A Full House. Nadia Nichols

that I think we’re going to have to sign him out of here pretty quick. We’re going to need this room for someone who’s really sick.”

      “Can he come home with us?” Amanda asked with the frank directness of a child.

      “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well, he needs to stay here for a little longer. But you can visit him as much as you like.”

      Amanda stared for a moment at Annie, then shifted her gaze to her mother. “Mommy, why can’t Daddy come home with us? He’s sick and he needs us to look after him.”

      Linda’s face was pale and her hands were clenched tightly together. “Amanda, your father’s tired. We’d better let him rest. We can come back tomorrow morning.”

      Amanda squirmed to face him. “Are you tired, Daddy? Do you want us to go?”

      Jake tugged his daughter close for one last embrace. “You’d better do what your mother says,” he said. “But come see me tomorrow, Pinch. First thing. Promise?”

      “I promise, Daddy.” Amanda’s eyes filled with tears. “I want you to come home with us,” she wept as Linda came forward and lifted her off the bed. “We could make you better. Don’t you love us anymore, Daddy? Why won’t you come back home?”

      Linda refused to meet Jake’s eyes. She carried Amanda, still crying, out of the room and down the corridor. Jake watched them go and then dropped his head into his hands with a moan of pain that had nothing to do with his injury. He took a deep, shaky breath and expelled it just as slowly. “She’s five years old and Linda and I have been divorced for one year and two months.”

      He pressed the heels of his hands to his burning eyes then lifted his head to look at Annie. “I’ve seen Amanda twice since then. The court awarded Linda full custody. Do you know why?” When Annie shook her head, he uttered a bitter laugh. “Neither do I. I have visitation rights, though. I can see her every weekend, for eight hours a day. And that would be a wonderful thing except that Linda decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

      “I thought she’d eventually come back east, but her career took off and the only thing left for me to do is to go out there. I’ve sent applications to every police department within a hundred-mile radius, but so far, no strong bites.” He gazed out the window at the city skyline. “You know, getting shot isn’t much fun, but I’d go through it all again just to see Amanda. It’s not fair. I’m her father and I should be a part of her life.”

      ANNIE CRAWFORD sat in the hospital cafeteria drinking a lukewarm cup of coffee. She couldn’t purge Lieutenant Macpherson’s heartbroken visage from her mind. What if Ryan had fought for and won sole custody of Sally? What would she have done?

      Macpherson seemed like such a nice man. From his chart she knew that he was the same age she was, and in the conversations she’d had with him over the past week she’d discovered that he was the only child of an astronomer and a concert pianist who’d decided on parenting somewhat late in their careers. Jake’s father had died several years ago of a heart attack and his mother was nearly eighty years old, in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s. She played piano for the other residents, but no longer recognized her son.

      “Dr. Crawford?” Annie glanced up, surprised to see Macpherson’s ex-wife standing across from her. “May I speak with you for a moment?”

      “Of course.” Annie looked around. “Where’s Amanda?”

      “We went out for lunch after we left Jake,” Linda explained. “Amanda wouldn’t stop crying, so I’m letting her visit her father again before we go back to the hotel. She was so upset…” Linda’s eyes dropped, but not before Annie saw the bright shine of tears.

      “He’s going to be all right,” Annie reassured her. Linda nodded, fumbling in her handbag for a Kleenex.

      “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes and attempting a shaky smile. “I’m not crying because I’m worried about Jake. I know he’s going to be fine. It’s Amanda. I feel as though I’m being cruel to her, and I suppose in a way I am. I just don’t know how to make it better.”

      Annie nodded sympathetically. “It’s obvious that they miss each other a great deal.”

      Linda wiped her eyes again and took a slow breath. “The divorce was nasty. We both said things we shouldn’t have. Hateful things. I couldn’t have stayed here. This town wasn’t big enough for the two of us, and there were better opportunities for me on the west coast. I never gave much thought to what was best for Amanda, but she really misses her father.”

      “Yes.” Annie felt a twinge of guilt as she spoke. Sally missed her father, too.

      “The thing is, I’ve been offered the leading role in a movie that’s being filmed in Europe this summer. I was going to bring Amanda along for the filming, but the director’s afraid she might be too much of a distraction.” Linda lifted her shoulders in a gesture of confusion. “I was planning to ask Jake if he’d like to take her for the summer, but now that he’s been injured, I’m not so sure. Do you think he’d be able to take care of her?”

      “Yes, I do. Lieutenant Macpherson’s as strong as a horse. He’ll probably be out of here in a few days and I don’t foresee any problems with his recovery. He could certainly take care of a five-year-old girl. It would be a wonderful opportunity for them to spend some time together, and it would give you time to concentrate on your acting job.”

      Linda’s expression was hopeful. “I’d have to ask him about it…”

      “How about right now? I could take Amanda for a tour of the hospital if you’d like some privacy.”

      “Would you do that?”

      “Of course. Summer’s right around the corner, and you need to solidify your plans.”

      An hour later Annie delivered Amanda back to Macpherson’s room and caught the happy gleam in his eye. Obviously everything had worked out. Jake would share the summer with his daughter.

      Annie wondered if her own plans for the coming summer would fare as well.

      MR. EDELSTEIN was removing his eyeglasses and massaging his closed eyes when Annie was ushered into his office two days later. It was after 9:00 p.m., late for him to still be at the hospital. He gestured to the comfortable chair opposite his desk, but she shook her head. “I received a letter from the captain at Macpherson’s precinct,” he said, replacing his eyeglasses and making a halfhearted attempt to locate the letter in the jumble of paperwork atop his desk. “It was mostly about what a miracle worker you were, saving the lieutenant’s life. I meant to give it to you but I seem to have misplaced it…”

      “Mr. Edelstein, I won’t beat about the bush,” Annie interrupted before she could lose her nerve. “The reason I wanted to see you is that on June twelfth I’m leaving here to take my daughter to Maine for the summer to visit with her father, and I thought it would be nice to take some time off myself.”

      Edelstein gave off the search for the letter with an exasperated shake of his head. “Can’t find it, but when I do I’ll pass it along. How much time?”

      “I was thinking of taking a three-month leave of absence.”

      Edelstein leaned forward at his desk, staring at her over the rim of his glasses. His laugh was an incredulous bark. “Well you can stop thinking about that right now. I can spare you for a week, maybe two at the most. You know how hospitals are. They don’t run well without doctors.”

      “Mr. Edelstein, I haven’t taken any vacation time in over three years.”

      “I’m aware of that, and I’m sure you’ve been more than compensated for your dedication. Please understand. I’m not telling you you can’t take a vacation, only that you can’t take the entire summer off.”

      Annie felt a flush of anger warm her cheeks. “Three months of unpaid leave is all I’m asking for, sir,