Mark took his cashier’s check into the doctor’s office on Monday morning and, after a quick trip to Mark’s bank, they scheduled Jeremy’s procedure for two days later. Hannah kept working at the café and Mark took those two days to work on repairing her small house. He wanted Jeremy to come home to a bright, clean place. Randy helped Mark both days and they got almost everything done. The walls inside were now all yellow or white. The linoleum had been replaced. Allie had made white eyelet curtains for the windows. There were some leftover blue tiles from Allie’s new kitchen, enough to line the counters in Hannah’s kitchen, as well.
Wednesday morning was overcast, and Mark was at Hannah’s door by seven o’clock. She had a bag of Jeremy’s things packed, and they bundled the still-sleeping boy into the back seat of the car. Hannah sat in the rear to hold him in his car seat.
They didn’t talk much as the road sped by. Mark prayed as he drove and he could hear Hannah doing the same thing in the back. They didn’t want to disturb Jeremy so they kept their voices low. The boy was increasingly frail and pale. Mark wondered if Jeremy would have the strength for any procedure.
By the time they arrived at the cancer center, their nerves were all stretched thin. The staff there was expecting them, and the three of them were shown to a room where they would wait for the doctor.
“They’ll be ready for Jeremy soon,” a nurse informed them before she left. Mark could hear the woman’s footsteps as she walked down the hall.
Mark looked at Hannah as she cuddled Jeremy to her. The brightness of her hair against their son’s face made the boy’s skin look even whiter. Mark wished he could press more life into both of them. These two people held his heart and it was breaking.
“Time to go,” the nurse came back to the door and announced.
Mark and Hannah both stood up.
“Only one of you can go with Jeremy,” the nurse said crisply.
“But—” Both Mark and Hannah protested as one.
“Doctor’s orders,” the woman said, looking determined.
“Well, I—” Hannah started to say something as she looked at Mark.
He smiled. “No, you should go.” He would be fine. She was their son’s mother.
“If you’re sure,” Hannah said.
Mark nodded. “I’ll stay here and pray.”
“Thank you,” Hannah murmured and bent down to look Jeremy in the eyes.
“Do you want your comics?” she asked as she rummaged through the bag she’d brought. She pulled out two of the colorful books and held them out to the boy.
Jeremy looked at them for a bit and then shook his head. “I don’t need them anymore.”
He held out a small hand to Mark and added, “I have my dad to take care of the bad guys.”
Mark bowed his head in humility as he took the small hand. He’d never won any prize that compared with having his son choose him over a comic book. He smiled slightly, knowing his friends would think he’d lost it again.
“I’ll be protecting you from here,” Mark said to his son. “Your mother’s going with you.”
“No,” Hannah said as she stood up. She looked at Mark. “Go with him. He needs you.”
“One of you needs to decide,” the nurse said. “The doctor is waiting.”
“You go,” Hannah repeated.
“Are you sure?” Mark asked.
“Positively,” she answered. Then she smiled as he and Jeremy walked out of the room.
* * *
Hannah watched the door close, tears by now streaming down her face. This small room was square with flat-back chairs lining the beige walls. There were no pictures, nothing to distract her from the fact that the two people she held most dear had just left, hoping to make Jeremy well.
“Please, God,” she said as she sat down in one of the chairs to wait. Her prayers were not complicated these days. God knew what she was coming to Him for. She wanted her son to be well.
Then a smile touched her face. Jeremy had been brave to take his father’s hand and leave his comic heroes behind. Mark had told her what those figures meant to her son, and she was proud of the little one for relying on his dad to help him.
She realized once again with a start that she trusted Mark completely. She had no doubt that he would protect Jeremy with every breath in his body. More than that, she trusted him with her heart. He would not leave. He would not betray them. He would keep them always.
Maybe she would not have to worry about ending up like her adoptive father, after all, she thought. Forgiveness, she figured, was the first step to trusting again. And Mark had said something about painting the living room in her father’s house when he finished with her house. She hoped her father would look at that and learn to forgive the Nelson family.
Hannah refused to watch the clock. She didn’t know how long the procedure was going to take and she didn’t want the doctor to rush anything. She was surprised when the door opened until she saw who stepped inside: it was Allie Nelson, Mrs. Hargrove, Randy Collins, her adoptive father and—she had to look twice—Mark’s father.
“We came in the Nelsons’ old van,” Mrs. Hargrove announced as she walked into the room. “We brought a mattress for the back in case Jeremy wants to lie down and rest on the way home.”
“That’s most considerate,” Hannah murmured, overcome with emotion. When she added Mark and Jeremy to the group, this was her family. Right here. She had found her home, all right.
Her father stomped across the room and sat in one of the chairs. Mr. Nelson followed behind him, saying something about the new combines on sale in Miles City. Then he sat down next to her father.
The two men were arguing about the merits of different brands of farm equipment, but she didn’t detect any deeper animosity.
Her father must have noticed her looking at him, because he turned to her. “Well, they invited me. Jeremy’s my grandson, too, you know. I could hardly refuse.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” she said, and he seemed to relax.
Allie came over and sat next to her. “Mark told me the two of you are engaged.”
The other woman had a grin on her face.
Hannah nodded. “We’re not making a public announcement until after—” She didn’t finish, but Allie leaned over and gave her a hug.
“I just wanted you to know I’m happy for you both,” Allie whispered. “I can’t wait.”
“Me, neither,” Hannah said.
The door opened again and everyone looked up as Mark came in alone.
“He’s resting,” Mark assured everyone, but his eyes searched for Hannah. “The doctor said he’ll be here in a few minutes and give us an update, but everything looks good.”
Mark started walking over to where Hannah sat, but before he got that far, the doctor came in and everyone stood up.
“Quite the family here,” the doctor said as he looked around.
Hannah held her breath and stepped closer to Mark. He put his arm around her.
“Well, you all want to know about Jeremy,” the doctor continued. “As I told his father—” he nodded toward Mark “—the procedure was a success. There’s a good chance—ninety-eight percent, I’d say—that Jeremy will be able to keep his leg and won’t have impaired function. I believe the leukemia will be in check, too, although we can’t be sure of that at this point.”
Hannah felt her breath return to normal as Mark rubbed her back and the others started to talk among themselves excitedly.
“We did it,” Mark leaned close and whispered.
“We sure did,” she said as she turned until they were face-to-face.
Suddenly, all she could see were his eyes gazing at her with his heart full of emotions.
“I love you, Hannah Stelling soon-to-be Nelson,” Mark said.
She smiled, and then he kissed her long and full until she couldn’t even hear the exclamations from everyone else in the room.