Page 30 of Scandalously Yours

Kristopher

Irolled over in bed, and had just finished stretching when my cellphone started to ring. For Christ’s sake, it’s six o’clock in the morning. I felt around the bedside table, finally snatching the damn thing off of the top of it. When I looked down at the screen, I growled after answering, “Do you realize what time it is? What do you want?”

“Is that any way to greet me?” Hayley asked.

I heard an eerily familiar noise in the background, although I couldn’t quite make out what it was. As I focused in on a beeping sound, I realized it was a hospital. “Where are you?”

She let out a haughty laugh. “Don’t you usually start with what are you wearing or is that only for your little plaything?”

I was not about to discuss Alessia with her. “What do you want?”

She stayed silent for a few seconds, and I was about to hang up until she finally answered. “I’m at the hospital.”

I honestly wouldn’t have given a damn if she was there for herself, and she knew it. In order for her to call me from there, this had to be about... “Is it one of the children?”

“Oh, so nice of you to remember that you have some of those.” Her snippy tone was the least of my worries, although it irked at my nerves as she knew it would. “I was starting to wonder if you’d forgotten them altogether.”

Irritation filled me because I had just gone through this with her the other night at our old place. She knew how much I loved my children. “Tell me why you’re there.”

“Hold on, I’ll need to call you back.” Just like that, the line went dead, and I stared down at my phone. I got out of bed and threw some clothes on. I had just finished brushing my teeth when my phone rang again.

“Hello,” I answered, gruffly.

“Kaylee got sick again—”

“Which hospital did you take her to?”

Hayley beat around the bush for a few seconds, but eventually answered, “Morgan Stanley.”

That was all she needed to say. “I’m on my way.” I hung up, then grabbed my keys, phone, and wallet. Within minutes, I was inside my car speeding north to the hospital. On the way, I placed a call to one of the doctors on staff there.

“Dr. Simon. What do I owe this call—”

“Hey, Pete. My wife,” I had to force that word out, even though it made me sick, before continuing. “brought our daughter in to be seen. Has she been admitted?”

“Hold on, let me check.” The phone went silent for a moment, then he came back. “No, she’s still in the ER.”

“Okay, thanks.” I was about to hang up, but he asked me about a round of golf soon, and I grinned. “Sure, I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.” I then disconnected the call, and took a deep breath.

It wasn’t long before the hospital came into view. Since she was still in the emergency room and hadn’t been admitted, I was hopeful it was nothing serious. I found a parking space, then hurried into the building. Thankfully, a number of my peers recognized me, and they were able to direct me straight to the room she was in. Hayley was sitting in the corner with her cellphone when I entered, and I shook my head. I wasn’t going to concern myself with her. I looked at my daughter as she lay sleeping in the bed. There was an IV drip already started, so I checked the cannula, then went to ask her mother what had happened. Before I could, Kaylee woke up.

“Daddy,” she called out to me, and I placed my hand over one of hers.

“Hi, Princess. Are you not feeling good today?”

She shook her head, and I glanced over at the machines. She had a small blood pressure cuff on her, and as I homed in on the numbers, they seemed very high. “What happened?”

“My head and stomach hurt a lot.”

“You’re in the right place, Kaylee. They’ll fix you all up. Okay?” She smiled, then nodded. I turned to Hayley. “Have they given you any indication as to what the problem might be?”

“You’re the doctor,” she quipped.

I wanted to remind her that she was also the mother, but I knew arguing with her would be futile. Over the course of our marriage, we fought a lot, but I had always tried to shield the children from it. Plus, I didn’t want to upset Kaylee. She was scared, and the last thing I wanted was for her to see the two of us at each other’s throat. “I’m going to find the doctor. I’ll be right back.”

“Bye,” Hayley responded, and I leveled her with a look. My assurance hadn’t been for her, but she still was entitled enough to think it was.

I stepped out of the room and grabbed the chart from the bin. Even though I didn’t work at this particular facility, it was still part of New York Presbyterian where I was Chief of Staff. I flipped through the triage records, skimming over the various tests that had been done on her. The first thing I looked for was her blood sugar levels, and they thankfully seemed normal. There was a slight bit of escalation from her usual numbers, but they were still within the normal range. In fact, as I continued skimming down the lab results, nothing else jumped out as being the culprit, either. I did notice her elevated blood pressure, but a lot of that could’ve been because she was scared.

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