Casey walked to him, took his hand, and tried to hide behind him.

Simon glanced at Alex and rolled his eyes.

Alex smiled and bent down. “Hi, Casey. Your daddy has told me a lot about you.”

She peeked at him. “Really?”

“Yes. He told me how brave you are.”

Casey looked up at Simon. “Really?”

Simon nodded. “Yes. And I mean it.”

“Would it be okay if I took the stitches out of your forehead? You can sit on the cat chair.”

Alex pointed to a colorful chair that looked like a cat.

She nodded. “Can I bring Booboo?”

“Absolutely. Is it okay if I introduce myself to him?” Alex asked.

Casey looked surprised and then pleased before she nodded. “Booboo, I want you to meet Alex. He’s going to take care of us today.” She looked up at the doctor. “This is my friend, Booboo. He’s a puppy.”

Alex reached out and shook the dog’s paw. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Damn, the man was good. Alex had her in the chair giggling.

“Simon, is it okay to give her a sucker? She’s being so good and brave?”

Simon smiled. “Absolutely. I think she deserves it.”

Casey bounced in the chair.

“You get to pick the flavor,” Alex said and held out a jar filled with different colored suckers.

Simon grinned when it took her time to decide. When she chose one, Alex pulled the paper off the top and handed it to her.

Alex glanced at him and smiled. “She’s ready.”

Alex pulled a colorful tray over and set it off to the side so she couldn’t see it. He covered the things on top with a cloth. He brought out scissors and tweezers, both with cool designs on them.

“Casey, can I look at your stitches?”

Simon was amazed when she just nodded and kept sucking on the candy. Within a few minutes, the ones on her forehead were out, and she had shown no concern at all.

“Jesus, man. I think you’re magic,” Simon said.

Alex laughed. “No, I just know how littles think.” He tipped his head. “This might be the hard part. You need to get her in a gown, but she can keep her skirt on because I was told she didn’t have any deep cuts on her legs.”

Simon nodded. “That’s right. There are a few on her chest, one on her shoulder, and the other on her stomach by her belly button.”

“I’m going to turn my back to you while you help her because I know how modest they are at first,” Alex said. “I’ll wait until you tell me it’s okay. I can tell the sedative is working on her. Each little one experiences different effects. Some are mild, but ones like your little are lightweights, so it won’t take much. She might just sleep through it.”

“God, that would be wonderful,” Simon said.

Alex smiled. “Yes, it would.”

Simon reached for the gown Alex held out to him.