I cringed and squeezed my eyes closed, just wondering what that could havemeant.
Callie shook her head slowly as she pulled the guardrail down. “Maybe that’s a story for another day when your Daddy feels better.” Her face became paler, almost having a green hue to it.Whatever happened must have scared the hell out ofCallie.
“What did you do?” I asked, looking down at Addison, who was climbing up onto the bed cautiously and snuggling under the blankets withme.
Her big blue eyes bore into mine. “I hidhim!”
She hidhim?
Callie cleared her throat and laid a hand over mine. "Addison heard the yelling, and she got scared. She took Ben into the neighbor's yard and hid him in the back yardplayhouse."
“Why didn’t you just getCallie?”
"You told me not to cross the street, 'member, silly?" shesaid.
“But,” Callie cut in, “Addison and I have a plan now if things go wrong. We even practiced it a fewtimes.”
“Dwills,” Addison said,giggling.
"Yes, we practiced the drills." Callie looked at me, her face still blanched and her eyes still raw from crying. "I couldn't find him," she cried, "and when I did, he was so cold." She sniffled and coughed. "But he was fine. Addison told us where he was intime."
“He was outside in the cold? For a while?” Iasked.
She nodded her head. “And so, since you’ve been in the hospital for a few days, we’ve had the chance to practice what to do in emergencies. Anyemergencies.”
“Firefighters came over, Daddy! I stopped, dropped, androlled!”
I looked down at my daughter as she smiled up at me proudly. Addison was going to be fine after this, and she was going to be fine all because she had someone like Callie in her life. Someone who cared for her and lovedher.
“You love Callie, don’t you,Addison?”
“Yep! She’s my bestest friend in the wholeworld!”
Color came back to Callie's cheeks, and a small gasp escaped from her lips when I agreed. "I love her, too, Addison. I reallydo."
