Page 9 of Daddy, Sir

Tatiana whirled with a squeak of surprise. The heel of her sensible loafer slid on one file and she crashed to the ground. Pain lanced through her ankle. “Crap. Crap. Crap!” she cried out, grabbing her injury.

“That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.” The captain’s voice rumbled with concern as he squatted down at her side. “Let me see what you’ve done, little one.”

“It’s okay. I just need to walk around a bit on it,” she assured him in a rush of words and immediately tried to pull her legs underneath her to get up. A stab of agony zinged through her ankle, causing her to cry out and freeze.

“You’ve really hurt yourself, Tatiana. We need to get a doctor to look at you now,” Captain Murphy told her in a tone that would brook no arguments.

She tried anyway. “I’m fine. I’m always dramatic over the smallest ache. I’ll be fine.”

Trying to distract him so she could somehow get herself off his floor and make it back to her chair to keep working, Tatiana glanced up at the clock and reminded him, “You have an appointment with that new committee in three minutes. Go.”

“I know. I came back to get those notes you made for me. Now, there’s something much more important I need to take care of.” He pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. “There. I’ve notified them of an emergency and that I’ll join the team next month.”

“You should have gone.”

“And leave you here on the floor? That’s never going to happen,” the captain told her with a look of disbelief. “Come on. Let’s get you to the health office on base. Put your weight on me and on your good foot.”

He stood and effortlessly lifted her up to stand one-legged. “I’m going to pick you up, Tatiana. Loop your arms around my neck.”

He didn’t wait for her to follow his directions, but simply swept her off her good foot and carried her to the outer office. Sitting her on her desk, the captain looked at her and asked, “Where’s your purse? Anything else we need to take with us?”

“My tablet and phone. Well, your phone,” she suggested before rushing to say, “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. The ache is getting better.”

“Do not lie to me, little girl. Your face is drawn with pain, and I can see tears in your eyes. We are going to get you looked at.”

“My insurance doesn’t kick in for thirty days. I’ll go then if it still hurts.”

“You will go now. We’ll figure out the finances after you are treated,” Captain Murphy decreed. “Where is your purse?”

Mentally, she shook her head. She wouldn’t win this argument with him. Her ankle did hurt badly. “It’s in my bottom left drawer.”

He quickly retrieved it and looped the short strap over his forearm before picking her up. “Let me know if I hurt you.”

Tatiana nodded as she looped her arms around his shoulders. The captain carried her through the hallways and out the main doors to his car. A few people asked questions, but he answered briefly that they were on their way to the doctor’s office. She could hear the buzz of their conversations as they left each area. The rumors were going to be rampant.

“Stop worrying,” he told her right outside the front doors.

She looked up at him and nodded. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

“I’m a good guesser. Now, I’m going to put you in the back seat with your foot elevated. I don’t want to bump your foot getting you into the front seat.”

“I can get in the front,” she rushed to assure him as they reached his car.

“Open the door for me, Tati.”

Automatically, she reached for the handle and pulled it up. Captain Murphy elbowed the door fully open before carefully placing her sideways in the back seat. He pulled the seat belt around her, placed her purse on her lap, and closed the door.

When he sat in the driver’s seat, the captain turned around to ask, “Do you have any pain relievers in your purse?”

“I have some headache tablets.” Tatiana rifled through her purse to find them.

“That’s better than nothing.” He broke the seal on a small bottle of water from the cupholder in his console.

She dutifully took two.

As he drove, each bump and stop made her leg hurt. She looked forward to the dampening effect of the pills. “Thank you for thinking of the painkillers.”

“It’s hurting?”

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