Page 30 of Nanny for the Doctor

“Yeah. I don’t want to. Reed went from being an incredibly happy family man to a single father with extreme trauma overnight.”

The room hangs in silence for a moment as we both find more garbage and toss it in our bags.

“I don’t know if he’ll ever really recover from it. I know that’s why he throws himself into his work.” Johnny nods to himself. “But that’s why it’s so great he has you now. Your help will allow him to have the support he desperately needs.”

“I want to help. I really do, Johnny. But he needs to meet me halfway. His son misses out on so much because Reed is always at work. I just wonder, how long is Henry going to have to pay the price for his guilt?”

Johnny comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Just do your job, Mae. There’s a lot going on with Reed, and we can’t expect him to change overnight. There’s some stuff you don’t understand, okay? Just know that if you keep helping and being your awesome self, he’ll be able to dig himself out of the ditch that much quicker.”

“Okay, okay.” I smile, but my eyes fall to the floor. “I’ll try.”

Chapter10

Reed

How I’ve made it through Monday and Tuesday without so much as a kiss from Mae is beyond me. However, it seems work has a way of interfering quite a bit.

I’m still in shock that I actually slept with her. And I didn’t lie; it was far from the first time I thought about it.

Johnny’s party had been so amazingly relaxing and fun. It’s been ages since I allowed myself to have a good time, and after the kids were thoroughly distracted, chatting with my old friend was a special treat.

It would still have been a total win if that had been where the night ended. The fact that I finished it with Mae tangled in my arms, pleasantly worn out after fucking her, is like a gift from God.

Everything about her seems like it was specifically designed to drive me wild. From her long hair to her sumptuous curves to her tiny stature compared to my own.

Mae is completely my dream girl.

And for the first time in a while, I’m really considering just how much I work.

I know it’s a lot. Henry and Heather have made that abundantly clear, but Mae has also started to show me how much better I can be at everything if I take the time to step back every once in a while.

Still, work is important, and I chose a job that doesn’t have typical nine-to-five hours.

I also pick up my fair share of extra shifts. I don’t necessarily need to be at workquiteas much as I am now.

I just always feel like I have to be here, helping. What if I miss something like I did before? With Clara.

You’re missing time with Henry.

I’ve heard it from everyone at this point, and I just don’t know anymore. But something nagging claws at the back of my mind.

Henry is Clara’s son in so many ways. He looks just like her.

I sigh. I need to get out of my head because this wallowing isn’t helping.

Thankfully, I’ve got time now to sit down and finish paperwork in my office at the hospital. It’s a tedious part of the job, but one that has to be done, and I hate having to take it home with me.

I’m about halfway through the massive stack when I get a page. Looking down, I see it’s a call from the ER.

“Looks like I’m going to work.”

But as I take a closer look at the message, my heart stops. Henry has been brought to the ER.

Everything around me narrows into tunnel vision. My blood pounds in my ears, and my stomach clenches like I might be sick.

Thoughts race through my head so quickly I can barely focus, but I gather myself enough to run out of my office and down to the ER as fast as possible.

Images of rushing down these same halls to the ER to find Henry and Clara there surface in my mind. It’s too similar, and blinding panic blocks out everything else around me except what’s straight ahead.

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