Midu's Magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

some rest. Your prep starts early tomorrow. I'll be here
to wave you off."
    "To the operating room?"
    He smiled. "It's the last time I'll see you
with a gall bladder."
    "Smart ass."
    He laughed. "Maybe they'll pull your hair up
to keep it out of their way, and you'll look as sexy as you did for
the kids."
    He was pushing his luck. She glared. "I tried
to look nice that day."
    He rubbed a finger over her cheek. "To me,
you're always beautiful."
    Oh, Lord. Her heart stopped. It was a good
thing she was in a hospital, in case she was about to die
happy.
    "I'll see you in the morning." His lips
pressed against her forehead one more time, and he was gone.
    She was too excited to calm down to sleep.
Kyle had called her beautiful. She'd replay the words over and over
again in her mind. And then a nurse strode in the room. "Now the
fun starts. You need to clean out your system. This will help." She
placed a gallon of some kind of fluid on the cart by the bed, along
with a glass.
    Midu sighed. This was going to be a long
night.
    By the time she'd visited the bathroom for
the last time, Midu was exhausted. She crawled into bed and tried
to recall her last conversation with Kyle, but she couldn't form
any coherent thoughts and soon drifted to sleep.
    Noises woke her. Wheels rolling in the
hallway. A cart clattering into her room.
    She opened her eyes to see Kyle hovering
close by.
    "It's just about show time," he said.
    She smiled. She felt groggy, but the world
always looked better when Kyle was near. He squeezed her hand when
they rolled her away.
    She vaguely remembered the recovery room and
then Kyle waiting for her when they wheeled to her own bed. He took
her hand, and she smiled, and then her eyes closed again. Her mind
wandered in swirls of odd thoughts. She pictured raising her
hospital gown to see bright, gold threads zigzag across her body in
a crazy quilt pattern. Thea Patek patted her hand and said, "Don't
worry. Each zigzag is just a journey, but they're ugly as sin."
Kyle leaned over to inspect them and shook his head. "See? I knew
it. She zigs where I zag." Midu started to protest. "No, when the
threads are removed, I can change. We can follow the same
pattern."
    A nurse woke her, coming in to check her
vitals. Kyle was still there. Midu sighed when she saw him. "Thanks
for staying."
    Kyle started to answer when Doc swung through
the door. He grinned when he saw her awake.
    "Well, young lady, you came through that with
flying colors, but I'm not happy with one of your labs, so we're
keeping you here a bit longer. No worries, though. You'll be
feeling better in no time."
    She didn't believe him. Even on pain meds,
she felt crappy. "How long will I be here?"
    He raised an eyebrow. "For you, one more
night. That way, you won't be in a greenhouse before you should
be."
    When Midu didn't protest, Doc grinned. "I'll
enjoy this while I can. Once you feel a little better, you'll be
bugging me to go home." He turned to talk to the nurse a minute
before he gave her a wave. "Stay out of trouble, and you might want
to be careful what you eat for a while until you see if it agrees
with you."
    When Doc and the nurse left, Kyle came to
stand by her bed. He wore a pinched expression. She had a momentary
twinge of guilt. She'd coerced him into eating supper with her last
night. How could he leave for Lynn's house when she'd gone to so
much bother, making food she knew he liked? And that led to her
rush to the hospital, and he was too good of a friend to ditch her
here.
    She studied his tired face. She doubted he
slept much last night. No nurse gave him a shot to knock him out.
He probably wanted to see Lynn and go to bed. No! She rearranged
those thoughts, separating them from each other. But she did feel
guilty, keeping him here. "Why don't you go home and get some rest?
You deserve a little time to relax."
    He studied her. "Are you trying to get rid of
me?"
    "No, but I've monopolized all your time. I
appreciate your being here for me,