I knew it sounded just as crazy to him as it did to me, but I knew what I felt.
“Well, good luck to you. I know you wouldn’t bring anyone around the little lady if they aren’t worth it.”
“You got that right. Let me see if she’s ready to go. I’ll keep you posted.”
My father nodded, and I got up to get my girl. It was still early in the day, so we had plenty of time to play and cook dinner together.
After we said our goodbyes, Turquoise and I headed home.
“Daddy, my tummy hurts.”
I looked in the mirror, and Turquoise had her hand gripping her stomach. She complained about a stomachache a few days prior, but it went away, so I didn’t think much of it.
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll call your doctor as soon as we get home. Okay?”
“Yes.”
Tears filled her eyes, and I felt so bad because I didn’t know what to do. She’d seen her pediatrician, but he wasn’t sure of what was going on either. It frustrated me because, as her father, I should have been able to fix any problems she had, but I also knew that wasn’t realistic. I just hated feeling helpless when it came to my baby girl.
When we got home, instead of playing, I let her take a bath while I called the doctor’s office. He suggested a gastroenterologist and gave me the number for one. Once Turquoise was out of the bath, she put her pajamas on, and we relaxed on the couch, watching her favorite movies. When she got hungry, I made her some soup, and that seemed to help her stomach a little. I also let her put a heating pad on it. She said it helped her, so I took her word for it. I think she just liked to feel the heat.
At the end of the night, I tucked her into bed and went to my own room to relax. As I waited to drift off to sleep, visions of Maverick popped into my head.
Eventually, I fell asleep with hopes of seeing her again.
A week later
After some rest and recovery, I was finally cleared to return to work.
I was released the next day since all my levels had returned to normal. My doctor gave me an inhaler just in case I had any chest tightness, but I hadn’t had to use it. I had to take it easy, but I had been doing well.
The insurance company approved my claim, so I hired a company to fix everything and to do what they could to prevent it from happening again. They told me it would only take about two weeks, and six of those days had passed already. I’d been staying with Kayla, and while she was a great host, I couldn’twait to get back to my own space. Thankfully, Kayla was okay with me picking Spencer up, so I got all new stuff for him to keep at her house. I figured I’d leave it there just in case she had to keep him for me in the future. I also wanted to stay away from my house as much as possible, because I didn’t want to be in the workers way. I did go by there to pack a suitcase to last me for a little while. I was thankful that the fire didn’t cause too much damage. It was mainly in one room. It was more smoke than it was fire.
I’d been thinking about Onyx since the day he visited me in the hospital. I thought about sending something to the firehouse as a thank you, but I didn’t want to cross any boundaries if he had a wife or a girlfriend. It felt like we flirted a little, but that didn’t mean he was single. He said he visited other people he had rescued before, so I didn’t want to think that I was special.
I tried to forget about him, but his sexy ass smile kept popping into my head. Maybe I would see him again one day.
Dr. Moore asked me to see a patient one of her friends had called her about, and since my workload was light, I agreed.
I spent the morning walking and playing with Spencer for a little bit, then I got myself ready for the day. I tried to rest a little before I went in because I didn’t want to overdo it.
“Okay, boy. I have to go to work now.” I rubbed the top of Spencer’s head, and he rested it on my knee. He got adjusted to Kayla and me pretty fast, and I was happy about that. It was one thing for him to see me where he’d been staying, but it was another for him to be comfortable with me in an unfamiliar place. I just hoped he didn’t have any issues when I took him to our real home.
“Go in your home,” I told him as I picked my bag up from the couch. I didn’t want him roaming around while nobody was home, especially because it wasn’t our house. If Kayla got home before me, she would let him out. He walked into his cage, and Ilocked it. I made sure he had toys and some water in there since it would be a while before either of us got back.
Dressed in bright pink scrubs, with sneakers to match, I locked up the house and walked to my car. I felt good about the day, especially because the sun was out, even though it was cool out. For the most part, I’d been in the house except for walking Spencer, so I was just happy to be outside.
Kayla lived fairly close to the center, so it didn’t take long for me to get there.
Multicolored balloons greeted me as soon as I entered.
“Welcome back!” my coworkers shouted.
“Guys, you didn’t have to do this.”
“We missed you,” Nakia, one of the receptionists, said.
I spent a few minutes hugging and talking to everyone before I went to my office to put my things down.
