The Red Gloves Collection by Karen Kingsbury Read Free Book Online

girl whose heart had been broken. It was only then that Brian was struck by something he hadn’t wanted to see before. The dark circles under Gideon’s eyes were back. She looked tired and weak and when he felt her head, his breath caught in his throat.
    She was burning up.
    Oh, God, no! Don’t let her be sick now.
Brian worked to focus. “It wasn’t your fault, sweetheart.” He ran his hand along the back of her head. “You did everything you could.”
    “But, Daddy, I asked God for a miracle. I thought if I gave Earl a Christmas gift he’d believe again.” She pulled back and searched his eyes, then Tish’s. “How come it didn’t work?”
    I t was a question that hung in the air all that night and threatened to darken everything about the coming Christmas. But Earl’s rudeness paled in comparison with the news they got two days later.
    “I’m sorry.” The doctor had asked Gideon to wait in the examination room while he talked to Brian and Tish in his office. Gideon had been so sick that morning, Tish had taken the day off. “Her cancer’s back. Worse than before, more aggressive. I’m going to have to admit her.”
    Admit her?
Brian could barely breathe.
No!
It wasn’t fair.
Not Gideon!
His hands and feet felt numb, and the room tilted. Beside him, Tish began to cry.
    The doctor looked at an open chart on his desk. “Her younger brother is a perfect match for a bone-marrow transplant.” The doctor’s voice dropped. “At the rate the disease is moving, I think it’s time to do the procedure.”
    Brian huffed. “Sure.” He stood and paced to the office window. “How are we supposed to pay for it?” He turned and met the doctor’s eyes. “We don’t have insurance; you know that.”
    “Yes.” The doctor crossed his arms. “I’ve gotten the okay from the hospital. We can do it for twenty-five thousand. That’s below cost, Mr. Mercer.” He hesitated. “We could get started with half that much.”
    “Twenty-five thousand dollars?” A sound that was more sob than laugh came from his throat. “Sir, I don’t have twenty-five
dollars.”
    “Is there any other way?” Tish folded her arms tight around her waist. “Anything we can do to raise the money?”
    “Yes.” The doctor reached for a brochure and handed it to her. “You can hold a fund-raiser. Many families do that as a way of paying for the transplant.”
    “And if we don’t get enough?” Brian’s body trembled, battling an onslaught of fear and anger, confusion and heartache.
    “We’ll start chemotherapy immediately, just like before.” The doctor grimaced. “If we’re lucky she might slip back into remission.”
    “If that happens, Doctor, luck won’t have anything to do with it.” Tish clutched the fund-raising information tightly to her chest. There was a determination in her eyes Brian had never seen before. She stood and moved toward the door. “I need to be with Gideon.”
    When Tish was gone, Brian locked eyes with the doctor. “Be straight with me, Doc. How bad is it?”
    “She needs a transplant, Mr. Mercer.” The man blinked and Brian could see he was considering how much to say. Finally he sighed and shook his head. “She doesn’t have much time.”
    G ideon was quiet while they set her up in a room. A stream of nurses came to draw blood, hook up monitors, and start an IV line. Thirty minutes later a drip bag was hooked to her other arm. This one contained the chemicals that would ravage her small body and maybe—if God smiled down on them—leave her cancer free one more time. But God had let the cancer come back. And he hadn’t done much to help Gideon’s surprise with Earl.
    Why ask him for help now?
    When the nurses were gone, Brian and Tish moved to Gideon’s side. Tish leaned over the bed and kissed her on the forehead. “How’re you feeling, honey?”
    Gideon’s eyes were flat. “I don’t wanna be here.” She looked at the monitors stationed around her. “Can’t they do this stuff at