“Wait!” Blair cries, flailing her legs as I step out of the way.
Even as she struggles, she weighs nothing in my arms. Her tiny shorts with the duck pattern ride up the more she flails, driving me crazy. I wish I could see her like this under different circumstances.
When all of this is done, I’m making her wear the shorts again.
“Calm down.” I set Blair down by the couch, resisting the twitch in my hands to pick her up again. I jerk my chin. “There’s broken glass all over the floor and you’re barefoot.”
Blair peers down. “Oh.”
“Go find shoes. You’ll probably need them if they have to take her.”
Blair’s features crumble. She rolls her lips between her teeth and nods. Turning away, she scurries down a dim hall.
“Patient is female, mid-thirties, unconscious,” the woman announces to her partner. “Breathing is shallow. Patient presents with symptoms of hypotension. Any known conditions?”
I peer down the hall Blair disappeared. “Not sure.”
The EMT makes a note on his tablet.
When Blair comes back out with a pair of black Chucks on, I tuck her against my side as the emergency responders check Macy’s vitals and flurry around her prone body, avoiding the glass. We hover on the other side of the room, next to the world’s ugliest couch and a beat up coffee table. Blair trembles, digging her fingers into the material of my shirt. Holding her close feels right, soothing the weird possessiveness. I stroke her back, feeling both awkward because I’ve never comforted anyone, and like the action is the most natural thing to do.
The whole time I ignore how good it feels to have her leaning on me. I shouldn’t enjoy having Blair in my arms. I came here to drag her back to my tower in the mountains because I’m a selfish monster.
She’s only taking comfort in my embrace because she’s distraught, and I took charge of the situation.
“Okay, let’s get her loaded.” The paramedic turns to us in the cramped space while her partner sets up a stretcher. “We’ll be taking her to Ridgeview Memorial. I can only let one of you ride in the ambulance.”
“Me,” Blair pipes up. She swipes under her eyes and pulls away from my side, leaving it cold and empty. “I’m her daughter.”
“Okay, come on.” The paramedic gestures to the door.
Outside, Blair freezes, looking down at her hoodie and those cute little shorts. When she came out of the trailer in them I wanted to bury my hands under the hem and palm her ass.
“Just go,” I murmur in her ear, squeezing her shoulders from behind. “People show up in all kinds of wild shit when there’s an emergency. Where’s the house key? I’ll clean up the glass, then lock up and follow behind you.”
Blair hangs her head, scrubbing her face. “Hook by the door. Thanks.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay.” Blair’s voice is so small.
It’s bizarre to see her like this, worn down and razed to the ground. I’m used to her quiet strength, the stubbornness to rise above the taunts at school. I want to freeze the moment so I can examine this fascinating new facet from every angle, but there’s no time.
“I promise.” I don’t know what pushes me to offer her reassurance. Rubbing her shoulders, I explain, “Ridgeview Memorial is good. My godfather is the chief of medicine there.”
A flicker of hope sparks to life in Blair’s eyes. “Thanks.” She glances at the ambulance as her mother is loaded in the back. “I know you came here for a different reason. But, um, I’m glad you were here.”
Blair touches my arm briefly. My poor little pest is shaken, unsure. For all that she takes care of things, in this case she let panic rule her.
I lick my lips. “You can pay me back later.”
The deliberate cruelty of my words is used to regain the higher ground. She doesn’t get a pass. It doesn’t drive away the lack of control I’m grappling with.
Blair tenses.
Taking a breath, she jogs away. I watch from the front step of her trailer as she takes the paramedic’s hand and climbs into the back of the ambulance. I swallow the urge to rip her away from the EMS guy. He’s doing his job, not coming onto her.
As the ambulance pulls out, crunching over the gravel, I chain up the monster inside and go back into the trailer.