A Second Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

next of kin.”
    His mouth fell open. “What’s going
on?”
    “ I don’t know.” Curtis
rubbed the back of his neck with his hand then fell into the chair
next to Carlos. “I checked with the nurse, and it’ll be a few hours
before she’s out of surgery. I’m going to see to it that you can be
there when she wakes up.”
    Carlos nodded. That was right where he
wanted to be.
    “ Do you have any way to get
in touch with Matt?”
    He shrugged. “I’ll call Kathy and ask
her to look in my contacts on my computer. Maybe Eduardo
knows.”
    “ Okay. Let me go see if
there’s any news.”
    Carlos sat in the waiting room,
surrounded by family members of other patients. He felt sick. Every
part of him hurt, especially his heart.
    When he was calm enough he called
home, and Kathy answered the phone on the first ring. “Sweetheart,
what happened? Is she okay? Was there an accident?”
    “ I’ll let you know all about
it when I get home.”
    “ I can come
down.”
    “ No. I need you to be calm
and just be with the kids.” He swallowed the lump in his throat
that had formed when he thought about the kids finding out their
mother was sick.
    “ Okay.” He heard her take a
deep breath.
    “ I need you to look in the
contacts on my computer. I need to find Matt Carson’s phone
number.”
    Sounds from the keyboard filtered
through the phone. He looked at the small table next to him and
noticed there were a notepad and a hospital pen laid out for those
who waited here, unprepared in more ways than just lacking writing
implements.
    He heard Eduardo’s voice in the room
with Kathy. “What are you looking for?”
    “ Matt’s phone number,” he
heard her say, and he shook his head.
    “ He moved out,” Eduardo
said, loud and clear.
    “ Kathy, let me talk to Ed.”
He heard the phone pass hands. “What do you mean he moved
out?”
    “ They’re getting a divorce.
He moved out before Thanksgiving. She didn’t tell you?”
    “ No.” Carlos took a deep
breath. “Neither did you.”
    “ I guess I figured she would
have told you. She tells you everything.”
    Evidently, she was keeping a lot of
secrets lately.
    “ Let me talk to Kathy
again,” he said, and the phone changed hands. “I’ll fill you in
when I get home and I have more answers. She’s fine, and I don’t
want the kids to know until I tell them.”
    “ Okay.” He heard the lift in
her voice. He could trust her to keep quiet until he could talk to
his children.
    Carlos drank three cups of coffee and
paced the floor while Curtis slept in the corner of the waiting
room. He’d told him to go home, but Curtis wouldn’t move. He was
stubborn, and Carlos was happy to have him there. He needed his
brother.
    When the nurse entered the room and
began to speak to Carlos, Curtis shot right up. “They’ve moved her
to recovery. As soon as she’s stable, you can go back and sit with
her,” the nurse said, and Carlos nodded.
    “ Thank you.” His mouth was
dry. The room was still spinning, and all he could think about was
gathering Madeline up in his arms and holding her tight.
    Guilt washed over him.
    He’d professed his love to Kathy and
moved her into his house. When would he stop thinking of Madeline
as his wife and feeling as if he needed to take care of her every
moment?
     
    The color was returning in her skin,
and the monitor on her heart began to beep a little
faster.
    Carlos watched her carefully as her
eyelids began to flutter. A few moments later, she fully woke up
and turned to him. He’d been sitting by her side for over an hour,
whispering words of encouragement in her ear. Now he kissed her
cheek.
    “ You did great.” He
smiled.
    “ What… are you”—she tried to
swallow—”doing here?”
    “ Did you think anything
would escape a Keller?” He brushed her cheek with his fingers.
“Curtis saw you being wheeled into surgery and called
me.”
    “ I’m sorry. I
didn’t…”
    “ Shhh. Don’t talk now. We’ll
have time for