Page 87 of The Off-Limits Play

Her lips rise into a cute grin, and she walks into the room carrying a plastic case no doubt filled with toys. Leaning against the edge of the bed, she lets out a sigh. She’s so short and little. It’s adorable.

“Do you remember me?” I ask her, playing with the ends of my hair. Thanks to the rain and sleeping without it wrapped properly, it’s a curly, frizzy mess right now. “I read stories to you the other night.”

She nods and rests her chin in her hand.

“Is your tummy all better now?”

“Yep.” She perks up, then looks me over. “You sick?”

“No.” I shake my head, and her lips curl into a disappointed frown. I glance at the plastic case in her hand and am fighting a grin when I tell her, “But you know… I did hurt my knee last night. I might have to go to the doctor. I’m not sure.”

Her face lights with glee, and she pings up straight. “Me doctor!” She points to herself, then slaps the plastic case on the bed and pops it open.

It’s filled with all the toy medical equipment Amina was obsessed with when she was Zoey’s age. I remember having to sit there for what felt like hours having my blood pressure taken and heartbeat checked with her big, plastic stethoscope.

And that’s exactly where Zoey starts.

She misses one of her ears, and the stethoscope starts sliding down her cheek as she tries to find my heartbeat in my stomach.

“You know.” I correct the equipment for her and move the pad up to my chest. “You can find my heartbeat here. Or…” I take her two little fingers and press them against the pulse in my neck. “Here.”

She gasps, blinks at me, then scrambles to poke at my neck again. I help her, and she feels my pulse with this awestruck look on her face.

“You’ve got one too.” Taking her hand, I guide it to her neck and find her pulse, then lay her fingers over it. “That’s your heartbeat. That’s what tells you you’re alive. That you have blood pumping through your body.”

“I got one!” She jumps on her toes.

“Yes, you do, Dr. Zoey. Good job.”

She giggles then reaches into her kit for the toy pressure cuff. Putting it around my arm, she gives it a pump and then systematically removes each item from her kit and tries it out on me. The toy Band-Aid sits sideways on my wrist, the reflex hammer lightly hits a bunch of different points of my body, and then she’s squirting imaginary cream on my cheeks and neck before rubbing it in with her little fingers.

She’s seriously so adorable.

“All healfy now?”

“Oh yes. You made me all better, Dr. Zoey. Thank you so?—”

My words cut off when Carson appears in the doorway. He still looks a little banged up, and the bruise on his chin is kind of nasty, but at least he doesn’t have any black eyes. He’s carrying a mug of what I assume is coffee and a glass of water. There’s also a blister pack of pain meds between his teeth. He jerks to a stop when he spots Zoey, narrowing his eyes at her.

She grins back, obviously knowing she’s not supposed to be in here but giving him her bestest eyes so he’ll melt into a puddle.

I think it’s working, because his lips are twitching and he only lets out a very low, soft growl.

Zoey giggles, and I share a quick grin with Carson when he walks around her to place the mug and glass on the nightstand.

“Zoey! Where are you, lil’ bug?” Zander calls from down the hallway.

Zoey bulges her eyes and quickly darts out of the room.

As soon as she’s gone, Carson lets out a soft chuckle, shaking his head and perching on the edge of the bed.

Damn, he’s fine.

I brush my hand over my frizzy hair, suddenly self-conscious. I need a straightener and makeup, stat.

But Carson doesn’t seem to notice or mind what I look like as he gazes at me, his eyes glimmering with something that makes my chest warm and tingly.

Stretching his arm across my body, he rests his left hand on the mattress and lightly traces the edge of my face with his right finger. “You sleep okay?”

---