Page 92 of Freefall

Emory nods, already slipping back into work mode, then turns her attention to Daisy. “Let’s get you back to a room and see what’s going on, okay?”

She leads us into an exam room, helping me get Daisy situated on the bed.

“Okay, Daisy.” Her voice is gentle. “Can you point to where it hurts?”

Daisy taps the outside of her ankle.

“Any pain anywhere else? Did you hit your head when you fell?”

Daisy shakes her head. “No.”

Emory’s eyes drift to me, curious. “That’s good.”

She feels around Daisy’s ankle, and Daisy sucks in a sharp breath when Emory presses near the bone.

“I know this isn’t fun,” she says, “but you’re doing great.”

Em flashes me a curious glance. “I’m going to talk to the doctor on call, and we’ll be back shortly.”

“Thanks.”

She gives me a tight smile before she disappears through the curtain.

I know I’ll have to explain to her why I showed up to the emergency room carrying an injured little girl, but first I need to make sure Daisy’s okay. Not just physically.

I’ve known since the moment I met her that Daisy is a smart girl, but the way she looked up at me—that little nod—felt like she already knew. Like she was giving me permission to say it out loud. Still, that’s not how I imagined her finding out for certain that I’m her dad. She deserves more than a rushed explanation to a hospital receptionist while she’s in pain.

“Hey,” I say, crouching down beside the bed. Daisy looks up at me, her bloodshot eyes tracking my movement. “You’ve been really brave today.” She bites her lip the same way Harper does when she’s worried.

I move a strand of hair from her face, still damp with tears. “What I said earlier…” I trail off, choosing my words carefully. “About who I am. We don’t have to talk about it now, but I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.”

Her eyebrows pull together as if she’s turning the words over in her head before she finally speaks. “Is it true?”

“Yeah, Daisy girl. It’s true.”

She sits up a little higher on the bed, wincing when her ankle catches against the sheet. “You’re really my daddy?”

“Yeah,” I say again. “I am. I wanted to tell you in a different way. I wanted your mom to be there, but…sometimes life doesn’t always go the way we expect it to.”

“Like falling off a tree?” she asks.

“Exactly like that.”

She nods, looking off to the side before turning back to me. “Does this mean I call you ‘Daddy’ now?”

A smile tugs at my lips. “You can if you want. Or you can keep calling me Nate. It’s up to you.”

She dips her head again. “I’ll think about it.”

Silence falls for a moment as her eyelids grow heavy. She yawns, a little squeak escaping with the act. And then…“I was hoping you were.”

That’s all it takes for the dam to break, the emotion that had been clogging my throat manifesting in tears that break free and fall down my cheek. Daisy sleepily reaches out and catches one with her little thumb, wiping it away. “You have to be brave too,” she says just as the curtain opens.

I clear my throat, swiping at the rest of the tears as an older woman in powder-blue scrubs walks in. She introduces herself as the on-call doctor and repeats the same exam Emory did. She doesn’t think the ankle is broken, but orders X-rays to be sure.

The second we’re wheeled back from imaging, the curtain flies open once again, and Harper rushes straight to Daisy’s bedside, her face pale. “Baby. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m okay,” Daisy says sleepily.