Page 50 of My One and Only

He held her gaze, and she stared right back. Finally, he eased himself down onto the bed. Set his head onto a pillow and closed his eyes.

She watched for a few minutes, and when his breathing became slow and regular, she tiptoed out of his room and closed the door.

What now? What were she and Fiona going to do? She’d talked a big game to Cam, but in reality, Jo had no idea how to keep a six-year-old girl entertained.

She found Fiona in the living room, looking at one of her books. Jo sat on the couch beside her. “You wanna read that book? Or have me read if to you?”

Fiona shook her head. “No. I wanna watch TV.”

“Is that what you usually do after school?”Jo asked.

Fiona nodded vigorously. “Yeah. When I’m at Grandma and Pop Pop’s house, I watch TV.”

Jo tilted her head. Fiona looked down, her eyes locked on her fingers, pleating the bottom of her sweater. So she was testing Jo. Seeing if she could put one over on her.

“Okay,” Jo said. “What do you usually watch?”

Fiona darted an anxious look at her. “Um, usually Sesame Street?”

Jo turned so she was facing Fiona. “You don’t sound sure about that, Fiona.”

“That’s ‘cause it depends on the day of the week,” Fiona said.

“Today is Wednesday,” Jo said. “What do you watch on Wednesday?”

Fiona broke and began giggling. “I don’t know. I don’t watch TV after school. I was joking you.”

Jo pressed her lips together to keep from giggling along with Fiona. “Okay. What do youreallydo after school?”she asked.

“My homework.” Fiona glanced at Jo, then looked away. “Grandma always says that if I get my homework done, I can have fun until it’s time to go to bed.”

Nodding sagely at Fiona, Jo said, “She’s a smart grandma. Let’s tackle your homework,” Jo said. “Your dad will be so happy when he wakes up and it’s already done. His head still hurts, so we don’t want to make him think too hard.”

Fiona pulled her lower lip into her mouth, her big blue eyes worried. “Why does Daddy’s head hurt?”she asked in a small voice.

Had Cam described for Fiona exactly what had happened to him? “What did your daddy tell you?”she asked.

“He said another truck hit his truck and he banged his head.” Fingers moving from her sweater, she twisted a piece of her hair around her finger. “Is my daddy gonna die?”

Jo’s heart ached for the frightened child. Did she know her mother had died in a car accident? Was she thinking about that and worrying that her father was going to die in the same way? Had anyone explained to Fiona exactly what had happened to her mother?

“Of course not, baby.” Jo reached for Fiona’s hand and twined their fingers together. “He has a concussion, which is a hurt head, because his head banged against the steering wheel. A concussion gives you a big headache for a while, but he’s getting better. He went to work today.” Jo smiled and nudged Fiona. “I had to get very bossy with him and make him take some Tylenol so his head didn’t hurt as much.”

“Did it work?”Fiona asked.

“I think so,” Jo said. “He’s not acting like his head hurts so much now.”

“I have to take Tylenol when I’m sick.” She screwed up her face. “I don’t like how it tastes.”

“Yeah, medicine usually doesn’t taste good. But it makes you feel better, doesn’t it?”

Fiona frowned, as if thinking about that. “Yeah,” she finally said. “I guess it does. Will Daddy keep feeling better?”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll feel better every day.”

“Good,” Fiona said, her lower lip trembling. “I don’t like it when Daddy is sick.”

“Of course you don’t. And your daddy doesn’t like it when you’re sick, either.”

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