Page 91 of Risky Move

“Whatever had you preoccupied nearly cost Daniel’s life. Youdo realizethat, don’t you? You either left them alone, or you were oblivious to what they were doing. What could possibly be more important than keeping our children safe?”

His eyes pierced Cassie like knives. She struggled to find her voice. “N-nothing,” she stammered. “I didn’t leave them alone. Amelie...I asked her…” She stopped to take a deep breath, Andrew’s glare holding her captive.

“Shewas here? No wonder you weren’t paying attention.” Andrew didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’m taking Jenna with me to the hospital.”

“Jenna’s napping. Please let her sleep and have dinner. I can bring her over then. I promise I’ll keep her safe.”

Andrew stared at her for a long moment. Cassie saw him glance at Lauren, then shake his head. “You’ll understand that your promises mean nothing. Pack up her dinner while I get her.”

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell him what happened?” Lauren whispered when Andrew left the room. “He can’t blame you for taking a bathroom break.”

“I tried to tell him…It doesn’t matter. I did exactly what Caryn had warned me about—I allowed Amelie to distract me. I didn’t evennoticethe open door. I know Caryn keeps that door locked, and I didn’t notice it was open.”

Cassie pulled Jenna’s plate from the cupboard and filled it with fruit, biscuits, and cheese cubes and then snapped the lid in place. “I tried to explain…you heard Andrew cut me off. I know Amie can get distracted, then I trusted her with both babies.” Cassie opened the pantry and poured animal crackers into a Ziplock, then filled two bottles and placed everything into an insulated container.

Lauren opened her mouth to argue, and Cassie held up her hand. “Please, Lauren, let it go. I should never have expected Amelie to watch both munchkins…At the very least, I should have taken one with me when I freshened up. I wish I could…” Her voice trailed off as she heard Andrew’s voice and Jenna’s excited laughter. She placed the container of food on the counter and nodded to it before he walked past the kitchen. “Jenna’s dinner.”

Andrew grabbed it without speaking. Cassie’s eyes drifted toward the toddler she loved as if she were the mother.Mother? That’s a laugh. What mother allows her child to get near a pool? Don’t deserve to think about motherhood.

She hesitantly looked at Andrew. “Andrew, I need to tell you…”

“Not now.”

“Please, I can explain…”

“Stop. I don’t want excuses.” Andrew snapped. He met her eyes for a long moment, started to speak, then stopped. He grabbed Jenna’s bag and left without another word.

* * *

Tom had no time to think about anything besides his nephew’s near-drowning and checking on his current patients. Plus, the ER had several accident victims requiring a neurologist.Not even a full moon…don’t think.He checked Daniel’s chart as often as possible, satisfied with what he read.No water in his lungs, thank God. Fussy…sleeping. Good signs.

When he saw the backlog of patients in the ER, he opted to stay on after his shift to help reduce the time people had to wait before seeing a doctor. Two hours later, only a few remained in the waiting area, and Tom headed for the showers and a change of clothes.

When he entered Daniel’s room, Tom did not expect to see Jenna. She squirmed on Andrew’s lap and protested when he didn’t allow her to play on the floor. He exchanged glances with both Andrew and Caryn.

“Anything new?”

“Daniel doesnothave pneumonia,” Caryn said. “Thank you, God. He’s not thrilled with the IV but hasn’t tried to pull at it. Just groggy right now. It could have been so much worse.”

Tom walked to the bed and touched Daniel’s shoulder as he checked the monitor. “His vitals look very good.” He smiled when Daniel turned toward his voice, then tried to reach for him with one arm. Tom moved his hand so Daniel could grasp some of his fingers.

“As usual, he loves his Uncle Tommy,” Caryn said.

“That feeling’s mutual, right, little buddy?” He leaned to kiss his forehead. “Would you like me to take Jenna for a while?”

“That would make her thrilled,” Caryn replied with a small smile. “She has way too much energy right now.”

“I can take her home.”

“You’re not on call?” Andrew asked skeptically.

“Barring anything catastrophic, I’m off the next two days.”

Tom watched Andrew’s expression.Does he not trust me? Do they want Jenna with them?Andrew didn’t speak for a long moment.

“If you get called in, you’ll bring her with you?”

---