Page 53 of The Soldier's Homecoming

“I should never have…”

“You needed the sleep,” he said. “Don’t beat yourself up about getting some shut-eye. You’ve flown halfway around the world, not to mention spending the last however many months serving. I think you deserve a little sleep in with that kind of jet lag.”

“Daddy?”

Gabby’s tiny voice put a stop to their conversation. They both shuffled almost instantly to her side, but Penny held back. She’d asked for her father, and there was only room for one of them to hold her hand.

She stole her eyes away from Gabby to glance at Daniel, saw the pained yet happy expression on his face as he bent to kiss their daughter on her forehead.

But it was the bright eyes and excited words that put Penny’s heart in her mouth.

“Mommy!” Gabby gasped the word, her eyes so wide they looked ready to pop.

She jumped forward, nearly pushing Daniel out of the way in her hurry to touch Gabby. So pleased to be wanted, to hear the excitement in her daughter’s voice.

“Hey, baby,” she said, covering Gabby’s hand and squeezing it. “You gave us such a fright.”

Gabby didn’t say anything, but she never dropped her eyes, didn’t so much as blink. Like she was so happy to have her mother beside her, holding her hand, that she didn’t want to look away and find she’d disappeared.

Penny felt the same.

“What happened?” Gabby asked.

Daniel walked around to the other side of the bed, sinking down onto the edge of it to give her a cuddle.

“Well…”

“Good morning!” The doctor’s cheery voice made them all look up.

“Morning,” Penny and Daniel both replied without looking up.

“I see our patient is wide-awake,” he said, smiling at Gabby before lifting the chart from the end of her bed. When he placed it back down, he folded his arms and looked between them.

“The good news is that Gabby doesn’t have anything serious.”

“It’s not meningococcal?” Penny asked.

The doctor shook his head. “Thankfully we’ve been able to rule that out. It appears she just has a very bad strain of the flu, hence the high temperature. I’m happy to discharge her so long as she has a close eye kept on her. Any sign of a fever again or anything else out of the ordinary, and I want her straight back here. But she should be fine within twenty-four hours.”

“Yes, sir,” said Penny, smiling as she gave him a mock salute.

“Ah, of course. I heard from the nurse that you were a soldier,” the doctor told her.

“United States Army Sergeant,” Penny responded, left hand still covering her daughter’s.

“I take it you’re home for good now?”

Didn’t she wish. Penny cleared her throat and avoided looking at Daniel. Or Gabby. It was hard enough dealing with her own emotions without seeing the looks on their faces.

“Unfortunately, no. I’m here on short-term leave, back with my unit next week, before I return home for good.”

The doctor didn’t react either way, just gave her a warm smile and a nod before turning to leave.

“Take care, then, soldier. God bless.”

Penny still avoided Daniel as she turned around, wishing she hadn’t had to be reminded of what she was so shortly about to leave behind. Again.

“Let’s get you home, miss.”

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