Page 19 of Heart in Waiting
He couldn’t tell her what they were even if he had some to tell her. Where the heck was Nolan hiding, and more importantly, what did he have planned? “I’ve left most of the digging to Carter and the other detectives. I’ve been on guard duty.” That wasn’t entirely true. He’d done some searching when Carter was with Reese. Telling her he wasn’t looking was easier than the truth.
“Well,” she began. “We all have our jobs to do.” She paused for a moment and sighed. “Mine is my daughter. Halie’s all that matters. Her room is coming up on the right—302.”
He nodded and kept moving toward the room in question. Once they made it there, he helped her inside. Halie was tiny lying on that bed. She didn’t resemble that vivacious little girl he’d always been familiar with. A tear fell down Paige’s face, but she wiped it away. Halie turned toward them and her whole face lit up with a smile. “Mama,” she shouted. “You came. The nurse said you were hurt pretty bad and couldn’t make it.”
“I’m here, baby,” she said. “Don’t you worry about me. Nothing or no one would keep me away from you for long.”
“I’m hurt too,” Halie said and pointed to her leg. “I have to wear that thing. They said my bone is broke.”
Paige let go of Dane’s arm and walked over to Halie’s bed. She brushed a lock of her dark hair behind Halie’s ear. “Maybe we can have people sign it.”
“Like I’m a movie star?” Halie’s grin widened even farther. “That’s awesome.” She glanced past Paige at Dane. “Will you sign first, Detective Hunter?”
Reese came in at that moment to check on Halie. She paused in the doorway and glanced between Dane and Paige. Great. When she left the room, he’d follow behind her and have a few words with the good doctor.
“I thought you left,” she said as she met Dane’s gaze. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s a conversation we can have later.” He gestured toward Halie. “Do you have something I can sign her cast with?”
She pulled out a marker from her pocket and handed it to him. He scribbled his name on Halie’s cast and drew a smiley face next to it, then he handed it back to Reese. The little girl’s eyes were droopy as she fought sleep. She turned to Reese and asked, “Can you sign too, Dr. Jackson?”
“Of course,” Reese said and signed it. Then she focused her attention on Halie. “How are you feeling today?”
“I want to go home.”
“I’m sorry; you can’t yet. But hopefully soon. Why don’t you close your eyes and rest? I can tell you want to.”
“No.” Halie pushed out her bottom lip into a fine pout. “I don’t want to.”
“Darling,” Paige coaxed her. “Do as the nice doctor says. The more sleep you get, the faster you’ll heal, and then maybe we both can go home.”
The whole exchange amused him. Dane had always wanted kids and would have loved to have a daughter like Halie. She was precocious and downright adorable. Whoever her father was had missed out on having her in his life. Maybe Halie was better off not having him in her life. Especially if he was anything like Dane’s father...
Halie closed her eyes and her little snores echoed through the room. Reese smiled softly and then turned to Paige. “I’m glad you’re here. I’d like to discuss Halie’s test results with you.”
Paige nodded. “Is she all right? No one has told me anything other than they were running tests. Was she hurt more in the car accident than I thought?” She brushed her hand through her hair. “God, I wish didn’t need to leave the house that day.”
Reese was quiet for several moments. She glanced down at the file in her hand and then back at Paige. “This is hard for me to say.”
“Oh, God,” Paige cried out. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Her bruising, along with the lumps on her stomach, underarm, and neck, were what made me order the tests. It pains me to tell you this, but I’m afraid Halie has acute lymphocytic leukemia,” Reese explained. “It’s the most common form of cancer in children.”
Tears streamed down Paige’s face. Dane frowned and glanced to Reese then back to Paige. His heart ached for his friend and her daughter. Paige wavered on her feet and almost fell. Dane caught her and wrapped his arms around her. He wished that Reese had better news, hell he would give anything to turn the clock back and redo the past several days. Paige pulled back away from Dane and wiped her eyes with her hands. Then she looked at Reese and asked, “What are her options?”
“Paige, you can...” Dane started to say.
“No,” Paige interrupted him. “I need to plan, and I can’t do that without more information.”
“The good news is this was caught early enough that she should be all right with some chemotherapy.” Reese’s voice remained even, and she didn’t show an ounce of emotion. “At some point, she might need a bone marrow transplant. I’ve made an appointment with Dr. Zachary Foster to look over her case. He’s one of the best oncologists in the country.”
Paige swayed and tumbled backward losing consciousness at the information she’d begged for. Dane caught her before she hit the ground. “Where can I put her?”
Reese pointed to a reclining chair. She lifted the handle so the foot rest extended. “Set her here for now. I’ll have someone take her back to her room.”
With those words, she exited the room and didn’t look back. Who was Reese really, and why had she gone cold? Dane grabbed a blanket out of the closet and covered Paige. She’d want to be close to her daughter. He could come back later to check on them, but he had something more important to do. Reese would talk to him, and she would explain why she was being a spectacular bitch. This wasn’t the woman he’d grown to love. There had to be a reason for what she was doing, and he would get to the bottom of it. Maybe she was punishing herself, or perhaps she had changed. He didn’t want to believe the latter though...
