Page 8 of Perfect Imperfections

“Thank you.”

Points for the zoo on knowing his priorities. Yes, he wanted a full explanation of how something like this could happen. Before he left the premises with his daughter, he’d damn sure know who was responsible and see them take responsibility. But right now, all he cared about was getting Charlotte into his arms. The rest could wait.

He followed Ms. Hughes into the aviary, brushing off Charlotte’s panicked teacher with a wave of his hand. He liked Mrs. James. She was a good educator, but he didn’t have time for her apologies or explanations right now. He needed to get to his daughter.

The zoo director led him through a blue door labeled employees only. Beyond the door, he found himself in a large gray room with a huge silver industrial fridge against one wall and a line of sinks against the other.

“Right through here to get to the outside exhibit.” Ms. Hughes motioned with her hand to another blue door. This one led him out into the sunshine, this time inside the penguin enclosure. The sour smell of animal feces filled his nostrils, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was—

“Daddy!”

Charlotte jumped up from the woman’s lap and ran toward him. He jogged a few feet forward before bending down on one knee and scooping her up into his arms. He clutched her to him until she wiggled with complaint.

“Too tight, Daddy.”

“Sorry, Angel.” He couldn’t hold her tight enough, couldn’t smell her deep enough. She smelled like stinky penguin water, but underneath that was play-dough and strawberry shampoo. The familiar scent of his daughter. A balm to his frazzled nerves. His hands ran over her, checking for injuries. He finally let out his last breath of worry when he discovered none.

“I fell in the water, but Ellie saved me.” Her little hands slapped against his cheeks as she whispered in utter seriousness. “She says you were right about the elephants, but I could come here, and she’d show me their secret playground.”

“She sounds like a very smart woman, and I think she’s due a huge thank you from the both of us.” He glanced up from his daughter’s precious face to see the woman in question stand and walk over to them.

“Sullivan Green, this is Eleanor Clark, one of our head aviary keepers,” Ms. Hughes said, motioning toward the soaked woman standing before him.

“Ms. Clark, I…I can’t thank you enough for saving my daughter.” The words were tense and filled with emotion as they left his throat, his arms tightening around his daughter once again.

The woman blushed, appearing uncomfortable with his gratitude. “Call me Ellie, please, and I just did what anyone would do.”

Really? He didn’t see anyone else soaking wet from rescuing a seven-year-old girl from drowning. Charlotte knew how to swim. He made sure of that the day she was old enough for baby swim lessons, but he also knew falling into the water with all your clothes and shoes on could be a death sentence.

“You’re a hero, Ellie. Our hero,” he insisted.

Ellie shrugged, tugging on her right ear lobe. “You have a very special little girl there, Mr. Green. Such a brave one.”

She bopped Charlotte on the nose and his daughter giggled with glee. It seemed the two had formed a bond. Life and death situations did that, he supposed.

“I one hundred percent agree, and please call me Sullivan.”

“Of course, Sullivan.”

Something shot up his spine at the soft utterance of his name from her lips. A spark of something he hadn’t felt in far too long. Strange. Probably just leftover zing from his haywire emotions. His gaze glanced over her. She was a tiny thing, couldn’t be more than five feet and a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet. Which she was. His doctor’s eye assessed her physically, scanning for any wounds, satisfied when he found none.

His male gaze, however, roamed over her with a different intent entirely. Though the woman had just come out of smelly animal water, he noticed her eyes were a deep brown. Like dark chocolate, delicious and easy to indulge in. Her dark hair looked as if it had once been contained in a braid, but now pieces were plastered to her forehead and neck, bits sticking up here and there. Her lips, like everything about her, were small and slightly blue—no doubt because of the icy plunge she took saving his daughter—but they curved with the most delightful smile as she laughed at something Charlotte said.

Fascinating.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this instant draw to a woman. Probably just a bit of idol worship for her gallant heroics today. That was all.

The EMTs, having packed up their gear, came to join the small group. It did not surprise Sullivan to discover he knew them both. Though he worked in private practice now, he still did the occasional shift in the county ER when needed.

“Hey, Jay, Jayla.”

“Hi, Dr. Green.”

The taller man reached out to shake the hand not currently wrapped around Charlotte. Jayla simply gave him a nod and a smile. He thought he heard Ellie mutter the word doctor under her breath. Most people had two reactions to discovering he was a doctor, delighted interest—usually from single women looking for a rich husband—or curiosity, namely they’d ask if he could look at some ailment or diagnose their cousin’s strange symptoms. He always told the latter he’d be happy to see them during office hours and the former…well, he tried to be polite in his refusal to “get to know them more.” His hands were full enough already—literally at the moment—he didn’t have time for a woman in his life.

But Ellie’s tone inflected neither of those things. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, the moment she found out he was a doctor, her bright smile dimmed. Had she had an unpleasant experience with a doctor before? It happened. Doctors, like all professions, were humans. They made mistakes. Sometimes life-ending ones. And not always by accident. He’d always prided himself on his attention to detail, his commitment to his patients, but he knew some former colleges who cut corners, dismissed patients’ complaints because they thought they knew better.

Didn’t matter what Ms. Clark thought of him. All that mattered was she saved his daughter, and he was eternally grateful to her for that. If she had some issue with doctors, it had nothing to do with him and it shouldn’t bother him.

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