Page 44 of Fallen Ink

“I will. Thanks, Adrienne. Truly.”

She hung up quickly and ran to the kitchen to turn off the oven. Then she threw the butter back into the fridge and stuffed her feet into her boots and grabbed her keys. She’d probably forgotten a hundred things, but right then, all she could think about was the fact that Daisy was sick, and Violet was scared.

It didn’t matter that Mace had tried to quietly push her out of his daughter’s life right then. All that mattered was the fact that a little girl was ill, and someone needed to take her to the doctor. The fact that Violet had called her sister, parents, and Mace and then immediately called her warmed her—even if it shouldn’t. She had been an honorary Knight for as long as she had been friends with Mace. She wasn’t as close to his sisters as she was to him, obviously, but she was still friends with both of them. The fact that Violet had called her meant that she trusted Adrienne to help. She trusted her with Daisy’s welfare. And it hurt to think that perhaps Mace didn’t.

Growling, she ignored those thoughts since they weren’t helping anybody, and quickly got into her car. Hopefully, Violet had the name and address of where she was going, because she hadn’t really thought that far ahead, other than getting to Daisy’s side immediately.

She had never been more grateful for how close she lived to Mace until that moment. It only took her a few minutes to get to his house, and she parked right behind Violet’s car. She practically flew from her own vehicle, not leaving the engine running though she thought about it, and banged on the front door. She had a key, but it honestly hadn’t crossed her mind to use it.

Violet opened the door, her eyes covered with her hands and the lights down low. She was pale, pasty, and looked like death warmed over. Adrienne felt for the woman, and if it weren’t for the fact that Daisy had a fever and was sick, too, she might have wanted to stay and care for Violet, as well. And who knew, maybe she would come back and do just that. But for now, she really needed to see to the little girl.

“You’re here. Daisy is on the couch all wrapped up and ready to go. I have her bag and the address written down for you. I did everything I could, but I really need to go lay down. I’m so sorry I’m out of commission. It came out of nowhere, and I can’t get ahold of Mace.”

Adrienne brushed past the other woman and took her arm. “Go sit down in an armchair or just lay down. Put your feet up and close your eyes. Thank you for getting everything ready. I’ll take care of Daisy. You can trust me.”

Violet lowered her hand and frowned. “Of course, I can trust you. I wouldn’t trust my niece with just anyone.”

That statement hurt her more than it probably should have since the other woman probably had no idea what had happened between Adrienne and Mace the day before.

“Thank you.”

Adrienne helped the other woman into the chair then quickly went to Daisy’s side. The little girl was sleeping with her hands under her face on the pillow. But Adrienne could see the red in her cheeks and the perspiration on her brow. Then Daisy whimpered, and Adrienne placed her cool hand on the little girl’s too-hot cheek.

“Aunt Addi,” Daisy whispered. “I want Daddy.”

Adrienne’s heart broke, and she reached down and gathered the little girl up her arms, careful to grab everything else in her right hand. Then she remembered that she didn’t have a car seat and set the little girl back down but hugged her. She really wasn’t firing on all cylinders right then because she was freaking out over how warm Mace’s daughter felt.

“We are going to make you all better, okay? Just hang in there for a minute and let me get a few things, and then I’ll take you where they’re going to make you better.”

“I want Daddy.”

“I know, baby doll. We will get Daddy, too. We need to get you better first, and then Daddy can come, and you’ll be all better.” She hoped to hell she wasn’t lying.

“Violet? Do you have car seat or booster or whatever in your car?”

The other woman nodded and tried to get out of the chair, but Adrienne waved her off. “Where are your keys? Should I just take your car?”

“It’ll take you forever to figure out how to take out the seat and put it in yours. I hate the damn thing. Just take my car.”

“Got it.” That meant she had to move her car out to the street first because she had parked behind Violet. Everything was getting a little too complicated, but she didn’t care. She went through things one by one. First, she moved her car to the street. Then, she picked up Daisy’s bag, threw it over her shoulder, put the address to the doctor’s office in her phone so she could have her GPS, and gathered Daisy into her arms. The little girl was still sleeping, but she snuggled into Adrienne’s hold immediately.

“Thank you,” Violet moaned, and Adrienne nodded at the other woman before leaving her alone in the house, her phone near her in case of another emergency. She hated leaving her there in pain, but there was nothing she could do for Violet at the moment.

Thankfully, Daisy helped Adrienne snap her into the booster seat. She was really behind the times on things like this and would have to get better at it at least for her niece. She wasn’t really sure how much of Daisy she would see in the future. Swallowing that hurt, she cupped the little girl’s cheek because the coolness of her skin seemed to help, then shut the door and ran around the car to the front seat. Violet had a similar vehicle to Thea, so at least there wasn’t a huge learning curve.

She quickly hit go on the GPS and listened to the British man speaking to her in calming tones as he directed her to the doctor’s office. Daisy was quiet in the backseat, but Adrienne pulled down the little reflective part of the car’s upper dash that she had never used herself so she could see what was going on back there.

It took twenty excruciating minutes to get to the doctor’s, and by the end of it, Daisy was crying, and Adrienne’s nerves were beyond frayed. She was thinking of crying herself, but held back only because someone needed to be strong in this situation. She gathered up her things and carried Daisy into the office, grateful that the receptionist there stood up immediately.

“Daisy Knight?”

Adrienne had almost forgotten that she had Mace’s last name—the one thing Jeaniene had given Mace at the time. She hoped to hell that it was okay HIPAA-wise or whatever legal things needed to be followed that she was the one here with Daisy, but there wasn’t another choice at the moment.

“Yes, I’m her father’s girlfriend.” A lie, but she thought it was better than saying friend.

“We know, Ms. Montgomery. Ms. Knight just called and told us you would be bringing her in. As it happens, Mr. Knight already put you on her family list so you can come back with us.”

Stunned, she nonetheless followed the other woman to the patient room and stood back as everyone did their thing. Her heart pounded, and she pulled out her phone, then remembered that she probably shouldn’t be using it back there.

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