Kip opened Harper’s door and, after using hand sanitizer, sat beside her. Her hair flowed over the pillows in a blonde fan. As soon as he sat, two luminous eyes opened.
“Hey, beautiful. Harper, you’re in the health center. You’re safe.” Kip adjusted his position so she could see him and rang her call bell. “Did you have a good sleep?”
She crunched her brows. “What happened?”
“You were involved in an accident. I had the ambulance bring you here.” His heart pounded; she was awake.
“My big security and medical guy.” She smiled.
I am yours if you’ll have me, he thought.
Tim Holland and a nurse answered the bell. “Harper, I’m Tim, a PA. How are you feeling?”
“Sore. My side hurts.” She wiggled her legs and hands. “My legs hurt too.”
“Kip, I need you to step out,” Tim said.
“Mr. Medical Guy can hear,” Harper sniffed.
Tim chewed his lip in amusement. “You have a couple of cracked ribs and bruises from head to toe. I can get you something for pain.”
“Please,” she groaned.
Tim typed an order on the computer, and the nurse went to get the medication. He proceeded to listen to her heart and lungs. Gently he pressed on her belly and performed a neuro exam. Another nurse came in with a syringe.
“Five milligrams of morphine. Give it a little bit of time, and if you need more, ask. You can sip some water. See how you do.”
* * *
I can’t believehe’s here.She remembered what his kisses felt like. Laughing at the tailor. Dancing with him. “Kip?”
“What?” He took her hand in his and kissed it.
“I know this is weird, but I had this dream. We were on a flying trapeze together.” Her eyes widened.
“Well, sweetheart. It wasn’t a dream. Sort of.” Kip explained what happened and what he did.
Harper started to cry. “No one’s ever been that nice to me. YOU came for me.”
He lowered the bedrail and pulled her up against him. “I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”
In a whisper, she asked, “Why?”
“Why not? You are special and beautiful.” He lowered his mouth to hers.
Harper’s whole body tingled. “Channy always tells me dreams can come true.” She pushed against Kip’s chest. “Where’s Channy? Did you tell her?”
Kip took her hands in his. “When Kyle picked her up to bring her here, he didn’t like how she looked. He convinced her to let our PA look at her. She’s two doors down. Her pressure was high. They’re monitoring your niece and giving Channy meds for her blood pressure.”
“I need to see her.” She kicked off the covers, almost flashing Kip.
“Hey, hey, hey. Let me get Tim and a nurse. The last thing Chantal needs is to see you busting out all over.” His lips curved up.
Tuck opened the door to let Harper inside, and she walked in under her own power. Kip leaned against the nurse’s station to wait. “Thanks for coming. How is she?” he asked Tuck.
“She gave me permission to discuss her health. She told me Harper calls her the queen of TMI. I’d like to keep her. We got her pressure down, and so far, the baby looks good. But her kidneys are stressed. She’s one centimeter dilated. I started her on corticosteroids to push the baby’s lungs. We’ve got her on her left side, IV fluids, and Labetalol for the hypertension. I have her on an antibiotic for the bladder infection.” Tuck shook his head. “Kip, her last urine done downstairs showed the infection two weeks ago. I don’t believe she was ever called. I put an order out to review every chart and lab results of patients seen in the last month. I know you and Hunt don’t need the extra stress.”
“Tuck, no, thanks for doing your job.” Kip sighed.
