BROCK SLIPPED into Josie’s hospital room and settled in the chair next to her bed. He leaned his head against the back of it and closed his eyes.
Fuck, he was tired.
The doctors wanted Josie to stay overnight for observation and Brock had no problem with that. His place was so not kid friendly.
A call in to his secretary, with apologies for the late hour, ensured that there would at least be Cheerios and milk in his kitchen and toys in his living room when he brought her home. Because he would be bringing her home; Eric was still in surgery, the nurse having strict orders to come tell him the minute there was any news. What he did know was that, no matter how the surgery went, Eric was going to be in the hospital for a while.
But from one growly report from Max, Gordon was making the nursing staff’s life a misery, even as weak as he was. It was a worry, but one that could wait….
He had no clue how the kids who had taken Josie were doing, but frankly, he didn’t care beyond wanting them in a jail cell for a good, long time. He sighed and tried to push it all away. He needed to get some sleep because tomorrow was promising to be a bear.
“Brock? Brock, I’m here. You can go home, now.” Oh, God. Ellora.
He got up and made his way quickly out the door to where Ellora was being held back by the cop assigned to keep Josie safe.
“Would you be quiet—she’s sleeping!”
“I talked to Mom. We’ll just take her to my house until….” She started fluttering, tearing up.
He patted her back awkwardly and pulled her over a few feet away from the uniformed cop. “Eric asked me to take her.”
“Why?” The word was immediate, suspicious, and remarkably unfriendly.
“Because that’s what he wanted.” He figured that would go over better than “because he didn’t want you to take her.”
“He’s in a coma. She needs her family.”
He folded his arms across his chest. It was the last thing Eric had asked him to do—he was going to make sure it was done. “With his last conscious breath, he told me he wanted me to take her, not you.”
El’s eyes went wide. “You bastard!”
“Hey, I tried to be nice about it—you weren’t going to let it go.”
“She needs her family!” El was about to lose it.
He grabbed her arm and dragged her off down the hall. “Would you keep your voice down? Right now she needs her sleep.”
“He’s not conscious. What if he doesn’t wake up?” Jesus.
“You would go right there, wouldn’t you? What if he does, El? What if he wakes up tomorrow and finds out you stormed in here and started upsetting Josie?”
“That’s not what I meant… I meant….” Her eyes filled with tears.
He sighed and patted her back—he was going to be an old hand at this soon. “Look. She’s fine. Go home and get some sleep, okay? There’s nothing anyone can do here.”
“Mother is in with him. Did… do you want to go over and see him?”
His jaw tightened, his teeth clenching. Did he? Yeah, he probably did. But he’d made Eric a promise. “I have to stay with Josie.”
“I’ll go to the house and get her some clothes and a toy, if you have a key….”
Why wouldn’t she have a key? He had Eric’s wallet, keys, phone. The EMT had made sure he had it. He found the house key and took it off the ring, handed it over, trying to ignore the drop of blood staining the metal.
“Okay. You should pack a suitcase for her, clothes, toys, things she’s gonna need for a few days, then bring it back here.”
“I will.” She nodded, tried to smile. “I need your cell number, huh?”
He rattled off the number. “Just don’t abuse it, hmm?”
“Fuck you.” Now, that was blunt.
“You’re not my type.” God, no. In fact, she made him a little filled with rage.
A nurse stopped at the door to Josie’s room and spoke to the cop, who stepped aside, letting her in.
“I have to go,” he told El, not waiting for an answer before turning on his heel and heading back into Josie’s room.
The nurse was tiptoeing around the room, checking on the little girl without waking her, nodding to him silently. Thank God.
She seemed happy enough with the things she checked, and she left quietly.
Brock sat again, but he couldn’t close his eyes, couldn’t make himself relax. He could see Eric, covered in blood, struggling to breathe. Looking at him like he could fix all this, make it all better.
Jesus, he didn’t even know if they’d caught the kids who’d done this.
Then there was Gordon. The last he’d seen of the man, he was bleeding all over his white shirt.
If he could get ahold of Max again, he’d bet Max could much update him on everything; the big cop was Gordon’s lover. He stood up, headed for the door, dialed Gordon’s cell.
Surprisingly, Gordon himself answered. “Boss.”
“Hey, you’re still conscious.” That was a good sign. Although Gordon was so stubborn, the man could have been at death’s door.
“Yeah. I had two through-and-throughs. Shoulder and thigh. You?”
“Not a scratch.” He’d been winded when he’d fallen rescuing Josie, but that was the worst of it for him. Aside from suddenly having to play Daddy. “You know what’s going on?”
“Yeah. How much you want?”
“Everything. Start with Eric.” He didn’t want to spend the entire conversation dreading the news.
“He’s in a coma. They think he’ll wake up soon. He’s…. Well, he’s torn up, but he’ll live, they think.”
He didn’t realize quite how tense he’d been about that until he heard the words and every bone in his body disappeared. It was a good thing he had a chair handy. As it was, he nearly dropped the phone.
“That’s good news,” he finally managed.
“Yeah. The one kid didn’t make it, Boss. The one shooting. The one on the four-wheeler is still at large.”
“Who took the kid out?”
“Max.” Gordon’s voice was flat.
Shit.
“It was a good shooting, though, right?” The kid had been shooting at everything that moved.
“Yeah, but you know how it is. He was fifteen. It’s gonna be… an issue.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sorry, man. Max saved all our lives, though. They got the girl in custody?”
“Both girls, yeah. The one girl worked at the day care part-time. No one ever questioned her when she took the little girl out.”
He shook his head. “Why, Gord? Why’d they do it? They know teachers don’t make jack shit.”
“The little redhead said that they were mad about some paper that was coming due. They wanted more time.”
“So they kidnap the teacher’s kid and ask for a hundred thousand dollar ransom? They fail at life, let alone a paper.”
“I know, Boss. It’s something else.”
“There anything else I need to know?”
“There’s one still out there. Your man’s going to need some help when he gets out of here, and I’ll probably need two weeks off.”
“Whatever you need, Gordon—in-home nursing, whatever, it’s yours.” He’d do the same for Eric. In fact, he was moving Eric and Josie in with him, where there was proper security, until the lunatic still out there was caught.
“Thanks, Boss. You need help, holler.”
“I know. Thanks. Go see your man and let him take care of you.”
“Yeah.” The phone went dead, and he tried to breathe again.
He started making a list of things Stephanie needed to deal with for him. Kidproofing his place. A bed and nursing care for Eric. Extra security.
When all else failed, work.
BROCK COULD hear someone crying. It was annoying, and he put his arm over his ear. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to have to deal with it.
He was still tired, damn it. He’d been up late.
“Daddy! I want my DADDY!”
He jerked wide-awake. Some things were impossible to sleep through. “Josie.”
“Daddy!” She was standing up on the bed, clinging to the bars, crying and screaming, her black hair wild around her. He remembered pictures at his nonna’s house of himself with his hair looking very much the same way. Weird.
“Josie!” He stood and went to pick her up. “Hey. Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. I’m Brock.”
“Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.”
“I was good enough last night,” he pointed out, hand patting her back.
She sniffled, snuggled in. “Daddy. Daddy.”
Maybe Brock was hard to say. “I’m your daddy’s friend, B.”
“B?” This was quieter at least. “Daddy. B.”
“Yeah, we’ll see if we can find out how he’s doing, hmm?”
Tiny little arms wrapped around his neck, holding on tight. Oh, that was sweet.
He carried her out into the corridor.
The police officer looked up at him, eyebrow rising. “Everything okay, sir?”
“Yeah, we just need to find out what’s going on with her daddy.” He wasn’t sure if seeing Eric hurt would be a good idea, but they both needed to know how Eric was.
“Would you like an escort, sir?”
“Do we need one?”
“Probably not, but it’s my job.” The guy winked, smiled.
Brock actually chuckled, and he was surprised by how good that felt. “Let’s go, then.”
“I’ll radio over.”
They hit the nurses’ station first and got a tight-lipped look. “I’m taking her. I just wanted to let you know where she was.” Brock was not taking no for an answer. The nurse finally gave them a terse nod and he started walking, moving across the hospital corridor.
“Are you hungry?” he asked Josie. Had she had anything to eat aside from that cookie since yesterday afternoon? Hell, had he?
She looked at him, frowned. “Bekfast?”
“Yeah. Yeah, eggs and bacon and toast.” A cup of fucking coffee or four.
“Eggies.” That was a very definite nod.
“Cool.” He’d bet the cafeteria could handle eggies.
“Any news on Eric?” Brock asked the officer as he finished on the walkie-talkie.
“No change, sir. Stable but unresponsive.”
“What if we have eggies before we go see your daddy? I bet you’re hungry.”
She nodded hard and gave him a beautiful smile. He could see why Eric had fallen in love with her. He smiled back and they turned right at the next corridor, following the signs for the cafeteria.
“Oooh… muffies.” She pointed to the danishes in the display case. “Please.”
He nodded and shifted her to one arm. He put a tray on the metal bars and grabbed a strawberry one. “This one good?”
She looked, nodded, then pointed. “O juice.”
“Orange juice, okay.” He grabbed a blueberry danish for himself, and then the container of orange juice. “How do you like your eggies?”
She looked at him, utterly confused.
“Um… you like your eggs with runny yellows or hard yellows?”
“No goo.”
“Ah.” He turned to the lady behind the counter. “Two egg specials, one over hard, the other over easy, one with bacon, one with sausage, please.”
“Yes, sir. Would you like coffee?”
“God, yes.”
She chuckled and pointed to the carafe next to the cash register.
It didn’t take long for their breakfasts to be ready, but with the full tray, there was no way he could carry it and her. “I’m going to have to set you down.”
She blinked at him. “Chair?”
“Yeah, in a minute. We need to pay first, okay?” He set her down. Her arms wrapped around his leg. He looked down at her and chuckled. “Well, you’re a little monkey, aren’t you?”
Those black eyes looked up at him and went wide. “Not a monkey! A Josie!” She looked at him and laughed.
“Yeah, you are.” He smiled down at her. She was cute, all right.
“That’ll be twelve-fifty.”
He looked up and paid the cashier.
“She’s beautiful. How old is she?”
“Uh… three. She’s just turned three.”
“Oh, she’s a doll. The booster seats are over in the corner.”
“Booster seats?” What the hell?
“Yes, sir. For your little girl?”
“Okay, thanks.” He wasn’t sure what a booster seat was, but he guessed Josie could live without one. He gave the cashier another nod and gathered up the tray.
The uniform gave him a smirk. “I’ll get it while you find a table, sir.”
He growled a little under his breath, Josie clinging to his leg while he walked. Step. Drag. Step. Drag. He picked a table close to the cashier’s stand.
Once he got the tray on the table, he picked her back up and sat with her in his lap.
“Want Daddy.” She looked about as confused as he felt.
“I know. I want him, too, huh?” He squeezed her a bit. “Let’s eat breakfast and then go find him, huh?”
“’Kay. Find.” She grabbed the danish, little fingers pushing in.
“Yeah. Here.” He took the pastry from her. “You split it in half, see? Like this.”
He cut the danish in half and put some butter on it. She ate about half of the muffin and four bites of eggs before she started to flutter.
The officer finally came back with what had to be the booster seat.
“Oh, man—she’s not going to sit in that.” So far she hadn’t been interested in not being held.
“No?”
Josie shook her head. “No. Stay with… with… with the man.”
“Brock. My name is Brock.”
“Rock?”
“Close. B-B-Brock. With a B.”
“B. B. B.” She leaned in, fingers playing with the buttons on his not-too-terribly-fresh shirt.
“Yeah, like buttons.” God, he needed to go home. Change clothes.
“Brock Vencenza. What are you doing with my granddaughter?” God, Eric’s mother looked like shit.
Josie clung harder. He slid his arm around her. “Feeding her breakfast.”
Maybe Ann had news about Eric.
“I know Eric hasn’t talked to me in a long time, but I can’t believe he’d want you to have her!”
Josie whimpered, pressing closer to him. What? Okay, he needed Eric to wake up and give him some history here.
“I’m looking after her until he’s better. He’ll be staying with me, too.” He could afford the care Eric was going to need. Not to mention the security.
“Not if I can help it, no matter what his goddamned will says! I’m his mother!”
“He’s not dead, Ann!” Damn it, Eric had better wake the fuck up and soon.
Josie started to cry, fingers in his shirt. “B. B. B.”
“Okay, Josie, don’t cry, please.” He patted her back and glared at Ann. “We’re going now.”
“See? You made her cry!” She reached for Josie and Josie squealed in panic, holding on to him.
“No, ma’am—that one’s all on you.” He got up and stepped away from the table, away from Eric’s mother.
“Daddy.” Josie sounded very sure of herself.
“That’s right; we’re going to go find your daddy.”
He caught sight of himself, walking by the window. Holding a child. Weird.
He could see the officer trailing them, but he couldn’t see Ann. Thank God. He didn’t want a scene in the hospital. He had a hunch he should call Devon, his lawyer, sooner rather than later to get this all sorted.
“Turn right here, sir. Then we’ll take the elevator to three and cross the skyway.”
“Thanks.” It was nice having someone not wanting to know why he had Josie. “Do you have kids?”
“Yes, sir. I have four.”
“Four? Wow.” Four. That was a lot of rug rats running around. “Then maybe you can tell me—do you think it’s a good idea to bring her in to see her f-a-t-h-e-r if he’s still in a coma?”
The officer took a deep breath. “You need to see how extensive the medical equipment is. If it’s not too bad, say he’s a-s-l-e-e-p.”
“Okay.” He nodded. He could do that. He hoped that was the way he could go. She was going to freak out if she couldn’t see Eric—as it was, Brock was surprised she’d taken to him so well.
“She loves you. It’s good to see.”
He drummed up a smile for the officer, but it wasn’t real. How could she love him already? She’d only just met him.
They headed up in the elevator, Josie clinging and holding on. She was certainly attached to him. He held her a little tighter. He’d do right by her and Eric, make sure Eric had plenty of time and room to recover.
“Would you like to come down the hall with me and find some juice?” The police officer pointed out the door that said “Eric Wilson.”
Josie looked at him.
“That would be good, honey. Then the nice policeman will look after you while I check with the doctors and find out where your daddy is so we can see him, okay?”
Josie frowned but went with the officer, looking tiny.
Brock took a deep breath and turned to the room where Eric was. Steeled, he went through the door.
God, Eric looked pale. Pale and drawn and bruised. There was a tube in his mouth, one in his nose. How could he bring Josie in to see her daddy when he looked like this?
A nurse came in, smiled at him. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Brock Vencenza, Eric’s partner. How’s he doing?”
“They’re going to wake him up today, I believe. Dr. Marshall thinks he’s ready.”
“Good, good. When can I bring his daughter in to see him? She’s three and she’s been asking for him.”
“I don’t know when he’ll come out of the coma. But you can go ahead and bring her in. Hearing her voice just might help.”
“Okay, let me get her.” He spent a moment looking down at Eric, fingers sliding over the back of one pale hand.
“He’s very strong. He’ll make it.”
Brock nodded. Eric was stubborn, anyway. And the man knew what he wanted, went for it even if it meant sacrificing the things he loved.
He headed out to find Josie. She was still holding on to the officer’s hand, jabbering away.
“Hey, Josie. You want to come see your daddy now?”
“Daddy!” She squealed and ran for him.
He panicked for a moment before he realized she was still little, and he braced himself for the impact.
Tiny arms wrapped around him. “Daddy. Daddydaddydaddy.”
“Yeah, we’re going to go see him. You have to be gentle, though, because Daddy is very tired and is sleeping, okay?”
“Seeping? I wake!” She clapped and laughed.
“Maybe, honey. But he needs his sleep, okay? He’s really, really tired. Can you go in and see him even if he doesn’t wake up?” He didn’t want her to be upset if Eric didn’t wake up for her.
“Daddy sick?”
“Yeah, yeah, honey. He is. That’s why he’s sleeping in the hospital.”
Josie nodded, put one finger to her lips. “Shh….”
Brock chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right,” he whispered. He carried her into Eric’s room.
“Daddy?” She wriggled, trying to get down.
He let her down, but grabbed her hand and walked her over to Eric’s bedside.
“Daddy?” She reached up, grabbed Eric’s hand.
“Remember, he’s asleep.” Damn, he wished Eric was awake. Hell, if he was wishing, he wished Eric had never been hurt.
She started whimpering a little, looking at Eric’s mouth, at the intubation tube.
He picked her up and hugged her. “It’s okay, honey. The hospital is just making sure Daddy’s okay.”
“What’s Daddy eating?”
“I don’t know.” He wasn’t going to tell her that the tube was actually for breathing and it was just stuck down Eric’s throat. “What’s his favorite thing to eat?” When they’d been together, it had been ribs. The stickier the better.
“Wibs.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. It doesn’t look like they’re feeding him ribs, does it?”
She shook her head, eyes huge and shining.
“He’s going to be okay. He just needs to sleep. I bet if we come back tomorrow, he’ll be awake and he’ll want to see you.”
“Tomorrow? No. No more sleeps. Daddy….”
“He’s really, really tired, honey.”
“But I need a hug.” The tears were almost there.
He glanced around the room; they were alone now. “You want to sit on the bed with him?”
She nodded, started to sniffle. “I want my daddy.”
“I know, sweetie.” He put her carefully on the bed by Eric.
Josie immediately stretched out next to Eric and put her cheek on his shoulder, started jabbering to him. The boop-boop-boop of Eric’s heart monitor hiccupped and started going faster.
Well, look at that. Eric knew she was there.
Josie kept talking, fingers on his chest, tiny body clinging like a limpet. Brock tugged a chair over and sat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He let the chatter flow over him. He couldn’t understand a word, but that heart monitor kept going faster, Eric trying to respond to her.
Hell, Eric was supposed to be comatose, but he was definitely hearing Josie.
Josie kept talking and talking, her little voice rising and falling. It made Brock smile—it seemed to him that Josie was determined to keep it up until Eric woke up. Of course, when Eric started moving, started moaning low, it seemed that Josie just might do it.
Brock sat forward in his chair, and when Josie stopped talking to look at him, he waved at her. “Keep talking, honey—he likes it.”
“Daddy.” She patted Eric’s cheek. “My daddy.” Then the happy chatter started again.
Oh, God. That was cute.
Eric moaned, fingers opening and closing, over and over. Brock shifted his chair closer and reached, taking Eric’s hand in his own. Those long fingers squeezed his tight. Grinning, Brock squeezed back. It was amazing, the effect Josie was having on her daddy.
“Wake Daddy up?” Those black eyes stared at him.
“You just keep talking and see what happens.”
Her head tilted. “Huh?”
“Talk to your daddy, honey. I bet you’ll wake him up.”
She laughed. “Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! Bee gets eggies!”
Brock chuckled, tickled. The last thing he’d expected was to come in here and be laughing, but Josie’s happiness was infectious.
Eric’s eyelids fluttered, and the groans started becoming more pained and panicked.
“Hey, baby, it’s okay. You’re safe. Josie’s got you.” He leaned over as casually as possible and hit the call button.
Eric’s eyes opened—really opened—fastening on Josie. Sounds pushed out around the tube in his throat.
“Daddy? Daddy, okay?”
“He can’t speak, honey. He’s got that tube in his mouth. The doctor will come take it out. Just relax, Eric.” He squeezed Eric’s hand.
“Daddy! Daddy, no cry!” Josie tried to crawl on Eric, and Brock snatched her up before she could touch anything sore or where she could do damage. She started screaming as the nurses came in.
“Okay, Josie, you have to hush now.” He moved back out of the way, holding her squirming body.
One of the younger nurses came over, touching his arm. “She doesn’t need to see this, huh? It’s painful.”
He nodded jerkily. She was already screaming—it couldn’t get any worse if they left the room, could it? He was about to test that theory. Still holding her tight, and taking one last look himself, he left Eric’s room.
“Daddy!” She started kicking and fighting him. “Daddy! Taking me! Daddy!”
“It’s okay, Josie. Please, honey. Let the nurses and doctors help your daddy with the tube and then we can go see him again. Okay?” Damn, this blew chunks.
“Daddy wake up?” She was barely understandable, she was sobbing so hard.
“Yes. Yes, he’s waking up. They want to take the tube out so he can talk to you, okay? He’s gonna want to talk to you when he wakes up.” He kept patting her back, feeling hugely ineffectual.
“Brock?” That voice was familiar, as was the bearded face that appeared. Jack. Jesus. Jack had been Eric’s best friend for years. Years.
Josie’s head popped up. “Unc!”
Jack’s arms opened and Josie reached for him, cuddling in. “Shh. Shh, Joserino. You’re okay. You’re okay, baby.”
Brock found himself irrationally resenting the fact that Jack was successfully calming her when he hadn’t been able to. Last night had just been a fluke after all. It shouldn’t have bothered him like it did; it wasn’t like he and Eric were still a couple or looking to get back together again. Eric had needed his help, he’d provided it. End of story.
“Hey, Jack.” He gave the man a nod.
“Hey. How is he? I drove out as soon as I could find someone to stay with Jennie. She’s due any day, and with the other four, I can’t leave her….” Jack blinked as Josie turned, diving for Brock’s arms. “Easy!”
“Bee! Want Bee now!”
“Oof!” He grabbed hold of her, though, pleased beyond what was reasonable. “I’ve got you, honey.”
“Bee.” She settled in, then pointed, imperiously. “Daddy. See my daddy.”
Jack chuckled. “Wow. I didn’t know you and Eric were… you know.”
“When the doctor says we can. It’ll be soon.” He answered Josie while he tried to decide what to say to Jack. He finally settled on, “Eric needed my help.”
“Oh. I… I didn’t. I mean, I knew you were his next of kin, but she seemed to know you and….”
Brock let an eyebrow rise. Next of kin. That was good to know. That meant he got to decide for Eric, and that meant his lawyer definitely had some ammunition if Ann or El got it into their heads to fight him on Eric and Josie’s care. “Eric asked me to take her, so I did.” He gave Jack a smile. “Things have been a bit crazy the last twenty-four hours or so.”
“I bet. How can I help?”
“Frankly, I don’t know. Eric’s waking up in there—once Josie’s talked to him, I need to get some stuff sorted, get my place ready for her and her daddy.”
“Do you want to go in? I’ll hold her.”
“Yeah, I’d like to see how he’s doing. He was on the verge of waking up, thanks to her.”
“Joserino. C’mere. We’ll go have a walk, maybe go to the potty?”
Josie went easily, reaching for Jack.
“Thanks, man.” God, how had Eric dealt with Josie full-time on his own? She was cute, but she was exhausting.
“Anytime.”
Josie waved frantically. “Bye-bye, Bee!”
“Bye, honey.” He was still smiling as he went into Eric’s room.
Eric was surrounded by nurses and doctors, the man grunting and struggling, eyes wild.
“Christ.” He pushed his way in enough to grab Eric’s hand. “Hey, baby. Baby. Look at me here.”
“Josie?” Those eyes caught his. “You. You’re here. My baby. You have to help me.”
“Hey, Eric, it’s all right. Jack is taking Josie to the potty. As soon as the doctors say it’s okay, she’s going to come in and see you. That means you have to relax and calm down, though.” He squeezed Eric’s hand.
“Brock. Brock. Brock.”
“Yeah, baby. I’m here. You needed my help, yeah?”
Eric nodded, clinging to him.
“I’ve got you. And as soon as they spring you—you and Josie are coming to my place, okay? It’s….” God, more defensible might freak Eric back out. “Easier.”
“I…. She’s okay? Is she in day care? I don’t….”
“Sir, the doctor needs to examine him.”
“You think the doctor can do that while he’s frantic about his little girl?” He glared at the nurse, using his best boardroom look. He turned back to Eric, squeezed his hand. “Jack’s got her right now. And then I’m taking her home with me.”
“Okay. Okay. Love you, Bee. I swear.” Eric’s eyes closed slowly.
Fuck. That hit him like a thousand volts. That trust, that love.
“I’ll be here when the doctor’s done with you,” he growled.
“Uh-huh.”
The doctors and nurses started swarming. He took a step, pressing his back against the wall.
One of the younger nurses came over, offered him a smile. “Do you have any questions?”
“Is he all right, and when can I bring his daughter in to see him?”
“He’s going to have a long recovery, but he recognized you, he’s talking, he’s breathing on his own. He’s going to recover. Give them a few minutes to clean him up and change the bandages and you can bring her in. He tore some of the stitches a little.”
“Here.” He dug a card out of his wallet and handed it to her. “Can you have someone ask for Stephanie and tell her what she’s going to need for my apartment for his recovery, please.”
“I’ll give this to our liaison. She’s a miracle worker.”
“Okay. Thanks. How long before I can bring him home?” Where Eric would be safe.
“I’d guess three or four days, if there’s someone there to help him.”
“There will be.” He was hiring a nurse—full-time if necessary.
“Excellent. I—” She stopped as Eric cried out for him.
“Brock! Brock, help me!”
He strode over to the bed, not caring who he had to push out of the way. “Eric? I’m here.”
“Bee. I’m in a bed. My baby… something. I can’t. I can’t think.”
A hugely tall man in a white jacket touched his arm. “His memory is a bit off, especially regarding the day of the shooting.”
Ah, that explained why Eric seemed to think they were still together. He leaned over and stroked Eric’s face. “You got shot, baby. I don’t want you to worry about a thing, though, okay? You know me—I’m going to take care of everything.”
“My papers. My papers are in my desk at home. The legal stuff. In case. Bee, you have to know I still love you. Fuck, I hurt.”
“Shh. Once I get Josie settled, I’m calling my lawyer. Everything’s taken care of, I swear.” He made sure he had Eric’s eyes. “You know me—when I say I take care of it, it’s taken care of. Now you need to pull it together, because that little girl wants nothing more in this world but to see her daddy.”
“Tell me you heard me. Please.”
“I heard you, Eric.” How could he not have?
“Okay.” Eric seemed to go boneless. “Okay.”
“Right. You listen to the doctor now so he can pronounce you ready to see Josie.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” He parroted the word, then squeezed Eric’s hand and once again stepped out of the way.
It wasn’t long before they were ushering Brock out, closing the curtain around Eric. Shit. He didn’t like that. He stared through the window, feeling a little like Josie.
God, had it just been yesterday that his life was normal? He’d been on his way out to go deep-sea fishing. Now here he was, worrying over an ex-lover and a baby girl. Crazy.
“Bee! Bee, I wan’ see Daddy!” There was only so long they were going to be able to keep her up here before a nurse made them leave.
They still had the curtain drawn around Eric’s bed, so Brock turned and went to meet Jack and Josie, arms open.
“Bee!” She pointed. “My daddy!”
He knew his eyes had gone wide, but he still took her, let her wrap her little arms around her neck.
She settled in. “Daddy, Bee. See Daddy ’gain.”
Oh man, he’d thought she was calling him Daddy. He gave her a relieved smile. “I know, honey. We just have to wait for the doctors to stop looking at him—they wanted to see your daddy, too.”
“My daddy.” She patted his chest. “My Bee. My daddy Bee.”
He hoped he didn’t look as panicked as he felt.
She kept singsonging softly, the words getting fainter as she got heavier. When he looked down, she was asleep, and Jack was coming out of Eric’s room. “They say she can see him now.”
He snorted. “Your timing is impeccable. Look, could you do me a favor, man? Eric said that the legal paperwork’s at his—”
“I’ve got copies of everything, just in case. You need them?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind.” He was reluctant to call El to have her pick them up.
“Not at all.” Jack nodded toward Josie. “You sure you want to wake her up?”
“No, but I’m going to have to.” Because, if she could see him, that’s what they were going to do. There was a limit to how long she could stay in the hospital. Hell, technically she was still a patient at Children’s.
He really needed to get that call in to Stephanie to get his place cleared up. He’d bet she could find him someone to help look after Josie, too. With it all playing out in his head, he took Josie back into Eric’s room.
Eric was blinking, barely awake, but when he saw Josie, he tried to sit up.
“Just lie there. I’ll bring her to you.”
He nudged his shoulder, bobbing it against Josie’s head to try to wake her up. “Hey, Josie. Your daddy’s awake now.”
“Jo….” Eric smiled, eyes moving over Josie. “Oh, she’s good. She’s okay. Oh, Bee. I was so fucking scared.”
Josie whimpered, shook her head.
“It’s okay now, though. Josie’s good, you’re good.” He jiggled Josie a bit. “Come on, Josie. You want to see your daddy.”
“Daddy….” She looked over, then reached for Eric, almost toppling over.
One of the nurses stepped forward. “He can’t….”
“I will. She’s my daughter.”
Brock knew that stubborn set of lips. “Okay, okay. Shift over enough that I can sit on the bed with you.”
“Daddy! Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy.” She wriggled and pulled, cries becoming more desperate.
Eric held his arms open. “Jo.”
Brock let her go.
He grinned, watching the reunion.
“Oh, Josie. Oh, I was so….” Eric sobbed once, lips on Josie’s dark hair.
“Daddy. Daddy, Bee comed. Bee helped. Daddy Bee.”
Eric nodded. “That’s right, Josie. Bee came.”
Brock tilted his head. “Of course I came.” He shot Eric a look. “Though I’m trying to work out why she would expect me to.”
Eric had the good grace to look ashamed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh.” He didn’t believe that for a second.
“Love you, sweet girl.”
Josie was clinging, talking, patting Eric’s cheeks.
Brock let it go. There would be plenty of time to get to the bottom of all this.
It wasn’t long at all before both father and daughter were asleep together. Now there was a picture that fit just right.
He slipped out to make the calls he needed to get his place ready for that picture.