Page 91 of Freefall

“It wasn’t a question.”

“They’re listed in the school directory. Your—Harper should have a copy.”

I nod before crouching in front of Daisy again. “Think you can let me carry you to the car? We need to have a doctor examine your ankle.”

She gives me a tiny nod.

I slide one arm under her knees and the other around her back, scooping her up. She wraps her arms around my neck, and buries her face in my shirt.

I don’t bother looking back at Ms. Dawson.

As soon as I have Daisy buckled into her booster seat, I head toward the urgent care clinic across town. I remember Allie complaining about the wait when she sliced her finger open a few months ago. Three hours in the waiting room for a couple of stitches. Hopefully, it will be faster for Daisy.

A muffled whimper comes from the back seat, and I look in the rearview mirror. Her ankle is already more swollen than it was at school. I don’t hesitate. I make the next U-turn I can and head straight for the hospital.

As soon as we get there, I shoot off a text to Harper, writing in all caps that Daisy is completely fine and that I’m taking her to the ER as a precaution. When I lift her out of the back seat, she rests her face against my shoulder with another quiet whimper.

“It’s okay, Daisy girl. Almost there.”

The emergency room is busier than I hoped. Every chair in the waiting room seems to be taken, but I head straight to the reception desk anyway. The woman behind the computer barely looks up.

“Name?”

“Daisy Daniels.”

She types something. “Date of birth?”

I answer automatically, having memorized it the moment I saw that paternity report.

“What brings you in today?”

“She fell at school and hurt her ankle. I don’t know if it’s broken or just sprained⁠—”

She holds up her hand, stopping me.

“Your relationship to the patient?”

The answer catches in my throat. I glance down at Daisy, who is looking up at me through watery lashes. The room seems to disappear around me, and all I can see is her. It’s almost imperceptible, but I see it. Her slight nod. I nod back, never taking my eyes off of her.

“Father,” I say.

The word drapes over us like a blanket, as if it has always belonged to us. Despite the pain, Daisy’s lips turn up into a hazy smile.

The receptionist doesn’t seem to notice our heartfelt moment.

“Have a seat,” she says, barely looking up as she types. “We’ll get her back as soon as we can.”

A few minutes later, a nurse in blue scrubs with shoulder-length dark hair pushes through the double doors. “Daisy Daniels?”

I stand. Then freeze.

“Em?”

My sister blinks once, surprise flashing across her face before she smooths it away. It’s not like I don’t know that my sister works in the emergency department at this hospital, but ever since she got her trauma certification, she’s usually assigned to bigger cases. It never even occurred to me that she could end up being our nurse.

“Nate,” she says softly, her eyes dropping to Daisy curled against my chest. “What’s going on?”

“She climbed a tree at school,” I say, looking from her back to Daisy. “Fell and twisted her ankle.”