“He’ll make an incision behind Olivia’s ear and remove the diseased bone before sewing the incision back up.” Dr. Harrington turned his head to the side and used his finger to draw a line behind his ear.
“And this will get rid of her ear infections?”
“It should, provided the doctor removes all the diseased bone. I want to warn you, though, if the infection is extensive, she might lose some of her hearing.”
“But she’s so young.” Jessalyn twisted her hands in her skirt, never mind the wrinkles it would leave in the sapphire-blue fabric. “Are you sure these infections won’t clear up by themselves?”
“She’s been suffering from this off and on for two years.” Dr. Harrington’s voice took on a clinical tone, one that made him sound as though he’d spent half a century in medical school, even though he wasn’t yet a half-century old. “It’s gone well beyond the pale of a usual childhood ear infection. I started writing letters this summer, when Olivia had her sixth ear infection of the year. She’s had three more since. Furthermore, if her mastoid bone is infected, and we don’t remove the infection, it will only spread.”
“To more of the bone around her ear?” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
“To her skull, and possibly even her brain.”
The air she inhaled burned its way down her throat until it felt as though her lungs were aflame.
Dr. Harrington reached out and took her hand, his skin startlingly warm against her cold fingers. “Infections in the head are nothing to be trifled with, Jessalyn. Even if Olivia loses every last bit of hearing in that ear, the surgery will still be necessary to prevent the infection from traveling further.”
“That could happen?”
At the sound of the warm masculine voice behind her, Jessalyn turned to find Thomas standing by the back door that led to her small yard.
“She could lose all her hearing?” Thomas stepped farther into the room.
Jessalyn jerked her hand away from Dr. Harrington’s. “What are you doing in here?”And how long had he been there?
“I wanted to take the girls to the bakery for cookies, if that’s all right with you.”
“Yes, sure.” Anything so that she’d have a few minutes to herself to think about everything the doctor was saying.
A look of surprise lit his eyes. “Thank you. I thought you’d say no.”
He had? Of course he had. The last time they’d talked she told him she didn’t want her daughters getting overly attached to him. But he’d been so kind and attentive to the girls that she’d be a shrew to say no.
Or maybe she was being too soft by saying yes. She pressed a hand to her head. Or maybe she didn’t have the first clue what to think at all these days.
“I’d still like to know more about the surgery, Doc.” Thomas’s gaze moved past her to the doctor, and he took another step inside. “Can Olivia really lose all her hearing?”
She bristled. “I can take care of this, Thomas.”
“Olivia’s my daughter too.” Thomas came up beside her. “No matter how much you try to forget.”
Heat rose in her cheeks, and she swallowed, unable to meet the doctor’s eyes. What must a man like Dr. Seth Harrington think of them? A Southern gentleman through and through, he couldn’t be used to people airing personal affairs in front of him, and today was the second spectacle she and Thomas had provided him inside a week.
“Just in one ear.” The doctor’s calm voice seemed to drain tension from the room. “And that’s an extreme situation. Though the sooner you get to Chicago, the better.”
“But it’s winter. I can’t take the girls to Calumet in the winter.” It would be too cold and too long of a trip to the train station, especially for little Megan, who was barely five.
“I’ll write Dr. Seaward and tell him to expect you in the spring. I never envisioned the surgery happening before then.”
“But in the meantime, the infection will grow worse?” Thomas kept his gaze pinned to the doctor.
“It’s possible.” Dr. Harrington’s chair creaked beneath his weight. “Though remember it’s taken two years to get to this point. You don’t want to leave a mastoid infection untreated for years, but a few months will likely mean more ear infections and little else. If you’re insistent on going to Chicago now, I won’t stop you, but I don’t think the situation warrants?—”
“As soon as the harbor opens, we’ll take a boat to Houghton and travel the rest of the way by rail.” Thomas hung his hands on his hips and gave a brisk nod. “Then we don’t need to worry about early spring storms like we would if we went entirely by ship.”
We? “I figured you’d be headed back to Deadwood right about then.” Or maybe even a couple months before then.
“Suppose I can take a detour…” Thomas’s voice was calm and even when he spoke, no hint of the anger simmering beneath her own words. “…Since it involves the health of my daughter.”
