Another Dawn by Kathryn Cushman Read Free Book Online Page A

situations, but when he did his full-blown, most sincere, most yearning expression, they were gigantic pools of liquid chocolate that even the hardest heart could not ignore. And I didn’t want to ignore them. I wanted to spend time with my sister and my niece even more than Dylan did. But we couldn’t. It wasn’t responsible and I knew it.
    Dad was well tended at the hospital; he could do without my visits for a day or two if necessary. So I had made the heartbreaking decision to stay home with Dylan until his fever went away.
    Unfortunately, the day went by and then another with no improvement. I took to cleaning out my old closet and scrubbing kitchen cabinets just to pass the time. As I worked, I worried about Dad’s knee—in spite of the encouraging updates Jana phoned in once or twice a day—and I wondered why Jasmine hadn’t called me yet. Was she too devastated to talk about it? Did she blame me? I wanted so badly to pick up the phone and call her, but since I wasn’t supposed to know anything, all I could do was to wait it out.
    When Dad arrived home from the hospital late Thursday evening, we still hadn’t left the house and Dylan was feeling worse than ever.
    Dad hobbled through the door on his walker, took one look at Dylan lying on the couch, and said, “He still under the weather? Maybe he needs some fresh air.”
    “Dad, he’s running a fever. A hundred and two this morning.”
    Dad nodded. “Did you give him something for it?”
    Did he really think I was that big of a moron? “I did give him something. Even Tylenol isn’t bringing his temperature completely back to normal anymore.”
    “Hmph.” Dad dropped into his recliner.
    “I’ll put your bag away, Charles.” Rob walked down the hallway and I followed. He looked over his shoulder at me. “You sure you’re going to be able to handle this?”
    “No.” I sat down on the bed. “It’s such a bummer Dylan is sick. We could have all spent a lot of time together this trip. A little family rebonding, you know.”
    “And now you’re stuck all alone dealing with your father, in pain and on narcotics. Not a nice combination, is it?”
    “You can say that again. I’d say he’s in one of the grumpiest moods I’ve ever seen him in—and from my father that is saying a lot.” I sort of laughed. “You tell that sister of mine she better appreciate this.” I regretted the words right after I’d said them. I realized how little I’d shown appreciation for all the years that she’d been here carrying all the family burdens. Still, she had always been Dad’s favorite.
    “Oh, believe me, she knows.” He sat beside me. “I know the two of you have some things to work through right now, but it’s all going to work out just fine.”
    Rob had always been a calm voice of reason. He and Jana had just gotten engaged when Mom got sick, and I couldn’t count the ways he’d helped during that time.
    I reached over and gave him a hug. “Hopefully, both boy and beast will be feeling better by the weekend. We’ll get together then.”
    “Count on it.” Rob saluted. “I better get back to work before someone notices I’m missing.”
    “See you later. Thanks for driving him home.” I watched him leave, dreading the next few days. How I hoped Dylan got better soon. I didn’t think I could stand this otherwise.
    I walked back into the living room to find my father’s eyes about half closed. Good, maybe he would go on to sleep.
    “Did you get my stuff put in my room?”
    “Yeah, well, the guest room, anyway.”
    “Guest room?”
    “Dad, we talked about this.” The master suite was the one and only room on the second floor. It had been off limits to us as kids—officer’s quarters, Dad had called it. Now it was off limits to him as well. “You can’t go up the stairs to the master bedroom for at least a couple of weeks. Remember, Jana got you all set up in the guest room?”
    “It’s noisy there, on the front of the