“No,” Jensen said. “He’s got a little cold. At least I thought it was a little one.”
“Does he have a fever?” Willow asked.
“I haven’t taken his temperature since I got him home from my parents’ place,” Jensen admitted, placing the back of his hand against the little one’s forehead. “He’s warm, but he doesn’t seem to be burning up.”
“Good,” Willow said. “Is he struggling to breathe?”
“No,” Jensen said. “He’s just coughing so much.”
He thought he heard something happening on the other end of the call, but with all the coughing on his end it was hard to tell what.
“Are his shoulders moving up and down, are his chest and belly contracting?” she asked.
“Just with the coughing,” he told her.
“That’s good,” she said. “I’m parking out front, I’ll be right in.”
“You… you’re what?” he asked.
But she was gone.
Did she drive out here when she saw my text?
Before he had a chance to think about it, the front door was opening up and Willow was rushing in, along with a gust of frigid, snowy air.
“Hey, Henry,” Willow said calmly as she peeled off her layers. “I’m so sorry you have a cough. Let’s see what we can do to help you feel better.”
She headed right for him, and Jensen braced himself for the boy to panic.
Instead, he held up his arms, his eyes filled with tears from coughing so much.
Willow scooped him up and cradled him close.
“Do you have a bathroom with a shower?” she asked Jensen calmly as Henry shuddered and coughed against her chest.
“Yes,” he told her, leading the way upstairs to the bathroom.
“Get that shower running,” she told him. “Make it as hot as possible.”
This was a version of Willow he’d never seen before. Her tone made it clear there was no room to argue, not that he’d been planning on it. He crouched to turn the knobs and flicked on the shower. The water was already warming up.
By the time he straightened, Willow had kicked off her boots and was stepping into the tub with Henry stillhacking as she held him close. She closed the glass doors around the two of them and moved close to the water, but not quite into the spray.
“Henry,” she said softly. “Let’s take some deep breaths. In, and then out.”
Jensen listened as she modeled the breaths for him.
Please, Henry, please…
The coughing began to slow. He could hear Henry gasping in breaths in between, and Willow’s gentle praise.
“That’s right,” she murmured. “Let’s breathe in lots of nice, warm air. That feels so good, doesn’t it?”
Henry quieted more, the cough subsiding almost completely.
“Do you have a humidifier for his room?” Willow asked in a calm, gentle voice.
“Yes,” Jensen said. “But I haven’t used it yet.”
