Where Angels Tread Read Online Free PDF Page B

helplessly as the nurses in the emergency room tried in vain to save John’s life. Afterwards, when all hope was lost, a woman about her age dressed in hospital scrubs had held Heidi for hours as she sobbed and screamed into the night, unable and unwilling to imagine the rest of her life—and Zachary’s life—without John.
    A few weeks later, when Heidi’s head had cleared enough for her to at least function, she surveyed the state of their finances. She knew that as a single mother, she would need to provide for her son, but the thought of spending each day in a classroom no longer appealed to her. Her mind kept wandering back to that awful night, and the way the nurse had cried along with Heidi, telling her that everything was going to be okay. Shortly afterwards, Heidi took what little money they had saved up and enrolled in the local college to begin training to be a registered nurse.
    Josie finished speaking with Megan’s parents and sent them back to their seats with the promise of updating them as soon as she received any more information. As she bustled back to the nurses’ station to write out some paperwork, Heidi filled two paper cups with coffee, poured in a swirl of creamer, and brought them over to where Megan’s parents were huddled in the corner, staring blankly at the television set bolted to the wall. For whatever reason, the hospital’s channel of choice always featured those sassy television judges who spent a lot of time yelling at the people who appeared on their show. Not exactly soothing programming for the patients and their families, Heidi thought to herself with a chuckle.
    “Thank you,” Megan’s mother said gratefully when Heidi handed her the steaming coffee.
    “I know you probably want to stay,” Heidi said, “but I just want to assure you that your daughter is in the best of care. She won’t be in the recovery room for at least a couple more hours, so you may want to go down to the cafeteria and grab a bite to eat. I promise I’ll come and find you if there’s any news.”
    “You know, Kathy, that’s not a bad idea,” the father said, running his hands through his gray hair distractedly. “Might help us take our mind off of things for a minute or two. It’s been an excruciatingly long night.” He got to his feet and offered his wife a helping hand. She stared at him for a moment, her eyes slightly unfocused, then allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.
    Heidi watched as the man led his wife to the elevators, his arm wrapped comfortingly around her waist. When they disappeared through the elevator doors, Heidi turned and headed back to the nurses’ station. She plopped down in an empty chair next to Josie, rubbing her bleary eyes and yawning widely. Josie smiled at her over the rim of her glasses. “Long night?”
    “I’m ready to go home. I haven’t had much sleep in the past few days. Zachary ran away again.”
    Josie set down her pen and peered at Heidi in concern. “What happened?”
    “The usual. I confronted him about something, he shut down, then took off. This time he was picked up by the cops.” Officer Kensington’s face swam before Heidi’s tired mind. If she were being perfectly honest with herself, a big part of the restless sleep she had been experiencing was because of him. She had been so unsettled at her immediate and unexpected attraction to him that it threw her for a loop. Every time she thought of him, her skin tingled and her pulse quickened. Heidi did her best to squash those feelings; it felt to her like a betrayal of John, and of her marriage vows.
    “Your boy’s just going through a rough time,” Josie said. “He’s at an awkward age where he’s just starting to come in to his own. The last thing he wants to do is listen to his mother.”
    “What he needs,” Heidi said, “is a father. A male figure to help guide him until he’s an adult.”
    “Think you’ll start dating again anytime soon?” Josie glanced at Heidi’s bare