Page 24 of When Autumn Arrives

"What's going on?" I asked Riley.

"Her kidney looks okay," Riley said. "I mean," she raised her hand in defense. “From what I saw of the ultrasound of course. The tech couldn't confirm, and said the doc would read it in an hour. But it's fine. And they took some blood this morning. Results should be in soon. Why don't you go sit with her?"

I nodded. "I will. I want to. Can… can you catch me up to speed first?" I needed to know everything. Her symptoms, her temperature, when it began, when it got worst. All of it so I could grill the doctor for answers.

"She's been sick for three days," Riley explained. "At first we thought she just ate something bad. Yesterday, I really started to get worried. Her fever spiked today. So, here we are."

"Eating, drinking?" I brought my thumb to my lips and began chewing at the nail. A nervous habit I'd never fully break. I could go months without nail biting, but the second stress hit, I was back to chewing. Case in point.

"No," Riley whispered. "Diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps."

I nodded. "Thank you, Ri." I meant it, too. "Without you, I think this would have been worse."

She offered me a forced smile. "Of course, Thea. You know how much I love her." She gave me one last hug. "Go see her."

I turned to Shane. "Will you come with me?"

"Oh, I don't know. She probably isn't up for meeting new people," Shane said, shaking his head.

"Go," Riley said. "For Thea."

Chapter fifteen

Shane

We washed our hands, suited up in sanitary scrubs, then were escorted to ICU room four. The last thing I wanted was to impose on mother and daughter reuniting after over a month. But Thea was squeezing my hand too hard for me to attempt to leave.

She dragged me in with her, and I waited as she settled into the chair beside her daughter.

Even pale, with sunken in eyes and greasy, unkempt hair, I saw the resemblance. Paisley Rose was a carbon copy of her mother. Dark, silky hair, whiskey colored eyes, sweetheart shaped face, and a dimple in her chin. She looked nothing like her weasel of a father.

She smiled, her attention on Thea, not at all worried about the strange man standing awkwardly in the corner.

"Mommy," Paisley said, her voice weak. She reached out, stroking Thea's cheeks. "I missed you, so so so much."

Thea grinned through the pained look in her eyes. She blew an air kiss, not wanting to spread germs. "I missed you more, my love."

Paisley let out a giggle, shaking her head. "I missed you most!"

Thea laughed. "Never. I missed you infinity. I'm so sorry you've been sick, baby."

The smile left Paisley's face, and Thea brushed back the bangs from her forehead. "Did Riley take good care of you?" she asked, still playing with Paisley's hair.

"Yeah," Paisley said through a yawn. "My belly hurts."

"I know, sugar bug. I know."

Thea hummed that wretched tune, her fingers busy at work on braiding Paisley's hair into two pigtails. "Tell me about all the fun things you did."

"Riley took me to the water park. And we went to the carnival with Daddy." Paisley continued to catch Thea up on her visit with her father.

When she finished her hair, Thea pulled out her phone and flipped the camera open so Paisley could check out her hair.

"So pretty," Paisley said. "Thank you, Mommy."

"Welcome." Thea turned toward me. "Paze, this is Shane. He lives in Shadow Cove."

Paisley turned toward me, smiling. "Hi."

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