“I don’t really know,” JJ said. “She was playing out in the back yard, and Shiloh came over with dinner. So I was getting the door. Next thing we know, she’sscreaming and blood’s pouring from her mouth. Or nose.” He glanced at Dawson as he hurried by. “Somewhere. She usually likes me, but she’s freaking out.”
So was he, and Dawson didn’t blame him. The young man was probably only twenty years old. Maybe twenty-one at this point. He wasn’t married and had no children. Of course, Dawson didn’t either, but the Walkers were kind of like the Glovers in that they had a plethora of offspring.
JJ was one of the oldest, so he’d grown up with a lot of younger siblings and cousins. No wonder this household of a singing child, one about to smear soggy cracker on the couch, and one bleeding, wailing child wasn’t all that abnormal for him. At Duke’s and Zona’s, this was about par for the course too.
For Dawson, his anxiety had just hit the roof and broken through. He took a breath as he rounded the island and found a little girl sitting on the floor, her back pressed to the cabinet behind her. Blood had been smeared on the floor, and it now fell in a dripping pattern as she held her head over her knees as she sobbed.
“Hey, there.” Dawson got down on his knees too, deciding the blood didn’t bother him. “Lara, baby, look at me, okay?”
To his great relief, the girl looked up. She had some sort of liquid coming from every hole in her face, but Dawson smiled at her. “Tell me how you got hurt.”
“Swallow,” she said between her sobs. “Tripp-ed…and my shoe…toof went…boom.” Tears ran down her face, and no wonder JJ needed help. Dawson wasn’t even sure everything Lara had said was in English.
And he didn’t know what to do. Then, like God providing manna from heaven for those wandering in the wilderness, light and ideas flowed into Dawson’s mind.
“JJ, can you get Lara a popsicle?”
Thankfully, he didn’t question Dawson. He just moved to the freezer drawer and opened it. Caroline put their ice cream in there and said, “Come on, you guys. Let’s go get these other kids dressed and ready for dinner.”
“Okay, yes,” Shiloh said, and they left to do that.
JJ handed Dawson the red popsicle, and he started to unwrap it. “Hey, Lara, have you ever gotten a little cut on your finger?”
The girl looked at him with teary eyes but said nothing.
“See, cold things slow things down. Like ice in the river.”
She babbled something about a river, and Dawson smiled at her. “Right,” he said, though he had no clue what she meant. “I want you to suck on this, okay? Can you put it right against what hurts?”
He kept his grin in place as he tapped her nose with the popsicle. “Are you gonna put it right here?” She hadblood on her nose, but as far as he could tell, it wasn’t actively bleeding.
“No,” she chirped out.
“Okay,” he said. “I want you to put it on right where it hurts.” He held out the red treat. “Can you show me where?”
She opened her mouth and said, “Toofs.”
Her whole mouth seemed to be bleeding, and JJ handed him a washcloth. “Okay,” Dawson said. “I’m just gonna wipe some of this away, and then you can have the popsicle. Remember.” He started swiping as quickly as he could, without putting too much pressure on the girl’s face. “You’re going to put it right on the tooth that hurts.”
“All hurt,” she whimpered, and Dawson took one last swipe at her chin.
“Okay, then,” he said. “I want you to put the whole thing in your mouth, yeah?” He gave her the popsicle, and to Lara’s credit, she did just that. The whole thing went in her mouth, and he expected her to rip it right back out and start crying about the cold.
She didn’t, and he picked up the little girl and set her on the edge of the counter next to the sink. JJ had another washcloth ready, and he cooed at her, “I’m gonna wash your hands, sweetie. Just keep the popsicle in your mouth.”
Together, he and Dawson got Lara mostly cleaned up, and JJ turned to tackle the floor. Dawsonlifted the girl into his arms and said, “Okay, take it out for a minute. I want you to spit everything in your mouth into the sink.”
She did and it was just all red. Dawson wiped her face again and gave her a quick glass of water. “I want you to swish it like you’re brushing your teeth,” he said. “Like your momma taught you, okay?”
“She teach-ed me to brush swish-swish-swish.” The girl mimed brushing her teeth and then Dawson held the glass for her while she took a drink of water…and swallowed it.
“Spit this one out, baby,” he said. “I want to see if you’re still red inside.”
She did what he said, and he saw only a trace of red. He rinsed the popsicle and handed it back to her. “Popsicle back in.”
Lara sucked on that as Shiloh returned. “Oh, she’s cleaned up.” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “We have Jewel and Mason ready for bed. Jay-J, should I get dinner out?” She looked over to him, and Dawson took a moment to study his niece.
Jay-J? Like, rhymes with Gage?