With Love from the Inside Read Online Free Page B

voice said, “Puzwle.”
    â€œPuzwle,” Sophie teased. “What’s that?”
    Max, now sitting up and bouncing on his bent knees, pointed across the room to the circus puzzle he and Sophie had been working on for the past few weeks.
    â€œPuzwle,” Max said, giggling. “Over there.”
    â€œOh, you mean
puzzle
,” she said, gently poking Max in the tummy. “I’ll get it for you.”
    She scooted Max back to the center of the bed, then retrieved the puzzle from the table under the windows. “Think we will ever finish this thing?”
    Max held up both of his arms and wiggled every finger, making it impossible for Sophie not to pick him up and set him on her lap as they searched for the missing piece that would finish the white unicorn on the carousel.
    She found the corner piece before Max did and slid it to the edge of the table, away from the distractions of the other pieces. Her plan worked. Max squealed in delight as he picked up the piece and said, “Horsie done.”
    Mindy, who was Max’s nurse for the day, walked in just in time to witness his victory. “Good job, Max. You’re such a smart little boy. Who’s your helper?” She winked at Sophie. Max ignored her, intent on finding the piece that would complete the elephant’s ear.
    â€œAny news on finding this guy a foster family?” Sophie whispered, while Mindy prepared his medications. Max’s premature birth had left him with underdeveloped lungs, which was why he had the tracheostomy. His mother, Sophie had heard, couldn’t handle the responsibilities of caring for an infant with such severe special needs.
    â€œNot yet, not with all his care. Going to take a special family for this one,” Mindy said, then converted the first dose of medication into a bunny rabbit hopping toward Max’s unwilling mouth. He’d been placed in a few homes, as far as Sophie knew, but nothing permanent. His need for constant suctioning and breathing treatments had worn the last family out. And his health didn’t appear to be getting any better. Lately, he seemed to be in the hospital more than out.
    Sophie had met Max quite by accident. His occupational therapist had been giving him a ride through the hospital gift shop in an oversize plastic green wagon and Sophie, who was volunteering in the unit, caught a glimpse of his big, gap-toothed smile when they went wheeling by. His messy blond hospital hair and large brown eyes captivated her heart, and her growing relationship with him eventually set in motion her idea to start her fund for needy children on the pediatric ward.
    She’d convinced Thomas to be the figurehead behind the fund-raising effort, but not before he attempted to persuade her not to get too involved with Max. “He has social workers to help him,” said Thomas. “Besides, I don’t want you to get attached to him and get your heart broken.”
    Her heart was already broken, and maybe, in some small way, Max could help change that. She and Max had a connection, and if she couldn’t help William, couldn’t she at least help Max?
    â€œHere comes Peter Cottontail,” Mindy said in her best furry voice. As Sophie looked on, she noticed Mindy’s left hand was missing her wedding ring. She started to ask her about Stephen, but before she could, a flurry of activity in the hallway interrupted their conversation. “Code red in room two-sixteen, code red in room two-sixteen,” shouted a voice overthe PA system. Mindy immediately got up to leave. “I think that’s Thomas’s patient. Be back as soon as I can.”
    Sophie tucked Max into bed and then closed his door. She didn’t want him to be startled any more than she assumed he already was. However, Max, to her surprise, didn’t seem to notice the hospital hustle and bustle, but busied himself making a pretend rocket ship out of a folded lunch menu.
    She