Nick waved a hand over his shoulder and ran through the doors into the Emergency Room.
By the time he stammered out Katie's name and his relationship to her, the nurse was already leading him toward the end of the hallway.
He heard the nurse talking to him, but his heart was pounding so hard he couldn't hear a damn thing besides the heartbeat screaming in his ears.
He felt the nurse patting his back, but none of her words registered.
She pulled back the curtain and what he saw almost dropped him to his knees.
Katie, fast asleep on the hospital bed, tucked protectively in Ruth's arms.
The nurse beside him touched his arm and he turned to look at her. "Don't worry, Dad. Katie's just fine. Her mother's been here for hours with her. They're both exhausted."
Nick's mouth was dry and he couldn't quite feel his face. It must be his adrenaline fading away. "She's okay?"
"Yeah. I can have the attending come back and explain everything we did, all the tests and evaluations, but Katie's just fine. The doctors were waiting for you to come before they released her so you could ask them any and all of your questions."
Nick nodded and sat down in the chair beside the bed.
His knees had gone weak.
He'd heard most of what the nurse had said, focusing on the fact that Katie was okay.
She wasn't going to need to stay in the hospital.
She could come home.
With him.
Focusing on his daughter, curled up comfortably on the bed, her head on Ruth's chest.
As they slept on he saw Ruth's hand intermittently stir and rub Katie's back.
As asleep as she was, the movement wasn't a conscious one. It was instinct.
A soft knock behind him turned his head.
The man in the doorway had a white coat over his dark blue scrubs. "Mister Stone?"
Nick nodded and the doctor moved closer, his gaze passing over the bed before he stepped up to Nick, his hand held out.
Nick wiped his palms off on his denims and took the other man's hand.
"I'm Doctor Nelson."
Nick nodded. "Doctor Nelson. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. I was at a job site at the edge of town. It took me a while to get here. One of my... my employees drove me in."
The doctor shook his head. "No worries. Katie's mom had everything under control from the moment they got here."
Katie's mom.
Nick knew that the doctor was talking about Ruth, but it was strange to see the picture before him through any other eyes than his own.
"I'm glad she was here for Katie."
The doctor put his hand on Nick's shoulder. "I can go through the chart with you and the films from the Xrays and CAT scan.
With one more longing look at the two asleep in the bed, Nick got up from his chair and gestured to the open area outside of Katie's room. "Let's talk out there. I'd rather not disturb their sleep unless we have to."
