Chapter Five
Blinking, Teresa squinted really tightly and then stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. Where the heck was she? A shuffling sound to her side had her blinking once more. Why was someone in her room?
“Welcome back.” The sound came from a woman in pink standing beside her bed.
An effort to speak was halted by her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Had she eaten a sock in her sleep?
“Hold on. Let’s sit you up a bit and you can have some water.” The woman pushed a button and Teresa’s bed began lifting from behind.
This was nice. She didn’t have the strength to move. Blinking again, as if that would somehow help clear the fog that filled her brain, she looked down at the sides of the bed. This was definitely not her bed and not her room.
“And here you go.” The same lady held a tall plastic glass with a massive straw tilted in her direction.
Thankful the headache from earlier was gone; she closed her lips around the large straw and gulped the first few sips.
“Easy.” The woman pulled the cup away. “How does that feel?”
Moving her lips, she managed to croak out, “Better.”
Nodding her head, the woman returned the straw to her lips. “One more time, but slowly.”
Doing as she was told, she swallowed a few more sips and let go of the straw. “Thank…you.” Why was forming words so difficult?
“You are a very lucky woman.”
The lady in pink—no wait, those were scrubs. A doctor? Nurse? “Where am I?”
“You’re at County Hospital.”
Scanning the room again, she realized the woman was right. This was a hospital room. But how?
“You were in a wreck.”
Wreck? “Emma!” Wanting to sit up, climb out of bed, and find her daughter was one thing, following through was apparently another as a tearing pain cut across her midsection.
“Whoa. Steady there or you’ll rip out your stitches. You had surgery to stop the internal bleeding.”
Bleeding? That couldn’t be good. “Emma?”
“Emma is fine. And so are you. The doctor removed your spleen and all your numbers have come back good. I’ve seen much worse in your situation.”
If she had to be in a category, she’d prefer not to be in the worse section. “Emma?” She had to know who had her daughter.
“She went home with her father.”
Her eyes popped open and her brain started spinning. Who? What?
“Such a nice man. As soon as he picked her up, she hung on and didn’t let go.”
Nice man? What nice man? “I need—”
“You need to rest. If the next twenty-four hours go as well as the last few, they’ll let you go home.”
Home. That was better, but Emma. “Emma. I want to see her.”
“The next time Mr. Baron calls to check on you, we’ll let him know you’re awake and asking for your daughter.”
About to mutter thank you, the words registered more clearly in her head. Baron. Father. Holy…
The kid was fascinating. Cooper would pay big bucks to know what was going on in Emma’s little mind. The way her gaze shifted from one person to the other whenever they spoke, he could almost see the wheels turning as she processed and made up her mind about who knew what. It was those intelligent eyes that had him and his grandparents putting off the upcoming conversation until after Emma was in bed.
“I didn’t realize you owned a high chair.” Emma was situated in a high chair with colorful plastic plates and toddler size flatware.
“We have everything needed for children.” Grams smiled at him. He should have realized the moment news of a great-grandchild spread that his military grandfather and beloved grandmother would be ready for a passel of kids to make an appearance.
Emma had been placed beside him at the dinner table. Not sure when her bedtime or anything else was, the family opted to eat early, include Emma, and fortunately, she seemed to be on board with the plan. Though her fascination seemed to be with the two dogs lying on either side of her. Cooper actually had to shift his chair over a bit so that Honey could fit between him and the little girl. It was the first time he’d ever seen the dogs not at his grandparents’ side.
“She’s a good little eater.” His grandmother smiled at the child.
Emma continued to watch everyone. A piece of macaroni and cheese stabbed at the end of her fork, she looked at the faces around the table before twisting the fork into her mouth.
“How come we didn’t get mac and cheese?” Too tired to drive all the way home from a business expedition, Cooper’s brother Devlin stopped at the ranch for dinner and a good night’s sleep. It had been a while since he’d popped by. Too bad Cooper hadn’t had his phone out when his brother arrived, because the look on Devlin’s face when he spotted Emma had been beyond hilarious.
Hazel, the family cook, walked into the dining room, a grin on her face wider than Cooper had ever seen. “Here’s your milk, little one.”
Reaching for the sippy cup he’d brought from Tess’s home, Emma smiled up at Hazel. “Milk.”
“Yes, sweetie.”
It was the first time he’d seen her smile. The dimple on only one cheek reminded him so much of her mother. At first he’d been more than a little annoyed that his parents had hired a lowly freshman to tutor him, but once he got to know the sweet kid, he’d been impressed by her gumption and determination. Eventually, as Tess became more relaxed around him and smiled more often, the cute dimple on her cheek whenever she smiled even a little bit had become just one of the things about her that fascinated him.
Dinner progressed as if it had been any other night and he had not come home with a toddler in tow. Not a word was said about Emma or Tess or his conversation with the nurse. At one point he noticed Devlin’s eyes rounding wide and when he turned to see the baby, her head was bobbing, her eyes were drooping and he was pretty sure any second now she was going to land in what little was left of her hot dogs and mac and cheese.
“Looks like someone is ready for bed.” His grandmother looked straight at him. She didn’t need to say anything for him to know it was time to put the little one to sleep.
“I guess that means me.” He hoped for a volunteer. Especially in the diaper department.
“You are her father.” Masked with a sweet forced smile, his grandmother’s tone hovered between reproving and teasing.
“Her what?” Devlin’s head snapped over to Cooper and back to Emma.
“It’s not how it sounds.”
“Really?” His brother stared at him. “Looks like I picked the perfect night to stop for an impromptu dinner.”
“Remember to use the white paste on her bottom. It’s going to be a long night.” His grandmother was still smiling. “And close the blackout drapes in the nursery and you might as well turn on the sound machine. It might comfort her if she wakes up and realizes she’s in a strange crib.”
He bobbed his head and was very glad he’d brought the child here. He knew nothing about white paste, diapers, drapes, sound machines, or anything else to do with small children.
As she’d done every other time he’d picked her up, the moment Emma was out of the high chair and in his arms she snuggled into his shoulder. He had a feeling if he didn’t hurry up; she’d be deep asleep long before he got a clean diaper and pajamas on her.
In the nursery, he spotted the small bookshelf beside a rocker and considered if he should read her a story, but then he decided maybe tomorrow. Tonight the sweet girl needed to go to sleep.
A few minutes later, he was downstairs rejoining the family at the dining room table.
“How did it go?” the Governor asked.
“Her diaper may be a little lopsided, but I think she’ll be fine.”
His grandmother smirked sweetly. “Now, do you want to explain to us why the hospital thinks you are Emma’s father?”
Unfortunately, only one person could tell him why his name was on her daughter’s birth certificate. According to the hospital, Tess had not only come out of surgery with flying colors, she’d already woken up a few times. The nurse had convinced him that she needed her rest and might not be very alert if he came by this evening, so he’d made up his mind to visit first thing in the morning.
“Well, brother?” Devlin stirred sugar into his coffee cup. “I’m rather curious myself.”
“Trust me, big brother, you’re not the only one.”