Page 48 of The Soldier's Homecoming

She nodded, his words snapping logic back into her brain.

She pulled the car keys from her pocket, spun on the spot and took the porch steps two at a time. She had the back door open on the passenger side and the car started before Daniel was even on the sidewalk.

She glanced up to see Vicki still standing where they’d left her, tense worry lines creasing her usually soft face.

Penny pulled back onto the road and looked at Daniel in the rearview mirror. “Where to?”

“The hospital,” he said, his voice grim as his eyes met hers, before pulling Gabby closer against him and pressing his lips to her forehead. “She’s burning up real bad.”

“What happened?” she asked, this time focused on the task at hand. In sergeant mode, rather than helpless mommy.

Ready to do what had to be done.

“Mom was worried about her when she woke up crying, so she let her snuggle up on the couch with her,” he said, never taking his eyes or his touch from Gabby. “Then she realized she was hot and clammy, and her temperature skyrocketed.”

Penny gripped the wheel tighter, focused on driving. On getting them where they had to go as fast and as safely as possible.

“Why didn’t she call us?” She didn’t want to put any blame on Vicki though, it wasn’t her fault.

She glanced up again and saw that Daniel was watching her now that he had taken his eyes from Gabby. He was staring at her. Like he had something, a lot even, to say, but didn’t know how to go about it.

“She thought she’d be able to deal with it alone, and she didn’t want to interrupt us,” he said softly. “She wanted us to enjoy an evening together without having to think about anything else. She called me about twenty minutes ago and I got a taxi here straightaway.”

Penny didn’t know how to answer that. There was no denying that everyone around them, especially Daniel’s family, wanted them to stay together. To work through their problems.

But Gabby was more important than everything else.

If only she hadn’t left Daniel to make his own way home!

“Is she...” She didn’t know what to ask. What to say. “What are we dealing with here?”

Daniel’s voice was its usual deep, strong tone, but there was an undercurrent of worry there that she couldn’t help but notice.

“Mom phoned me when she noticed a rash on her chest.”

Penny pressed the accelerator more firmly.

“She thought it might be something serious, like meningococcal. The presence of the rash makes it worse.”

Geez.

“Why isn’t she awake?” Penny heard the fear in her own voice. She’d forced herself to stay calm and focus on the task at hand, but now.

They should have brought cold soaked towels to help keep the fever down. But then she guessed the most important thing was getting her to where they needed to go without delay.

“She’s sleepy because of the fever,” he said, his words muffled as he held Gabby tighter, lips against her flushed skin. “I phoned the hospital and they said to get her there as fast as possible because she’d gone downhill so fast. That we would be able to drive faster than we could get an ambulance to collect her.”

She flicked her indicator on and pulled into the general hospital entrance.

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said, emotion choking her voice

“What are you sorry for?”

She blinked away tears as she parked in the emergency zone.

“For leaving you tonight when we should have been home with Gabby. I should never have.”

Daniel thrust open the door, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

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