Safeguarding Kelly(23)
Author: Zoe Dawson
“Oh, okay. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I am. Just a precaution. Thanks for taking her today. I really appreciate it and I’m sure she loved it.”
“She did.” There was a pregnant pause. “So who’s the gorgeous half-naked hunk who answered the door this morning? I didn’t know you were seeing someone. I’ve never seen a six-pack like that before in my life and that face, that chest, those biceps, and don’t get me started on his shoulders. He looked like a golden angel. Yowza. You’ve been holding back on me.”
Kelly said wryly, “Half naked?”
“Yeah, no shirt. Could you convince him to answer the door like that every day I pick up Kiko?”
Kelly laughed softly. “It’s a long-complicated story. It might need a large bottle of wine. But the short answer is Jason and I are working through some stuff. I knew him from my past.”
“I see. Well, all I can say is I hope for your sake it works out. You deserve the best, Kelly. I’m blown away by how well you’ve done with Kiko, being alone and all.”
“I’m not alone. I have you. Thanks, Jennifer.”
“I’ll see you when you get home.”
Kelly went into her office to write up her findings on the serial killer cases. You deserve the best, Kelly echoed in her head. Did she? Did she really? What she deserved was to live without having to feel as if her world was crashing down, under a cloud of guilt and shame. She could only blame herself.
That all triggered a churning in Kelly’s stomach, and she abruptly pressed her forehead against her palm. Three years of living with this…secret. Pressing harder against her skin, she stared down at the top of her desk. Resisting the unrelenting ache in her throat, she swiped at the errant tears, then sat back in the chair with a sigh, thinking about what a paradox life was. She felt so emotionally entangled with Jason after a few short days. God, he made her feel things, made her want things, made her ache inside.
Could she really bridge this gap between them?
She looked at the clock and gave up even trying to finish up today. Her notes would wait, the report could wait.
Then, as if he’d known her turmoil, he walked into the morgue, and she nodded at him. Bending down to reach for her purse, she wiped the damning tears from her face. She would tell him when they got home, after she’d put Kiko to bed. She would sit him down and explain to him how she had kept his daughter a secret and why.
Kelly had been crying. It tore him up inside to know that she was that distraught. He looked over at her as they pulled onto the highway and away from base. Reaching over, he clasped her hand and bought it to his mouth. Kissing the back, he said, “Everything is going to be all right, sweetheart.”
She gave him a brave smile and nodded. “I hope so.”
He kept her hand in his the rest of the way. As he pulled into the driveway, Jennifer, her next-door neighbor came running over with Kiko in her arms. “Kelly!”
“What happened?”
“She’s been sluggish since she woke up and I found her asleep again on the couch. She’s burning up with fever.”
Kelly opened the back door as she pulled out her cell phone. “Get her in the car,” she said.
Jennifer set the little girl into the seat and her head lolled.
“Thank you, Serena. We’ll be right there.”
“Emergency?”
“No, my pediatrician isn’t far. She’s going to wait for us.” She got into the back seat with Kiko. “Hand me that bottle of water,” she said to Jason after he belted in and started the car. Reaching back, he handed her the bottle.
“Come on, baby. Take a little sip. It’ll be good for you.”
Kiko made a soft cry and then he could see she was taking some of the water from the bottle. Switching his attention to the road, he followed Kelly’s calm directions. The woman was a rock in a crisis.
Someone was pulling out and he pulled in and took the space between a silver sedan and a black SUV. He got out of the car and came around as Kelly was unbuckling the seatbelt. He gathered the little girl to him, and she opened her eyes. “Hi, Jason. You make good pancakes with happy blueberry faces.”
He smiled, his concern for this little girl going beyond anything he’d ever felt before. He headed to the complex. They entered, and Kelly rushed to the elevator. When it opened, they got inside, and she pushed the button for the third floor. As soon as the doors opened, they hurried to the office door.
It was locked, but Kelly knocked, and it opened.
“Right this way, Dr. Hu.”
She smoothed her hand over Kiko’s head, and it was easy to see that she had charmed everyone in the office, too.
He went to transfer Kiko into Kelly’s arms. “I’ll wait—”
“No,” Kelly said firmly. “You’re coming with me.”
The nurse said, “This way.” They followed her to an examination room. The nurse took her vitals and said, “Have you given her anything to reduce the fever?”
Kelly made a quick call to Jennifer and when she hung up, she said, “No.”
The nurse gave Kiko some pink liquid with a quick squirt of a syringe into her mouth. “That will help.”
The doctor came in. “Hi, Kelly and…?”
“Jason Hollow,” he said rising and shaking her hand. She was a pretty brunette in her mid-thirties with soft green eyes. She set down a file and opened it. Jason glanced at it and saw Kiko’s birthday. It was the same month as his.
She turned to Kiko, closing the file. “How’s our little patient.”
“I gots a runny nose,” she said, and Serena smiled. “But I had fun at the zoo. I saw polar bears and lions.” She looked over at him and smiled. “And zebras. They weren’t boring at all.”
“Well, let’s see what we can do to make you feel better.” She checked Kiko out and made her say ahhh, looked in her ears and up her nose.
“She’s got a cold. She’ll be fine. Use a fever reducer to keep her temperature manageable. Bed rest and plenty of fluids. If she’s not better in a few days, bring her back.”
“Can I have ice cream,” Kiko said with her head tipped to the side in that coy little girl way that made him melt and it wasn’t even directed at him.