Page 7 of Falling For The Doctor

“Hello, doctor. Are you coming or going?”

“Going for the night, or day. I will be back this evening though.”

“That has to be rough. You guys work a lot of hours. Seems that it would be better to have regular hours and be fresher.”

“You would think so.”

We didn’t say much for a moment. He looked at my charts, talked about how I was progressing and how everything was looking good. I didn’t want to talk about that. I didn’t want to talk about medical stuff.

“How was the weather today? It looks nice from the window, but it seems too soon to be this nice.”

“It’s not near as nice as it looks, cold as hell.”

I agreed and then sighed. “I am looking forward to getting some fresh air. That has to help with healing.”

“It can, especially if it helps alleviate your mood.”

I liked the way he talked, adding in complicated words that didn’t need to be there. I didn’t think he could help it though.

“I think it will.”

“I was talking to your primary doctor, and I wonder what your after-care at home is going to look like.”

“Well, I will be staying at a hotel, so I won’t have to clean or anything. It should be fine.”

“You really should have someone with you. You need someone to prepare your meals and make sure that your dressing is changed.”

He was getting frustrated, and I didn’t want him to worry about it. Dr. Collins had already been so great to me. I didn’t want him to know the truth. There was no reason for it.

“It will be fine, trust me.”

He sighed and put the clipboard down.

“I hear you have had a little visitor while you’ve been here healing.”

I smiled because I just knew that he was talking about Alice.

“Yeah, it’s some girl who has a dad that works here. I think she is bored, so she comes in and watches TV most days. I haven’t seen her today in a while.”

“She is my daughter. Did you know that?”

I scoffed and said that I didn’t. I couldn’t believe it, but the way she used larger than life words in her conversations, maybe she was his kid. I could see the resemblance for sure, the fairness and hair color, as well as the eyes. It wasn’t hard to see at all that they were related.

That meant that his wife was dead, Alice’s mom. That meant that he was a single dad. It meant a lot of things, or at least I was making a lot of assumptions.

“No, I didn’t. It must be hard trying to work when she is here with you.”

“It is. I have been looking for her all around, never knowing she was right under my nose the whole time.”

I sympathized with him, knowing that he was probably worried a lot.

“Well, I am sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was looking for her. She came so often, I just thought that she was always here.”

“No, this is new.” He sighed and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. He looked stressed, maybe more so because of his daughter. I hated to see him worried, the lines on his forehead getting deeper.

“Why?”

“I haven’t been able to find a nanny for her. Well, that’s not true. I’ve found many, but she runs them off pretty quickly. She has a bit of a reputation and none of the placement agencies will send nannies out anymore. We’ve been banned.”

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