Page 71 of State of Grace

Blake simply nodded against her hand as Alexis pulled her in for another hug.

Behind them, Isla sorted out the details with the police officer over what to do with the car before agreeing to take Blake and Harper to the hospital herself to avoid the ambulance fee. The emergency room at Taylor Memorial Hospital wasn’t crowded, thankfully, as Alexis checked Harper in.

“You need to get checked out too.”

“I’m fine.”

“Blake.” Alexis used her mom voice on her and raised an eyebrow. “Please. For me.”

“Fine.”

“Alexis.” Dr. Logan Mills came through the swinging doors, and Alexis breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the doctors that could have been on call, Alexis was relieved it was Logan. She’d performed Harper’s tonsillectomy a couple of years prior, and the two had developed a casual rapport since then. Logan led them back to an exam room, where she ran a series of tests on Harper before taking some x-rays while they examined Blake in another room. “Everything looks great, Alexis. The cut on her head is minor, and I don’t think stitches are needed. Some liquid skin should do the trick. She’s a fortunate little girl. It could have been a lot worse.” She looked at Alexis. “For both of them.”

“Thank you, Dr. Mills.” Alexis shook her head as Logan exited the room. She walked over to Harper’s bedside and kissed the top of her head as Blake came into the room. Blake slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her in close. “I need to call Sophia before she hears it through the grapevine.”

“I can stay here with Harper if you want to step outside and call her.”

“Yeah, ok. That’s good. And listen,” Alexis tried to laugh, but it fell flat, “I’m going to tell her I got off work early and I that I was driving.”

“I’m not lying to Nonna.” Harper pouted as she crossed her arms. Alexis knew she was tired and on the verge of a full-blown temper tantrum, and the last thing she wanted was to have to deal with a tired and cranky Harper in addition toan angry Sophia. Which she knew was coming as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I don’t want her to know Blake was driving.”

“Blake was driving?” Sophia’s voice behind them caused a shiver to course through Alexis’s spine. Slowly, Alexis pulled away from Blake’s embrace and turned to face Sophia. She was strategic in her position in front of Harper to shield Sophia from seeing the cut on her head right away.

Standing in the doorway in a blue floral top and black slacks, Sophia had her hands planted on her hips as her face said more than any words ever could. Her face was an array of emotions from terror to anger, and Alexis held up her hands slightly to keep her from overreacting.

“She’s ok, Soph.”

“If she were fine, she wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s precautionary.” Alexis took a cautious step toward her. “The EMT checked her out in the field, but wanted to make sure they didn’t miss anything.”

Taking a step out of the way, Alexis watched Sophia’s eyes dart past her and land on Harper. She let out a sob of relief as she ran over to her. Sophia pulled Harper into a hug before covering her in kisses. Alexis noticed Sophia’s finger brush over the cut on Harper’s head as tears streamed down her face. As she looked over her shoulder, Sophia’s voice was angry when she spoke again.

“What happened?”

“A deer came out of nowhere,” Blake answered as Sophia snapped her head toward her.

“I didn’t ask you.” Sophia snapped as she turned her attention back to Alexis.

“Soph, let’s not do this here.” Nodding toward the door, Alexis was thankful that Sophia didn’t protest. She and Blake followed her out into the hallway as Alexis shut the door behind them. A long, slender finger pointed at Alexis.

“I told you I didn’t want her watching Harper.”

“This wasn’t my fault!” Blake was on the defense, but Alexis held up a hand to get her to stop talking. She knew Sophia; she knew that Blake arguing with her was worthless and would only end badly for all of them. Sophia was right even when she was wrong. It was something she’d learned to deal with when it came to her best friend.

“You know this wasn’t Blake’s fault.”

“She was driving when it happened.”

“They hit a deer. Blake couldn’t have controlled that.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you had let her watch her.” Sophia should have had steam coming out of her ears for how red her face was as she glared at Alexis. “And, not only did you not tell me Harper was in an accident, but then you tell my goddaughter to lie to me about who was driving?”

“I thought you’d make a big deal about it if you knew it was Blake.” Alexis crossed her arms over her stomach. “Sorry, my bad.”

“Now is not the time for jokes, Alexis.”

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