Page 19 of SEAL's Angel
Dawn walked over to where Jake and Cindy sat, chatting. The conversation looked serious, but by the time she got close enough to hear, they’d spotted her and stopped talking.
Jake stood up as she approached. “What did she say?”
“She’s checking to see if they’re back yet. But since it’s a quiet night, they will let us all go back and see him.”
“Yay.” Cindy almost spilled her cocoa as she jumped up and down. “Wilbrr can’t wait to give him a hug.”
“Who’s Wilbur?” Jake asked.
“He’s Wilbrr.” Cindy held the stuffed penguin up for Jake to see.
“Ahh, I see. Did you name him that?”
“His real name is Will, but he’s always cold, so I added brrr—Wilbrr. See?”
“That makes perfect sense to me.” Jake humored her daughter, and it pulled on her heartstrings.
Before she’d met Jake on one of her visits to see Rafe years ago, she’d only heard stories about their fearless team leader. Her brother had said he was more reserved than the other guys, and they didn’t know much about his past. But he didn’t come across as reserved with her even before she lost Bob.
“Mrs. Randolph?” the volunteer asked.
“Yes?” Dawn walked toward the front desk.
“You can go back now. Your son has returned from X-ray.”
“Wonderful. And they can come with me, right?”
“Yes. I checked with the doctor on duty, and he said it was fine. I’ll take you back there now.”
They followed the woman through a couple of doors and into a large room separated into cubicles by curtains. All of them were open but two.
The woman pointed to the first one. “Your son is in that one.”
“Thank you so much.” Dawn’s heart almost beat out of her chest as they approached the curtained off area. Then she heard Chase and Rafe talking.
Dawn pulled back the curtain. Chase was lying in the bed with pillows propped under his right foot. Rafe was sitting in a chair next to the bed.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Rafe said, then nodded as she met his gaze.
“Chase,” Cindy practically screeched and rushed past Dawn to get to her brother. “Are you okay? Mommy was so worried, and the police came, and I got a sticker. Don’t be mad, but I told them about Joey.” All the words tumbled out of her mouth until she had to take a breath. “I brought Wilbrr to give you a hug and make you feel better.”
Chase smiled and hugged his sister and the penguin, and Dawn’s heart squeezed even tighter. He was okay. Sure, his hair was messed up, and he had some cuts and scratches on his cheeks, but he was sitting and talking. She didn’t know if he’d broken his ankle or foot or just sprained it, but he really was okay.
It was hard not to burst into tears and hug him close, but Cindy needed her time, too. Jake stood behind Dawn and rested his hand on the small of her back. His touch helped more than she wanted to admit.
“Cindy, why don’t we give your mom a chance to hug Chase now.” Rafe lifted her onto his lap.
Dawn sat on the other side of the bed and searched Chase’s face until she stared into his blue eyes that reminded her so much of Bob. Then she wrapped her arms around him, making sure not to squeeze him too hard. She sighed with relief when she finally had him in her arms.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” he said as he hugged her. “I got so mad, and I didn’t want to be around anyone.”
“It’s okay. We’ll talk about it after we get back home. I’m just so happy Uncle Rafe found you.”
“Me, too. It was so dark and creepy. Not like when we went camping with Dad.”
“I bet. Let’s not do this again, okay?”
“I won’t. Are you going to ground me?” Chase asked as she pulled away and looked at him.
