She spoke gently about the kidnapping too, explaining it in the simplest way she could, because Cooper was too young to understand the complicated details surrounding what had happened. She told him that they had been separated, that many people had been looking for him, and that everyone had been worried about where he was.
Cooper listened until his eyelids finally closed again, but even then Takoda continued speaking softly beside him, filling the quiet room with stories about a family he had never known and a life he had never experienced. For now, those stories were all she could give him, and she hoped that when the time came for him to meet Dakota and Kade, the people she described so lovingly would no longer feel quite so unfamiliar to him.
************
DAKOTA
After nearly an hour of sleep, Dakota finally stirred. Her eyelids opened slowly, and for several seconds she remained disoriented, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling as she tried to understand where she was.
