Page 122

“Are you coming with us?” I asked.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
I nodded and let the medic help me climb up into the back of the truck and settle onto the stretcher with Elizabeth. I focused on Justin’s haggard face as he stared back at me, his expression tortured with longing and love. “I need you,” I said. “We need you.”
His entire face relaxed and he let the medic direct him to the front seat since there wasn’t room for him in the back with us and the other paramedic. Still, it made me feel so much better knowing he was with us.
When we unloaded at the emergency room, he was by my side instantly, gripping my hand like a stoic avenging angel, and I’d never loved him more.
The nurses coaxed Elizabeth onto the bed where they checked her vitals and the doctor came in to look her over.
Justin put his arm around me and rubbed, not bothering to ask me how I was, which I appreciated.
“Has anyone called my family?” I asked.
“I texted Camden on the way over here,” he said. “He’s letting everyone else know. It’s taken care of.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, letting myself lean into him. “For everything.”
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t thank me for taking care of you and Elizabeth.”
“Because it’s your job?”
His gaze dipped to my mouth, then back up, so full of everything I couldn’t name, it struck me breathless. “Because it’s what I was born to do.”
The moment was broken when the tall gray-haired doctor burst into the room. “Mrs. Creed?”
I blinked, stumbling over my thoughts. “Miss Creed,” I corrected him automatically.
“Right, yes.” He smiled benignly at Justin, then Elizabeth, before turning his attention back to me. “Your daughter’s labs and X-rays have all come back normal. Her temperature is up. She’s looking great. We can admit her for observation for another few hours, or if you’re comfortable keeping a close eye on her at home, I can discharge her. You’ll want to watch her for any signs of dry drowning. Have you heard of that before?”
“I think so?”
“What should we look for?” Justin asked.
Again, the doctor shot him a look as if to question who he was if I was not a Mrs. “Basically, a delayed reaction of the water affecting her lungs. So, coughing, trouble breathing, change in her skin color because of low oxygenation, or even changes in behavior or her mental state. Things like that. If you see any of those signs, you get her right back here.”
“Okay. We can do that.” Justin seemed so assured, but I was suddenly petrified. He glanced at me. “She needs to be at home. In her own bed. I’ve got this.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll go home.”
“Go home?” Elizabeth piped up from the bed. “With Man Jusin?”
He smiled down at her. “Yes, sweetheart. We’re going home.”
“’Kay.” Then she grinned back up at him... her first smile since this whole ordeal began, and it literally melted my heart.
I signed the discharge paperwork and Camden came and picked us up to drive us home, earning the second Lizzie smile of the evening.
I was exhausted and apprehensive, but so grateful he’d cleared everyone out of my house, so it was quiet when we got there.
“Thank you,” I said as he kissed my cheek at the front door.
“I’m just glad you’re both safe and this is finally over.”