Page 119 of Delta

She shuffles closer, her eyes—changeable hazel like his—wide and scared. "Grandmama and Grandpa said you got hurted."

He pats the space beside him. "I did get hurt, sweetheart, but I'm alright. I'm on the mend."

She approaches the edge of the bed, her eyes gone greenish the way his do—she glances at me, and I can see her deciding to figure out who I am later. She refocuses on Rush, hesitant and fearful—I imagine it has to be a hell of a shock to see her big, strong, invincible warrior daddy in this state.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" she asks.

He draws a breath, eyes closing, steadying himself. "Climb on up here with me, my little monkey." She climbs up in a swish and scrabble of taffeta and limbs, grabbing at Rush with accidentally careless hands. Fortunately, his injured arm is on my side, so he's able to pull her up, stifling a groan when she settles in with a child's restless thrashing, an elbow landing in his ribs.

"Oh, yeah," he groans. "There we are."

Eliza taps her wand here and there, gaze flicking to me with naked curiosity. "Who're you?"

I smile at her. "My name is Bryn."

She looks at Rush, then me again. "Are you one of Daddy's nurses?"

I look at Rush, too, for guidance. "Um, no. I'm…Your daddy and me are…"

Rush saves me. "Bryn and I have had an adventure together, Lizzy-Bean. We’ve fallen in love with each other just like in your stories, and we're going to be together happily ever after.” He lets that sink in. "Whatcha think of that, then?"

I think a lot of it, myself, but I watch Eliza for her reaction.

She looks at me. It's a long, hard, thoughtful, searching look. "Are you going to be my new mum?"

I choke on my saliva, coughing as I try to collect myself. "I…um. Maybe first we could just sort of…start out as friends?"

"I think that's probably a good idea, don't you think so, Daddy?" She looks at him. "I've had an adventure, too, you know. D'you want to hear all about it?"

"I absolutely want to hear every last detail, sweetheart. Tell me everything."

"Well, it was lunch time, first off. Grandmama had made my favorite, cheese toasties with tomato soup. And then, from the middle of nowhere, the door broke open. Just…SMASH!" She whacks Rush in the face with her wand, continuing her riveting narration heedless of Rush’s amused laughter as he rubs his offended nose. "Big ugly men just came into the house! One had a wart on his nose exactly like a witch. Do you think he was a witch, Daddy?"

"Seems likely," Rush answers, shoulders shaking. "And then what?"

"They pointed guns at Grandmama and Grandpa, big machine guns." She stage whispers, then. "I think they were real guns, Daddy. Don't you think so, too?”

He nods solemnly. "I do think that's likely, darling."

"Don't worry, no one got shooted. Not even grandpa. I thought maybe grandpa would fight them off with his spoon like a real hero, but then I thought that would be bad, because I love Grandpa and I'm not sure he could fight very well with just a spoon." She pauses, head cocked in thought. "Could you fight someone with a spoon, Daddy?"

Rush is trying so hard not to lose it. "Well, maybe." He nods. "Yeah, I reckon I could. Was it a big spoon like for soup, or one of those fiddly little guys for sugar?"

"It was just a little one."

"Hmmm. That's tricky. Spoons aren't my weapon of choice." He kisses the top of her head. "I do think Grandpa made the right choice, though. One spoon against two big machine guns ain't the best odds, in my professional opinion. Discretion is the better part of valor, and all.”

"And Grandpa isn't a spring chicken anymore, he says. I'm glad they didn't shoot anyone."

"Me too, darling."

Over by the door, Richard and Evelyn are stifling laughter as well—Richard is medium height, with thin off-blond hair and round glasses with thick lenses. He's got no fewer than three pens in the breast pocket of his short-sleeved button-down, which is tucked into pressed chinos. Evelyn is short and curvy, with curly brown hair and sharp, lively blue eyes.

"Well, what happened next?" Rush asks.

"The men put a sack over my head. It smelled very bad. Almost as bad as your gym bag but not as bad as your nasty farts." She waves her wand this way and that as she speaks, flicking it and tapping the railing, the wires, the beeping, pumping machines. "Then I was in a car for a very long time. It was very boring. There were lots of turnings and I was quite afraid, but not as afraid as when I had to get radiation the first time."

Rush blinks hard, fury clouding his features before he masters it. "You're a very brave girl."