Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Ollie giggles. “What does the winner get?”
“Kisses,” I tell them primly. “Lots of kisses.”
“Momma, taste this one,” Derek says, hobbling over to us, sloshing the root beer all over the floor.
“Careful not to slip,” I say as I take the cup from him. After a sip, I nod. “Oooh, this is great!”
I’m pretending to decide which one I like best when Daniel comes around my other side and kneels. He hands me a root beer float with a root beer Dum-Dum unwrapped with the stick down inside the straw.
The boys all laugh and call him a cheater.
I pull out the Dum-Dum and have a taste. Then I sip down the root beer. “Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner.”
Daniel leans in for his kiss and I give him a long one.
One that says I love you.
One that says thank you.
One that makes the boys groan and call us gross.
When he pulls away, I can’t help but bask in the moment. That’s all life is anyway. A series of moments all smashed together to make one incredible journey. Sometimes the journey is short, and other times it’s long. It doesn’t matter the duration, but how much fun you have along the way. It should be filled with love, laughter, and end with root beer floats.
But our story doesn’t end here.
Dr. Dum-Dum and Root Beer Angel have more love to give to other little souls like Noodle Butt and Robot Derek and Mr. Dinosaur.
We just have to find them first.
Daniel
“Well, if it isn’t the good doctor,” Mae says when I charge into the SICU.
“Just checking on my patient.” My voice is tight. I’m stressed as fuck. We almost lost her. Lin cried when they wheeled her off the OR.
“Princess Nakayla is sleeping it off, hon. Want me to call you when she’s being moved to PICU?”
She knows better. I won’t rest until I see that she’s okay. The tiny thing had emergency heart surgery, for fuck’s sake. I need to see her.
Mae lets out a heavy sigh. “You remind me of my granddaughter. She has a heart of gold and a spine of steel. Relentless as hell. That’s why you’re my favorite and you get away with so much when it comes to me. Go on, she’s in curtain six.”
I give her a thankful smile before stalking over to where the little girl sleeps. Her chocolate-brown skin is a contrast against the white sheets. My own heart cracks right down the middle seeing her sleeping so serenely on the bed with tubes and wires coming out of her.
“Hey, little princess,” I whisper as I sit on the edge of the bed. “How are you doing?”
I doubt she can hear me, but I don’t want her to be alone. Not now. Not after nearly dying today. Her brown cheeks are still streaked from her crying when they first brought her in. At just two, she’s so fragile and tiny. I wish I could call her mother in here and force her to cuddle her.
But she has no mother.
I tore apart her file the moment she was whisked off to the OR. Nakayla Dawson lives with Anna. Another foster kid. Broken and abandoned. Lost.
“She looks like a princess, hmm?” Mae asks as she flits around and checks her vitals.
“She does,” I say, my voice husky with emotion. “What did Dr. Davis say?”
“He repaired the atrial septal defect without open-heart surgery. Was able to patch it,” she says, stopping to stroke her fingers over the toddler’s forehead. “She should make a full recovery, but as with any condition, she’ll need to have it continually monitored.”
I’m still staring at Nakayla long after Mae leaves. The little girl’s eyes eventually flutter open. Big, round, pale brown. As soon as she sees me, her eyes fill with tears. Her bottom lip wobbles.
“Aww, don’t cry, little princess,” I say softly, patting her foot over the blanket. “I’m a doctor. You’re safe here.”
“B-Bankie,” she whispers, her voice so sad and sweet.
“You want your blankie?”
She nods, sending tears cascading down her brown cheeks. Nakayla is the cutest little girl.
“Tell you what,” I say as a nurse comes in. “I’m going to go look for your blankie.”
Nakayla starts to cry, effectively breaking my heart. “Dotor no bye-bye.”
I shoot the nurse a panicked look and he laughs. “I’ll go out there and look for it.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I assure her. “The nurse is going to get it.”
She smiles shyly. Such a beautiful smile. Reminds me of my granddaughter Cora when I’d first met her.
“Do you like suckers?”
She nods, watching me curiously.
I reach into my pocket and pull out a bubblegum-flavored Dum-Dums sucker. Her brown eyes widen.
“Peek,” she squeaks out. “Peek sucker.”
“You like pink?”
“Pink bankie.”
“My wife likes pink,” I tell her as I hand her the sucker. “She’s the only girl in a house full of boys.”