Handle With Care (16 page)

A
fter Lauren left a little past midnight,
Shane couldn’t settle down. His mind was filled with thoughts of her, the
scent, the taste, the heart of the woman. She was the most amazing person he’d
ever met, and he loved everything about her. The touch of her hands, the hot
kisses she showered him with, the strength and feel of her legs wrapped around
him, her beautiful breasts as she arched above him. But all that would mean
nothing if she didn’t have that kind, loving heart or the bright, inquiring mind, or her selfless attitude when it came to her son.
She’d do anything to protect him, even if it meant bringing harm to herself. His happiness and safety came first, above her own.

Shane normally worked
better at night. This was his quiet time when he could study and work on his
assignments. But tonight his mind was wandering, and he had to force himself to
sit upright in a chair and work through his studies. That worked for the better
part of an hour, until he grew restless again.

Lauren was like a drug
to him now. He wanted her there, lying next to him. Wanted to smell her special
scent, gaze at her beautiful face, feel the warmth of
her body pressed against his.

He should have known
this would happen, that he’d get in too deep. He’d
tried to warn her; he’d tried to hold back. But Kevin’s attack on her had
changed everything. He didn’t trust other men around her. Or, more to the
point, he didn’t want other men hanging around her, touching her, kissing her,
giving her the love she needed.

She was his. At least for now. Until she could see past his charming grin
and look inside, and discover the coward lurking there. No one, especially
someone as wise and as brave as Lauren, would respect him once she knew.

Lauren woke up late. She didn’t bother
with an alarm because her inner clock never failed her. But this morning it
had. She dashed out of bed, not bothering to make it. She only had an hour to
get herself and Josh showered, dressed, and ready to go.

If her body hadn’t been
so completely sexually sated, she’d never have slept this long. She hummed in
the shower, and didn’t even try to wipe the smile off her face.

Once dressed, she woke
up Josh. “Rise and shine, sweet pea. We’re running
late today.”

“What time is it?”

“Seven-fifteen.
Go use the bathroom.” She gave him a gentle nudge in that direction. “I’ll lay
out your clothes and then get your breakfast ready.”

He rubbed his sleepy
eyes. “What time did you get in? I waited up, hoping you’d come in and kiss me
good night.”

“You were sleeping
soundly when I got home. It must have been late, after ten for sure.”

“Can I have pancakes for
breakfast?”

“Sorry. Not this
morning. You’re having an egg on an English muffin. It only takes a minute to
make.”

“Okay. With cheese?”

“Sure. Be quick, hon. We don’t want to be late.”

“I don’t care. I hate
school, anyway.”

“I know it’s hard right
now, but you just need to make some different friends. Isn’t there a new boy in
your class? What’s his name? Is he nice?”

“Yeah.
Thomas. He’s okay. Kinda dorky, though.”

She smiled. “
Dorky’s good. He’ll probably own an Internet company by the
time he graduates.”

“You’re weird,” Josh
said with a puzzled look, then left to get washed up.

When she let Josh off at
the school drop-off area, his teacher waved and strolled over to the car.
“Hello, Dr. Reynolds. Hi, Josh.” She put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “We enjoyed
meeting Mr. Dawson yesterday. He’s an interesting guy, that’s for sure.”

Lauren gritted her
teeth, and managed not to roll her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure he had plenty of
stories to tell.”

“The kids were certainly
entertained. They would have happily kept him answering questions all day.”

“I’m sure they would.” She glanced at the
pretty, young teacher, wondering what Shane had thought of her. “Sorry to be
rude, but I’m running errands this morning.”

“Not a problem. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Miss Marshall? Now that
you are here, I do want to ask you something. I’m concerned about Josh. He
seems to have so few friends and says no one will sit with him at lunch.”

She nodded. “Would you
like to set up a meeting?”

“I would indeed.”

“What time suits you?” Miss Marshall asked.

“I could come early. I
work a few afternoon shifts, but tomorrow I start at nine.”

“How
about tomorrow at seven-thirty? Will that fit your schedule?”

“Yes, it’s fine. I’ll
see you then.”

Lauren had to drop off
her dry cleaning, buy groceries, and do a quick housecleaning. All that time, she
couldn’t chase the worry away about Josh, and carried it right to the hospital.

The one good thing about
working the ER was that the moment you entered, your own problems got lost amid
the unfolding chaos.

Today was no different.

She started off with a
good-looking high school student. His knee was propped on a pillow, and he was
in a great deal of pain. He’d been playing basketball when his knee had gone
out. Lauren gave him something for the pain, ordered an X-ray, then popped the
knee back in.

Next came
a twenty-eight-year-old man, a car accident victim with head and facial trauma.
Unconscious on arrival, he’d lost over a pint of blood, and it was still
pouring from the wounds on his face. The doctors and nurses worked quickly to
obtain an airway and stop the blood flow, but even as they fought to stabilize
him, they sensed it was a losing battle.

The CT scan confirmed
their worst fears, but he was moved to the ICU just the same and became someone
else’s responsibility. With a sad heart and a guilty sigh, Lauren knew she was
off the hook. Someone else would be informing the family that their son was
brain dead.

The usual bumps and
scrapes and non–life-threatening injuries took up the rest of the afternoon. By
the time Lauren’s shift ended, she was eager to flee this life-and-death world
for her peaceful home with her son.

It wasn’t until she sat
with her glass of wine, watching her son sleep, that she remembered the
appointment with the teacher in the morning.

C
aroline Marshall ushered Lauren into a
small room and asked if she minded if the school counselor sat in.

“No,
of course not.” She shook hands with Lisa Simpson, having met her on
several occasions.

The three women sat at a
small conference table, and Lisa started the conversation. “You mentioned to
Miss Marshall that Josh has few friends and eats alone most days. This concerns
us as well. How does he get along with others at home?”

“He doesn’t bring many
kids home,” Lauren admitted. “There’s really only his nanny and me. But he says
the other children don’t like him and won’t play with him at recess or lunch.”
Her heart ached for her son, and she felt so helpless. It was her job to
protect him, to ensure his happiness, but how could you force other boys to
like him? Were they to blame? Or had she failed him somehow?

“I’m deeply concerned by
this,” she added. “I want my son to be happy and enjoy school.” Lauren stared
down the two women. “So what can the school do to make sure he’s not isolated?”

The teacher and
counselor looked at each other. “I think it all started due to the bullying.”

Lauren clenched her
fists under the table. “Who’s responsible?”

“I can’t say,” Caroline
Marshall replied. “But there is a certain group of boys that has made it their
business to ridicule him every chance they get.”

“Why can’t you stop
them? Call in their parents and address this issue with them?”

“It’s not so easy.” Lisa
met her gaze. “They haven’t actually broken any school rules, or done anything to your son except make fun of him behind
his back. But what it has done is it’s made Josh a social outcast. No one wants
to befriend him because they don’t want to be the next kid under attack.”

“That’s horrible and
unfair. What do we do to stop this?”

“Well, we plan to have
an assembly and address the issue of bullying, and also reinforce the rules of
the school,” Caroline Marshall said. “That might help. We are also considering
asking one of the other students, a boy a year older, to be a playground buddy,
if he agrees, of course.”

“I’m glad to hear that,
but what if he doesn’t?”

The two women looked at
each other. Lisa spoke, “Then I’m not sure what our next plan will be, but I do
think we should set up another appointment in a month or so to revisit this situation.”

“Agreed.
But please keep me informed and let me know if it gets worse.” The women
started to gather their belongings when she stopped them. “I have something
else to discuss while I’m here.” She was silent for a moment, knowing what a
difficult decision she had to make. “I wanted to ask about his performance at
school. Does he seem to be having trouble concentrating or staying on task?”

“He has his moments, but
we know it’s difficult for him.”

Lauren nodded. “He’s usually
okay at home. We have a reward system to reinforce his good behavior. I use a
chart, and he gets a sticker every time he completes his homework, makes his
bed, cleans his room, and does what’s asked.”

Caroline nodded. “We do
that with Josh and all the children. It’s common practice
to reward them for good behavior.”

“I guess what I also
want to know is whether you think his ADHD is impacting his social life at
school. I mean if it is …”

Her voice trailed off as
tears threatened her composure. She sucked them back and straightened her
shoulders. Had her decision to not medicate her son somehow contributed to his
being a social outcast? If so, she’d correct it at once.

“Do you think he should
be put on meds? Might that help?”

“That’s between you and
your pediatrician, but we have another little boy who’s on Dexedrine, and it
has improved his hyperactivity and increased his attention span.”

Lauren didn’t answer
right away. Like most parents she had hoped her child could be helped through
proper diet and discipline, and keeping to a rigid schedule, but in Josh’s
case, it might not be enough.

Her son needed friends,
and he needed every chance to be as normal as everyone else. “I’ll speak to the
pediatrician right away.”

The following night Lauren and Shane had
dinner out, and then went back to his place. After they’d made love, they
remained in bed, holding hands and talking.

“Do you think I’m a good mom?”

“The best,” he replied,
walking his fingers up her arm. He kissed her shoulder.

“I’ve tried to be both
mom and dad to Josh. I’ve tried to make it up to him for losing his father.”

“You’ve done a great
job. Why are you doubting yourself now?”

“I’m not sure why I’m
bringing this up, but I’ve been carrying a load of guilt around, and I’ve never
told a soul.”

Shane sat up on one
elbow. He gazed at her face. “What in the world do you have to be guilty
about?”

She felt tears sting her
eyes. Embarrassed, she wiped them away. “When Josh was a toddler, maybe two or
three, I could tell he was different from other kids his age. I discussed it
with my husband, but he disagreed. Told me that I was
imagining it, that it was too early to diagnose, and that I was worrying about
nothing. We’d had this conversation plenty of times, but what I can’t
get over is that I brought it up the day he died.”

“Oh,
Lauren. I’m sorry.” He pulled her head down to his shoulder and kissed
her forehead. “But everyone has disagreements. You shouldn’t focus on that. I’m
sure he didn’t.”

She shifted her pillow
and sat up. “After the accident, I was devastated, and sure that my actions
contributed to his death. I was sick with grief and guilt. Anyway, because of
all that, I pushed my worries about Josh aside, wanting to believe that Jeremy
was right and I was just being an overprotective mother.” She sighed, pushing a
lock of hair out of her eyes. “I finally had him tested last year, in
kindergarten.” She told him about the subsequent meeting at school after the
diagnosis of ADHD, and how they’d suggested he be put on medication. “How is he
with you?” she asked.

“He’s a pretty
happy-go-lucky kid. Doesn’t sit still much or stop talking, but that’s all
right. I like his energy.”

Lauren bent down to kiss
him. “Thank you. Still, I’m having a meeting with his pediatrician tomorrow.”

“Well, he can advise you
better than anyone.”

“I know. I hate the idea
of having him on medication at such an early age, but if it’ll help him at
school—socially and academically—I’ve got to consider it.” She slipped back
down into the bed and laid her head on his chest. “It breaks my heart to think
of other kids bullying Josh, of him sitting alone at lunch and recess, without
any friends.”

“If a low-dosage drug
can improve his symptoms, then he’ll blend in and make friends easier. I’m all
for it.”

She smiled. “Why do you
always say exactly the right thing to make me feel better?”

“I know you.” He touched
her left breast. “In here.”

After a few minutes of
kissing, he began gentle stroking. He kissed her softly, and massaged her
shoulders and back, her legs, and between them too. Her tensions melted away,
and for once she lay back and allowed him to be in charge.