His Touch by Patty Blount

job.”
    “Oh. Right. Of course.”
    A woman wearing a lab coat over scrubs walked in.
    “Doctor Warren. Patient is Nadia Larsen, eighteen months old, twenty-two pounds,” Reid gave his report as soon as the doctor reached the bed. He caught his phone before Nadia chucked it to the floor.
    “Mom, hold her still, please,” Doctor Warren ordered while aiming a light into Nadia’s mouth. The baby gagged on the tongue depressor and started to cry in earnest. Kara struggled to hold her still and steady but Nadia seemed to suddenly have eight arms and legs.
    “Nadia, no.” Reid’s firm voice did the trick. The baby stared at him, but stopped fighting. He held down her legs while Kara restrained her hands so Doctor Warren could finish her examination. With their heads bent over Nadia, Kara noticed Reid had a day-old growth of stubble on his cheeks that did nothing to hide the sharp cheekbones and cleft in a strong chin. Now that he wasn’t scowling, she could tell his eyes weren’t brown as she’d thought. No, they were green with specks of gray and maybe even a bit of gold and—
    Oh, God, they were pinned to hers. She looked away, at the strong hands holding her daughter. He had huge hands, but they were gentle on her daughter’s soft skin and for that, she was grateful.
    It took nearly thirty minutes for Elena and Lucas to arrive. By that time, Nadia was sleeping, a mask strapped to her face administering steroids.
    “Kara! Oh, honey.”
    On jellied legs, Kara stood up to grab her sister in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
    “Of course.” Lucas squeezed her hand on his way to Nadia’s bed. He curled one limp hand around his finger, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “I’ve never seen her so still. Even when she’s sleeping, she’s active.”
    Laney’s lip quivered. “Oh, Kara. What’s wrong?”
    Reid cleared his throat. “She’ll be fine. A bad case of croup. The doctor sedated her. They’re giving her nebulizer treatments. Steroids will open the airways, get her breathing normally again. You’re in for a long night, but she’ll be fine.”
    Kara stepped away from her sister’s comforting hug and held out a hand that still trembled to Reid. “I know what you think of me. But thank you. For saving her. For staying with us.”
    He squirmed, shifted, made a few non-committal sounds and nodded. He took a few steps, halted and then turned back, thinking of the grandmother Nadia had never met.
    Help her , his brother had said.
    He had and hoped it was enough.

Chapter Five
    ‡
    R eid saved the report he’d typed up, shot it to the printer and yawned. Night shift sucked. He grabbed the print-out and stood. “Okay, Jay. I’m out.” He shook hands with Jacob, handed him the print-out.
    “Yeah, thanks for the help tonight. Can I buy you breakfast before you grab your train?”
    Reid thought about that for a moment. He didn’t have a train to catch. He lived in a dump not far from the fire station. But he’d been up since early yesterday morning. “Rain check? I need to crash.”
    “You got it. Thanks again, man.” Jacob held up a hand and Reid left the office, grabbed his gear from the locker, and headed to the street. Before he reached the exit, Carrie, the administrative assistant called out.
    “Bennett! Hold up.”
    Reid turned, waited for her to catch up.
    “Your CPR class the other day. You had four people not complete it?”
    “Four? No. That should be three.”
    The assistant shook her head. “Gene told me about the three women who confused this station with a singles cruise. But I also show insufficient rating for a…” she checked his clipboard. “Kara Larsen.”
    “No, that’s an error. Kara Larsen completed the course.”
    “Do you remember her ratings?”
    Reid hesitated a second too long. “Uh, yeah. She completed the infant section with an eighty percent and the child section with a ninety.”
    The assistant gave him the side-eye and slapped the form into his