Page 20 of Their Perfect Daddy

SKYE

“ I can’t believe you’re going to work instead of to the game. Didn’t you say you’re close with someone on the team now?” Poppy asks me as she burps Juni.

Smiling at the pair, I shake my head. It’s taken some adjustment, but my sister is a natural at this parenting gig. Her maternal instincts are through the roof now that the shock has left her system.

“You’ve been assuming I had a connection. Besides, I have patients to see. I can always watch the game between that. I’m sure the nurse’s station will have it on. They’re all big Bulldog fans.”

Poppy shakes her head, only to laugh when Dewey walks through the door with a tray of food piled high. Our brother has been trying hard to make up for his lack of being at the hospital by feeding—see also: overstuffing—Poppy. He’s been making sure anything the baby needs is taken care of too.

Appointments? He’s up and ready to take them.

Groceries? He’s got the app loaded down to order a delivery.

Meals? He’s cooking them round the clock.

I’d laugh too if I didn’t recognize the trauma response in his actions. If he doesn’t slow down soon, I’m going to have to pull him aside or he’ll burn himself out.

“You’re clearly in capable hands. I’m going to head to work now,” I say loud enough to get both of their attention. Then I give both the girls kisses on the tops of their heads before patting Dewey on the back.

For as much as I want to go to the game like Poppy suggested, I know it’s too much for me to be there.

Things have been a bit tense lately. My schedule since returning has been absolute insanity.

Danny is in Vegas, which means he’s even more distant.

Sprinkle in the way Monty has had to eat, breathe, and sleep football for the playoffs, and you’ve got a relationship disaster.

I really wish a simple phone call would fix things too. I think we need to see each other in person though.

And of course, I’m being a hypocrite.

When I was out of town, I encouraged Danny and Monty to get together without me. Yet now that our princess is gone, I’ve been avoiding my brat. He has to feel abandoned by my actions.

Fuck.

This is not what I need to be thinking of heading into work. I have to be focused, or else things could go badly. You never know what types of emergency situations could arise.

When I clock in, I find most of the staff is doing exactly as I thought: watching pre-game footage for the Bulldogs. The commentators speak of how this will be a tight game since both teams have good winning streaks.

I smile to myself knowing how much that will push my brat to do even better. He’s going to want to prove everyone wrong by bringing his A-game to the field.

At some point, I drown out the noise of the tv to focus on my patients and the referrals I need to complete today. It’s methodical work that leaves me in my own head most of the evening.

It’s not until I hear myself being paged to the ER that I come to. Shocked whispers of “do you think it’s him?” and “surely, it has to be” follow me as I jog down the hall. I take the stairs down to the floor and make my way to the nurse’s station.

“Dr. Gellar! We’re glad you’re here. You’re needed in surgery.” She starts rattling off the diagnosis as we move down the hall.

Broken leg.

Visible enough to see through the skin.

Athletic patient.

Young male.

Said to be in pain but coherent.

They’ve just sedated him to prepare for my arrival.

I nod to thank her for the update, then scrub in and slip on my gloves. My team knows just what I need, meaning the soft jazz is already playing and the room is prepared with all my sterilized instruments.

As I approach the table, I glance to the young man’s face as I always do. It helps me to see the patient as a real person rather than only whatever injury they’ve suffered.

Except my single glance spins my world out of control.

“Doctor!” One of the nurses shouts.

I realize I’ve stepped past them all to stare at his face. His handsome, perfect face that I know all too well.

“Patient’s name?” I croak.

“Monty Tempest. He’s a…”

“Football player. Yes, I know. I need someone else to do this surgery. There’s a conflict of interest?—”

“There is no one else, Doctor! If you don’t help him, we’ll have to make him wait until another doctor can drive in or until Dr. Shoals gets here tomorrow. She’s out of town, remember?”

I nod blankly as I do recall the schedule conflicts that led to me working a huge number of hours.

Even so, I don’t know how I’m going to get past doing this when it’s Monty on the table.

There’s a reason they say not to work on friends and family.

It’s too hard. Too emotionally draining to know their future depends on you.

“If I may, Dr. Gellar,” one of the nurses says softly.

At my nod, she continues, “I think even with a conflict of interest, you have to be the one to do this. The patient’s accident is shocking the entire league.

If he has a chance of coming back from this, it has to be you.

Your skill is unmatched. Give him a future in the sport, doc. ”

Her words motivate me, only not in the way she thinks.

My boy needs me. It may not be in the way I’m used to, but it is in a way I’m more than equipped to handle.

For the next few hours, I go about putting Monty’s leg back together. It’s not the most difficult procedure I’ve done, but it is the most nerve-wracking. I know how much his ability to play means to him. If I can’t deliver him back whole and functional, then I’m basically taking his dream from him.

No.

That’s not right.

I didn’t take it. Someone else did.

That much I surmised from the gossiping team around me. Their disdain for the play that led to this is evident in every comment they make.

When I’m finally done, my body aches all over and someone has managed to get Dr. Shoals back to town early. She’s waiting for me when I step into the hall.

I blink at her, shock registering a second before relief. “Hey, Venus. I’m glad to see you.”

“Bet you are,” she says with a soft smile. “Heard there was a conflict of interest. I volunteered to come back since I figured you want to stay with him in recovery.”

My head bobs rapidly. “Yeah, I, um, I need to be with him. It’s… Dammit.” I get choked up trying to speak. “It’s too much for him to handle alone.”

Venus shakes her head. “He’s not alone. That waiting room is full, Doctor. You’re going to have a lot of people eager to hear your diagnosis.”

Well that’s disturbing.

This is not at all how I expected to meet his family.

“Guess I better get out there, then. Thanks for coming back early. I owe you one.”

“No you don’t. I know you’d do the same for me.” With a wave, she moves past me, likely heading to check on all the other current patients I should be following up with. Knowing I don’t have to anymore is a relief I can’t put to words.

I can focus on my boy now.

At least I can after I tell his family the news.

Just as Venus said, the waiting room is full of people. I don’t have to guess who is there for Monty and who isn’t. The group of football players is very noticeable, as are the group of Daddies and boys nervously seated to one side of the room.

“Family for Monty Tempest,” I call out.

Bellamy’s head whips up at the sound of my voice. “Skye! Thank god. Were you the one to work on him? Please tell me you were.”

“You know him, Bellamy? That’s good. Really good,” a young guy around my boy’s age asks. He’s got one of the other football players wrapped around him from behind, though if I had to guess, the person in charge between them was the smaller fellow.

The look Bellamy gives me says he wonders why the others don’t know who I am. I shake my head, but before I can say anything else, Aries drops a bomb of a statement.

“Yeah, we know him. That’s Monty’s boyfriend.”

The room goes quiet.

I sigh and shake my head. “Nice of you to out us, Aries.”

“Sorry! I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Boyfriend?” The young man asks again. “I’m his brother. How did I not know he was dating someone?”

“Likely because he didn’t want you to know yet,” I say as calmly and politely as possible. “Now then, if we’ll get back to the real reason you’re here, I’d like to go over what comes next.”

Monty’s brother nods all while he continues to give me suspicious looks. It’s like he doesn’t want to trust me despite my obvious expertise.

“He’s going to be in recovery, then he’ll have a room where everyone can come visit. We don’t want to overwhelm him, therefore, we can only allow two people at a time. Who’s going to be with me first? You?” I point to his brother.

He nods. “Yeah. I have to be. Our parents are on their way now. They saw it all on tv and lost it. I need to warn him about their overbearing ways.”

I smile at his words, nodding as I wave to everyone else. “Y’all can sit here and wait or come to the private waiting area upstairs. We should be able to fit all of you in there.”

Since I know what floor they’ll likely put him on, I have no qualms about coordinating this group to a better situation.

There aren’t too many people here paying them any mind.

I suspect that could change the longer the night wears on.

No reason for them to get their photos taken or be approached by fans.

There’s a time and place where that’s fine. This isn’t it.

Everyone is worried about Monty, me included. We need to have the space to let our emotions out without trying to keep a good look for the cameras.

At the elevators, we have to split into three trips since there are so many of us. I wind up in a car with Bellamy, Finn, Micah, and the man I learn is his boy, Jett.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances,” I tell them.

“We understand. It’s not ideal but at least now we have.” Micah seems to have a level head. He’s obviously the complete opposite of my brat, which makes me wonder more about how they interact. Guess I’ll get to see when he wakes up.

Thinking about my brat reminds me I haven’t called Danny yet to tell him what’s going on. Given the time difference, he’s likely still awake even at this late hour.

The second we step off the elevator, I let them know I need to make a call. “Can you wait here for the others for a moment? I need to call… someone.”

If Monty hadn’t told them about me, I doubt he said anything about Danny either. I don’t want to have to explain anything to the group. Bellamy gives me a look that tells me he knows anyway.

Ignoring the big guy, I take a few steps out of listening distance to call my princess. It rings twice before a winded Danny answers.

“Daddy?” he wails.

“Hey, Princess. Are you ok? What’s wrong?”

“You don’t know! Oh, no! How am I supposed to tell you?” He takes a deep breath, and I realize what he’s going to say before he says it. “It’s Monty, Daddy. He’s… he’s hurt real bad.”

“I know,” I reply softly.

“You do? You saw it?”

Wincing, I shake my head, then realize he can’t see me. “No, Princess, I didn’t. But I was on call at the hospital they brought him to.”

Danny gasps.

“It’s ok now. I operated on him, and I believe he’s got a full recovery ahead of him. It’s going to be fine. I’ll help him through it all until you can make it back.”

“I’m already on my way back, Daddy. I’m at the airport now about to board my flight. I told the client what happened, and she said I should leave. We can video call for the next week or so until I need to come back for final touches.”

Sighing, I rub a hand against my chest. I’ll get to have both of my boys with me for the first time in far too long. While I hate the reason for it, I’m not mad either. Because Monty’s healing is going to require all the support he can get.

“Is your boss ok with this?” I ask, unsure if I should tell him his boss is a few feet away right now. Glancing at Micah, I find his eyes already on me as he looks from his phone back up.

“Um, well I might have texted him I needed to come back because Monty and I are dating, and I saw the accident. Is that bad?”

I laugh, unable to hide the amusement of it all. Of course my sweet princess wouldn’t think of this mishap. Who could predict such a thing, really?

“It’s fine, Princess. I’ll take care of it. Come straight to the hospital when you get to town. I’ll meet you downstairs and bring you up to him.”

“Yes, Daddy. Thank you for taking care of him.”

Closing my eyes, I let the weight of his words settle over me. It’s different from the way I’ve been trying to be a part of their lives. This was my medical expertise coming into play. And moving forward, that same knowledge is going to help him in his recovery.

I plan to be there for every step of this journey.

“Always, Princess.”

Hanging up the phone, I turn to face Micah. Time to face the music.