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. “Heisfamily. 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 managedto 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.