He had been sleeping hard and couldn’t at first figure out what was going on. Wanting to move fast but feeling sluggish and disoriented, he scrambled from the bed as best he could. Corina was standing by her bed, crying into her hands and calling for her mother. Dannan went down on his knees to take her in his arms, whispering soft words of comfort. “Papa, Papa!” The sound of a male voice changed her cry to one for Grant, and then Corina said several words Dannan couldn’t make out. Feeling helpless, Dannan only held her until the cries turned to long, shuddery breaths and then to chest-jarring hiccups. “What happened, Corina? Did you have a bad dream?” “I want Papa,” she stuttered out, and Dannan sat on the floor so he would have a lap for her. She climbed up and lay her head against his chest. Dannan stroked her soft hair, running his fingers through the short waves until her eyes began to droop. When she fell back to sleep, he put her back into bed and then went to look at the clock.
