by Pamela Clare
“That’s Wendy from the Scarlet Gazette. She had us figured out.”
When he stepped out of Hawke’s vehicle, Wendy hurried over to him, a copy of the statement Victoria had helped him write in her hand. “Please just answer a few questions for the hometown paper. Let us tell the story before the TV stations and the big papers get it. And, chief, I want to talk to you, too.”
Something in that touched Jesse, broke through his aggravation. “Okay, but can we sit in my vehicle? I’m freezing.”
They sat in the Jeep with the heat running, Jesse telling Wendy what had happened, answering her questions. She’d done her homework. She knew he was a member of the Team and a ski patroller. She also knew about his military service.
“So, you know the little girl and her mother?”
“We’re neighbors.” He left it at that.
“How long have you lived in Scarlet Springs?”
“It’s been almost three years. Still a newcomer, I guess.”
“You’re not a newcomer now, Mr. Moretti. You’re a hometown hero.”
Her words slid over him, strangely soothing.
They spoke for maybe twenty minutes, and then she let him go. “Thanks for what you did—and thanks for giving us a chance to tell the whole story first.”
She climbed out and went to pester Hawke, who waved to Jesse as he backed out of his parking spot and drove toward home and a hot shower.
Ellie went with her parents to the hospital cafeteria, more because they needed to talk than because she was hungry. They sat together at an open table, all of this feeling surreal to Ellie.
“I am so sorry. I let go of her hand to pay for cocoa and then zipped Daniel’s coat, and she was gone.”
Ellie saw the regret and anguish in her mother’s eyes and fought not to lash out at her. “I know it was an accident. I know you love her. You’ve done so much to help me with the twins. But, Mom, I’ve never been more afraid in my life. My baby girl… almost died today. Her heart quit beating. She wasn’t breathing. My Daisy Mae...”
Ellie dissolved into tears. They were tears of release now, washing the horror of the past few hours away.
Her mother wrapped an arm around her, while her father got to his feet, his arms encircling them both.
“She’s going to be okay,” he said.
Yes, she was going to be okay. She was breathing again. She’d woken up for a few minutes, reached for Ellie, and said, “Mama.”
It was the most beautiful sound Ellie had ever heard.
Thanks to Jesse.
They ended the embrace.
Ellie’s mother handed her a tissue. “I’ll understand if you want to find someone else to watch them when you work.”
“Mom, stop torturing yourself. It was an accident. Daisy is a handful. We all know that.” She told her parents how Daisy had stuck her hand on the waffle iron simply because Ellie had warned her not to. “No one I could pay to babysit her could love her more than you do.”
Ellie wiped her tears away, stood. “I want to get back upstairs.”
“We’re going to pick up Daniel from your sister’s house and take him home.” Her mother put her cell phone in Ellie’s hand. “You keep this so you can stay in touch.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Jesse was sitting outside the Pediatric ICU, waiting for her, the sight of him putting a lump in her throat and making her heart soar. He stood when he saw her, and she ran to him, sinking into his embrace, tears streaming down her cheeks again.
“Thank you.” She said the words again and again. “Thank God for you. Thank you for saving Daisy. I was so afraid.”
He kissed her hair, held her tight. “I know. Me, too.”
Holding hands, they walked together into the PICU and back to Daisy’s bed.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” Ellie squeezed his hand. “She’s alive because of you.”
Of course, a lot of people deserved credit—Hawke, Silver, the ER staff, the paramedics and nurses on the Life Flight helicopter, the doctors and nurses here at Children’s Hospital. But none of them would have been able to do a thing for Daisy if Jesse hadn’t gotten her out of the water so quickly.
Jesse reached out, smoothed the hair off Daisy’s forehead. “I was so afraid I wouldn’t find her. I went under, and it was so dark. I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t see anything. The cold was unreal. I knew she would drown, go into cardiac arrest. I heard you scream, saw you there. And the look on your face… Jesus, Ellie.”
His voice was tight now. “I swore to myself that I wouldn’t come up again unless I found her.”
“God, Jesse.” What a terrible vow to make.
He went on. “She had drifted with the current. I let it pull me, too, reaching for her. If it hadn’t been for her little hat … I felt that tassel, pulled her hat off. But I knew where she was then. I swam to her, pulled her to me and doubled back, trying to find the hole in the ice before I blacked out. Everything after that is a blur.”
Ellie’s stomach churned to hear what he’d gone through, to know how very close she’d come to losing Daisy—and Jesse, too. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. I was so afraid I was going to lose you both.”
Daisy stirred, opened her eyes, reaching with one hand for Ellie. “Mama.”
Then her gaze shifted to Jesse, her little lips curving in a smile. “Jesse.”
He bent down, kissed her cheek. “I’m right here, Daisy. We’re both right here.”
Ellie sang to her little girl, rubbing her back, stroking her hair, until she was sleeping again. Then Ellie brought Jesse up to date. “They need to make sure she’s suffered no organ damage before we go home. Her heart and kidneys seem to be doing okay, but they’re worried about pneumonia. They’re giving her antibiotics and watching her for any signs of organ failure.”
A nurse walked in behind them. “I’m sorry, but only family members are allowed. Your friend is going to have to go.”
Ellie turned to face her. “He is family. He’s the one who saved her life. He’s her stepfather.”
“Okay, well, I’m going to need him to sign in, and we’ll get him a wristband.”
“Thanks.” Ellie looked up to see what Jesse thought of her little lie.
A dark eyebrow arched, his lips curving in a smile. “Stepfather?”
Ellie managed to find an extra sleeper chair and, with Jesse’s help, dragged it into Daisy’s room so that he could stay overnight, too.
“I’m not leaving her, and I’m not leaving you,” he’d said. “Matt called and told me he doesn’t want me coming in tomorrow anyway.”
Ellie fell into an exhausted sleep somewhere close to midnight but woke a short time later to the sound of Daisy’s voice. She sat up, found Jesse standing next to Daisy’s bed, holding her little hand.
“Cold,” she whimpered.
“Are you cold? Well, old Jesse here will get you a warmer blanket.”
“Water cold.”
Ellie got a knot in her chest. She had wondered what Daisy would remember about what had happened, if anything.
“The water was cold and dark, wasn’t it? Was it scary? Yeah? Well, we got you out, and now we’re taking good care of you.”
Daisy sat up, reaching for him, wanting him to hold her.
Jesse scooped her into his arms, and, careful of her IV and EKG lines, held her against his chest, the blanket wrapped tightly around her. He hummed to her, rocking back and forth, sometimes kissing her hair.
If Ellie hadn’t already been in love with him, she would have just fallen head over heels. She needed to tell him how she felt, but she didn’t want to freak him out. He’d told her not to expect more from him, and he’d kept his distance from her these past two weeks. The fact that he’d been there in a moment of crisis and had saved Daisy’s life didn’t change anything. He’d have done the same for anyone’s child.
He was just that kind of man.
Still, she wanted him to know how much he meant to her, even if he
didn’t feel the same way. It was obvious that he cared for her. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, spending the night on a tiny folding bed that was about six inches too short for him.
If only he could see himself as she saw him. Or maybe it was better that he didn’t. It might have turned him into a pompous ass. His humbleness was one of the things she loved about him. Just now he hadn’t said, “I got you out of the water.” He’d used the word we, though he’d been the only one to go into the water after her.
He carefully lowered Daisy into her hospital bed, straightened out the tubes, and covered her with the blanket again. “Sleep, little angel. I’m not going anywhere.”
He walked back to his bed and stretched out beneath the blanket, seemingly unaware that Ellie was watching him.
Jesse didn’t sleep well, some part of him listening for Daisy all night long. He did manage to fall asleep early in the morning, only to be woken at the change of shift by a bright and cheery nurse named Aisha, who wanted to give him a hug.
She squeezed him tight. “I saw on TV what you did to save this precious angel. God put you in the right place at the right time, yes, sir, He did.”
Daisy woke up hungry and very cranky. Jesse couldn’t blame her, as she endured exams by a series of doctors and therapists—and a nasty blood test that made her cry.
“Her kidney, pulmonary, liver, and pancreatic tests are all normal,” said the last doctor, the one in charge. “We’ve detected no neurological deficits. I say we discharge her. Keep her on the antibiotics, and watch for coughing or fever or any other indication of infection. She is one lucky little girl.”
Ellie reached over and squeezed Jesse’s arm. “Yes, she is.”
Ellie’s parents arrived soon after that with Daniel, as well as a change of clothes for Ellie and Daisy.
Daniel’s face lit up when he saw his sister. He threw both arms in the air. “Day!”
Okay, that was cute as shit.
Ellie’s mother held her hands to her face, clearly choked up. “Daniel has asked about Daisy from the moment he woke up. They’ve never been apart like this before.”
Daisy was still upset about the blood test but seemed to draw comfort from Daniel, who hugged her and patted her and even offered her his blanket. Soon the two of them were chattering in a language Jesse didn’t understand, while Ellie and her parents worked out the logistics of how to get everyone home.
“We can put the child seats in Jesse’s Jeep, and he can drive us back. That way you don’t have to wait around.”
“What are you going to do about the reporters?” Ellie’s mother asked.
“Reporters?”
Shit.
Jesse had hoped it would’ve blown over by now.
“There are dozens of them outside,” her father said. “Turn on the television.”
The story was on almost every channel, complete with cell phone footage:
“Coming up next,” said one news announcer. “A Scarlet Springs toddler is rescued from freezing water by a former Army Ranger and brought back to life by doctors.”
Damn it.
The hospital administrator, an apple-shaped man in a suit, came down to invite Ellie, Daisy, and Jesse to be part of their press conference in an hour, a request that seemed to leave Ellie feeling torn.
“I guess I’ll do it,” she said. “It gives me a chance to thank publicly everyone who played a role in saving Daisy’s life.”
Jesse could understand her reasoning, but the idea of going in front of cameras, of all that attention, didn’t sit easy with him.
With the help of some of the nurses and one of the TV reporters, Ellie got a quick makeover—Jesse didn’t think she needed it, but she did. By the time she was ready, Daisy’s discharge papers were finished. They headed down the elevator together—the administrator, Ellie carrying, Daniel and Jesse carrying Daisy.
The moment they stepped into the room, cameras began clicking, so many of them going at once that it sounded like insects. Daisy and Daniel glanced around, taking it all in, the two of them more focused on each other than the sea of adults around them. The hospital had set up a long table with a white tablecloth, the administrator and Daisy’s primary physician taking their places and motioning for Ellie and Jesse to do the same.
The administrator spoke first, then Daisy’s doctor answered medical questions. Then the administrator introduced Ellie, Jesse, and the twins, who drew laughter by completely ignoring what was going on around them.
Ellie made a statement. “I would like to thank all of the first responders who helped keep Daisy and Jesse alive yesterday—Eric Hawke and Brandon Silver from the Scarlet Springs Fire Department, Megs Hill and the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team, Life Flight, and the doctors and nurses here at Children’s Hospital and at Mountain Memorial in Scarlet Springs.”
“Do you have any questions for Ms. Meeks?” the administrator asked.
“Where were you when your daughter fell into the water?”
“How did it feel to see Daisy fall into the water?”
“Daisy’s father died serving his country, isn’t that right?”
Ellie did her best to answer them. “I was at work. I’m an RN and was working at the first-aid tent. I didn’t see her fall in. I heard my mother scream and heard her shout Daisy’s name. When I stepped out of the tent, I saw Jesse jump into the water, and I knew what must have happened. I was terrified—for both of them. Yes, Daisy and Daniel’s father died in Iraq about three and a half years ago.”
“How old are the twins?”
“They’ll be three in April.”
Jesse didn’t have a statement, but the reporters seemed to have saved most of their questions for him.
“What went through your mind when you were in the water?”
“How cold was that water?”
“Did you worry that you might die, too?”
“Did your combat experience as an Army Ranger prepare you to act yesterday?”
“You’re Ms. Meeks’ neighbor, correct? Housing records show you bought the house near hers a couple of years ago. What is your relationship with Ms. Meeks? Are you two friends, or is there something more?”
“Do you think of yourself as a hero?”
Jesse gave short answers, wanting to get this bullshit over with as fast as possible. “What was going through my mind? I just wanted to find Daisy. The water was about thirty-four degrees—just above freezing. No, I didn’t think about that. I was focused on finding Daisy. As a Ranger, I’ve been trained to act. I’m Ms. Meeks’ neighbor and friend. I’ve watched her twins before. I was volunteering in the first-aid tent, too, on behalf of Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team when the incident occurred. My relationship with Ms. Meeks is none of anyone’s business. No, ma’am, I was in the right place at the right time and did what anyone would have done.”
Then one of the reporters asked the twins a question. “Are you happy to be going home, Daisy? Are you glad to have your sister back, Daniel?”
Daniel looked at the reporter, then hugged his sister. “Day!”
The room dissolved into a chorus of “Awwww.”
Chapter 23
“I’m sorry about how the press conference went.” Ellie knew Jesse hadn’t wanted to be a part of it. “I had no idea their questions would get personal.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault.”
It was a long drive home, so she used the time to call Pauline. She apologized for missing work today—and for not calling sooner.
“We managed. Your friends on the Team stepped up to help out with the first-aid tent today, so it’s covered.” There was a hint of disapproval in her voice. “You were right about it being a bad idea to bring your children. You should have stuck with your first instinct.”
It took Ellie a moment. “I didn’t bring them. My parents were watching them all day and brought them to SnowFest to see the snowmen. I wasn’t with them when Daisy… when Daisy fell in.”
; “Oh! I thought… Okay, well, that changes things. I’m just glad it all turned out well for your little girl. I marked you out as sick today. You’ll need to check with HR, but I think you’ve got only one paid sick day left, and it’s still January.”
“Pauline, my daughter almost died. She went into cardiac arrest. She was blue and lifeless when she came out of that water. A dozen people fought for an hour to bring her back to me. Do you think I care about how many sick days I have? I will make do. I always have. I am a widow, the only parent my children have. They are my priority.”
Pauline was silent for a moment. “Of course they are. I’m sorry. Sometimes I get too focused on the business element of this job. Let us know if you need anything.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Jesse looked over at her when she ended the call. “Your boss is an A-S-S.”
“Yeah, sometimes she is.”
“Damn.” Jesse muttered the word under his breath. “I need to reach Nate. The skijoring race starts in about three hours. I don’t know if he’s heard what happened or whether he’s tried to call me. I don’t want him to show up with Buckwheat if I’m not there. That would be a lot of work for nothing.”
“You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?” Then she realized he might not physically feel up to it. “Are you feeling bad or—”
“No, it’s nothing like that. You’ve been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. I don’t feel like adding to that by breaking my neck.”
Ellie reached over, gave this thigh a squeeze. “I appreciate your thinking of me, but if you want to race, you should race. I felt better about the whole thing after watching you run the course with Nate a few times.”
Okay, she’d barely been able to breathe each time, but she’d felt better afterward. Jesse was such a natural athlete that he’d made it look easy. Yes, she would feel relieved if he withdrew from the race, but it had to be his decision. Asking Jesse to stop participating in dangerous mountain sports would be like asking Dan to give up flying. She hadn’t had the heart to take the sky away from Dan, and she couldn’t take this away from Jesse, even if it scared the hell out of her.
