A Masterpiece Of Our Love (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 1) (24 page)

"Well, no. But your wording is," Becca teased.

"So I don't get points for being poetic, but I made you laugh. I'll take what I can get." They stopped in front of the swing. "All right. Here goes." He let go of Becca and inspected the swing before sitting on it. It seemed to hold his weight just fine. That was a good sign. "Who wants to give me a push?"

"Push! Push Daddy!" Sienna shouted, happy to oblige. She moved behind him and he felt her tiny hands push on his back. He moved a little bit. Just enough to make her feel like she accomplished a good push, but not enough to knock her over when the swing went back.

"Works good so far. Scoot out of the way, baby girl. I want to really test this out and don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"Kay, Daddy." Hunter turned to look. Sienna and Becca had moved back.

"Ready? Here I go!" He kicked his feet and swung back and forth a few times to ensure that it worked. When he was satisfied, he stopped the swing.

Sienna ran to him and held out her arms. "Wanna sit."

"By yourself, or with me?"

She pointed to him. "You."

"Okay, baby girl. Come sit with me and we'll swing."

"Push?" Sienna asked, looking behind him.

"You bet! Tell me when you're ready," Becca said with enthusiasm. She put her hands on Hunter's back and he melted at her touch. Before pushing, she leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "I love you. No falling on your butt with my new favorite friend in your lap." Then she kissed his earlobe.

Hunter tilted his face back to look at her. "Ha ha, very funny, angel."

She went to give him a kiss, but Sienna's hand stopped them. "No kiss. Push!" she squealed.

"I think we just got told," Becca giggled. "Okay, sweet girl. You win. No kiss."

"That means you better give me kisses, little stinker," Hunter teased Sienna, holding her as Becca gave them a good push.

They alternated on the swing for the next hour. Then they prepared Sienna for her bath. She didn't fuss about it at all. In fact, she loved the extra attention from Becca. Soon, she rested her head on her pillow and closed her eyes after he read her a story. He turned out the light, but Sienna whimpered.

Damn, she wasn't going to let him go. "Bec? I'm going to lay with her for a while, until she goes to sleep."

"Okay. I'll go work on the painting for a while, so you can have some time with Sienna. I've been hogging her."

Hunter chuckled. "No you haven't. I love that she likes you so much. I shouldn't be too long." He kissed her before making himself comfortable on the floor by Sienna's bed. He watched Becca's silhouette disappear as she stepped out of the room. As Sienna settled down, she reached for his hand. Hunter laid his head on his elbow and sang quietly to her, hoping she'd go to sleep soon and he could sneak away quietly for a while to have some time with Becca.

*****

"Becca, wake up! I know you can't talk to me but I hear helicopters. I think we've been found! I just wanted to let you know, because I'm going to run out in the open and make sure they see me. I didn't want you to be scared, okay? I'm coming right back with help. I promise." Hunter made sure she nodded at him before he bolted. He ran through the trees, ignoring the pain shooting through his legs. Once he made it close to the water, he jumped up and down, waving his arms. "Hey! Right here!"

Did yelling do any good? He didn't know, nor did he care. He just wanted to be found. Becca hadn't talked in three days and most of the time she stared blankly. She didn't move. He had to help her eat. He was scared. He thought he'd lose her, too. Hunter didn't want her to die. He couldn't bear to lose someone else.

His heart raced as the helicopter lowered. They were coming! They were really coming! How many days had they been out here? He couldn't be too sure, but he thought they were going on five days. Parts of the plane had made it to shore and Hunter had sifted through some of the things, looking for anything they could use. He'd found a suitcase, but everything had been soaking wet. Still, he'd pulled out every single piece of clothing and made a makeshift clothesline. After the rain had stopped, the clothes he found had a chance to dry, and they'd been able to change. It had been his parents' suitcase. The clothes he'd pulled out for himself and Becca were way too big, but they were cleaner and dry.

The chopper landed twenty feet away, blowing sand, water and debris everywhere. Hunter stumbled to the people climbing out of it. "Thank you, thank you for finding us!" he cried.

"Us? There's someone else with you?" one of the men asked.

"Yes! A little girl. Something's wrong with her. She won't talk anymore and she stares blankly a lot. I'm scared for her. We're the only two. Everyone else..."

The man nodded, his face turning pale. "What's your name, son?"

"I'm Hunter."

"How old are you, Hunter?"

"Twelve. But please, there's not much time. I have to take you to Becca. She's younger than me and I know she needs help. Please, we can't let her die!" he pleaded.

"Calm down, son. We'll get to her. Are you hurt?" The man motioned for the others to follow. They carried a stretcher and other things.

"I hurt, but I'll be okay. Please, let's go!" Hunter rushed ahead of them, eager to get back to Becca. He led them right to her. She was in the same place he'd left her. Her eyes widened a little bit as she saw the men. "We've been found, Becca. We'll be okay now." Hunter ran to her and hugged her. "They're going to help you now."

Finally feeling better now that they were tending to her, Hunter let one of them look him over. They were soon brought on the helicopter. Hunter peered out the window as the tiny island faded. He finally broke down and cried. He was leaving his family. They were dead, still somewhere out in that water. What happened next? What would he do? What about Becca?

All he could do was watch as they kept talking about her, but he didn't understand most of what they said.

Hours later, the helicopter landed on top of a hospital building. They took Becca away first, and Hunter freaked. "I need to be with her. Please! I promised I'd keep her safe. She's all I have. I'm all she has!" He couldn't control himself. He knew he should stay calm, but he'd gotten attached to her.

"Son, it's okay. She's going to get the attention she needs. It's okay." A calming hand went on his arm and he felt the sting of a needle. "Just calm down."

What the hell did they do to him?

The next thing he recalled was waking up in a hospital bed. His eyelids were heavy. Where was Becca?

"Hi Hunter," a soft, kind voice said from beside him.

He focused his eyes on a young woman. She wore a name badge, but his eyes weren't focused enough to read her name. Her smile was warm and friendly. "I'm Dr. Ross."

"Please tell me how Becca is," he begged, sitting up.

She frowned. "Becca? Oh, the little girl that was with you?"

Hunter nodded. "I'm scared for her. She just ... she stopped talking. She couldn't walk. What going to happen to her? She lost her whole family."

"So did you, Hunter," Dr. Ross replied.

"I know," he said quietly.

"Do you have any aunts or uncles?"

"No. My mom and dad were both only children. I never met my grandparents."

"I see." The doctor made a face.

"Why do I feel so tired? I don't remember being brought in here."

"You were sedated. You were pretty upset and they needed to calm you down so you could be treated."

"Sedated? All I wanted was to see Becca. I need to know she's okay. I made her a promise."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"No! I want to know Becca is okay. I want to see her. Please. She's probably afraid."

"Hunter. Becca has some serious injuries."

"You think I don't know that? I pulled that girl from the wreck. I stayed with her the entire time! I had to tell her that her family was dead! I know she's not my family, but for the past few days, she's all I've had. I'm not ready to say good-bye to her."

"Look. I'll see what I can do. It's obvious you've become attached to her." Dr. Ross stood.

"Please. I just need to know she's okay. I need to tell her that I'm here. I need her to make it out of this." His voice choked up.

"What an ordeal for two young kids to go through. I'm going to be frank with you, Hunter, because I think you can handle it. If you have no family, you'll become a ward of the state. I know it's not going to be easy..."

"Do you think Becca can go with me? We'll be together and we aren't strangers. Someone has to protect her."

"I don't know about that. She has a long recovery ahead of her, and we're still looking, but I think Becca has family. We're trying to make contact."

He wished he could go with her to her family. He didn't want to be alone.

"You'll find out if I can see her?" He was hopeful.

"I'll see what I can do, okay? Just don't get your hopes up."

An hour later, she came back. "Good news. Because of your circumstances, you'll be allowed to see her. She has to go in for surgery soon, but we'll give you a few minutes. You'll have to let me push you in a wheelchair, but be prepared. She's not conscious and there's a lot of tubes and-"

"I just need to see her," Hunter insisted. He didn't care about anything else. He just had to know she was okay and to tell her he was there with her. He bet she was scared. She'd done so good when they were on the island. Every time she had a nightmare or she was scared, he'd give her a hug and talk her through it.

Becca looked so different. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing into a tube.

Fragile. Lifeless.

Scary.

He'd been warned, but Hunter hadn't been prepared.

"She's going to make it, right?" he asked, suddenly scared.

"Too early to tell," Dr. Ross admitted.

Hunter liked her. She didn't treat him like a kid and told him what he needed to know. She pushed him close to Becca's bed and Hunter reached for her hand.

"Hey, Becca. I'm here. I just wanted you to know. See, I told you they'd find us. You're going to get better. You'll be good as new. I don't know what happens next, but I'll never, ever forget you. I'm sorry I didn't do more to keep you safe. It scared me when you stopped talking to me. I hope you don't forget me, either."

He wiped a tear away that slid down his cheek. The machines beeped in the background. Hunter rested his head by her hand.

For the next half hour, he talked to her. He didn't know if she could hear him, but he told her funny stories and acted as if she could hear until the moment where they had to take her in for surgery. He gave her hand one last squeeze before he had to let her go.

"Be brave, Becca. Come back soon and I'll find a way to get to you. I'm not ever going to forget you." As they wheeled her out of the room, Hunter cried. "I'll always find a way to keep you safe. You're all I have left."

Becca was just about to make another stroke with the brush when she heard Hunter cry out. Then, Sienna's scared wails followed. Oh God, did he have another nightmare? Becca dropped the brush onto her palette and ran into Sienna's room. She flicked on the light. Hunter had curled up on the floor. Sienna was up and huddled under her blanket, crying. She noticed Becca and reached for her. "Daddy cry!"

"Yeah, baby. Daddy's having a bad dream." Becca picked her up and cradled her to her chest. "It's okay. He doesn't mean to scare you. I'm going to wake him up now, okay?"

"Daddy okay?" Sienna said, holding on.

"He will be, sweet girl. I'm going to put you down for second while I wake him. Then you'll see that he's okay." Becca hoped Sienna wouldn't get too upset, but she was already scared from Hunter crying out. She set her back down on the bed. Sienna grabbed her blanket, tears in her eyes, but she stayed calm. Thank God.

Becca crouched on the floor by Hunter. "Sweetie, wake up. Hunter!' She took his shaking hands and squeezed. Letting go of one hand, she rubbed his back. "Hunter!" she said a little louder.

He shot up, looking startled. Sweat dripped down his face. "What happened?"

"I think you had another nightmare. You fell asleep while getting Sienna to stay asleep."

Hunter whipped his head to look at his daughter. "Oh, Princess, Daddy's sorry for scaring you."

Becca pulled him in a hug. "Was it bad?" she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

"It was a flashback of when I had to say goodbye to you in the hospital. It felt so damn real, like I was reliving it. I kept begging to see you. I sat in your room holding your hand until they took you away for your first surgery. God, Becca, I was so scared then. It felt so real."

"Shh. I'm here. I'm right here and I'm okay." Becca held him close. After a long moment of silence, she kissed his forehead. "Why not go shower, clean up and I'll see if I can get Sienna back to sleep." She didn't know in his state if he'd be able to get Sienna calm again.

He nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Thank you, angel. I don't know what I'd do without you." He moved to the bed and hugged his daughter. "Sorry for scaring you, baby girl. Daddy's okay now. I love you."

"Daddy." Sienna climbed into his arms. Becca watched in silence as he rocked her for a little while.

"I'm going to go clean up now, okay? You want to go with Becca?" Hunter asked softly, stroking her hair.

Sienna reached her arms out, signaling that was okay with her. He handed her over to Becca.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking hesitant to leave.

"I'm good, sweetie." Becca smiled when Sienna laid her head down and found a comfortable spot to hold. "She'll be out in no time, I bet."

"Will you work some of that magic on me later?" He shot her a half smile.