There’s a screech outside, followed quickly by a loud cry of pain. My bottle of beer tips over when I drop it on the bench and bolt out the door toward the sound with fear racing through my system. Rounding the corner of the shop, I find Gemma on the ground crying. I rush over to her, Owen hot on my heels. Gray makes it to us just as I fall to my knees beside my little girl.
“What happened, beauty?” I ask, taking her skinny leg into my hands.
Before she can answer, the backdoor slams against the house, and Molly comes barreling across the yard, fear in her wide eyes. She comes to a stop on the other side of Gemma and bends down.
“Oh, baby, what happened?” she repeats my question.
“I tripped and fell.” Gemma sniffs and wipes the back of her hand across her nose. “Gray and I were playing tag, and I didn’t see the water hose in the yard.”
“I’m sorry, Gemma,” Gray says mournfully, dropping to his knees beside his sister. His expression is heartbreaking as he looks at the bloody scrape on her knee. He looks just as hurt as Gemma does, like he feels her pain too.
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is my fault. I was supposed to put the water hose up after we filled the pool, but I forgot.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know I was gonna trip. I know you wouldn’t want me to get hurt on purpose.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Gray.” I scoop my girl up. “Why don’t you put the hose away while we get Gemma’s knee cleaned up?”
“Okay,” he sulks, dropping his head.
“Son,” I call, and he lifts his head. “It was an accident,” I tell him gently.
“I’m okay.” Gemma reaches out and grabs Gray’s shoulder. “It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore.”
Has there ever been a pair of siblings who loved each other as much as these two do? If one hurts, the other feels the pain. The bond between them is astounding.
“Uncle” Owen, as the kids like to call him, stays outside to help Gray put away the hose. I carry Gemma into the bathroom and set her on the counter while Molly immediately goes after the first aid kit.
“Let me see,” Molly says gently. I move out of the way to give her room. “Does it hurt to bend your leg?”
Some of Gemma’s hair has fallen from her braid, so I tuck it behind her ear to get it out of her way as she looks down at the scrape.
“Only a little.”
“Okay. Let’s get it cleaned up, and we’ll get you one of the Frozen bandages for it.”
By the time Molly is done and Gemma is sporting a new bandage, her tears have dried up and she’s already anxious to get back outside to her brother. It’s amazing how resilient kids are.
I help Gemma down from the counter, and Molly and I watch her rush off down the hallway. A moment later, the backdoor slams shut, and we hear her scream Gray’s name.
“To be young again and able to bounce back so fast.” Molly laughs and turns to clean the trash from the first aid kit. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful?”
“Remember that time you fell from the tree and scraped your elbow?”
She snorts. “I was on the lowest branch. Which was only like six feet from the ground. And besides, I only fell because you distracted me.”
I take the kit she hands to me and place it back in the medicine cabinet. Turning back to face her, I lean against the counter. “Who knew taking off my shirt to jump in the lake would be so distracting for you?” I lift a brow, my lips twitching. “Especially for a girl who claimed she was the best tree climber around.”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “You not only took off your shirt, but you dropped your shorts too, leaving you in only a pair of briefs. Very tight briefs, I might add. It wasn’t my fault I was noticing just how hot my best friend was.”
With a big grin, I lean forward and snag the front of her shirt, yanking her to me. “You thought I was hot? Even at thirteen?”
“I doubt there was ever a day in your life you weren’t hot, Lincoln. Well, maybe not when you were a baby—you were cute then.”
“You scared the shit out of me that day,” I tell her quietly.
“It was only a scrape on the elbow.”
My brows pull together in a frown. “Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.”
“I don’t see how it could have been much worse. It was only six feet.”
“It doesn’t take much to break a neck or sever a spine.”
Understanding dawns, and her features soften. I may have only been four when Christian died, and I may not remember much about him, but I still feel the loss. He was my older brother, and I miss him every day. I’ve never been as anal as my parents have been most of my life about safety, but that day did something to me. It made me realize how fragile life is. Molly could have easily been taken from me.
“It took you months before you’d let me climb another tree,” she remarks, a sad smile gracing her face. “And every time I did after that, you’d always hover below me.”
“Believe me, if it were up to me, you would have never climbed another tree. Each time you did, I swear my heart was on the verge of beating out of my chest. I fucking hated trees after that day,” I grumble the last.
Her lips quirk. “I know. I saw how much it bothered you. You didn’t ever wonder why I stopped climbing trees all of a sudden?”
“I didn’t care why. I was only glad you stopped.”
Molly wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles her face against my chest. Tugging her closer with my arms around her shoulders, I drop my head until my nose is buried in her hair. I take a deep breath, pulling in the sweetness of her scent.
Remembering the day she fell from the tree has my thoughts moving to the results of her tests. I’ve never been a pessimist. The life I’ve shared with Molly has always been good. Yes, we’ve had our ups and downs, but I’ve never for a second doubted our love. However, with the unknowns we’re facing, and the symptoms Molly has been going through, I can’t stop myself from thinking the worst, because there is a possibility of a worst.
I hate those negative thoughts, and I feel guilty for having them.
No matter what we face, we’ll do it together.
Chapter Ten
MOLLY
“Baby, relax,” Lincoln says soothingly, resting his hand on my bouncing knee.
I force my heel to the floor. It’s the look in Lincoln’s eyes a moment later that makes me aware that my other knee is now bouncing. I suck in a steadying breath and press that heel to the floor as well.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
I don’t know who he’s trying to convince more; me or him. Lincoln puts on a brave front, but I know he’s just as worried as I am. Except for the flu when I was a kid, and the common cold, I haven’t been sick a day in my life. Now my body is failing me in some way.
The last two weeks have been hard to say the least. As much as it scares me to know what’s going on, I still hope we leave here with some answers. Not knowing has made everything worse. My own uncertainty is hard enough to handle, but knowing Lincoln is just as worried, if not more, has my anxiety going through the roof. I don’t even want to think about being in his shoes, knowing something was wrong with him, but not knowing what that something was.