Page 123 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“They called it a miracle. It was in all the local papersand even made the news in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There are clips on YouTube.I’ll send you a couple of links.”

“Thanks, Teacup.”

“Can I ask you something in case you die while trying tofight this bad guy and I never see you again?”

Her concern was touching. “Sure.”

“Why do you call me Teacup?”

He laughed and regretted it instantly. “Because when youwere little, you used to drink coffee out of your plastic tea set. You wouldhold your teacup just so with your pinky jutting out.”

“Really?”

“Also, you fell in love with Chip from Beautyand the Beast.”

“The teacup! He was so cute.”

“You were three.”

“And?”

“You drank more coffee than I did.”

“Okay.”

“And you were already boy-crazy.”

“Your point?”

“No point. Just stating some facts.” That kid was Charley,through and through.

“Okay, well, don’t die if you can help it.”

He suppressed a chuckle that would’ve hurt. “I’ll do mybest.”

“And, Donovan?”

“Yes, Teacup?”

“I’m not a hundred percent on this either, so don’t quoteme, but I’m fairly certain I love you more than just about anyone else on theplanet.” He stilled, her words sucking the breath right out of his alreadystressed lungs, but before he could reply, she said, “And save the girl,”before hanging up.

He stared straight ahead, wondering what he’d ever done inhis life to deserve such adoration from the likes of Charley Davidson’sdaughter. It may have been because he was often the one giving in to her coffeefetish. But his intentions had been in the name of self-preservation. The kidhad ADHD like nobody’s business. He could hardly keep up. Coffee was the onlything that calmed her down.

He swiped a hand across his mouth, trying to erase theshit-eating grin he now wore. God, he loved her.

He glanced down at his phone. According to the app, thedoc’s vehicle was stopped about two miles ahead of him. Sure enough, he crested a hill and spotted the red crossover on the rightshoulder, haphazardly parked, almost as though she’d rolled into the guardrail.He depressed the gas pedal and made it over in record time.

Normally, he would have jumped out of the truck and run, butthat was out of the question at the moment. Instead,he carefully shifted into park, opened his door, andslid down the side of his seat, thanking the maker for factory-installed steps.Each molecule of air he dragged in hurt. Everymovement cut through him like glass. But he went as fast as he could, and foundthe doc slumped against her door.

“Doc!” he yelled, first trying the doorand then pounding on the window. “Doc, wake up!”

When she didn’t respond, he took out his knife and used thehandle to break the back seat driver’s side glass. It shattered on his secondtry as cars and trucks whipped past them.

He reached around, unlocked her door, and carefully openedit, catching her in his arms when she fell against him. “Come on, Doc,” hesaid, patting her pale cheek softly. “You can do it.”

She roused at last, but herreaction to him was less than enthusiastic. She scrambled out of his arms, hergaze darting about wildly as she felt her back for... what? When she realizedthat she wasn’t in danger, she sat panting for a solid minute before returning hergaze to his. Then, she lunged at him.

He caught her, pulling her into his arms as she burst intotears and cried on his new-to-him shirt. Despite thepain, he pulled her in as tightly as he could without hurting her. “It’s okay,Doc.” He gave her some time, simply breathing her in, ignoring the occasionalblare of a horn. But the other drivers were right. They needed to get off the interstate. It was too dangerous to be parked there.“Doc?” he said softly.