He'd wanted to be needed. No doubt about it, Lori and Magda needed him now, so much so that he didn't think three thousand miles would be far enough away to make him forget their pleading eyes.
Lori didn't want to ponder overlong on why she'd needed to call Gray. Surely calling the pediatrician would have made more sense. But hearing Gray's voice on the other end of the phone had shaved the edge off her panic. His arrival had pared it down further to an almost manageable level.
Almost.
Magda hacked her way through another choking cough, and Lori's panic returned full force. She always managed, always. This vulnerability scared her to the roots of her hair.
Like a fool she'd called the last man she should have. The only face she could envision through her claustrophobic fear. For Magda's sake, Lori would lean on him. For the moment.
Gray sat on the opposite side of the bed from Lori and pulled out his stethoscope. Gently he lifted Magda from under the covers. "Cool to the touch. No spiked fever to worry about."
Lori pressed her trembling hands to her shaking knees. "That's really good. Right?"
"Absolutely." Shoving aside the shoulder on Magda's Winnie the Pooh nightgown, he listened to her chest and back. "No rattling breath sounds to indicate a relapse. But something's going on with that cough."
Magda whimpered, and Lori almost groaned in time with frustration.
Gray scrubbed the knuckles of his fist over his chin. "If she could just tell me where it hurts."
Lori straightened, inspiration lighting now that her fear had eased to a more manageable level. "She can. Sign language, remember?"
"How would she tell me where it hurts?"
"That's a new one, kind of tough, but we'll give it a go. Let me see your leg."
"Huh?"
"Your injured leg. Stretch it out on the bed."
Gray extended his leg, his brow furrowed. Lori grabbed his ankle. A mistake. His warmth, the bristly hair, the flex of muscles and bones beneath her touch scattered her thoughts like fall leaves. Warning herself not to linger, doing it anyway, she turned his leg so the bandage faced out. "Magda?"
She turned to Lori, wide eyes blinking.
Lori pointed to Gray's bandage, gave an exaggerated wince. Then she placed her pointer fingers facing each other and waggled her hands. "Hurt."
An image of Gray sprinting across the runway after her flared to life in Lori's mind. When had he been wounded? She'd never even seen him stumble. He'd just come for her without a care for himself.
Lori pointed to Gray's leg again, plastering on a pained expression, not a difficult task at all, and repeated the gesture. "Hurt."
Another image flamed to life, of Gray dragging her onto the plane. His injury must have been excruciating by then. Instead he'd focused the intensity of those glittering emerald eyes on her. He'd been mad as hell.
Her memory overlaid a sheen of concern in his eyes, even fear for her mingling with his anger. Had it been there before? Or was she only remembering what she wanted to?
That bandage glared at her with agonizing brightness. She needed for him to go before she started crying all over his wounded leg.
Lori pointed to Magda and made the "hurt" symbol. "Magda hurts?"
Magda frowned, and Lori raised her hands to explain again. Then Magda's face cleared. She pointed to her stomach, placed her pointers together and wiggled her tiny hands, mimicking Lori's gesture. Magda repeated the process again, a questioning look on her face.
Lori nodded. "Yes, your tummy hurts." She turned to Gray, feeling as if she'd saved another orphanage full of kids all over again. "Her stomach hurts!"
They'd figured it out, together, an accomplishment too heady for her comfort level.
Gray nodded. "Okay, we're getting somewhere."
With any luck he would dose Magda up and be on his way. He could pack his bag and take those too-tempting muscular legs out of her apartment before she started dreaming up late-night thoughts. She didn't think she could take much more of barely dressed Gray while moonlight cast a yellow hue a little too like candlelight romance.
Lori tucked Magda under her arm and asked Gray, "What can you do for her, Doc?"