Angels Watching Over Me by Lurlene McDaniel Read Free Book Online Page B

well?”
    “Except for when the nurses came for vitals in the middle of the night. I didn’t think I’d ever get back to sleep. Then another nurse came in, and watching her and Rebekah must have made me sleepy, because the next thing I knew it was morning.”
    “What other nurse?”
    “Gabriella,” Rebekah said around the thermometer. “She’s my friend. She comes in and talks to me.”
    “Gabriella? She must be brand new.”
    “She’s nice,” said Rebekah.
    “Well, it must be nice to have that much free time.” Molly removed the thermometer when it beeped. “But that’s the difference between the day and night shifts. Maybe I’ll switch and not have so much work to do.”
    “Who’ll I talk to all day?” Leah kidded.
    Molly chuckled, turned to Charity and said, “Good news. Your sister’s temperature is normal.”
    Charity clapped. “Wonderful! When can she go home?”
    “Not until her doctor says she can. Infectionscan be ornery. We want to be sure it’s truly gone before we release her.”
    Leah thought of how lonely it would be without company in the room. “Are you leaving me, Rebekah?”
    Rebekah’s face puckered. “Oh, Leah, you are my best-ever friend. I’ll come visit you. Won’t we, Charity?”
    Everyone laughed, but Leah knew that once the two girls were gone, they wouldn’t be back. Leah doubted that Charity’s parents would allow her to make the trip again when there was no reason other than a social call.
    Later that morning, after Leah had showered, washed her hair, and put on makeup, she went to the library on the pediatric floor and checked out some books about nursing. She was reading at the table in her room when Ethan came in, smiling.
    Rebekah squealed with delight. Ethan beamed at his sisters, then cast a sparkling blue-eyed glance at Leah. “I told you I would return. And guess what? I have brought you all a big surprise.”

“A surprise? What is it? Tell me, Ethan.” Rebekah was bubbling over with excitement.
    “Papa is downstairs with it.”
    “I want to see Papa!”
    “You will in just a little bit. After he takes care of delivering the surprise.”
    “Am I included in your surprise?” Leah asked, smiling.
    “Yes,” Ethan said, turning his clear blue eyes on her.
    “What is it?”
    His sisters were asking the same question, but he didn’t take his gaze off Leah’s face as he answered, “It is a Christmas tree to take theplace of the one that was stolen. Papa and I cut it early this morning from the woods.”
    “
Our
woods?” Charity asked, sounding astonished.
    “Yes.”
    “A
Christmas
tree?”
    “Yes.”
    Leah hadn’t a clue why Charity was so surprised, nor did she really care. She only knew that gazing into Ethan’s eyes was making her heart pound and her pulse race.
    Molly hurried into the room. “The front desk says there’s a man with a Christmas tree down in the lobby. He says his name is Longacre and he wants to bring it up to the rec room.”
    Ethan turned. “Our papa. I told him of the theft and he said he would like to bring a tree for the children. We cut it, and a trucker from town helped us get it here.”
    “We—all of us nurses—are so grateful, Ethan. Yes, have him bring it up in the freight elevator. I’ll call a custodian to help.”
    Ethan left, and Leah and Molly followed him. “It’s pretty nice of them to bring the floor a tree, but why is it such a big deal?” Leah asked.
    “The Amish don’t celebrate Christmas the way we do,” Molly said. “They never decorate Christmas trees, and they never focus on exchanging lots of Christmas presents.”
    “Then why are they doing this?”
    Molly shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Ethan.”
    In the rec room, everyone was waiting for the tree delivery. Before long, a handcart carrying the giant evergreen burst through the doorway. Guided by the custodian and steadied by Ethan and his father, the tree was enormous, so tall that it scraped the ceiling. Ice clung to a few of