Page 34 of Nanny for the Doctor

“I can’t, bud. I need to go. I’ll see you later, okay? You were very brave, Henry.”

“But, Mae.”

“No, buts, mister. Get your rest.”

I close the door, leaving a crack open so Reed can see, and then go back downstairs. I know Reed needs to be the one doing this, even if neither of them realizes it.

Sitting at the kitchen table, I wait for Reed to finish putting Henry down. I’d like to talk to him about this business with Henry before I head home.

I hear the door close, and Reed comes down the stairs, looking more tired than Henry did. He walks around the island and reaches for a bottle of wine from the rack above the fridge.

“I don’t know about you, but I need this.”

With a chuckle, I nod, and Reed pours us two glasses of red. It smells delicious, and I have to imagine it’s much more expensive than the stuff I buy.

Reed sits down across from me, taking a sip and sighing. I drink some, and the flavor is better than anything I’ve had.

“This is so good.”

Reed looks over with a smile. “Thanks. It’s something Italian. I’ve had it forever, but tonight felt like as good a time as any to crack it open.”

Silence fills the kitchen as I wait for Reed to say something. He has to know he needs to address what happened today.

Finally, after two more sips, Reed sighs and breaks the tension.

“I’m sorry about today. If I snapped at you.”

I cock a brow at him.

“Okay, I know I snapped. I’m sorry. I was…fuck, Mae, I was terrified. I had no idea what happened when that page came through, and my mind conjured up every worst-case scenario.”

I know he was upset, but hearing Reed confess that he was genuinely scared sends a pang through my heart.

“I’m sorry, Reed. If I would’ve had a moment, I would have texted sooner, but I drove straight from the school to the hospital.”

“You did the right thing. You got him there. It was just…it made me think of things I’ve tried really hard to forget.”

The accident.

“I don’t exactly know what happened. Was this similar—”

Reed shakes his head. “No, it was nothing like the accident. But my mind didn’t care about that, I guess. I just saw Henry was in the ER, and I went into a complete panic. Every day, I worry that something might happen to him when I’m not around. That I’ll miss it again.”

Reaching across the table to take Reed’s hand, I try to show nothing but empathy on my face. “You can’t be everywhere at once. You’re not a superhero, and no one expects you to be. Accidents do happen, and that can be awful, but today it was alright. He just fell. Kids fall. Try to remember that.”

“I wish I could in the moment. But when the adrenaline spikes, I can’t think straight, and all I can do is remember running into the ER, only to be too late. I want to forget that memory so badly.”

My heart aches for Reed. I can see the pain he’s in clear as day on his face, and I want nothing more than to help in any way I can.

Reed’s not a bad person. He’s trying so hard, and if I could just get him out of his own head, even for a few minutes.

“Can I help you with that?”

His eyes fly up to meet mine, his brows shooting to his hairline. But then Reed’s features soften, and his stare bores into me.

His grip on my fingers tightens, and I see a little bit of the Reed from Johnny’s party.

“And how exactly are you going to do that, Lil Bit?”

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