Page 85 of Single-Minded
“Can you go in the kitchen and grab a bunch of paper towels?” I asked her, hoping to clean some of the blood and staunch the flow.
Both twins raced inside.
As I reached the patio, West came up behind me and put his hand on my back.
“How are we doing, princess?” he cooed to his youngest, whose cries had lessened slightly in intensity.
“It…hurts…Daddy,” Nova said between shaky inhales. “It hurrrrts.” She cried harder into my shoulder.
West said into my ear, “I’m going to call the doctor’s office so he and his nurse can meet us.”
Scarlet brought us a handful of paper towels. West thanked her, pulled out his phone, dialed the doctor, and then gently dabbed at Nova’s head as the call rang on speaker.
Eight minutes later, he helped me out of the back seat of his SUV, Nova still in my arms, the twins emerging from the other side.
“Do you want to take my keys and go home?” West asked me.
I shook my head. “I’m good. Let’s get this little girl some relief.”
With his hand on my waist as he stood behind me, he said into my ear, “Thank you. You’re incredible.”
To be honest, I was more than a little shaken, but I wasn’t about to desert him. He had his hands full, and he had to be freaking out, even if he hid it.
He had a lot to handle all the time with these three but particularly so when something awful like this happened. But West didn’t waver. He was the pillar of strength and comfort his daughters needed.
I couldn’t help but wonder who was there for him when he needed a backup or extra reassurance.
Chapter Twenty-Three
West
Dr. Julian’s nurse let us in the closed clinic and had us all wait in the lobby for the doctor to arrive. I sat next to Presley, feeling bad that she still carried Nova, but my daughter was glued to her, and Presley insisted she was doing okay.
Sienna and Scarlet scampered over to the kids’ corner and played with the giant bead roller coaster even though they were probably too old for it. They were being calm and patient so far, which wasn’t always the case.
“So this guy is always on call?” Presley asked in a hushed voice.
“I guess he is. Has been since I was a kid.” I leaned over to look at my daughter’s head yet again. The bleeding had slowed, and her sobs were down to an occasional hiccup.
There was nothing worse than your kid hurting, whether it was physical or emotional. I pressed a kiss to her head, far from the wound, and checked the time, as if that would get the doctor here faster.
Presley met my gaze and took her hand off Nova for long enough to rub my upper arm briefly. It didn’t solve a thing, but that little gesture made it seem like, for once, I wasn’t on my own with one of my daughters’ challenges, even as I worried about keeping Presley here for too long when she might’ve had other plans.
“Whenever you need to go, let me know,” I told her. “I can handle these princesses.”
“I’m up for whatever I can do to help. If that means being a human bean bag chair, I’m on it,” she joked, then kissed Nova’s forehead.
Something in my chest dipped at that sight, but I didn’t let myself think too hard about it.
“Daddy, are we gonna be here for a long time?” Scarlet asked across the room.
“It’s gonna take a bit for Doc Julian to look Nova over and mend her up.”
“I’m hungry,” Scarlet said.
“Me too,” Sienna chimed in.
That’s when the time registered. It was going on seven o’clock. String cheese didn’t go that far.
