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Heather wanted to get to the hospital earlier two mornings later—before the rest of the TSP. To check on Miguel, her friend, first. Before everyone wanted to check on Commander Rodriguez, the cop. And before the bigwigs and brass wanted to get there to do the photo ops and everything.
She’d sat with him, guarding, the day before, too. Miguel had been out from the anesthetic. They’d had to remove the bullet, but it had been a small caliber. It had torn through muscle tissue mostly.
Miguel was a big man. Six seven and a half and close to three hundred sixty pounds. He was big—even for a college football player. That had mattered. His size had saved his life—as had the speed at which he’d gotten to the hospital.
She knew he would have questions for her—about his children. What mattered most.
And, well, she had to fetch Hope again, too.
Big surprise.
That seemed to happen a lot—and always had. Hope was the Coleson who just seemed to almost constantly wander away. Heather had been riding herd on Hope for Hope’s entire life. She didn’t see that changing anytime soon. Didn’t want it to, either.
Joy was in the entrance to the hospital, speaking with a trio of nurses, when Heather stepped in. She’d been Hope’s ride to the hospital.
Joy came to her. “Hey, she’s upstairs. He’s in 304. I tried to get him into the haunted room, but it was already occupied.” Joy had told a pretty wild story about seeing a ghost in one of the fourth-floor rooms before. Joy was good at stories. Heather was the skeptical type. “I think Hope has gone crazy. I’ve never seen her act this way before.”
“She’s been pretty worried about him. He asked us to keep his kids together, Joy. If he didn’t…make it.” And Heather had had nightmares about that. Him not making it. “Hope promised him that she would take care of them. Specifically. No matter what. Her. She took care of his kids that night after we left him here, all of yesterday—she even called off work to do it—last night, and this morning, too.”
“I think she likes him,” Joy said, a smirk on her face. She resembled Heather in a lot of ways, she just looked quite a bit like Hope, too. But with wild quirky blond hair that had been just like their mother’s. “She is just seriously freaked by that idea, too. I don’t think she’s ever been like this with any man before.”
“She always freaks with guys. Especially guy cops. And hot guys. And tall, strong guys. And intense guys and…combine them all and, well…”
“I know. Especially in the last year or so.” And Joy’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Heather. “I also know you know why. You’ll tell me eventually. I love you. You don’t have to keep secrets. You and me—together forever, dragging Baby Hope behind us all the way, remember?”
This was her twin. No one on the planet understood her more than this woman right here. Heather loved each of her sisters and nieces so much. She impulsively hugged Joy. When everything got dark around them—she had her family. They always gave her hope. Kept her steady and going forward, every single day.
Well, she also had Hope. Somewhere.
“I know. Let’s go find her. Make sure he hasn’t clobbered her yet.”
Joy led the way. They were right outside the room when Heather heard Miguel’s deep, rumbly—and yes, very sexy—voice. There was no physical attraction between her and Miguel, but she wasn’t blind. Just immune.
She’d never be with a cop again.
“Just try it, brat. Let’s see what happens. I need to get to my kids.”
Of course, that would be what Miguel would focus on. If ever she had met a man who was a good father, it was Miguel Rodriguez. Miguel, and her brother-in-law Norm. Those two were the kind of fathers kids deserved. Nick had been that way, too. As had her own father. The best men she had ever known.
“Your kids are doing just fine at my house, Miggy. Crispin and Cara are making all the kids dirt-pudding cups and reading the little ones stories, then they are going to watch the Wonkus movie. We’ve been giving the baby her antibiotics right on time, and Joy checked her ears for me again this morning. Emilia’s doing great—I stayed home with them myself yesterday so I could watch her, just in case. She didn’t even have a fever when I left this time. The kids are fine. You are not. You can’t take care of them, until you take care of you, giant commander of everything.”
Heather recognized that voice, too.
Hope had that tone in her voice that said she wasn’t budging at all. Hope had stayed at the hospital until they’d put Miguel in his room after the surgery. No one had been able to pry her out of the building. Nothing short of carrying her out would have worked.
Jarrod had finally threatened to do just that, after Hope had been taken into an exam room in the ER by a friend of Cashlyn’s. Her cast had been ruined—saturated in blood. And taken into evidence. The hospital had replaced it. She’d gotten lucky this time—the cast was removable now. Hope and Haldyn were both drooping by the time that was finished.
Dom Acardi had stayed in the room with Miguel after that—guarding. Hope hadn’t left until she was sure one of the guys from Major Crimes was staying.
Hope had found Heather in the waiting room. And they’d driven home. Where Hope had taken a long shower to get the blood off, then taken care of Miguel’s baby when Emilia had wakened, fussing from her ear infection. Hope had kept Emilia in her own room in a playpen right next to her bed. But Heather doubted her sister had slept much. Either night.
Hope had been in the kitchen, making all the kids oatmeal one-handed, with Crispin helping her, long before Heather had wakened this morning. Just like she had been making them pancakes the day before. They’d patiently explained to Miguel’s older two children that daddy had been hurt and the doctors were making him better. In the meantime, they were staying with Mama Koala and Grandma Bonnie until Daddy came home.
Hope was taking the mission to take care of Miguel’s children personally. No denying that. Hope’s biggest fear as a kid had been being taken away from Bonnie, and losing her sisters forever.
There had been a few battles with social workers through the years, too. Heather would never forget the first. How terrified she had been. He had shown up when it was just her watching the kids at Bonnie’s small house that first week. Bonnie had taken Joy and Marcia to town to enroll everyone in school, while Heather had watched Hope, Cara, and Cashlyn and two of Angela’s girls.
That social worker had shown up. Found them all alone. And had started gloating.
