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I arrive at work and am surprised to find Ted there. He's looking over the C.T. scans for today’s patients and smiles when I enter the room.

“Drew!” He claps me on the back, then re-crosses his arms to examine the images once more.

“Good morning, Ted.” My voice is shaky, making me sound nervous. Which I am, although I’m not sure why. Thinking Ted’s daughter is gorgeous doesn’t make me a bad person, it makes me human.

“I had to run in to check on a patient. Looks like you have a full workload today.” He points to the scans in front of us.

“Looks that way,” I agree.

“So how are things going with Sophie?”

My back stiffens. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on,” I say defensively.

Ted angles his head and looks at me with a confused expression. “Calm down, son. I just meant how was her first week in the apartment?”

A relieved laugh escaped my mouth. “Right, ha. Sorry, I didn’t sleep well. As far as I know they’re settling in. She hasn’t mentioned any issues.”

Ted nods. “Glad to hear it. Diane mentioned Sophie is excited to watch Penny for you. She’s always loved kids. I figured she’d have a dozen of them herself.” His lips turn down slightly, which makes me wonder if he’s thinking she may never have more children since she lost her husband.

“Well, Penny adores her, and she’s a pretty tough judge of character,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.

He laughs. “We sure miss having them at the house.”

“I bet,” I say honestly, remembering the sound of Sophie’s laughter. I’d miss that sound too.

“Alright, well I’m heading back home. Good luck today.” He takes one last look at the scans and grimaces.

I smirk and wave at him as he exits the imaging room.