Lily burrowed in, yawned, smiled another sleepy smile at Archer and shut her eyes.
Eden’s heart was so full of love. And being near him only reminded her of how important he was to her.
“Your shirt is wet,” he murmured, sliding his fingers through her hair. “And your hair.”
“It’s raining,” she said, unable to look away from the blueness of his gaze.
He frowned.
“I wanted to be here.” She paused, searching his gaze. “I needed to.”
He leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers. “Needed.”
She nodded.
He nodded, too.
“You don’t want to sit? Some coffee? Something?” she asked. “She gets heavy after a while.”
Archer glanced at Lily, smiling. “She’s fine.”
“Archer.” Toben waved him forward. “The doctor.”
Eden followed. Archer reached back a hand for her, and Eden held tight. All she could do was hope and pray Teddy would be all right. He was fit and strong and, according to Archer, stubborn...all things working in his favor.
“Everyone here now?” the doctor asked. At Archer’s nod, he continued, “I’m Dr. McBride. I think most of you know me. And I know your father, so let’s cut to the chase. He took a hard fall, knocked his head. We’ve already run a preliminary CT to check for any subdural bleeds. So far, he looks good. A concussion, to be sure, but we’ll know more shortly. He’s started to come around, and he’s disoriented and crotchety.”
That made the waiting room relax; a few people laughed.
“That’s a good sign,” Fisher, the Boone brother she’d met, said.
Dr. McBride nodded. “It is indeed. I plan on making him a whole lot more crotchety through the night. We’ll do another CT in about twelve hours. Make sure it’s clear.”
“What are you looking for?” a young woman asked, someone Eden didn’t know.
“Any injury to the brain, swelling, that sort of thing.” He held his hands up. “Let’s not worry about that unless we have to.”
“When can he go home?” Renata asked.
Dr. McBride shook his head. “Not for at least twenty-four hours, Renata. With that hard a knock to the head, I’d feel better having him closely monitored for a solid two days. Just to be sure.”
Eden sq
ueezed his hand.
“Nothing else?” Archer asked.
“So far, no.” Dr. McBride shook his head. “That’s all I can tell you right now, Archer. You all let him know you love him, remind him he’s here for a reason—and he needs to listen to his doctor, won’t you?”
Renata nodded, patting the man on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
Lily wriggled, prompting Archer to bounce her without thought. “Can we see him?” he asked.
“For a minute,” Dr. McBride said. “I mean a minute, too. Just the kids, or it’ll take an hour to get everyone out of here.”
Archer nodded.
She hurt for him, knowing how badly he wanted to see his father. And how hard it was for him to keep up the cool, distant facade everyone seemed to expect from him.