SEVEN

Bristow on knees and palms made it up the steps towards the front door, then grinned proudly and moved to stand just in front of the door.

"Bris…we already went outside. Don't you want to do something else?" Nadia asked from her seat at the counter. She was munching half a turkey sandwich that she'd originally attempted to the share with the girl.

This was Bristow's third trip up to the door in ten minutes. Somehow, despite being a quiet baby, it didn't seem to make her any less stubborn.

"We're going to the park just as soon as Eric gets here. You can't wait until then?" Nadia asked.

Bristow turned back around and looked at her with pitiful puppy eyes, one pouting bottom lip, and the unmistakably cute, single thin pony tail on the top of her head. The rest of her face framed by wispy sandy blond hair.

Nadia took one last bite of her sandwich. "Mommy didn't take you outside at all when she had you yesterday, did she?"

Bristow looked at the door hopefully, seeing Nadia was near it.

"Okay, okay." Nadia grabbed one of the little girl's balls off the floor and opened the door.

The yard was already littered with the toys they'd left from the morning that Nadia intended to gather and take with them to the park. Two more balls were in the grass, along with a small child's riding toy in the shape of a little blue car. A red metal wagon sat on the sidewalk.

Nadia released the ball to bounce down the walk and little girl giggled and chased after it, attempting to roll it back, though it detoured into the grass. Nadia kicked it back to Bristow gently who bent over, hugged the ball to her and started to run off with it.

"Bris! Not too far!"

Bristow stopped immediately and grinned. She started to run back towards Nadia as fast as her little legs could carry her and less than a foot away threw the ball past her aunt and send it rolled far down the sidewalk.

"Good throw!" Nadia praised. "Now don't go anywhere, I have to grab it." She backed up the first two steps, making sure Bristow was staying put.

The little girl wandered over towards the little blue car toy.

Nadia did a quick jog towards the ball, glancing back every so often, seeing Bristow climb into the red wagon and sit down. A wind picked up starting to blow the plastic ball even further away just as Nadia was reached for it. She turned back around her eyes widening to see the little girl standing up in the wagon.

"Bristow, sit down!" she ordered, making one last grab for the ball, grasping onto it and starting to walk back.

Bristow grinned at her stomping her feet and clapping with delight. The wagon rolled forward abruptly. Bristow tumbled backwards out of the wagon.

"Bristow! Sit—" Nadia broke into a run down the sidewalk.

There was a sickening SMACK! of bone colliding with concrete.

Nadia's heart slammed and she gasped for air. "BRISTOW!"

The little girl's prone figure was barely visible behind the wagon and it was deadly silent.

"Bristow…Bris…" Nadia shoved the wagon out of her way and fell to the ground beside her niece.

The little girl's eyes were open and rapidly overflowing with tears that streamed from them in rivers. Her entire face was red and her mouth was straining wide open in a silent scream.

Tears cascaded down Nadia's own cheeks and she gasped when she tried to breathe. "Bris...Brissy...breathe."

A terrifying shriek tore out of the child's throat, so high pitched it was nearly hoarse. She inhaled deeply, her mouth still wide open as more piercing shrieks erupted from her.

Nadia touched the rigid little girl carefully, afraid to move her. Her hands carefully felt the child's neck, as Bristow continued to shriek. Nadia's stomach lurched as she felt warm wetness at the back of the girl's head. She pulled her tremblings fingers back, and they were gruesomely crimson.

"No..nonononono..." She fought to breath.

"Nadia?!"

She looked up at Eric, gasping for air. She'd totally forgotten he was coming. His eyes were wide as he took in the scene, especially when they zeroed in on Nadia's bloody hand.

"The..first...aid..."

"Got it!" Eric ran into the house.

Bristow started trying to move, trying to get up, still screaming.

Nadia's eyes dropped back to her hand and then to Bristow's face. "It's okay...it's..."

Bristow's shrieks suddenly stopped and her eyes started to roll back, her eyelids fluttering.

"No!" It was Nadia's turn to shriek. "Bristow! Bristow!"

Eric tore out of the house the kit in one hand gauze in the other. The blood was staining the sidewalk. He sucked in air as he pressed it to the child's head. "We have to get her to a hospital! Into my car, now!"

Nadia held the gauze in place as he scooped the girl up carefully. They quicked walked to his car, Nadia climbed into the backseat, holding Bristow in her lap. He slammed the door and climbed up front, pulled out of the space so far his tires squealed.

Her vision blurred as the tears continued down her cheeks. She could feel blood soaking through her gauze and then her pant leg, but she kept the pressure on it. "Bris...Brissy..." she whispered, praying the child would respond to something.

Eric parked the car in an emergency space and the two of them carried the girl in the emergency room doors. "We need some help over here!"

The receptionist's eyes widened and instantly nurses were surrounding them, and getting the toddler onto a bed.

"What's her name?" one questioned.

Nadia trembled as they forced her backwards and blocked her view of her niece. "Bristow Vaughn."

"How old is she?"

Doctors and more nurses swarmed the bed and began wheeling it down the hall away from them.

"A year...sixteen months!"

"How did this happen?"

"She fell off a wagon and hit the sidewalk..." Nadia literally couldn't feel the floor beneath her. "It won't stop bleeding and she won't open her eyes...she was awake and now she won't open her eyes!" She fell backwards and didn't even know why she stopped until she turned her hand to see Eric holding onto her. His arms were wrapped around her and she couldn't feel them. She grasped onto his arms with her hands, squeezing tight. She saw her knuckles whiten and realized she had to be gripping hard enough to cause him pain but she felt nothing between her fingers.

His cheek fell against her own numb one and he began whispering in her ear. "She's going to be okay, Nadia."

The bright lights faded in and out on her and she started to shake her head, frantically. She tried to pull away from him but she couldn't even be certain her feet touched the floor.

Her quiet mumble was the only sound she could hear. "Nonononono..." He moved backwards and they both sat down on a nearby bench.

A receptionist approached them. "You need to feel out some paperwork. Now, you're the child's parents?"

"I'm her aunt, this is a close friend." Nadia's eyes widened. "I have to call Sydney!"

The receptionist looked confused as Nadia ripped a cellphone from her pocket.

"Her mother's out of the country," Eric explained.

Nadia pressed the phone against her ear, sniffling as it rang again and again. "She's not...she's not answering. How can she not answer at a time like this?" Nadia flung her cellphone to the floor and buried her face in her hands.

"What about the child's father?" the receptionist questioned.

"He's dead," Nadia whimpered.

"Alright, right now we can give as much emergency treatment as it's going to take to get her stable. But do you have any forms giving you legal authorization to make medical decisions in her mother's absence? Something signed by her mother?"

Nadia shook her head, numbly.

The receptionist sighed. "Fill out these forms as best you can, alright. And please, we need to keep trying to reach her mother."

Nadia scribbled on the paper filling in the information angrily. Eric dialed Sydney's cellphone over and over again on the payphone and other numbers via APO.

"Anything?" Nadia questioned.

Eric shook his head. "APO doesn't know where she is. Whatever assignment she's on, they didn't send her on it," he responded.

Nadia held her hands to her pounding head. "I let this happen. She was right there in front of me. I should have left that stupid ball and just gone and grabbed her."

He placed an arm around her. "Nadia, don't."

She sat back, leaning against him. Her eyes stared at the dried red spot on her pant leg. "There was so much blood, Eric..." She shut her eyes tightly and started to sob into his chest.

He didn't leave her side. The minutes ticked by and he didn't even offer to go on a coffee run which was particularly unusual as he had seemed to consider the liquid essential to surviving a crisis. But he was the one who pointed out the doctor finally approaching them.

"You're Bristow's aunt?" he confirmed.

She nodded, worriedly.

He held out a hand. "I'm Dr. Lofton." He smiled.

She shook it once. "Is she going to be..."

"We've gotten the bleeding to stop. She did require some stitches. Our x-rays on her neck and spine all came back normal. Now, there does appear to be a linear skull fracture. It's common after these type of injuries, especially in children. At this point, we're the most concerned about watching the swelling. We're admitting her for observation and we will need to do more tests. We're getting her a room upstairs in our Pediatrics ward right now. We're going to give her plenty of fluids and at this point, she just needs to rest."

"Is she awake?"

"She woke up shortly after got the bleeding to stop, but she's resting again now. I can take you up to her room. She should just be getting settled." Dr. Lofton smiled, reassuringly. "This way."

Nadia held Eric's hand as they followed the doctor into the elevator and up to Pediatrics.

"She's right in here," Dr. Lofton pointed to the crib.

Nadia bent over to look at the little girl and sniffled. Bristow looked so small and her veins were oddly visible through her pale skin. Her eyes seemed sunken and dark. She was laying on her stomach, her head to the side, so the bandage on the back of her head was clearly visible.

"Bris..." Nadia whispered, gently.

A part of her didn't want to wake the toddler and yet she wanted Bristow to know she was there.

Nadia patted the child's back lightly. Bristow's eyes fluttered once and her face crumpled, pained. Nadia just continued patting until Bristow's eyes closed again.

"Has there been any success in trying to reach her mother?" the doctor questioned.

Nadia shook her head. "Not yet."

Dr. Lofton nodded. "Anyway, you are welcome to stay with her in here. Are there any questions?"

"She's going to be okay?" Nadia asked, hesitantly.

"With head injuries, it's difficult to say at first. We'll see what the rest of the tests say, and we'll definitely know more depending on how much swelling there is in another twenty-four to forty-eight hours." Dr. Lofton smiled. "But from everything we've seen so far, she's a tough little girl. I think we'll be seeing a full recovery. Excuse me."

Nadia sat down in a chair beside the crib as the doctor headed out of the room. A curtain separated them from nurses, other nearby cribs, beeping monitors and crying children.

"I'm staying here tonight," she said.

"Of course," Eric responded. "We both will. I can go back to the house and pick up some clothes for you, for her."

"Can you get her blanket from her crib? And that stuffed bunny." Nadia rubbed the child's tiny hand through the bars. "And some of her diapers. She usually breaks out in a rash from other brands."

"I'll just shrink her whole nursery, put it in a bag and bring it here," Eric said, with a grin.

Nadia couldn't even manage a smile in return.

He frowned, worried. "I can wait a bit. I could go on a coffee run first."

Nadia shrugged. "Look at her," she whispered. "She was so scared."

"We all were," he responded.

"She has to be okay. I will never forgive myself if she's not okay."

Eric took Nadia's free hand and rested another on her cheek. "She is going to be okay." He nodded at her and she nodded back. He kissed her gently. "I'll be back in an hour, probably less."

He got up and headed out of the ward.

Nadia turned back towards Bristow, watching the child sleep.

Forty-five minutes later, she was drooping in the chair as footsteps approached. "Eric?" She straightened. "Jack. What are you--?"

Jack Bristow scrutinized both her and his granddaughter with narrowed eyes. "I was at APO when I was told Bristow was in the hospital and Sydney needed to be contacted. What happened?"

Nadia sighed apologetically. "I should have called you. I'm sorry. I haven't been able to think about anything but her."

Jack bent over the crib. "What are her injuries?"

"A skull fracture, some swelling. She was bleeding and needed stitches. They're keeping her here for observation. We still haven't been able to reach Sydney."

"How did this happen?" he necessitated.

Nadia raised her eyes to his slowly. "She fell out of a wagon. Her head hit the cement."

"You were there?" he confirmed.

"We were at home, just playing outside."

"Weren't you watching her?" he questioned, harshly.

Nadia blinked hard. "It happened right in front me. I tried to stop it. I tried to catch her. I just couldn't get over there fast enough and then, she was on the ground."

Jack glared at her and turned his attention back towards the crib.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"And where is Sydney?" he demanded.

"I don't know. I thought she was assignment for APO. But if not, I don't know."

"This shouldn't have happened," he snapped.

Nadia flinched. "I know."

"Hey!"

Nadia glanced up to see Eric coming back into the ward, duffel bags in hand.

"This is not her fault," Eric told Jack, with a frown.

"Eric, don't--" Nadia shook her head head.

"She was the only one there," Jack responded.

Eric dropped the bags beside Nadia's chair. "Kids get hurt. I don't know how bumped up I probably got as a kid. It just happens."

Jack looked unconvinced. "Which is why when watching a child, you must be watching them closely at all times. Sydney left Bristow in her care specifically so she can care for her needs and prevent injury."

"She did her best!" Eric countered.

Jack glared at him. "That obviously wasn't enough." He turned away. "I'd like to speak to the doctor myself."

Eric stepped aside, glad to see him go. He knelt beside Nadia's chair. "You can't listen to him. He's just looking for somebody to blame."

Nadia didn't look at him, and she didn't respond.

Eric sighed. "Hey, look, I brought everything I could fit." He opened the duffel.

Nadia took Bristow's blanket and spread it over the little girl.

"Tia...Tia..." Bristow mumured.

Nadia took the little girl's hand. "I'm right here."


"Careful of the steps, Nadia."

"Eric, I'm fine."

"Do you want me to give you a hand?"

"Shh, you're going to wake her up. And I already don't know how we're going to get her to rest now that she's home."

Eric dropped the bags beside the counter. "Aren't you tired of sleeping in that chair?"

Nadia shifted, hugging the toddler tighter. "Yes, two nights it the hospital was more than enough. I'm glad to be out of there."

She moved through Sydney's room and placed Bristow in her crib. She covered up the girl and left the room leaving both the baby's room and Sydney's room open. She paused just as she re-entered the living room.

"I'm going to be checking on her every hour, I know it," Nadia said. "The whole time she was in the hospital, she was just so still all the time, I always had to look twice to see if she was breathing."

She finally moved from the doorway and sat down on the couch. He joined her.

"It's late, don't you have work tomorrow?" she questioned.

He shrugged. "I'll get there."

She frowned at him. "Eric, you need to rest."

"So should you."

She shook her head. "I have a patient to check on every hour."

He looked her in the eye. "See, as long as I'm here, you could make it every other hour. I'll take a shift checking on the patient."

"Eric."

"Nadia."

"Get some rest."

"You first," he responded, pecking her on the lips.

She shook her head at him. "We argue like an old married couple."

He chuckled. "Maybe that's what we should be."

"Old?" she laughed.

"No, married," he responded with a grin.

She blinked, her laughter stopping abruptly. "Are you serious?"

He stopped grinning to look at her straight-faced. "Yeah, I am. I've been thinking about it for weeks, probably months. I didn't mean to ask like that but as long as it's out there…." He looked at her face uncomfortable with her silence. "And you hate it don't you. You think it's a dumb idea and I shouldn't have mentioned it. I'm sorry." He started to get up. "You're right, it's late."

She grabbed his arm. "Eric, Eric, wait."

"What?"

"It's not a dumb idea. I want to marry you."

He looked down at her. "Now you're just saying—"

She stood up, and looked him in the eye. "No, I'm not. I've thought about it too. Things have just been so crazy—"

"Exactly."

"And I still don't know when we're ever going to have the time to plan a wedding, but… I don't care." She smiled at him. "I do want to marry you and spend my life with you, and have kids with you and whatever else you want…I want it too."

"Okay," he agreed, seriously.

"Okay," she repeated, softly.

He grinned. "I think we're engaged now." He leaned towards her face, looking at her so intently.

"Mmm." She stared back at him.

His lips pressed to hers gently and she pressed her own back firmly, forcing sensation. She wrapped her arms around him, and he embraced her securely. They had only started to approach a need for air when Nadia pulled away.

"What is it?"

"I think I hear the baby," she responded.

He let his hands drop from her. "Go check."

"You don't mind?"

"It's okay. We have the rest of our lives now."

She smiled, shyly. "Yeah, we do." She headed into Bristow's room.

The little girl was curled up beneath her blanket, still and quiet. She backed out of the room, starting to close the door and looked up to see Weiss standing in Sydney's room.

"Is she okay?"

"Completely out," she confirmed, with a small smile. She leaned in to kiss him again but he pulled back slightly

"Nadia?"

"Yeah?"

"You were serious about the kids, right?"

"Absolutely," she responded.

He caught her eyes in the most intense gaze. "You're going to be the best mom."