Page 2 of Broken Boss Daddy
Abby claimed her stomach hurt, and that couldn’t be related to her ears.But what if it was?
A few moments passed before the curtain was pulled back and the same nurse walked in. “I just need to get Abigail’s vitals for the doctor. She will be here momentarily.”
“Abby. You can call her Abby,” I said, while removing my arm from my little girl’s grasp.
“Well then, Abby,” she spoke with the same kind smile from earlier. “I hear you’re not feeling too good.”
Abby shook her head, and I walked toward the corner of the small space, nervously chewing on my thumbnail while I watched the two interact. I looked back at my daughter’s still deathly pale face and sunken eyes, which were enough to have my doubts and worries come crawling back in.
Just as the nurse finished up her initial check, another person pulled back the curtain and closed it behind them.
“Good evening, I’m Dr. Jillian, and you must be Miss Flynn?” The older woman greeted me with a firm handshake, then thanked the nurse for the chart she handed her. “And this sweetie pie must be Abigail.”
“That’s us. Thank you for seeing us, Dr. Jillian.” I stepped up to Abby’s side once again. “I know it must be a crazy night for you.”
“No matter how busy we are, we always make time to see every patient.” The doctor opened the chart in her hands and looked back up at me. “I see Abigail has a history of ear infections.”
“Yes, as an infant.”
“And they were severe?” she asked after placing the chart down and stepping to the other side of the bed. She gently lifted Abby up and performed her own examination.
“Yes. When Abby woke up screaming in the middle of the night and wouldn’t stop no matter what I did, I knew there had to be something wrong, so my mom and I rushed to the hospital. We were then told that she had a severe ear infection, but the antibiotic prescribed didn’t help. We spent the next two years in and out of the hospital. It got so bad at one point that surgery was discussed in case she became deaf. I opted for the surgery and everything’s been okay since. She’s nearly six now, and there have been no signs of her infections coming back. Until tonight. She again woke up screaming, with a high fever, and complained about her stomach hurting. I didn’t want to risk anything, so here we are.”
Dr. Jillian smiled down at Abby as she completed her examination, picking up the chart to write something that I couldn’t see. She had a calming demeanor about her that soothed my racing heart as she listened to my worries.
“You did the right thing,” she stated. “I don’t think that it’s anything severe or a sign of an ear infection. However, an ear infection can present itself in many ways, which is why I would like to run some tests to rule it out completely.”
“Really?” I let out the breath I’d been holding. “What do you think it is?”
“It could be a bad stomach bug, but let me get the tests done before I confirm anything.”
“Okay. Yeah, let’s do that.”
“Mommy.” Abby called for me, and I bent down to look in her eyes, telling her that the doctor was going to make sure she’d be okay.
“I’ll give you a minute. Nurse Janet will be by to fetch her in a moment.”
“Thank you, doctor.” And with that, she left me alone with my daughter.
I spoke soothing words to my baby and reassured her I’d be waiting for her as soon as she got back. It wasn’t long until the nurse from before, Nurse Janet, fetched Abby for her test. I kept a smile on my face until my daughter was out of sight, then dropped it and bit down on my thumbnail with nerves again.
Only a few minutes had passed by, but I couldn’t sit still. Sitting still meant that my brain thought of everything that could go wrong. I needed to move and occupy myself with something else. So I stepped out of the privacy curtains and walked down the hall, turning down another one.
The tests were going to cost a fortune, which I didn’t have. I was still trying to cover the last of the bills from when Abby was sick previously, and when I added all that to my student loans, it was a miracle I was not having a panic attack at that very moment.
But as long as my baby was healthy and safe, I’d deal with it, continue to make ends meet. I continually thanked the heavens already for my parents and their hospitality; otherwise, we would probably have been homeless.
I was so preoccupied with forming a financial plan in case the doctor came back with bad news, that I somehow ended up walking into a hard brick wall. I stumbled, grabbing onto the nearest thing to stop myself from falling flat on my behind. When I was sure I wouldn’t fall over, I let out a breath and looked up at what I was holding on to. Turned out, I hadn’t walked into a wall, butsomeone.
I couldn’t help but admire the muscular body of a doctor in his lab coat. My heart fluttered like it hadn’t for years, and my body reacted to his in a way that felt nearly exotic to me. It’d been a long time since I’d ogled a man like that, and there couldn’t have been a more inappropriate time for my body to flood with need. Swallowing the sudden lump—and desire—in my throat, I slowly trailed my eyes up to his face.
Maybe I fell and maybe I hit my head because I couldn’t possibly be seeing who I’m seeing right now.
“Jessica? Is that really you?” His deep voice questioned.
My world slipped out from beneath my feet as I stared at his handsome, grinning face. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being pranked, or dreaming, or quite possibly dying. Because the person who stood in front of me was Grant Adams. Doctor at this very hospital where Abby was being treated.
The father of my baby girl.