The Denver Cereal by Claudia Hall Christian Read Free Book Online Page B

Katy’s wrist, trailed behind them like a green
beacon. Running past Edward, the volunteer, he yelled for Edward to
call Children’s Hospital at St. Joseph’s. Katy was heading toward
anaphylactic shock. Several people dialed their cell phones at
once. The crowd stepped aside and Jacob raced through the
zoo.
    In his arms, Jacob felt
Katy get ever warmer. Somewhere near the front gate, she stopped
crying. Her throat closing, his tiny burden began to gasp for air.
Her skin burned under his hands. He picked up the pace while
dragging Jill behind. From the edge of the parking lot, he unlocked
the Lexus. Flying to the front passenger seat, he laid Katy on his
lap.
    With great effort, Katy
pulled in breath. Ripping an inhaler from a plastic Walgreens bag,
he shot Primatene Mist into Katy’s mouth and counted down one
minute. He was about to spray the inhaler again when Katy coughed
and took a clear breath.
    “ Oh, thank God,” he
said.
    Moving quickly, he
strapped Katy into her car seat and then buckled Jill into the
passenger seat.
    The message that Celia’s
granddaughter was in trouble had gone out over the zoo airwaves.
Elderly volunteers appeared from nowhere to help. The volunteers
blocked the road so Jacob had a clear shot.
    Jacob, Jill, and a
wheezing Katy sped out of the parking lot. The tires squealed as
they turned left onto Twenty-Third Avenue. For once in his Denver
life, Jacob hit every green light and missed all road
construction.
    The emergency staff was
waiting at the curb of the hospital. Yelling orders, the doctor
began treating Katy in her car seat. As if in a trance, Jill stood
watching the emergency team. Jacob came around the car to wrap
himself around her. Nestled in his tight embrace, Jill began to
sob. He covered her face when the nurses carried Katy from the car
and onto a stretcher. A nurse cut the forgotten balloon from Katy’s
wrist. With Jill in his arms, Jacob watched the green balloon
disappear into the bright sky.
    “ Mr. Marlowe?” An
official-looking woman stood next to him. She held a clipboard
jammed with forms.
    “ I need to move the car,”
he said. He set a credit card on her clipboard. “Can I fill those
out when I get back?”
    “ Sure,” she said. Pointing
to the man standing next to Jacob, she said, “We have a
valet.”
    Still shielding Jill in
his arms, Jacob gave the man his keys.
    “ We’ve had a horrible
shock. Is there a place we can . . .?” Jacob
asked.
    “ Of course.” The woman
smiled. “I’ll take you to a quiet place where you can talk. But I
do need . . .”
    “ Sure,” Jacob said.
“You’ll let them know we are back here.”
    “ Of course.”
    They followed the woman
through the hospital to a small, empty waiting room. Jacob settled
Jill on his lap. While he held her, stroking her hair and back,
Jill cried her heart out. When her tears evened and her breath was
deep, he got her some water.
    “ I’m going to call Mike,”
Jacob said. “I have a friend who works emergency at Denver Health.
I’m going to call him as well. He might be able to help. Is it all
right to get my friend’s help?”
    Jill nodded her head.
Watching Jacob on the phone, she felt almost drunk from the release
of emotions. She was so used to being in control, so used to having
to be in control, that she felt ungrounded. When Jacob slipped his
arm around her, she tucked herself into him. Surrounded by his
warmth and scent, she was safe.
    She only let go of Jacob
when Megan peeled her from his embrace.
    Mike arrived not long
after Megan. Her two oldest siblings were all set to take over when
Jacob’s doctor friend, John Drayson, came into the room. Tall with
dark, curly hair, he shook Jacob’s hand and then spoke with Mike.
Mike introduced him to Jill as the husband of an old army
friend.
    “ It’s very unusual for a
child to have this kind of reaction,” Dr. Drayson said. His accent
was foreign, British, she thought. His cobalt blue eyes were
present, clear, and