It's Only You. Sheryl Lister
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T,” Donovan added. “How are mom and baby?”
“Janae is understandably exhausted, but she’s good. They’re checking the baby now. Since she’s almost a month early, they want to be sure nothing is wrong. But my girl has a set of lungs already. I think she’s gonna sing with her daddy,” Terrence said proudly. “Let me get back. I’ll come get you guys in a little while.”
Forty-five minutes later, Terrence escorted the trio to Janae’s room. Donovan hung back to allow Terrence’s grandparents some time with their new great-granddaughter.
“Donovan, come meet your goddaughter,” Janae said.
He approached the bed, leaned down and placed a kiss on Janae’s cheek. “Congratulations, Mama. She’s a beauty. Thank goodness she takes after you and not Terrence,” he joked.
They all laughed, and Terrence said, “Don’t mess around and get your godfather card revoked in the first hour.”
Janae handed him the baby. “Say hello to Nadia Elise Campbell.”
Donovan gently cradled the tiny bundle against his chest. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Hey, Nadia. I’m your Uncle Donovan. You and I are going to have so much fun together.” He dug his cell out of his pocket and handed it to Terrence. “Get a shot of me with my little goddaughter. Oh, and take a couple extras. You know Mrs. Lewis will have my head if I show up Monday morning without pictures.” Mrs. Lewis was Terrence’s secretary, and the older woman loved Terrence like a son.
“No lie.” Terrence laughed, snapped a few pictures and handed the phone back.
Donovan pocketed the phone and adjusted the baby in his arms. She opened her eyes, stretched and then closed her eyes again. Emotions unlike anything he had ever felt engulfed him, and he couldn’t stop staring at the petite baby with a head full of dark curls framing her small face.
“You okay, D?” Terrence asked.
Donovan blinked back the tears clouding his vision, lifted his head and met Terrence’s scrutinizing gaze. “Yeah, man.” He transferred Nadia to her father.
“We’ve known each other a long time, and I know something’s up. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it,” he whispered.
Donovan ignored the comment. “Does Karen know Nadia came a little early?”
Terrence raised a brow, but didn’t press. “No. She and Damian are finally taking their honeymoon cruise.” Karen was Janae’s best friend. She’d gotten married several months earlier, but due to her job as an elementary school principal they’d postponed the honeymoon until after the school year ended.
Donovan took a quick peek at his watch. “It’s after eleven o’clock. I need to get out of here. I have an early morning telephone conference.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Fine. You just concentrate on your family. We’ll take care of the office.”
“I know. Thanks, man. I’ll call you.”
Donovan said his goodbyes, trekked back to the elevator and rode the four floors down. He rounded the corner and crossed the lobby, noting that the front desk was now empty. As he reached the entrance, he saw a sign indicating he would have to exit through Emergency. Changing directions, he shoved his hands in his pockets and started toward the other exit.
His mind went back to his goddaughter. He hadn’t expected the riot of emotions that swirled in his gut when he held Nadia. As hard as he tried to keep the distant memories from surfacing, they came anyway. He inhaled deeply and forced them down. Out of the corner of his eye, movement caught his attention, interrupting his thoughts. Then he heard a woman’s startled cry. Donovan took off at a dead run.
He caught the falling woman around the waist with one arm and helped the other person steady the tumbling coffee cart with his free hand. He registered the searing pain as his arm snagged the edge of the cart, and hot coffee spilled over his forearm.
“Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry.” The young woman pushing the cart snatched up the remaining carafes, trying to keep them from falling to the floor with the other two.
Donovan jerked his arm back and grimaced. “It’s okay.”
She rushed off and pushed through the door into what he assumed was the ladies’ room.
He turned to the woman in his embrace. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, but her trembling body told a different story. He instinctively pulled her closer. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” She released a deep sigh and moved closer, burying her head in his chest. The way she clung to him stirred something deep inside him. I was just keeping her from being knocked down, he quickly told himself.
“I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she finally said.
Adrenaline still pumped through his veins, his heart hadn’t returned to a normal pace and the pain in his arm was increasing. Yet none of it erased the strange feelings evoked by holding this woman in his arms.
Pushing them aside, he rationalized that they were probably due to the excitement of the evening—the birth of his first godchild—and pure exhaustion.
Nothing more.
Simona tried to steady her emotions. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn’t even heard the cart approaching. The collision had nearly given her a heart attack. Slowly she wrapped her arms around the man’s waist. “Thank...thank you.”
He tightened his arms around her and caressed her back. “Anytime. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Her heart continued to race from being scared out of her wits and, even more alarming, from the overwhelming sense of security she gained from being in her rescuer’s arms.
She heard footsteps behind them and glanced around his shoulder to see the volunteer returning with a wad of paper towels and one of the hospital’s security officers close behind.
“Ms. Andrews, are you okay?” the security guard asked, narrowing his gaze at the man holding Simona.
She lifted her head and stepped out of the man’s embrace, rubbing her hip where the cart had hit her. “Yes. Thanks to him.” She glanced up to find her rescuer watching her intently, concern etched in his features. She immediately moved her hand away from her hip.
“What happened?”
Tearing her gaze away from his intense stare, she turned toward the guard. “Um...just a little accident. I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see the cart.” Simona glanced down at the hospital volunteer trying to mop up the mess. “Maybe you should call maintenance to clean that up.”
“Yeah, probably,” the woman mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
The guard asked, “Are you hurt?”
Simona shook her head. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? There’s blood on your top.”
She looked down at her top, held it out and frowned. “I don’t know how...” She shifted her gaze to the man standing next to her. “Oh, my goodness! You’re bleeding.”
He tried to wave her off, but she moved in front of him, lifted his arm and examined the wound below his rolled-up shirtsleeve, which was stained with coffee. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You’ve got a nasty cut and a burn. I need to get you inside to emergency.”
“Really. It’s just a little cut,” he protested, withdrawing his arm. “Nothing that requires a three-hour wait in emergency.”
Simona reached