Page 16 of Daddy's Intern

One month later

“Baby girl,” I say gently as she enters my office.

It’s been a month since her mom passed, she’s grieving but won’t take any time off. She’s determined to work through it. No matter how many times I tell her she’s not to work, she turns up anyway.

“Mr. Guildford just called, he’s had to reschedule your meeting. Something important came up.”

I push my chair back and open my arms, she doesn’t hesitate in coming to sit on my lap. I hold her close to me, biting back a curse at how light she is. She’s lost weight—a lot of it— I fucking hate that she’s hurting, and there’s nothing that I can do to take that pain away.

“You doing okay?” I ask as I brush her hair from her face.

She releases a yawn. “I’m okay, just tired.”

That’s not anything new. Since her mom passed, she’s been working herself ragged, doing anything, and everything to keep busy but barely sleeping. I fuck her until she’s unable to keep her eyes open any longer, and she’ll sleep for a few hours, but then she’s wide awake and doing it all over again until the evening. She’s going to get burned out if this continues.

“With Guildford rescheduling, let’s finish up and go for dinner,” I tell her. I know that if I had said we’d go early, she’d pitch a fit, but with Guildford rescheduling, it’s given me the best chance to get her to slow down.

She looks up at me, those gorgeous eyes of hers filled with so much pain that it makes my gut ache. Fuck. I wish I could take it away from her, make her not have to feel any of it. But that’s not something I can do. I fucking hate feeling so useless. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” she says with a sigh. “But, I’m hungry, so yes, we’ll go for dinner.”

I pat her ass as she gets to her feet causing her to giggle, a sound that I haven’t heard much off. “We’ll leave in five, baby girl, then we’ll get you fed, go home, and sleep.”

She smiles brightly at me. “Okay,” she whispers. “Sounds like a plan.”

She turns on her heel, swaying as she does. She reaches out and clutches the corner of my desk. I’m up on my feet, moving toward her. “What’s going on?” I ask. My heart thumping in my chest.

She stands upright, waving me off. “I’m fine, just spun around too fast, that’s all.” She looks back at me, her face pale and her eyes heavy. “I’m fine,” she reiterates.

I bite my tongue, not wanting to call her out on her lie.

She walks toward my office door, her steps uneasy, but she’s got her head held high. I take a steadying breath as she reaches her desk. Thankfully, from my position in my office, I’m able to see her sit down. Christ. I need to make sure that she starts taking care of herself. She needs to eat and sleep.

I retake my seat and answer a few emails before shutting down my computer. I get to my feet, and my heart jumps into my throat as I hear a loud thump. I move through the office, my stomach dropping as I find Anna-Beth lying on the floor, blood pooling around her head. I drop to my knees, my fingers at her pulse.

“Call an ambulance,” I bite out as my staff rush out of their offices.

She’s alive, just unconscious.

What the fuck is going on? Why is she unconscious?

“Baby girl,” I say, my voice gravelly and wrecked. “Open your eyes,” I plead with her.

She doesn’t, she’s utterly lifeless, the only thing that’s not making me lose my fucking mind is the steady beat of her pulse beneath my fingers.

I’m not sure how long the EMTs take, but she’s still not woken up when they arrive. I jump into my car and follow behind them to the hospital.

It’s utter chaos when I get there, the doctors and nurses take her into a room, and I begin to pace the floor, waiting and hoping that she’ll be okay.

Never. Not fucking ever have I ever felt so fucking useless or devastated in my life. Anna-Beth is my everything. My absolute life. I love her.

Christ. I love her.

Fuck.

Seconds turn to minutes which then turns to an hour. When the door opens, and the nurse Orla walks toward me, I know that it’s about Anna-Beth. I steel myself for the worst.

“Mr. Mayor,” she greets me politely. “Anna-Beth is severely dehydrated and exhausted. The baby is taking a lot out of her. She’ll be staying overnight, just so we can replenish her salts and make sure that she’s getting what she needs.”

I blink at her words. “Baby?” I echo, my stomach dropping. The fuck?

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