The Amendment (The Contract 2)

Her little brow furrowed, she twisted her lips, then nodded. “I leave him my Lambie. He know dat I dere.”

Maddox ruffled her hair. “Good plan. He probably needs something to cuddle. I’ll take a picture and show him when he wakes up.” He stood, his lips quirking.

“You are so bad,” I muttered.

“I am paying him back for the Oscar the Grouch stunt when I was recovering. Tit for tat, Katy.”

Richard would expect no less.

I hesitated pushing open the door to Richard’s room. I had discussed this with Laura and Graham as well as Richard’s doctor, who made all the arrangements since children Gracie’s age weren’t often allowed on this ward. Although he agreed that seeing Richard might help settle her, and help Richard, I was still worried.

“It’s an unusual request. Aside from the bruises and cuts, he won’t frighten her,” Alan had mused. “He is peaceful and calm. If she understands he is asleep, I agree, perhaps she would like to see him. Maybe her voice will trigger something inside Richard.”

What if it made it worse?

Maddox’s hand covered mine. “It’s gonna be fine, Katy. I promise.”

We walked in, and Laura and Graham stood. Laura closed the book she had been reading to Richard. Gracie stopped, her grip on my hand tightening as she looked at Richard. Maddox bent down.

“Want me to take you to Daddy?”

Still staring at Richard, she held out her arms and allowed him to pick her up and carry her to the edge of Richard’s bed. I followed close, my heart beating so fast, I was sure it would fly from my chest. She leaned down, and Maddox arranged her beside Richard. She touched his face, frowning.

“Boo-boo.”

“Yes,” I said. “Daddy has lots of boo-boos, but they’re getting better. They don’t hurt him,” I added. “Remember when you fell and skinned your knee? It didn’t hurt after Mommy fixed it and kissed it better.”

“I tiss?”

“Okay, be gentle like I told you.”

Maddox helped her kneel beside him. She kissed Richard’s cheeks, chin, and lips, then she touched the cannulas. “What dis?”

“That’s so Daddy doesn’t snore,” Maddox said with a grin.

“Oh.” She giggled, the sound odd but welcome in the room.

He winked at me, and I relaxed. He was helping make this much easier than I expected.

“Daddy?” Gracie whispered. “I hewe.”

I had to blink several times as she laid her head beside his and started to talk in her sweet little voice. She told him about Lambie and staying at Graham’s. About playing with Unca Mattog. How Heather was crawling everywhere.

“She no yike bottle, Daddy. Thippy cup,” she informed him. “She big gurl. Yike me.”

She told him about the zoo, time with Jenna, and her new friend “Blad.”

“He funny. I yaff so hard, I spill my milk. He clean it up and not say nuffin,” she confessed, keeping her voice low and solely for him.

I relaxed watching Gracie. It was as if we were at home. The main difference was that Richard was silent, not egging her on the way he usually did. He loved listening to her talk and encouraged her all the time, having full conversations with her daily. He was proud of how smart she was and spent as much time reading or teaching her things as he could. Not yet three, her vocabulary was more advanced than most children her age and I was certain it had a lot to do with Richard and his constant interaction with her.

I was grateful for the way Maddox stayed close, appearing as engrossed in her stories as Richard would have been. He didn’t interrupt, allowing Gracie to fill Richard in on everything he had been missing. She began to sing—nonsensical words she strung together that Richard was always able to decipher, to a tune she made up as she went. Most of the time, she was bent over his face, humming close to his mouth as if that made it better for him to hear her. It was sweet and sad all at the same time, and more than once, I saw Laura brush a tear from her eyes.

Finally, Gracie looked up. “Daddy tired. He not smiling now.”

Something in my chest quivered. “What, baby?”

She tapped his mouth. “He not smile now.”

I stepped closer, exchanging glances with Maddox. Laura and Graham looked between us.

“Daddy smiled at you?”

Gracie bobbed her head enthusiastically. “He yike my songs. He smile when I tiss him.”

I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. “Of course he did. Daddy loves you.”

She tucked her lamb in the crook of his neck. “I lubs him. I tome back yater afta Daddy has nap.”

Graham cleared his throat. “We’ll take Gracie home.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes from Richard’s face. Had he smiled? Was he waking? Did he know I was there?

Gracie held out her arms, and I scooped her up, holding her tight. She bent down and kissed Richard again, and I watched closely, holding my breath. There was no movement or flicker on his face, and I tried not to be too disappointed. In her little world, Daddy would smile at her, so she thought he had. I had to stop getting my hopes up.