Maizie nods when Daddy says no, because after all it's what she expected to hear. Still worth taking the shot, anyway. She hears him moving and turns her attention back in his direction, eyes sharply following every motion he makes and looking for signs of his injuries. He's too good at hiding it. Maizie wishes he'd give up the pretense, that he'd just quit trying to protect her from what's happening here.
The smile he gives her is fake, fake, fake too. Daddy's real smile crinkles his eyes up on the sides, but this one doesn't even touch them. It's not just because of the busted face either. Maizie can tell the difference.
The words that follow the smile are even worse, too much like the kind of thing you say to your kid when you think you're dying. "Daddy --" she starts to say, then breaks off. He can say his piece but then she's going to say hers.
When he's finally through, Maizie takes a deep breath and looks Dad square in the eye. "You are not a bad father. Not now, not ever. It wasn't great when I was little, I won't lie, but you pulled your --" shit -- "self together. Everything I've got now I've got because of you."
No, no, she will not start crying right now in front of Daddy and his stupid guard and all the rest of the stupid Dog Park. Maizie tears her eyes away and makes herself look up at the grey-blue sky over their heads until she can pull herself together. When she looks back at Daddy, her expression is careful, as neutral as she can possibly make it.
"I know it's gonna be ok," she says, and some of the force has gone out of her voice. "I ain't giving up on you yet, Daddy. Don't you give up on me either."