Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 395: An Especially Sharp One

Jennica nursed Logan on a park bench as she kept a close eye on the three children playing on the playground. Kaleb, normally one to wander off with new friends, stuck close to his sister's side as they dug around in the sand.

Her heart ached at the thought. He was being overprotective of his sister since news about his mom was up in the air. Poor kid.

She couldn't blame Alice for bungling things though; sometimes kids got ideas that refused to go away by reading between the lines. Violet was an especially sharp one that way. She saw right through to the heart of the matter whenever something happened.

Jennica wondered where she got it from. Her mother was book smart but fairly dense when it came to things like that. She had been the last person to know Ryan liked her, after all. What ever happened to him anyway? They lost contact after Keeley rejected him in favor of Aaron.

She can't believe she ever thought they would be good together after finding out what horrible things he said to Keeley out of jealousy when she got engaged. Besides, after seeing how much he doted on his wife, Jennica was positive there was no one in this world who could possibly love Keeley more than Aaron did.

He was probably freaking out right now even more than his kids were. He was so paranoid when he came to Keeley. If she didn't know better, she would say he was terrified that she would die young.

Jennica heard about the fatality count from that accident on the radio in the car after frantically leaving Noah at the dentist's office to rush to Alice's aid. There were nine cars involved and of the twenty-two passengers, eleven had died, three were still in critical condition, and the rest had been injured.

Keeley had complained about how overprotective he was being the other day. Had Aaron somehow known this would happen? Jennica was a superstitious person; she believed in a sixth sense appearing in some people during times of danger. Aaron might have experienced that.

She sighed. Poor Keeley. What a traumatic way to bring a baby into the world. Now whenever she celebrated her son's birthday she would be reminded of a near-fatal car accident. At least she was okay.

Provided she was actually okay. Last Jennica heard, she still hadn't woken up yet. This wasn't too concerning considering the nature of her injuries and the fact that she just had surgery but still… She would probably be in the hospital for a week or two.

Jennica wanted to see her friend nearly as badly as her children did. She needed to see for herself that Keeley was alright. Too bad Valentina had gone back to Peru last year; she would be able to give her an accurate assessment of Keeley's condition with a single glance.

A fellow family medicine resident had fallen madly in love with her at first sight on the first day of their program and she thought he was completely nuts. She tried to dissuade him by telling him she was going back to Peru as soon as she finished school but that hadn't worked. Carlos Ortez was fluent in Spanish, had no family ties since he grew up in foster care, and had always been interested in living abroad.

Valentina did her best to ignore him for the better part of two years but fell for his charms in the end. He went back to Peru with her and they got married in a traditional Peruvian ceremony.

They were really cute together. Jennica still had their Christmas card from last year hanging on her fridge.

But that wasn't important right now. Her thoughts returned to the children worriedly poking around in the sand. She was too far away to hear what they were talking about but was sure it was nothing happy.

===

"We need a plan if Mommy really doesn't wake up. I don't want to live with Grandpa," Violet said seriously.

Noah frowned thoughtfully as he dug around with a stick. "Wouldn't you live with Uncle Aaron?"

She shook her head. "No because I once heard Daddy say that if anything ever happened to Mommy he would die too. Like a magic curse."

"Daddy is an emperor, not a prince, so he can't wake her up," Kaleb explained sadly. "If we can't find a prince they're both going to die and we'll have to leave Dinah to go live with Grandpa."

Noah grabbed Violet's hand and squeezed it tightly. "You can live in my room! I'll protect you and Dinah."

She smiled at him gratefully. "That's a good idea. You think your mommy and daddy will let us? What about Kaleb?"

He shrugged. "He can live in Logan's room."

Kaleb didn't like this plan. He kicked a bunch of sand in agitation. "I don't want to live in Logan's room! Why can't I live in your room too?"

"There isn't enough room on my bed for three people and I want to share with Violet," Noah said bluntly.

He pouted. "You're always with Violet. If you like her so much why don't you marry her."

"I'm going to!" the other boy insisted. "But not right now. My mommy says I'm too little. We have to get big first."

Violet sighed. This wasn't getting anywhere. She would love to live in Noah's room but if Kaleb wouldn't be happy she couldn't do it. Her brother was more important.

Maybe they could live under a bridge with the trolls from the storybook Mommy read them. Tears filled her eyes. Mommy. She wanted one of her warm hugs right now. Somehow she could make anything seem better when she was hugging you. Or smiling at you.

Daddy said Mommy's smile was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. He also said Violet had the same smile as her, which meant she was the most beautiful thing in the whole world too. That had made her happy.

"Stop fighting!" she insisted. "We could get another bed for Kaleb. Or he could sleep on the floor with Pancake."

"I don't wanna sleep on the floor," Kaleb muttered mutinously. "You guys are mean."

Violet teared up again. Everything was going wrong today. First Mommy got put under an enchanted sleep and now Kaleb thought she was mean.

Noah shot a glare at her brother and looked up at her with adoring eyes. "I don't think you're mean. You're the nicest and prettiest person in the whole world, Violet."

She sniffed and managed to give him a smile. Noah always knew the right thing to say. He was her best friend other than her twin for a reason. With both of them by her side she was sure they would figure something out.