Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Patrice Lewis (best large ereader .txt) 📕

we don’t expect that to happen, we’ll keep her on antibiotics for another twenty-four hours or so. By then we’ll have some of the lab results back. If things look positive, we can release her while we wait for the rest of the cultures to come back.” The nurse smiled. “I expect you’ll be able to bring her home twenty-four hours from now, though she’ll need some follow-up visits.”

Levy nodded and Jane saw him swallow. “It scares me to think what might have happened if we hadn’t brought her in.”

“Older babies can spike a fever of unknown origin, and while it’s a little scary for the parents, it generally passes without a problem,” said the nurse. “But in newborns, fevers can be life-threatening. We may not find out what caused it, but the critical thing is to either treat—or rule out—the very serious illnesses.”

Levy reached out and gently cupped Mercy’s head with his hand, and Jane saw his lips move in prayer. Then he stepped back. “I’d best get home. I have a lot of work to do.” He looked at Jane. “I’ll come back with the buggy tomorrow afternoon.”

“Ja.” She watched as he turned and made his way out of the hospital room. “He’s so worried,” she murmured.

The nurse heard. “He’s the uncle, right?”

“Ja. And part of his worry stems from not knowing where his sister is, the baby’s mother.”

The nurse’s expression was sympathetic. “He seems like a good man.”

“Ja, he is.”

The nurse grew brisk. “I’m assuming you don’t have a change of clothes, but we can give you a hospital gown to sleep in for the night, if you like. We also have a small library if you’d like something to read while you’re here.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse showed Jane where the bookshelves were located, then departed for her duties. Jane chose a few books as well as a Bible, then returned to Mercy’s room.

It seemed very strange to sit in a chair beside the baby’s crib, confined to a cheerful but serious hospital room full of unknown equipment.

With some relief, she heard Mercy stir and whimper, then the whimper turned into a thin fretful cry. A different nurse came hurrying in.

Jane felt helpless. “Is she okay?”

“Seems so.” The nurse read various monitors over the crib. “Yes, I think she’s just hungry. And wet.”

“Can I change her? And feed her?”

“Of course. Holding her is about the best thing you can do right now, though you’ll have to be careful of her IV tube and the wire connections.”

The nurse provided a tiny disposable diaper, which Jane—used to cloth diapers—managed to fit onto the baby. The nurse showed her how to avoid tangling with the tubes and wires while she picked Mercy up and cradled her.

She sank down into the room’s comfortable glider rocking chair while the nurse prepared a bottle of formula. Mercy was fretful until Jane slipped the tip into the baby’s mouth. Immediately she started sucking.

“Ah, that’s a good sign. She has an appetite,” said the nurse. “Hold her as long as you like. She’ll enjoy the body contact. I’ll check up on you in a few minutes.”

Jane leaned back, watching the infant’s face as she nursed. Mercy’s eyes stayed closed, and she seemed tired, but there was no question she was hungry. She nearly finished the bottle.

Jane flipped a hospital towel over her shoulder and lifted Mercy onto her shoulder, careful not to touch the IV tube and monitor wires, and patted her back until she burped. Then Jane slid Mercy down onto her chest and rocked as the baby relaxed into sleep.

Slow tears trickled down Jane’s face as she realized how much Mercy had come to mean to her. She blessed her Aunt Catherine for encouraging them to take the baby to the hospital right away. What would have happened if she had kept her home, only to have her take a turn for the worse?

Now thanks be to Gott, this precious, vulnerable bundle was still alive and resting against her chest. Jane didn’t want to let her go.

Exhausted, she dozed until the nurse came in. “Everything all right?”

Jane blinked. “Ja. She fell right asleep after her bottle. Should she go back to her crib or can I keep holding her?”

“Oh, hold her, by all means. Babies do best when they’re held and loved.” The nurse moved about the room, taking notes, straightening some items. “Can I bring you some dinner?”

“No, thank you, I already ate.”

“Some tea, perhaps?”

“Oh, thank you. That would be wonderful.”

So the nurse brought Jane a paper cup of steaming water and a little basket filled with tea bags and sugar packets, which she placed on a small sturdy table near the rocking chair. She helped prepare the tea, since Jane was unable to use both hands to make the tea herself. Then she brought the small pile of books Jane had borrowed and set them on the table as well.

“You look like you’ve done this before,” Jane said, smiling.

“Yes, we often have parents staying with their sick babies. They usually don’t want to do anything but hold them.”

Jane rested her hand on Mercy’s back. “I can understand why.”

“But she’s not your baby? You’re the nanny?”

“Ja, but it’s not hard to fall in love with something this precious.”

The nurse smiled. “This baby is in good hands.”

Left alone, Jane sipped her tea and managed to thumb open one of the books. Mercy breathed easily, and the horrible fever heat had left her body.

The words of the book blurred as Jane’s thoughts wandered. It was true what she’d just admitted to the nurse: she had fallen in love with Mercy. She supposed it would be hard not to love the vulnerable motherless infant with such a sweet disposition.

Back in Jasper, as her friends started to get married and have families, Jane felt left behind. Her Gott-given gift to soothe babies had been appreciated by her friends whenever they’d needed an extra pair of hands, but Jane had never fallen in love with the babies she’d