremiah’s hair, I heard her wringing the washcloth in the pan of water.
“Go ahead and undress him down to his underwear,” Laura said.
I did, taking off his cute blue pajamas with elephants printed on them and setting them aside. I left his white briefs on. Laura came over with the wet cloth and, sitting on the other side of the bed, began washing him, lifting his arms and legs as she needed to. Jeremiah didn’t wake up. I kept his small hand in mine and watched him. When she was finished and had patted him down with a towel and put a fresh pair of pajamas on him, Laura looked around the room.
“Ben, why don’t you read him this book? But get up on the bed and let him lean against you. While you’re doing that, if he wakes up, maybe I can get him to eat a little of this broth I made right before you got here.”
Following her directions, I slipped off my shoes and got the little boy situated so that I sat behind him on the bed, Jeremiah between my legs with his back leaning against my chest. Laura handed me the book, which was about animals at a zoo, and I began reading it while Laura sat on one of the chairs and watched. I was almost to the end of it and Jeremiah hadn’t even fluttered an eyelash, but then he coughed. Then coughed again, followed by a whimper.
“Jeremiah, honey, it’s okay,” Laura said, touching his cheek. He opened his eyes. They were hazel like Eric’s. “There’s my pretty boy,” Laura said, and it struck me that she’d become very fond of him very quickly. I would have thought that, as a doctor,she’d trained herself not to do that with a patient. Perhaps she’d already become fond of him before he got sick.
“Here, baby. Take a little sip of this for me.” She offered Jeremiah a spoonful of broth, her face lighting up when he accepted it. I sat and watched as he ate almost the entire bowl. Only then did he look up and behind him like he’d suddenly noticed his pillows felt different.
I smiled at him. “Hi. I’m Ben. Do you remember me?”
He nodded and rubbed his eyes, then settled back on me like I’d always been there. “Book?” he said.
“Yeah. Want me to read?”
He nodded, and I read through the book again, pausing before I turned each page so he could look at the pictures. When I finished, he snuggled into me and fell asleep.
“Wow,” Laura said. “That was—” She shook her head. “Ben, he hasn’t eaten in days or enjoyed doing anything like he just enjoyed you reading that book to him. Sit with him a while more. I’m going to go update Nova and Eric. Are you comfortable?”
I nodded, and she left me alone with Jeremiah, and, with nothing to do, I fell asleep, too.