Page 30 of Nolan

I pull back enough to look at his face. "How is she?"

"They're checking her now. Her fever was 104 when the paramedics arrived." His voice breaks. "I should have noticed sooner. She was fussy at bedtime, but I thought she was just tired."

"Hey," I say firmly, placing my hand on his arm. "Kids spike fevers fast. You did exactly the right thing calling the ambulance."

He nods, but I can see the guilt eating him alive. We settle into uncomfortable waiting room chairs, close enough that our shoulders touch. Neither of us mentions it. I want to bring up the kiss, to clear the air between us, but this isn't the time. Ashlynn is all that matters right now.

An hour passes slowly. Nolan gets up periodically to check with the front desk. I fetch us terrible coffee from a vending machine. We don't talk much, but the silence isn't awkward; it's the shared tension of two people waiting for news about someone they both love.

Finally, a doctor approaches. "Mr. King?"

Nolan stands immediately, and I follow. "Yes, how's my daughter?"

"I'm Dr. Chen. Ashlynn is stable, but her fever is still quite high. We've run some tests, and it appears she has influenza, the flu."

"The flu?" I repeat, relief and concern mingling. "But she had her flu shot."

Dr. Chen nods. "Unfortunately, the vaccine doesn't protect against all strains. And in young children, the flu can hit particularly hard. Given her age and the severity of her symptoms, we'd like to admit her for monitoring and to help manage her fever."

"Admit her?" Nolan's voice tightens. "For how long?"

"At least overnight, probably a couple of days. We need to get her fever under control and make sure she stays hydrated." Dr. Chen's voice is kind but firm. "You can see her now. We're preparing a room upstairs, but for now, she's still in the emergency department."

We follow Dr. Chen through swinging doors into the treatment area. Ashlynn looks tiny on the large hospital bed, her cheeks flushed with fever, her curls, so like Nolan's, dampagainst her forehead. Her eyes are closed, but they flutter open as we approach.

"Daddy," she whimpers, then her gaze finds me. "Anna."

"Hey, sweet girl," I say, moving to her bedside. Her little hand reaches for mine, and I take it, careful of the pulse oximeter clipped to her finger.

Nolan sits on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair. "The doctors are going to make you feel better, princess."

"I want to go home," she says, her voice scratchy and weak.

"Soon," Nolan promises. "But first, you need to get better. Belle and I are going to stay with you, okay?"

Her eyes move from him to me. "Promise?"

I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. "Promise."

A nurse comes in to check Ashlynn's vitals and explains they'll be moving her to the pediatric floor soon. She hands Nolan paperwork to fill out. As he steps away to complete it, I stay with Ashlynn, singing softly to her as she drifts in and out of sleep.

When they come to transport her upstairs, I step back, suddenly aware that I might be overstepping. This is his daughter, after all. I'm just the nanny. But as they're about to wheel her away, Nolan reaches for my hand.

"Come with us?" he asks, and there's vulnerability in his eyes I've never seen before. His hand reaches out to grab mine.

I nod, unable to speak past the emotion clogging my throat. Together, we follow Ashlynn's bed to the elevator, my hand still in his. Whatever awkwardness existed between us after that kiss seems to have dissolved in the face of this crisis. Right now, we're united by one thing: our love for the little girl who's captured both our hearts.

In her new room, the pediatric nurses work efficiently, connecting monitors and explaining everything they're doing. Ashlynn cries when they place an IV in her tiny arm, and I haveto bite my lip to keep from crying too. Nolan looks pale but stays strong, holding her other hand and telling her how brave she is. His jaw is working hard against the grinding of his teeth.

Once she's settled, medications administered, the room grows quiet except for the steady beep of monitors. Ashlynn eventually falls into a fitful sleep, and Nolan and I take up positions on either side of her bed.

"You should go home," he says after a while, his voice soft in the dimly lit room. "Get some rest. You didn't sign up for hospital duty."

"I'm exactly where I want to be," I tell him, and I mean it.

His eyes meet mine across Ashlynn's sleeping form, and a current passes between us, something powerful and undeniable.

"Annabelle, about last week,"

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