“Dallas?” she heard Daddy call.
“I’m so sorry,” the Little boy cried, sounding much more adult now.
“Are you okay?” a woman asked, rushing over.
Daddy got to her next, placing his big hand on her chest once she’d turned over onto her back. “Stay still, baby, give yourself a minute,” he said, soothing her. “Take a deep breath for me.”
Trying to work?through the fog in her head, she obeyed him. Air filled her lungs.
“Good girl, blow it out,” he instructed.
“Ouchie,” she cried.
“I know, Bitty. I know it’s ouchie. Can you tell Daddy what hurts the most?”
“She’s bleeding!” someone else said. Dallas thought it might be the Little girl from the slides.
“I’ve called the infirmary, and someone is on their way. Let’s try and keep her still until they get here. Back up please, everyone. Give her some space,” the lifeguard commanded.
“I’m so sorry I knocked you down,” the boy apologized.
“You know better than to run in here,” the woman scolded.
Dallas glared at him. She kinda hoped Teefs ate him for a snack.
“Ouchie!” she cried when Daddy moved her hand and pressed a towel to her forehead. Warmth trickled down her face and Dallas felt queasy knowing it was blood.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. Daddy is just trying to stop the bleeding.”
“Is it super bad, Daddy?”
“I can’t tell, Bitty, but Daddy’s right here and I’m not going to leave your side, not for a second.”
Her heart still pounded and her head still throbbed, but she felt better knowing her Daddy would keep his word.
CHAPTER 13
“I know, Bitty,” Pike soothed, holding her on his lap on the exam table.
He was so thankful the Ranch staff and guests had jumped in to help his Little one, but he was shaken up. His baby had been hurt and although nothing looked broken, she had a nasty gash above her eye—an eye that was black from where one of her weighted pool toys she was holding had caught the corner of her eye when she’d fallen.
“I’m sorry, honey. I need to get a good look at the area. I’m worried it might need stitches,” the Ranch doctor, Dr. Nelson, explained.
At the mention of stitches, Dallas dissolved into a puddle of Little girl tears. “I love Frankie, but I don’t want to be Frankie!” she wailed.
“You’re not going to look like Frankenstein. I promise,” Pike soothed.
“I promise I won’t let you look like Frankenstein,” Dr. Nelson promised solemnly, holding out his finger for a pinky promise. “I know it’s Halloween, but we won’t make you look like a misunderstood monster.”
Sniffing, Dallas wrapped her own pinky around his. “I wanna be a cowgirl? mermaid. I can’t be a cowgirl mermaid wif a boo-boo eye. How will I ride and rope the seahorses if I can’t see?”
Pike hadn’t brought a mermaid costume; he'd brought one that was a cutesy version of her favorite creepy clown one. That was okay though. They still had ten days until Halloween; he could definitely have one shipped to the Ranch in time if the well supplied store didn’t have one.
“Your eye will be all better for Halloween, Little one. A mermaid is such a good choice. What’s your grown-up going to be?” he asked, looking at Pike.
Pike smiled at the term “grown-up” but imagined it was so the doctor didn’t make assumptions about their relationship.
“Daddy’s gonna be a sea-horsie.”
