“The water was cold and dark, wasn’t it? Was it scary? Yeah? Well, we got you out, and now we’re taking good care of you.”
Daisy sat up, reaching for him, wanting him to hold her.
Jesse scooped her into his arms, and, careful of her IV and EKG lines, held her against his chest, the blanket wrapped tightly around her. He hummed to her, rocking back and forth, sometimes kissing her hair.
If Ellie hadn’t already been in love with him, she would have just fallen head over heels. She needed to tell him how she felt, but she didn’t want to freak him out. He’d told her not to expect more from him, and he’d kept his distance from her these past two weeks. The fact that he’d been there in a moment of crisis and had saved Daisy’s life didn’t change anything. He’d have done the same for anyone’s child.
He was just that kind of man.
Still, she wanted him to know how much he meant to her, even if he didn’t feel the same way. It was obvious that he cared for her. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, spending the night on a tiny folding bed that was about six inches too short for him.
If only he could see himself as she saw him. Or maybe it was better that he didn’t. It might have turned him into a pompous ass. His humbleness was one of the things she loved about him. Just now he hadn’t said, “I got you out of the water.” He’d used the word we, though he’d been the only one to go into the water after her.
He carefully lowered Daisy into her hospital bed, straightened out the tubes, and covered her with the blanket again. “Sleep, little angel. I’m not going anywhere.”
He walked back to his bed and stretched out beneath the blanket, seemingly unaware that Ellie was watching him.
*
Jesse didn’t sleep well, some part of him listening for Daisy all night long. He did manage to fall asleep early in the morning, only to be woken at the change of shift by a bright and cheery nurse named Aisha, who wanted to give him a hug.
She squeezed him tight. “I saw on TV what you did to save this precious angel. God put you in the right place at the right time, yes, sir, He did.”
Daisy woke up hungry and very cranky. Jesse couldn’t blame her, as she endured exams by a series of doctors and therapists—and a nasty blood test that made her cry.
“Her kidney, pulmonary, liver, and pancreatic tests are all normal,” said the last doctor, the one in charge. “We’ve detected no neurological deficits. I say we discharge her. Keep her on the antibiotics, and watch for coughing or fever or any other indication of infection. She is one lucky little girl.”
Ellie reached over and squeezed Jesse’s arm. “Yes, she is.”
Ellie’s parents arrived soon after that with Daniel, as well as a change of clothes for Ellie and Daisy.
Daniel’s face lit up when he saw his sister. He threw both arms in the air. “Day!”
Okay, that was cute as shit.
Ellie’s mother held her hands to her face, clearly choked up. “Daniel has asked about Daisy from the moment he woke up. They’ve never been apart like this before.”
Daisy was still upset about the blood test but seemed to draw comfort from Daniel, who hugged her and patted her and even offered her his blanket. Soon the two of them were chattering in a language Jesse didn’t understand, while Ellie and her parents worked out the logistics of how to get everyone home.
“We can put the child seats in Jesse’s Jeep, and he can drive us back. That way you don’t have to wait around.”
“What are you going to do about the reporters?” Ellie’s mother asked.
“Reporters?”
Shit.
Jesse had hoped it would’ve blown over by now.
“There are dozens of them outside,” her father said. “Turn on the television.”
The story was on almost every channel, complete with cell phone footage:
“Coming up next,” said one news announcer. “A Scarlet Springs toddler is rescued from freezing water by a former Army Ranger and brought back to life by doctors.”
Damn it.
The hospital administrator, an apple-shaped man in a suit, came down to invite Ellie, Daisy, and Jesse to be part of their press conference in an hour, a request that seemed to leave Ellie feeling torn.
“I guess I’ll do it,” she said. “It gives me a chance to thank publicly everyone who played a role in saving Daisy’s life.”
Jesse could understand her reasoning, but the idea of going in front of cameras, of all that attention, didn’t sit easy with him.
With the help of some of the nurses and one of the TV reporters, Ellie got a quick makeover—Jesse didn’t think she needed it, but she did. By the time she was ready, Daisy’s discharge papers were finished. They headed down the elevator together—the administrator, Ellie carrying, Daniel and Jesse carrying Daisy.