Page 20 of Dr. Baby Daddy

Victor hums to himself, scooping up some of his mashed potatoes and smoothing them on top of his chicken. “You’ve been in a good mood for the last few shifts. What gives?”

“I’ve actually managed to get some rest over the last few days.”

What I’m not going to tell him is that by the time I get home from spending time with Izzy, I’m exhausted. She’s spent the last three days dragging me out of the apartment early in the morning and not leaving me alone until late at night.

Victor narrows his eyes and waves the fork at me. “I think there’s more going on than some rest. You may never have taken vacation, but you do have days off every week. You never come back to work looking as rested as you do now. And your mood is never this good.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oliver, you’re a horrible liar.”

I take another bite of the sandwich and shrug. “I’m in a good mood. Why’s that a bad thing?”

“Because we both know that the good mood has nothing to do with your days off.” Victor cuts his potato-smothered chicken into pieces and pops one into his mouth.

“It does. I got to rest and get my head clear over the last couple days. That’s all that the good mood is about.”

Victor smirks and leans back in his chair. “That good mood has nothing to do with the stunning blond woman I just saw upstairs?”

I cough, a piece of sandwich trying to lodge itself in my throat. Gasping, I reach for the coffee and take a long sip.

There’s no way that he could be talking about Izzy. He only knows her as my annoying neighbor, and she would have no reason to be in the hospital.

Unless it is her.

A queasy feeling starts in my stomach, and it isn’t from my sandwich. I want to push my tray to the side and abandon Victor. If it is Izzy and she’s in the hospital, then there’s something bad going on.

Is she all right? Would she tell me if she was sick? She didn’t look sick at all when we were getting takeout last night.

Victor clears his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts. “As I was saying, there’s a stunning blond woman upstairs who insists on playing songs for the kids. She told the staff that she knows you and that you thought the kids could use a little fun.”

I down the rest of my coffee, trying to stall for time. Victor is going to be looking for a good explanation, and I don’t have one. I have no clue what would possess Izzy to think that she should tell people at work she knows me.

She’s Izzy. That’s what would possess her to march in here like she owns the place and tell everyone that we’re friends.

Although, after one night spent in bed with her, I know that friendship isn’t the only thing I want from her.

She deserves better, though.

I shrug and take another bite of my sandwich. “Well then, maybe I do know her.”

Victor gives me a flat look. “Don’t mess with my head, Oliver. We both know that you don’t have friends, so why is there a woman who says she knows you? Is that the annoying neighbor?”

“Might be.” I stand and grab my tray. “But I still don’t think I know what you’re talking about, and anyway, I’m done eating. I’ve got to get back to work, and I suggest that you do the same.”

Victor barks out a laugh as I drop off my tray and hurry out of the cafeteria.

I take long strides to the elevator, wondering if it really is Izzy upstairs. There’s nobody else I could picture here, but she worksas much as I do. Spending her free time performing for kids is only going to add more to her already full plate.

And yet, when I step off the elevator and take a right toward the children’s wing, there she is.

Izzy sits in the middle of the entertainment room with a keyboard in front of her. The kids all sit on the floor or the couches, eyes glued to her. Izzy finishes one song and says something to the group around her, though I can’t hear them through the thick glass walls.

The kids start jumping around and laughing. Izzy gets up with them, blond tendrils falling from the messy bun on her head as she starts to jump. They dance around to a song that isn’t playing while I stand in the hallway and watch like an idiot.

One of the nurses stops beside me, her smile bright. “That’s the most energy I’ve seen out of some of those kids in a long time. Whoever your friend is, she’s good for them.”

“Yeah.”

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