The Doctor's Fake Nanny(15)

"Daddy! Daddy, come out!"



So much for being discreet. Several passing nurses and doctors stopped  to see where the noise was coming from and I closed my eyes and cursed  under my breath. There is a very good chance I would have just turned  tail and ran at that point, but then David was opening his door and it  was too late to go anywhere.                       
       
           



       



"Sophie? Kayla? What is it? What's wrong?"



"Can we come in?"



"Of course! Sorry, that was rude of me. Here, let me take her. I know she can get kind of heavy."



"I'm not heavy!"



"No, forgive me," David smiled at her indignant correction, "it's just that some of us aren't as strong as we should be."



I smiled uncertainly and followed them into the office. There was really  nothing else I could do, nothing that would make sense anyway. David  sat Sophie right on the edge of his massive desk and crouched down in  front of her, a look of concern on his face.



"So, ladies, what seems to be the trouble?"



"My leg got broke," Sophie said insistently, her face starting to  crumple up into tears again. I had managed to get her mostly calmed down  on the ride to the hospital but seeing her dad and receiving new  attention for her injury was getting her all worked up again. Great.  David was going to think that I was completely negligent. What if he  just fired me? Weeks ago that would have been frustrating, but now it  would be heartbreaking. Now when I was just beginning to realize how  important he was to me.



"It's broke, huh? Well then it's a good thing Kayla brought you into see me."



He ran his hand lovingly over her slightly sweaty head and then turned  to look at me. Swallowing felt impossible, like I was swallowing a stone  that was nothing but sharp edges.



"What happened?"



"We were at the park and she fell. I honestly don't think anything is  broken but I was worried about the gash on her leg. It's not even that  it's bleeding, I'm just worried about the dirt. It seems like it's kind  of ground into her leg."



"You did the right thing. It's not that bad but I should clean it up and she's going to need a tetanus shot for sure."



"No! No, no, no. No shot."



Clearly Sophie was aware of what a shot was and she had no interest in  getting one at the moment. The moment David said the word she started to  wail loudly and squirmed so violently that I was afraid she was going  to fall off of the desk. I didn't know if it was out of line or not but I  moved further into the room and sat on the desk beside Sophie. This was  something I knew how to do. I could comfort this girl, even if I wasn't  sure about much of anything else.



"Hey, Sophie."



"No!"



"I know it's not your idea of the most fun, right?"



"Nope."



Her lip poked out in a comical little pout and I glanced at David as he  took a swab and began to wipe the dirt away from her wound. I could see  that she was thinking of moving into the territory of all out screaming  and I really wanted to keep that from happening.



"Well, then what is?"



"Huh?"

"What is the most fun? If you could do anything at all right this minute what would it be?"



"Castle."



"Castle?"



"Have a fair in a castle."



"What kind of stuff would you have at the fair?"



Now she was starting to look kind of excited. Her injured leg and the  impending shot were forgotten. She was so engrossed in her fantasy that  she didn't even notice when David left and returned with a needle. To  her, nothing but that castle existed anymore.



"Pizza would be everywhere. And rides and dinosaurs! All of the kinds I want. And I could be all of the jobs I like."



"That sounds like an amazing castle!"



"I know!"



"You know what else is amazing?"



Sophie looked at David in surprise, finally remembering where she was  and why. She looked slightly skeptical and more than a little bit  annoyed at David's intrusion in her fantasy description, but she cocked  her head to the side and waited.



"What, Daddy?"



"We're all done. The cut is clean and the shot has been given. Didn't feel a thing, did you?"



"Nope!"



"Because you're such a big, brave girl. Now, tell me one more thing."



"What?"



"Would you like a lollipop?"



"Yup!"



David picked Sophie up and held her close, kissing her on the forehead  with eyes closed. I could feel the love between them and it made me long  to be a part of it, to stay a part of it for as long as I could manage.  Just the idea of it made my body tingle all over, and when David  glanced over at me I cleared my throat quickly, feeling the kind of  guilt one might feel when they were caught doing something they knew  they shouldn't be.                       
       
           



       



"I'm going to take her out to one of the nurses, alright? I'll be right back."



"Okay, sounds good."



The door shut softly and I fought to keep my breathing steady. For all I  knew he was going to walk back through that door and tell me that my  services were no longer needed. Then I would have to go back to the way  things were before, and I wasn't sure that I could do it. My imagination  was running away from me and the scenarios it was conjuring up were not  good. Not good at all.



Thankfully I didn't have long to indulge in the steadily worsening  scenarios moving through my head. Before I knew it David was walking,  alone, back into his office. He shut the door and turned to me, a faint  smile on his face. I wasn't sure whether or not to smile back. I  couldn't tell if the smile was really meant for me.



"Kayla."



"I'm so sorry," I said quickly as I rushed forward, "I didn't mean for  it to happen. I should have been paying more attention. One minute she  was fine and then she was on the ground. If you want me to leave I'll  understand."



Crap. I just couldn't stop talking. This whole time I had been worrying  that David was going to fire me and the first chance I got I went and  suggested it to him. I had to be the stupidest girl in the world. I had  no doubt that he was about to let me go and then walk out of my life  forever. Him and Sophie both.



He smiled and took the few steps that separated us. Raising one hand he  placed one calloused finger over my babbling lips. He didn't look like a  man that was about to fire someone, but who could tell? People were  strange sometimes.



"Kayla. Stop, okay? Do I look mad?"



"No. At least I don't think so."

"No, and that's because I'm not. Why would I be? Children fall. It's  going to happen no matter how vigilant the adults around them are. What  I'm interested in is what you did afterwards."



"What did I do?"



"You were amazing, Kayla. You brought her here to get looked at, which  was good, but more importantly you interacted with her in exactly the  way she needed you to. Not everyone can do that. You even distracted her  from her shot, and I think she made it pretty clear how she feels about  those. So that's what you did, Kayla. You were amazing."



I didn't know what to say. It wasn't at all what I expected to hear from  him, and the relief that hit me made me feel a little bit like I was  going to pass out. Combined with the stress of the last hour or so it  was a little much to take. David must have seen it on my face, too,  because he put his hand gently on my arm and led me to his desk chair. I  was almost afraid to look up at him standing before me, but I had to. I  couldn't help it.



"Kayla, can I ask you something?"



"Anything. Anything you want."



"How do you do it? You have the best bedside manner I've ever seen. I'm  not going to lie, I'm thoroughly impressed. I'm not sure I've ever seen  anything quite like it before."



"I think it goes back to my sister," I said quietly. He didn't speak,  just looked at me with wide, unreadable eyes. There was nothing to do  but keep talking.



"Nikki, she was sick. I know I told you that. She was sick all of the  time, from the time she was very small. She was always small, even when  she died. Her being so sick kept her from growing the way she should  have. She hated shots, too, just like Sophie, but she had to get so many  of them. I learned how to talk to her so that they weren't so bad. In  the end it was like she didn't even know they were happening anymore. I  always liked that, knowing I could take that kind of pain away from  someone. Especially when they had so much else to face."