Dante arrived at the hospital just as they were dressing up the burns on my arms. Mine were superficial burns. The epidermis was damaged. My skin was slightly swollen, but I had no blisters. I was the lucky one. Dante’s arms were covered in huge yellow blisters that made me cringe. He shrugged it off when the nurses mentioned it and hurried to sit next to me. I was sitting in front of Bee’s bed, still holding her hand.
“How’s she doing?” He asked, crouching down next to me since there wasn’t another seat, and placed a small kiss on my bare shoulder. My top had been lost somewhere in the fire, and so the nurses had given me a sheet to wrap around me.
Dante shrugged out of his leather cut and wrapped it around my shoulders. I couldn’t put my arms through the sleeves just yet as I was waiting for more dressings on my arms, but I was grateful for the warmth the jacket offered.
“Thank you,” I murmured back. “She’s okay. It’ll scar, but that’s the worst of it. They don’t think the burns were deep enough to cause any lasting damage.”
My voice sounded hoarse and painful. I thought escaping my mother’s house had done damage to my lungs, but this was something else entirely.
“Should I be wearing this?” I asked him, shrugging my shoulders to show him I meant my jacket.
“Technically… no. Never. Don’t put your arms in it, and it doesn’t count,” he said, attempting a smile. “Rachel… You just saved my daughter –ourdaughter. If you want to wear my cut, you can wear it. Crash can take it up with me.”
“Thank you,” I repeated, breathing a sigh of relief. I’d never admit it to him, but having his jacket and therefore his scent wrapped around me comforted me.
“Have you been looked over?” Dante said quietly, his hand stroking my leg.
“I had some oxygen, and they’re coming back soon to take some bloods.”
“And Bee?”
“Same,” I said, gesturing to the oxygen mask she was still wearing. “They’re going to keep her on that overnight. They’ll be taking her bloods, too, and then they’ll move us onto the children’s ward. She’s been cleaned up and given painkillers. They asked if she was allergic to anything…”
“She isn’t.”
“I didn’t think so. But I told them to check with you anyway,” I said, my voice cracking.
“Hey, hey,” Dante said, gently grabbing my thighs and spinning me around so I was facing him, a thigh on either side of his body. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t even know what she’s allergic to,” I sobbed, finally breaking down. “What sort of mother am I?”
“You listen to me, Rachel,” he said, taking both my hands in his. “You did fucking amazing. Bee could have been much worse if it wasn’t for your bravery. You are the best mother she could ask for. She’s not even your blood, and yet what you did for her, some birth mothers wouldn’t even dream of doing. You are her mother, Rachel. You are. What you don’t know, you can learn. There’s a lifetime to learn all about Bee’s likes, dislikes, allergies. You name it, you can learn it. Youareher mother.” He said firmly, his thumb rubbing over the top of my hand.
“We never should have left her,” I whispered, feeling like a complete failure.
“No one could have predicted this, Rachel. Stop looking for ways to lay the blame at your feet. You are not responsible for the explosion, so you’re not to blame.”
“Mr King?” Came a voice that had us both looking up as a doctor entered, looking at a clipboard. Dante got to his feet and turned to face the doctor, folding his arms.
“That’s me.”
“Wonderful. And you’re Amy’s father?”
“I am. She prefers being called Bee.”
“I think we can manage that,” he smiled kindly, jotting that down. “It’s just some questions at this stage whilst we wait for the nurses to take her blood work. I believe Miss Brooks has answered some of them, but if you could fill in the blanks for us.”
“Fire away.”
“Do you know Am.. Bee’s blood type?”
“O negative.”
“And does she have any allergies?”
“Not that we know of.”
“And she’s normally fit and well? No illnesses? Asthma? Anything like that?”
