Page 43 of Kent's Honor
“Everyone is doing incredibly well, considering.” Kent eased into the chair by the side of the bed.
“I’m real sorry about what I had to do. I tried to find other ways to approach the situation without blowing my cover.Kidnapping your family was the last thing I wanted to do. I did my best to keep them safe, and I would have stepped in front of a bullet to save them.”
“You kind of did that,” Kent said with a cheeky grin. “For which I will be forever grateful.”
“It’s my job. It’s what I signed on to do when I went undercover.” Simon shrugged. “But you’re no stranger to danger. Air Force. Firefighter. Aegis Network. Those are not for the faint of heart.”
“No, I guess not.” Kent nodded. “Listen, besides wanting to thank you personally for managing to reach me and the police and doing your best to diffuse the situation, I wanted to ask you if you would have a chat with my daughter Elle. While she’s bounced back and the therapist says she’s dealing with what happened incredibly well, she does occasionally have nightmares.”
“I’m not surprised by the bad dreams. What happened will haunt me for as long as I live. It doesn’t matter that I know I would have given up my cover if I had to in order to protect your daughter, but it doesn’t change the fact there were loaded guns.”
Kent took in a long breath. He wasn’t over that part and it might take the rest of his life to get that image out of his head. “Oddly, that’s not what she’s having nightmares about.”
Simon arched a brow.
“At first it was all about you dying. She’d wake up sobbing, begging me to call the hospital to check on you. Once you woke up, it became all about you slipping into a coma. For some reason, she feels responsible for what happened to you.”
“That’s a lot of worry for a little girl.”
“Unfortunately, she gets that from her old man,” Kent said. “Therapy is helping, but I thought it might do her some good to visit you. If that was okay.”
“Absolutely. I’d love to visit with her. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what an incredible young lady you have. She was quite brave. And Dixie, she really held it together when others might have completely lost it.”
“While I wished it had never happened or that I could have traded places with Dixie, I know how lucky I am that she was there and that she’s in my life.”
“She cared for that little girl like she was her own,” Simon said.
Thick emotion gathered in Kent’s throat. The bond that had developed between his daughter and Dixie was the kind of bond that couldn’t—and shouldn’t—be broken. He relished in watching them together as much as he enjoyed loving Nicky. It filled his heart and soul in ways he never expected. He fought the idea that bringing a woman into Elle’s life would be good for them as father and child.
He'd been wrong.
But so grateful he’d waited for the right lady to stroll into his life at exactly the right time.
“Let me text Elle. She’s in the waiting room with Dixie and her son down the hall.”
“I’m so sorry if I scared that little boy,” Simon said.
“He honestly barely remembers much. Little ones are resilient that way, but to err on the side of caution, his mother and I brought him to a pediatric psychologist who said he’s adjusting to the trauma appropriately, whatever that means.”
“I don’t have kids, so I can’t even begin to imagine what you all went through. I’m just glad it turned out the way it did.”
“We’re all incredibly grateful to your sacrifice and sincerely happy you’re going to walk out of this hospital.”
“I knew the risks when I went undercover eight months ago. It’s a hard life, and I look forward to some well-deserved time off,” Simon said.
“Will you go back to undercover work?”
“Probably,” Simon said. “I’m not an old man and like I said, I don’t have a family. It’s all I know and if I can get assholes off the streets, I’m glad to do it.”
Tap. Tap.
“Hi,” Elle said softly as she tentatively entered the room.
Kent looped his arm around his daughter. “Simon, you remember Elle.”
“I sure do.” He stretched out his hand. “Thank you for the cards and flowers. They have brightened up my room and have made me feel special.”
“I’m sorry that bad man shot you.” Elle sat on Kent’s knee—something she didn’t do often anymore. “How are you feeling?”
