The Nanny's New Family (Caring Canines) (7 page)

Annie stood. “I’ll check on Jeremy while you guys talk.” She wanted somehow to get through to the hurting child. She knew what deep pain Jeremy was in.

Ian nodded.

Annie headed for the staircase to check Jeremy’s room, where he usually hid out. But when she started down the hallway, she noticed the door was open, and he kept it closed when he was there. After checking it and the bathroom the children used, she went through the rest of the house then returned to the den and motioned for Ian.

He came out in the corridor. “What’s wrong?”

“Jeremy isn’t inside. I wanted you to know before I look outside. Does he have a special place he would go?”

“No. I’ll take the back while you search the front.” He poked his head into the den. “Jasmine and Jade, watch Joshua. We’ll be outside.”

While Ian made his way to the kitchen to go out to the backyard, Annie stepped out onto the front porch. About forty-five minutes of daylight were left. She prayed they found him before that.

Descending the stairs to the sidewalk, Annie looked up and down the street and spotted Jeremy three houses away, sitting on the curb.

She started to yell his name but didn’t, afraid Jeremy would run. Instead, she went to the gate on the side of the McGregor home and quickly found Ian in the backyard. “He’s a few houses away.”

Ian joined her, and they started for Jeremy, who was still sitting at the curb. The boy looked up and spied them coming. He bolted to his feet and turned to flee. He took two steps and then collapsed to the ground, his body stiffening and quaking.

Chapter Seven

“K
eep track of the time,” Ian shouted as he hastened to his son. His heart pounded his chest the way his steps pounded the earth as he cut the distance to Jeremy. “Son, I’m here. You’ll be all right,” he said in as soothing a voice as possible. He didn’t know if Jeremy heard him or not, but he wanted him to know he wasn’t alone.

Wishing he had something to cushion Jeremy’s head, Ian turned him on his side and protected his thrashing body as much as he could without restraining him.

When Annie arrived, he glanced at her. “How long?”

“One minute but he’s calming down some.” Annie gestured toward Jeremy on the small patch of grass between the street and sidewalk. “Thank God he hit the ground, not the concrete.”

Ian closed his eyes for a second and sent up a prayer. Finally—an eternity in Ian’s mind—Jeremy’s eyelids stopped fluttering, and his rigid body began to relax. Ian checked his son for any injuries caused by the fall.

Behind Annie, a neighbor asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Ian glanced up and noticed several others who lived on the street standing around. “He’ll be okay. Thanks for your concern.” Then to Annie, Ian added, “I’m going to carry him back to the house.”

She nodded and asked the people to move back.

Ian wanted to get Jeremy inside before he became angry, his probable reaction when he came out of the seizure, especially if he saw all the people watching him. Although not unconscious, Jeremy hadn’t gotten his bearings yet, his gaze still dazed.

Annie went ahead of Ian and opened the front door, only to find all the children gathered in the foyer.

“Is Jeremy okay?” Jade chewed her bottom lip.

“Did he have a seizure?” Jasmine rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

Joshua’s eyes filled with tears.

Ian answered, “He had a seizure, but he’ll be fine. Go with Annie and start getting ready for bed.”

“But it’s too early—”

“Jasmine, go.” Ian started for the staircase while Annie tried to calm them.

He’d seen people have seizures before, but when it was his son, he needed to detach himself to handle it in a matter-of-fact way. Otherwise his children would sense all the emotions rampaging through him. With time he prayed he’d do a better job of masking his fear that Jeremy wouldn’t pull out, and he’d lose him like Zoe and Aunt Louise.

When Ian placed Jeremy on his bed, he caught his son’s look, his forehead knitted.

“What happened?” Jeremy murmured, blinking his eyes several times.

“You had a seizure in front of the Clearys’ house.”

Red flooded Jeremy’s pasty complexion. “Who saw me?”

“A few of our neighbors. All adults.”

Jeremy firmed his mouth in a hard line and rolled to his side. “I’m tired.”

Ian backed away from the bed. He removed a pile of clothing on a chair then sank down onto it. He didn’t feel comfortable leaving Jeremy. What if he had another seizure on top of this one? More than ever he realized Jeremy needed a dog to let Ian or Annie know when he had a seizure. What happened outside earlier could have ended badly, and Ian might not have known about it. He didn’t want to restrict his son’s activities, but he might have to until his medication controlled his seizures better. Ian didn’t look forward to yet another battle with Jeremy, but his safety came first.

A sound behind him drew his attention. Annie started toward him, but he rose, palm out, and made his way to her, moving out into the hallway. He didn’t want Jeremy overhearing any discussion about him.

“How is he?” Annie asked, her large brown eyes full of concern. “The kids have a million questions. I told them I’d talk to you. They’re worried.”

“He’s alert now. He told me he’s tired, but that may also be his way of avoiding talking to me.”

“If you want, I’ll sit with him while you talk with the kids.”

“Thanks. I need to reassure them.” And hope he could put at least their fears to rest. “I want to call his doctor, too. Good thing Brandon’s a friend.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Jeremy while you do that, and if you need me to stay part of the night with him while you sleep, I can.”

For one impulsive moment, all Ian wanted to do was hold Annie in his arms and draw comfort from her. When he’d first met her, he’d thought she wasn’t ugly but not a beauty, either. But now all he saw was a woman whose beauty shone from deep inside her. Would things have been different with his children if she’d been their first nanny rather than the fourth one? Would Jeremy have come to him about his concerns about blanking out?

“I’m going to sleep again in his room. It worked okay the other night, but I appreciate the offer. You come back here from your day off and end up dealing with all this.”

“When children are involved, schedules and plans often get discarded. I’m used to it.” She smiled.

He chuckled. “I’ll be back in a little while. Kids first, then Brandon.”

Ian found the children in Jade’s bedroom, his two daughters sitting on the bed with Joshua between them. He’d been crying, his eyes red. The twins were comforting him. Now Ian had to do the same for all three of them.

He lifted his son into his arms. “Your big brother will be okay.”

“He isn’t gonna die?”

“No, he’ll be fine.” Jeremy’s health wasn’t in his control, but it felt right saying that to his children. Ian sat at the desk and placed Joshua on his lap. “Annie said you all are worried and have questions. I’ll try to answer them.”

“Is this gonna happen all the time?” Jade scooted back on her bed and crossed her legs.

“I don’t know. I hope not. I hope the right medication dosage can be found soon to control the seizures.”

“I saw him on the ground. Did he fall?” Jasmine asked.

“Yes, sometimes a person’s muscles go slack and he drops. So you were looking out the window?”

Jasmine nodded.

“How much did you see?”

“Not much. You blocked my view. What do we do if one of us is the only person around?”

“Good question, Jasmine. Get help. Place something soft under his head. And if you can, roll him onto his side, but don’t hold him down. Sometimes a person who has a seizure flails and thrashes. He could hurt you and himself if you try stopping him. You should move anything dangerous away from him. Above all else, be calm and stay close until help comes. The seizure will run its course.” As he said this, his children’s eyes grew rounder, and none of them spoke.

“Calm? How?” Jade finally asked.

“I know the first time I saw a seizure, it scared me, but remember Jeremy will get better. Talk to him if you want. Tell him he’ll be okay.” If they said it, hopefully they would believe it. It had helped Ian to do that.

“I’m scared.” Joshua snuggled against Ian.

“I know it can be scary, but don’t let Jeremy know that. He already feels as if people think he’s strange. Come to me instead. Everyone has problems. Joshua, you do something without thinking about if it’s dangerous or not. Jeremy has seizures. That’s his problem right now.”

Jasmine glared at Joshua. “Yeah, remember when you were standing on the railing? You could have really hurt yourself. You scared me.”

“And me,” Ian added.

“It wasn’t gonna hurt me. I wasn’t scared. I had my cape on.”

Jasmine leaped to her feet, her arms straight at her side. “You can’t fly with a cape.” With a huff she said, “I’m going to lay out my clothes for tomorrow and get ready for bed.” She marched from the room.

“Did I hear right? She’s choosing what she’s gonna wear now?” Jade shook her head in wonderment.

“Yep.” Ian stood, holding Joshua in his arms. “And it’s time for you to get your pj’s on and brush your teeth.”

“I don’t wanna go to bed.”

“Sorry, dude. You have school tomorrow.” He carried his youngest from Jade’s room, set him down and watched as he scurried to his room.

Ian walked toward his bedroom to call the doctor and passed Jeremy’s. He glanced in the doorway and spied Annie. Of late, he’d felt as if he was taking one blow after another. If it hadn’t been for Annie this past week, he didn’t know if he could have kept it together. But he had—because of her presence.

* * *

Tuesday all the children piled out of the Ford Explorer and hurried to Caring Canines. Jeremy remained in the front seat, staring out the windshield.

“You worked well with Rex yesterday.” Annie removed the key from the ignition.

He harrumphed.

“You didn’t say much when I picked you up from school. Everything go okay today?”

“It was just great,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Sometimes talking about it helps.”

Jeremy swiveled around and narrowed his eyes.
“Nothing happened.”
He drew those two words out.

“Okay, that’s great.” Annie heard the doubt in her voice. She was sure Jeremy knew she didn’t believe him.

He pressed his lips together, his gaze scissoring through her. “Okay. I was moved to the front of the classroom this morning, close to the teacher’s desk like I’m a troublemaker. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Did you talk to your teacher about it?”

“Yeah. She wanted to keep a closer eye on me. Even Joshua, Jasmine and Jade look at me like I’m weird.”

“How so?”

“As if they’re waiting for me to have a seizure and worrying what they’re gonna do.”

“The unknown is scary for them and they love you, so they’re worried.”

He crossed his arms. “I’m not broken.”

“I know that. You know it and your dad does. It might take others a little more time.”

Jeremy shoved open the door, stepped out and walked toward the building.

As Annie followed, her cell phone rang, and she saw it was Ian. She greeted him then said, “We just arrived at Caring Canines.”

“Good. My last patient canceled, so I’m heading there. Did Jeremy give you any problems?”

“Nope. He’s already inside.” Annie opened the door and slipped into the building, the sound of dogs barking in the background.

“His teacher called and said Jeremy was angry when he left. He got moved to the front by her desk, and he doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want any special treatment. I’ll email her and see if she’ll move him back.”

“I’m not sure you should. That might draw even more attention to him.”

“True. I’ll see what happens this week. I’m turning into the ranch. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Annie said, “See you soon.” She disconnected and returned her cell phone to her pocket then continued her trek to the back training room to make sure Jeremy was working with Emma and Rex. She paused at the doorway.

For all his complaining about attending, Jeremy was focusing his attention on what Emma was saying, Rex sitting next to him. Suddenly Rex got up and went behind Jeremy just as the boy crumbled to the floor, keeping his head from hitting the tiles.

Emma rolled him on his side and glanced at her watch while Annie found a small pillow and placed it under his head. Rex positioned himself next to Jeremy.

“I think Rex sensed the seizure coming on.” Emma looked up at Annie. “I didn’t see anything until he started dropping to the floor, but Rex was behind him before he fell.”

“They’re connecting.” Annie heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway. “Ian is coming.”

As Ian entered the room, Jeremy came out of his seizure, confused, scowling. Rex wiggled closer to Jeremy and settled down.

“How long was this one?”

“Ninety seconds,” Emma replied and moved so Ian could check his son. “Rex cushioned Jeremy’s head, so he didn’t hit it on the floor when he went down.”

“Is Rex okay?” Ian stroked the dog next to his son.

Emma ran her hands over the black Lab. “He’s fine. That’s one of the ways a service dog is able to help.”

Annie remembered the other children outside and said, “I’m going to check on Jasmine, Jade and Joshua.”

As she made her way to the outside play area, she hoped Madi was out there today like yesterday. The twins had listened to every word the teenage girl said. Jade had even declared on the way home that she wanted to volunteer at Caring Canines like the owner’s sister-in-law.

Outside, Madi leaned against the chain-link fence talking to Jade while Joshua played with the cocker spaniel Jade had on Saturday. Annie opened the gate and walked into the enclosure as Jasmine turned her attention to the cocker spaniel.

“What’s her name?” Jasmine called out to Madi.

“Daisy. She’s a sweetheart. I wish I could have another dog, but my brother says I already have a kennel full.”

Jade smiled at Annie then turned to Madi. “Is she going to be trained?”

“Maybe as a therapy dog. She was left a few weeks ago out by the gate.”

“I can’t believe people dump their pets like that.” Jade knelt near the cocker spaniel.

“It happens at least once a month. It makes Abbey and Emma mad. I help them find homes for the ones that aren’t trained. Have you all decided on a dog to take home yet?”

“We can pick today?” Joshua asked.

Madi looked at Annie who answered, “Yes, if you three can decide on one. Your dad talked with Emma yesterday about it.” Then in a lowered voice, Annie continued, “Madi, I need to go inside to see how Jeremy is doing. Will you help the children choose a dog?”

Madi grinned. “I would love to.”

At the door into the building, Annie glanced over her shoulder at the three children with Madi sitting on the ground in a circle around Daisy. Knowing they were in good hands, she hurried inside to see what was happening with Jeremy. As she approached the training room, Jeremy ran out, anger stamped on his face.

She started to go after him but stopped to see what Ian wanted her to do. She stepped into the room. His haggard look showed how bad the situation must have gotten. “Do you want me to try talking to him?”

“You can try. He wouldn’t listen to Emma or me. I’ll go get the other children. We need to leave and let Emma get back to work.” Defeat coated each word.

Annie wanted to comfort him, but at the moment Jeremy was her priority. The torment the child was going through tore at her heart. Annie found him on the other side of the Ford Explorer, sitting on the pavement, crying.