I let my chin drop and hid behind the curtain formed by my hair for a moment, drawing in a deep breath before I looked up and pasted a smile on my lips. “I’m fine.”
He lifted his eyebrows, a slight smile on his lips as he shook his head. “No, you’re not. What’s going on?”
“Okay, I’m not fine.” I screwed my eyes shut and just let go. Chris had proven we could trust him and he was really trying to help. Keeping things bottled up didn’t seem necessary with him, especially considering that he’d come after me to ask if I was okay.
“I’m just so pissed off whenever I see her struggling. I should’ve been there when Craig was trying to force her onto that motorcycle. I let this happen to her when I told him he could spend some time with her. I knew he was bad news. I knew he didn’t have a flying fuck to give about another person, even when that person is his daughter, and I still agreed when he said he wanted to see her.”
Chris slid his hands into the pockets of his scrubs and tilted his head. “Wait, you feel guilty about what happened?”
“Yes.” I threw my hands out to my sides. “How could I not? I’m the one who told him he could spend time with her. I’m the one who should’ve been there to protect her from that asshole, and I didn’t do it. He might’ve been the one to pressure her to get onto the motorcycle but it’s still my fault.”
Without hesitating, he closed the distance between us in two long strides, coming to a stop so close to me that I could smell the spicy clean scent of his aftershave. It was a really nice smell but not even that could distract me right then.
“Adi’s injury was not your fault,” he said firmly, his eyes locked on mine and his jaw set. “There’s no way you could’ve known what was going to happen when you agreed to let him see her. Even if you could, do you really think he would’ve just accepted it if you had said no? He’s her father, April. He might not be a good one, but it wasn’t wrong of you to say yes to him seeing Adi for a few hours.”
“If he hadn’t accepted no for an answer, I should’ve fought him. I shouldn’t have just agreed. Sure, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I should’ve known it wouldn’t be anything good. I know better than to trust him. Now she’s hurt and it’s all because, once again, I was an idiot when it comes to Craig.”
“You were not an idiot.” He reached out and placed his hand gently on the small of my back before leading me into his office. Once the door was closed, he guided me to the chair behind his desk and motioned for me to take a seat.
I didn’t know where he was going with this, but he hadn’t steered me wrong yet. My ass hit the chair and Chris dropped down to his haunches, letting his hands dangle between his knees as he looked up at me.
“I don’t have any children,” he said, and I frowned. He held up a finger when he noticed, his eyes shining with earnestness as they held on to mine. “Just wait. I promise you I have a point. I don’t have any children, so I know people don’t believe me when I say that I understand how difficult it is to watch your child struggle. I might not know how it feels to watch my child going through something so difficult, but I know how tough it is to see a loved one go through stuff you can’t fix for them.”
His voice was softer than usual, as was his gaze. “It might not look like it, but Adi is doing really well. She’s progressing much faster because she’s a child. Adults would’ve taken two weeks to achieve what she has in two sessions. You told me that I had a dedicated patient in her, right?”
I nodded but didn’t speak. There was a lump forming in my throat that I didn’t want him to know about. Having my voice coming out thick would definitely clue him in.
Chris’s eyes stayed steadfast on mine. “Well, I can see how dedicated she’s been. It shows in every exercise we do. It’s in all the little