The Bride of Willow Creek(113)
He wanted her to say that she loved him. Wanted her to say there would be no divorce, that she would not leave him. He wanted her to tell him that she would rather live in a cottage with him than live in a palace with that bastard De Groot. That’s all he wanted. Just the impossible.
“I’ll release the tight tendons and ligaments in the posterior and medial aspects of Daisy’s foot. We’ll repair them in the lengthened position. Some lateral ligaments may have to be released as well. I’ll make two incisions, a posteromedial incision and a lateral incision for the lateral structures.”
Herb Govenor cleared his throat. “What happens after the surgery?”
“It’s a long recovery program,” the doctor said, speaking to the four people anxiously standing before him. “We’ll recast Daisy’s foot twice a week for six weeks. Then she’ll wear a brace for another six weeks. If everything is as we hope it will be, for the next year she’ll wear the brace at night. And then,” he smiled, “she’ll be as good as new.”
“But if she isn’t as good as new?” Sam asked.
“Then I’ll go in again. It’s possible I’ll have to trim some bone. Right now I don’t think that will happen. But it could.” He addressed the next remarks to Sam and Angie. “Clubfoot is a treatable deformity and I’ve performed this operation dozens of times. Your daughter will come out of this with a plantigrade and flexible foot.”
“What does ‘plantigrade’ mean?” Angie couldn’t force her voice louder than a whisper.
“It means that Daisy will stand on the sole of her foot, not on her heel or the outside of her foot.” The doctor glanced at his pocket watch. “Are there any other questions?”
“How long will the operation take?” Winnie asked.
“Two and a half to three hours.”
“One more.” Angie tried to speak louder, but couldn’t. “How much pain will she be in? Afterward.”
“I’ve ordered that she be given morphine. She’ll sleep most of the next few days, and she’ll be groggy when awake.”
“How long will you keep her in the hospital?”
“I’d like to keep her for at least ten days. If there’s a problem, we’ll know by then.” He gave his watch another pointed glance. “Now if you’ll excuse me . . .”
On the way to the ward, Angie gripped Sam’s hand. “It’ll be all right. I just know it will.” Stopping in the doorway, she looked down the row of beds to two bright golden heads bent close together, and her throat closed. The doctor had assumed Lucy and Daisy were her daughters, too. She remembered what Sam had said about being a parent, which made Lucy and Daisy her daughters as much as his.
Before they wheeled Daisy away to the operating theater, the Govenors wished her well and promised a treat when Daisy got out of the hospital. Sam held her close and ruffled her hair and gruffly told her that he loved her. Then it was Angie’s turn.
“We’ll all be here when you wake up, darling.”
“They won’t call me Miss Gimp-Along, Limp-Along anymore, will they?”
“No, sweetheart, never again.” Blinking hard, she smoothed Daisy’s hair back from her small face.
“Will I be able to dance someday? Like you and Papa when you went to the grand opening?”
Angie looked into those large gray eyes. “Oh yes. You’ll dance and dance and dance.”
“I love you, Angie.”
“I love you, too!” She held Daisy close to her heart until Sam gently tapped her on the shoulder, then she stepped back and watched the nurses take Daisy away. When Daisy was out of sight, she turned blindly into Sam’s arms and burst into tears. “She looks so tiny!”
“I’m afraid!” Lucy said, clinging to them.
It was the longest three hours in Angie’s life, and she knew Sam felt the same. Perhaps the Govenors did, too. Sam and Herb Govenor smoked cigars and paced and occasionally exchanged a wary word. Winnie and Angie played card games with Lucy or read aloud from a newspaper someone had left in the waiting room.
At some point Winnie and Angie found themselves alone outside the waiting room door. “The custody question is decided,” Winnie began. “And we’re grateful that Mr. Holland invited us to be present today.”
“But?” Angie inquired wearily.
“No buts. We’re hoping today is an indication of improved relations between us and you and Mr. Holland.” She drew herself up and spoke in a rush. “We’d like to keep Lucy with us for a week or two. Now hear me out. You and Mr. Holland will be spending a lot of time at the hospital, but this doesn’t seem a positive place for a healthy little girl. We could keep her with us, entertain her, and bring her to the hospital to visit Daisy every few days. This would allow you and Mr. Holland to focus exclusively on Daisy.”