Page 28 of Daddy's Little Survivor

“I'm sorry for asking a question that made you uncomfortable. It wasn't my intention. I just wanted to get to know you a little bit. It wasn't my place and I know that, and I hope you’ll forgive me,” he said.

He had no clue if she was paying attention to him or not, but he hoped she was.

“I wanted you to get the proper nourishment you need for your body and I know my question probably made you lose your appetite. I didn't want you to go hungry, so I brought your food and protein shake up. Can I bring it in?” he asked.

There was still no answer which made him a little sad. He had hoped she would open the door and take the food at least. Michael knew she wasn't going to talk or forgive him for what he did. She needed time to digest everything.

“It’s okay if you don't want to come and get it. I totally get it and again, I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. I want you to be comfortable here while you heal up,” he said sadly.

He wanted her here longer, but he couldn't hold her forever if she didn't want to stay. He felt a connection between them but didn't know if she felt it as well. All he could do was hope she did.

“I'll leave the food and your protein drink out in front of the door. I'll be in the living room. Don't hesitate to come get me if you need anything,” he said as he placed her food down on the ground.

If she was his, he would give her a little bit of space to think and process everything before he tried to talk to her again. He didn't like things to go unsolved or not talked about it for a long time because he felt like it could lead to miscommunication.

He didn't like miscommunication at all.

But Monroe wasn't his and he needed to respect that and give her space and let her come to him. It was going to be hard, but he knew he needed to do it.

Michael walked away from her room and into the living room. He knew he needed to eat, but right now, he was worried about her and couldn't stomach the thought of eating. He would, but it could wait until a bit later.

How could he get close to her, make her trust him? Maybe he could ask Finn for some pointers. Charlotte didn’t go through anything like this, but he knew that she was shy.

Michael picked his phone up and searched for Finn's name, but right as he was about to call him, his phone started to ring.

Jaxson.

“Hello?” he answered the call.

“I know you said you're going to take the next couple of days off, but I think we need you at the club,” Jaxson said.

Michael let out a sigh and sat down on the couch. He didn't want to leave Monroe right now.

“Can you ask any of the others to come in and help? I really can't leave right now,” he responded.

“I'll ask, but none of them have as much medical experience as you do. Sure, Leo and Oliver have some experience with being in the military, but they don't have as much as you,” Jaxson said.

“Is it an emergency?” he found himself asking.

He didn't like it when something happened at the club and he wasn't there, especially if it was a medical emergency.

Last year, they’d had an accident where the sub had to go to the hospital. Now, Michael made sure he was on standby whenever something was happening. He wanted to err on the side of caution.

It was nice that he was still practicing as a doctor and now club owner, but it also got exhausting between his hours at the clinic and his responsibilities as a club owner. There had been several occasions where a Dom and a sub were going to do a scene together and it could potentially be dangerous, so he was there watching in case something happened. It was unlikelysince they were all experienced, but they all wanted to be safe.

At one point, people started to take advantage of his good nature and had him there every night. Once he realized that, he put a stop to it and set days and hours for people who wanted him to be on standby for scenes that really needed it.

He didn't like to dictate when people could and couldn't do their scenes, but he had to protect his health. There were a couple of members that were a little annoyed when he set those boundaries, but the majority understood and respected them.

He couldn't be at the club every night and also do admin stuff throughout the day. It wasn't working and he wasn't sleeping a lot, which made him grouchy and not pleasant to be around.

All the other owners had encouraged him to set boundaries, especially when things started to get out of hand. It had now been four months since he’d implemented that rule and everything was better. Michael still worked several hours, probably too much, but he didn't have much else to do.

His parents had died before he opened the club with his friends, and he didn't have any siblings.

“It's not an emergency yet. I'll ask Leo and Oliver first and see if they can help out. I'll keep you in touch with everything,” Jaxson said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Michael didn't like that it wasn’t an emergency yet. He preferred to stop things before they got to be an ‘emergency’. He always told people about RACK, risk aware consensual kink, but he’d like to make them be more than just ‘aware’ of the risks. He wanted them to be proactive about preventing problems.

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