Page 124 of Anything To Be With You

She says nothing as she jumps from the bed and into my waiting arms, wrapping herself around me and crying into my shoulder. I slide my hand into her hair and hold her against me. Erin looks up at us before standing and swiping her purse off the floor.

"I’m going to head home to shower and change," Erin says. "I’ll be back later. Thanks for coming, Luke. I didn’t want to leave her alone." Erin squeezes my free shoulder and leaves.

I hold Dani until she calms down. "How’s Mason?" I asks, as I place her on her feet, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"He’ll live, but he's got a road of recovery coming." Dani motions to the chair.

I sit slowly as Dani climbs back on the bed.

"I asked Erin to call you. I—" she looks back at Mason and gives her head a shake. "I wanted to talk to you about my benefits." She brushes Mason’s blond hair off his face. "Mason is going to need some physiotherapy once he’s fully healed and that’s something I can’t afford. Plus, they put him in a private room and without my benefits, I have to pay for it out of pocket." She huffs. "I asked them to move him to a common room that's covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, but they have no vacancy."

"I’ll cover it." I blurt out.

Her head whips around. "What?"

"I will cover it. Anything you need for him when he’s home and his physiotherapy. Everything."

"I can’t ask you to cover everything, Archer. He’s my son. I just wanted to know if I could get my benefits started now."

Reaching over, I take her small hand in mine. "I will cover everything. Don’t worry about it."

Her eyes search mine, a fine sheen covering them before she lunges off the bed and wraps her arms around me again, burying her face in my neck.

"Thank you." She whispers.

I hold her close to me, her scent of coconut and vanilla washing over me. Dani kisses me then. A soft, sweet kiss. One of gratitude and it makes my heart lurch in my chest.

A feminine gasp fills the room. "Oh. Oh, Christopher. Look at my boy."

Sandra rushes past us and around the other side of the bed. Dani pulls back, kissing me once more before moving off my lap.

"Mom, he’s fine. He’s going to live." Dani sits back on the bed.

"Are you sure? Look at him, Daniella." Her mother sobs.

"Sandra, the boy will live." I turn and find a large man standing in the doorway.

Standing, I touched Dani’s shoulder. "Get the hospital to send the bill and any other paperwork to the office." I place a kiss on her temple and head out of the room and towards the elevators.

"Mr. Archer."

I stop at the sound of the voice from the doorway. Turning, I find Dani’s father walking towards me.

"Christopher Carter," he holds his hand out.

"Luke Archer," I take his hand and shake it.

The man shares the same eye and hair colour as his daughter and grandson. "I heard what you said in there about covering the bill for my baby girl. Did you mean it?"

"Absolutely. Dani means the world to me, if she'll let me, I'm going to help her with whatever her or Mason need."

His hand clamps down on my shoulder. "Thank you for that, Luke. You’re a good man."

"Thank you, sir." I reply.

"I should get back in there before Sandra begins yelling for me and waking up the hospital." Christopher gives me a brief nod and heads back towards the room.

I push the button for the elevator and step inside.

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