Page 22 of Soldier’s Christmas Crush (Trinity Falls: Home for Christmas #4)

“You’re okay,” Jensen whispered, rubbing his hand between those tiny shoulder blades, and trying to get Henry to calm himself.

But the harsh coughing turned into something that sounded almost like a dog barking, and Jensen was beginning to panic.

If I try to take him to the emergency room I have to strap him into the car where I can’t reach him…

His hands moved to his phone again and he called Willow without realizing he was doing it.

Please pick up.

“Jensen?” she said, picking up on the first ring.

“Thank God,” he said.

“Is that Henry coughing?” she asked him.

“He can’t stop,” he told her.

“Could he be choking on something?” she asked right away.

“No,” Jensen said. “He’s got a little cold. At least I thought it was a little one.”

“Does he have a fever?” Willow asked.

“I haven’t taken his temperature since I got him home from my parents’ place,” Jensen admitted, placing the back of his hand against the little one’s forehead. “He’s warm, but he doesn’t seem to be burning up.”

“Good,” Willow said. “Is he struggling to breathe?”

“No,” Jensen said. “He’s just coughing so much.”

He thought he heard something happening on the other end of the call, but with all the coughing on his end it was hard to tell what.

“Are his shoulders moving up and down, are his chest and belly contracting?” she asked .

“Just with the coughing,” he told her.

“That’s good,” she said. “I’m parking out front, I’ll be right in.”

“You… you’re what?” he asked.

But she was gone.

Did she drive out here when she saw my text?

Before he had a chance to think about it, the front door was opening up and Willow was rushing in, along with a gust of frigid, snowy air.

“Hey, Henry,” Willow said calmly as she peeled off her layers. “I’m so sorry you have a cough. Let’s see what we can do to help you feel better.”

She headed right for him, and Jensen braced himself for the boy to panic.

Instead, he held up his arms, his eyes filled with tears from coughing so much.

Willow scooped him up and cradled him close.

“Do you have a bathroom with a shower?” she asked Jensen calmly as Henry shuddered and coughed against her chest.

“Yes,” he told her, leading the way upstairs to the bathroom.

“Get that shower running,” she told him. “Make it as hot as possible.”

This was a version of Willow he’d never seen before. Her tone made it clear there was no room to argue, not that he’d been planning on it. He crouched to turn the knobs and flicked on the shower. The water was already warming up.

By the time he straightened, Willow had kicked off her boots and was stepping into the tub with Henry still hacking as she held him close. She closed the glass doors around the two of them and moved close to the water, but not quite into the spray.

“Henry,” she said softly. “Let’s take some deep breaths. In, and then out.”

Jensen listened as she modeled the breaths for him.

Please, Henry, please…

The coughing began to slow. He could hear Henry gasping in breaths in between, and Willow’s gentle praise.

“That’s right,” she murmured. “Let’s breathe in lots of nice, warm air. That feels so good, doesn’t it?”

Henry quieted more, the cough subsiding almost completely.

“Do you have a humidifier for his room?” Willow asked in a calm, gentle voice.

“Yes,” Jensen said. “But I haven’t used it yet.”

“Go get it,” Willow said. “Make sure it’s clean, then fill it up. We can bring it into his room and put it right by his bed.”

Jensen ran like his life depended on it, listening to Willow croon to his boy.

“What a good job you did,” she told him. “You’re going to be nice and tired after this, aren’t you?”

Once the humidifier was cleaned, filled up, and running nicely right next to the crib, Jensen headed back to the bathroom.

“It’s all ready,” he told Willow.

“Let’s get him a cup of warm water,” Willow said.

He took off again, heading down to the kitchen, getting a clean sippy cup from the cupboard, and filling it with warm water from the tap .

When he got back up, the water was off and Willow was just opening the shower doors, releasing a cloud of steam into the rest of the bathroom. Henry rested against her chest, limp as a rag doll, his eyes glittering as he observed his dad.

“Hey, bud,” Jensen murmured, trying keep his emotions in check. “Do you feel a little better?”

Henry blinked and nodded slightly.

“I’m so glad,” Jensen told him.

“I think he has a virus,” Willow said softly. “I checked with some of the nurses over at Tarker County on my way over here. There’s a bad one with a cough going around the local pre-schools and nurseries.”

“That makes sense,” Jensen said, finally tearing his eyes from his son.

“We’ll want to keep him hydrated, and if anything like this happens again, you know what to do,” she said, indicating the shower.

Willow’s hair hung damply around her shoulders, and her woolen socks were completely soaked along with her jeans up to her knees. Her eyes were tired, but her expression was relieved.

She had never been more beautiful to him.

“Willow,” he breathed. “I…”

“Let’s get some water in this little guy,” she said. “And then your daddy can take you to bed for a nice rest.”

Jensen handed her the cup and she held it to Henry’s lips.

He didn’t take it from her hands, just drank from it like back when he was a little baby drinking from a bottle. The poor little guy was exhausted .

Willow gazed down at him with such love in her eyes that it almost hurt to watch.

When the cup was half empty, Henry pushed it away and tried to snuggle into Willow’s chest.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Jensen told him, holding his arms out.

Henry went to him, and he held him close, feeling relief at every clear breath the boy took. When he glanced back at Willow, she was shivering.

“Get in that shower,” he told her. “I’ll bring you back some clothes.”

“N-no, I’m fine,” she said.

“Get in,” he told her again. “My bathrobe’s on the door.”

Her eyes went to his enormous, fluffy robe and she nodded once.

He headed out, closing the door behind him, but didn’t move toward Henry’s room until he heard the water turn back on.

“We don’t need her getting sick too,” he whispered to Henry.

By the time he had his boy in his warmest pajamas, sleeping in his crib with the mist from the humidifier pointed right at him, Jensen had no idea how much time had passed.

But as he looked down at his son, he felt so grateful. His eyes burned to see that little face so peaceful, his chest moving up and down gently.

He grabbed the monitor, headed to his own room, and got his old Trinity Falls firehouse sweats out for Willow. They were still going to be enormous on her, but they were the smallest things he had, and they were warm.

When he got to the bathroom door, he paused for a moment, not wanting to disturb her.

And as the grip of the scary moment relaxed, all his thoughts about Willow came rushing back like a wave.