"I'm sorry I was horrible to you," she sniffled as she reached up and wiped her face with her sleeve.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. "I'm going to call your daddy, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay," she whispered quietly as she pressed the ice pack to her knee.
I let her focus on that to distract her while I called her father. My heart was in my throat. I knew he'd be pissed at me for letting his daughter get hurt. Everything about Christian screamed overprotective parent and I was sure I would never hear the end of it, but I couldn't blame him one bit for it either.
"Is everything okay?" he asked as soon as answered the phone.
"Kind of," I said slowly before I rushed through what happened. "Annie fell down the stairs. I checked her and I think she's okay, but her knee is hurting. She skinned it a little."
"Take her to the hospital," he said the panic rising in his voice. "They still need to make sure she hasn't hit her head or anything."
I nodded. "I'll take her right now. We'll meet you there."
I ran upstairs and retrieved Annie's shoe before I jogged back down and put it on her. She held out her arms and I picked her up.
As soon as she was in my arms, she laid her head against me and nuzzled against my body.
I carried her outside and made sure she was buckled into her seat before I slid into mine.
As soon as we arrived at the hospital, we were seen. I sat next to Annie the whole time as the doctor started checking her out to make sure that she was okay.
Christian exploded into the room a moment later, his hair tousled, and his eyes wildly searching for his daughter. "Honey, are you okay?" he asked as he arrived at her side
Of course, the minute he asked she started crying again.
I moved out of the way, so they could have some space.
The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, everything looks good. No stitches needed, no concussion, no broken bones. She'll have a little bruise on her knee, but that will fade. Other than that, she looks great. I think she scared herself more than anything. You can take her home."
Christian and I sighed at the same time.
The doctor left the room,
Christian turned to me.
I glanced up at him and steadied myself for the reprimand.
"Thank you for bringing her," he said. “I'm glad it's not too serious."
"I am too. I'm sorry it happened in the first place. I never meant for her to get hurt. Not in a million years."
"I know," Christian said as he looked at me with soft eyes for once. "Accidents happen and little Miss Fussy Pants here can be a clumsy little thing sometimes."
Annie hopped off of the table and wrapped her arms around my legs.
I reached down and smoothed her hair. I hated that it took something so drastic to bring us together, but having her so close made me smile. Annie wouldn't let go of me as we walked out of the room.
"Hannah," Christian said grabbing my attention. "It's been a long day. Why don't you stay for dinner tonight?"
I smiled and looked down at Annie. "Is that okay with you?"
She nodded, and of course, I accepted. We walked out to the parking lot and we all got into the car I was supposed to use for transporting Annie around since Gary, Christian’s driver was nowhere to be seen.
"I panicked," he admitted sheepishly after he'd made sure Annie was snapped into her seat. “I was in a meeting when you called and I didn’t want to wait for Gary to bring the car around.”
I laughed nervously. "Don't worry. You weren't the only one that panicked. My eyes are probably all red and puffy still."
Christian touched my chin.
I stared at him with wide eyes.
He turned my head this way and that, while his fingertips lingered on my skin.
A sudden, pleasant warmth burned through me until it threatened to consume every inch of my body.
"Your eyes are fine," he pronounced finally as he released my chin. "You look just fine."
I felt that familiar warmth slink over my skin as I got into the car and started it. I tried to stay focused on the road. If I didn't I was afraid I'd end up crashing somewhere. Way too many hot thoughts filled my mind and it took everything I had to concentrate on the road.
Christian had never touched me like that before, and part of me was begging for him to do it all over again.
Chapter Eleven
Hannah
I could smell the aroma of the food as it wafted up the stairs. Instead of ordering in, Christian had insisted on cooking for us. I didn't mind. I didn’t know if we would be eating burnt food, but dining with Christian was a treat I never imagined having. Anyway, with the relief and gratitude I felt that Annie was unhurt I would quite happily have eaten ash.