Page 55 of Their Perfect Daddy

I realize I’ve stepped past them all to stare at his face. His handsome, perfect face that I know all too well.

“Patient’s name?” I croak.

“Monty Tempest. He’s a…”

“Football player. Yes, I know. I need someone else to do this surgery. There’s a conflict of interest?—”

“There is no one else, Doctor! If you don’t help him, we’ll have to make him wait until another doctor can drive in or until Dr. Shoals gets here tomorrow. She’s out of town, remember?”

I nod blankly as I do recall the schedule conflicts that led to me working a huge number of hours. Even so, I don’t know how I’m going to get past doing this when it’s Monty on the table. There’s a reason they say not to work on friends and family. It’s too hard. Too emotionally draining to know their future depends on you.

“If I may, Dr. Gellar,” one of the nurses says softly. At my nod, she continues, “I think even with a conflict of interest, you have to be the one to do this. The patient’s accident is shocking the entire league. If he has a chance of coming back from this, it has to be you. Your skill is unmatched. Give him a future in the sport, doc.”

Her words motivate me, only not in the way she thinks.

My boy needs me. It may not be in the way I’m used to, but it is in a way I’m more than equipped to handle.

For the next few hours, I go about putting Monty’s leg back together. It’s not the most difficult procedure I’ve done, but it is the most nerve-wracking. I know how much his ability to play means to him. If I can’t deliver him back whole and functional, then I’m basically taking his dream from him.

No.

That’s not right.

I didn’t take it. Someone else did.

That much I surmised from the gossiping team around me. Their disdain for the play that led to this is evident in every comment they make.

When I’m finally done, my body aches all over and someone has managed to get Dr. Shoals back to town early. She’s waiting for me when I step into the hall.

I blink at her, shock registering a second before relief. “Hey, Venus. I’m glad to see you.”

“Bet you are,” she says with a soft smile. “Heard there was a conflict of interest. I volunteered to come back since I figured you want to stay with him in recovery.”

My head bobs rapidly. “Yeah, I, um, I need to be with him. It’s… Dammit.” I get choked up trying to speak. “It’s too much for him to handle alone.”

Venus shakes her head. “He’s not alone. That waiting room is full, Doctor. You’re going to have a lot of people eager to hear your diagnosis.”

Well that’s disturbing.

This is not at all how I expected to meet his family.

“Guess I better get out there, then. Thanks for coming back early. I owe you one.”

“No you don’t. I know you’d do the same for me.” With a wave, she moves past me, likely heading to check on all the other current patients I should be following up with. Knowing I don’t have to anymore is a relief I can’t put to words.

I can focus on my boy now.

At least I can after I tell his family the news.

Just as Venus said, the waiting room is full of people. I don’t have to guess who is there for Monty and who isn’t. The group of football players is very noticeable, as are the group of Daddies and boys nervously seated to one side of the room.

“Family for Monty Tempest,” I call out.

Bellamy’s head whips up at the sound of my voice. “Skye! Thank god. Were you the one to work on him? Please tell me you were.”

“You know him, Bellamy? That’s good. Really good,” a young guy around my boy’s age asks. He’s got one of the other football players wrapped around him from behind, though if I had to guess, the person in charge between them was the smaller fellow.

The look Bellamy gives me says he wonders why the others don’t know who I am. I shake my head, but before I can say anything else, Aries drops a bomb of a statement.

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