“Your muscles are so tight. Why don’t you let me loosen you up some, Dr. W.?”
I jerked when I heard her voice. “Nasha, you shouldn’t be in here. I thought everyone had left.”
“They have,” she purred. For fuck’s sake, would this woman not get the message?
I stood up so fast, her arms flew to the side. “This is highly inappropriate.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“That’s not the point. You have to go.” I stared at her, waiting for her to leave. But she only gave me a seductive grin. “Well?”
“Well what?” she asked.
“Aren’t you going to leave?”
“I’d rather do something else, if you get my meaning.”
“Nasha, I have a child at home waiting on me.”
“This would only take a few minutes. You have no idea what you’re missing.”
I was incredulous. Maybe I needed to hook her up with Pearson. He’d jump all over this opportunity, man whore that he was.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not interested.”
She poked her lips out and pouted. “Too bad. Maybe another time.” She sashayed past me and out the door. Why would anyone sashay in scrubs, which we required all employees to wear? She had tugged the V-neck down, thinking she was sexy, but no. I was going to talk to Dottie again about her.
When I walked outside, I had no idea she followed me all the way to my apartment, until I walked in and the doorman stopped her. I was waiting at the elevator when I heard him tell her she couldn’t go upstairs unless she was visiting someone.
“Oh, I’m with him. Dr. West.”
I turned around to see her standing there. Great. Just great. Now I had a stalker employee.
Chapter Twenty-One
Milly
I rushed straight over to Wiley’s school and he looked so pitiful when I picked him up. He was ghostly white and we didn’t even make it home before he threw up in one of the several bags the school nurse had given me. Apparently, a twenty-four-hour virus was sweeping through his school and a bunch of the kids were its victims. The nurse assured me that he’d start to feel better in a few hours.
I tucked his little body into bed and made sure the trash can was close by. But he didn’t have much left after the short ride home.
“Miwwy, I don’t wike to throw up.”
“I don’t either, little man. It’s awful.”
“Will you read me a story?”
“Sure thing.” I ended up reading him several until he told me he had to go wizzer.
“Wizzer?”
“Yeah.” He got out of bed and asked me to go with him. I was getting the picture by now that wizzer meant he had to pee.
He stood in front of the toilet, yanked down the Avenger pajama bottoms I’d put him in, and then told me in a bossy tone, “Turn around and don’t wook at my pirates. Girls aren’t supposed to wook at boys’ pirates. Only Daddy. And Gammie and Bebop.”
“No, I won’t look. I promise.” It took everything in me not to laugh. He was so stinkin’ cute.
When he finished, he washed his hands and then ordered me to do so.
“But I didn’t wizzer.”
“Don’t matter. You were here too.”
I guess this was like horseshoes and hand grenades.
“Wiley, are you feeling better?”
He lifted a shoulder.
“Think you might want to try something to drink?” I figured Hudson might have sports drinks in the refrigerator and they would do him some good.
“Nuh uh.”
He shot me down. I’d try again later. And who could blame him. I never wanted to drink anything after I threw up.
Carly, the nanny, showed up about an hour later. She was acting a little weird, but as soon as she saw Wiley, she practically melted. Wiley hugged her and told her how many times he’d thrown up in school, and about the one time he’d done it on Cassidy’s back. I hadn’t heard about that.
“Do you think she’ll ever invite me over again for pwaydates?”
“Of course she will, Wiley. It was an accident,” Carly said.
“Good because I reawwy wike Cassidy.”
After that cute little exchange, I left for the office. I could get a little more work in before the end of the day. I stopped off to see the dog first. Hudson was in surgery and Dick was asleep. He looked fine and I didn’t want to wake him, so I went on to work.
Ava saw me walk in and immediately came up to me.
“How is he?”
“Holding his own.”
We’d eaten lunch, which I’d shown up for, and then left again only to find Hudson in that jam so I explained.
“Wow, you two are just getting nailed, aren’t you?”
“I only hope I can make it through tomorrow’s board meeting without any interruptions.”
“Have you told Glenn about your dog?” she asked.
“No, and I don’t plan to unless …” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Milly, you can’t think that way.”
“I’m trying not to, but if the worst happens, at least I’ll be somewhat prepared.”
“Maybe you’re right. But I wanted to tell you this. I googled Hudson and he supposedly is one of the best in town. He did some extra training or whatever and I’d feel pretty good about you leaving Dick in his hands.”
“Thank you, Ava. I appreciate that.”
My concentration was completely off, because all I could see was poor Dick’s sad face as he slept. I wanted to go visit him again, but I was also worried it would only make me feel worse. I’d talk to Hudson about it when I got home.
Ava stopped by my office on her way out. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks. See you in the morning. I hope to be here by ten. The meeting is at eleven.”
With a quick wave, she was gone. I finished my tasks and was out the door a little later. It was a nice evening, and I tried to clear my mind on the walk home. When I got to the lobby of my apartment building, I was in for a huge shock.
Hudson was standing there kissing the receptionist from his clinic. She was still wearing those scrubs that had dogs and cats all over them. Her arms were looped around his neck as she stood on her toes pressed against him.
Suddenly, he shoved her away. “That’s it, Nasha. How many times do I have to tell you I am not in the least bit interested in having a relationship with you? I think this should be reason enough to end your employment. You are harassing me.” Anger spewed out of him.
“We’ll just see about that. I believe you have been harassing me. It will be your word against mine,” she said.
“I hardly think so. Douglas, the security guard over there, I’m sure has a video of everything that just happened. You followed me here, without my invitation, and then threw yourself at me, again without my invitation. I hardly think that would count as me harassing you in a court of law. Douglas, do you have a recording of this?”
“Yes, Dr. West. The security cameras record everything in the lobby.”
“Does this satisfy you, Nasha? Not only that, but I also have cameras all over the office to prove my point. Your harassment of me ends as of today, as well as your employment. You should’ve stopped this when I told you I never had relationships outside of the office with employees.”
She curled her lip and left. That’s when Hudson saw me standing there.
“Milly. I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
“I’m not. You could’ve used me as a witness, if necessary. But, Hudson, does she have access to the clinic?”
“Shit.” He rubbed his face.
“You need to call the police or get the locks changed.”
“I’ll go right now. It’s only a matter of changing the key codes.”
“I’ll go with you and peek in on Dick.”
We ran the few blocks to his clinic and he made a quick call to Carly to explain. Wil
ey was sleeping, so that made him feel a little better. When we got to the office, the front door was wide open.
“Stay here,” he said.
“Don’t go in there. Call 911. If she’s doing something, you could get hurt. What if she has a gun, or worse?”
“What could be worse than a gun?”
“What if she sets fire to the place?”
“Then I have to go. There are animals in there.”
“Dick!”
He called 911 and we both ran inside.
As it turned out, we didn’t have to worry about guns or fire. Nasha was still there. She was in the process of stealing money and drugs. Hudson used narcotics for the animals. She had broken into the cabinet where he kept those and taken all of the pain medication. Hudson caught her trying to break open the lockbox where he kept the petty cash.
“That’s enough, Nasha. The police are on the way.”
She tried to push past him, but he stopped her. He was much stronger and larger than she was so it wasn’t that difficult.
“Sit down.” He put her in a chair and forced her to wait there until the police arrived. When they came, they arrested her, and took her out in handcuffs, but not before she admitted in her stupidity to stealing drugs all along. She’d been pilfering from the narcotic cabinet ever since she’d been hired.
Dottie showed up a few minutes later and felt horrible about hiring her in the first place.
“How could you have known?” Hudson asked.
“I should’ve known something was off when she kept hitting on you. But I just thought it was your good looks. I also wondered about the narcotics. Our numbers were off, but only slightly. A pill here and there. I was getting ready to talk to you about it because she was the one I suspected. We never had an issue until she came to work here.”
“I’m glad she got caught before the DEA came down on us.”
“True. Or before anyone got hurt.”
I watched the exchange between them and it was obvious they had a great working relationship by their dialogue.
“Can I make a suggestion?” I asked.
They both turned to me.
“Yes, please,” Hudson said.
“Right now, you need somewhere else to keep your narcotics. That should be what we concentrate on. Do you have another cabinet where you can lock them up?”
“Yeah. In the other room. Come on.”
The police were finishing up with their reports. “You can’t have the narcotics she was trying to steal. We have to take that as evidence.”
“Seriously? That puts me in a bind for my patients.”
The officer said, “Yeah, I’m sorry, doc, but we gotta have it all.”
Hudson turned to Dottie. “We’ll have to cancel all surgeries for tomorrow.”
“I’ll take care of it. And I’ll put in replacement orders first thing in the morning.”
The officer added, “You’ll need this for your insurance company.” He handed him a sheet with the incident report on it.
“Thanks,” Hudson said. “Let’s get those drugs moved and the entry codes changed so we can get out of here.”
I checked Dick and rubbed his head and ears while they moved the drugs. When they were done, Hudson came in.
“He’s maintaining, which is good.”
“How long can he go on like this?” I wiped a tear away.
“He’ll either start to improve or decline soon. It’ll be one or the other.” His eyes held me steady. My heart plunged into my gut. I didn’t know what I’d do if Dick didn’t make it, but I also knew it was out of my hands. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.
“I know you don’t want to be the bearer of bad news. But thanks for doing all this. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without your help.” I stepped up to him and kissed his cheek. “You’ve been such a blessing to me.”
“Yeah, well, I wish I could do more. What do you say we go home? I have a sick boy.”
“Right. By the way, did you know girls aren’t supposed to look at boys’ pirates?”
“Yes, I do believe I know that,” he answered as he put his arm around me.
“Then why did you let me look at yours?”
“Maybe I thought you might find my pirates special.”
“You did, huh? What if I told you I found them very special?”
He pulled me to the side and took my face between his hands. “I would say I’m glad you did because my pirates found yours to be special too.” Then he kissed me.
When he let me go, I said, “I think I’m going to get an eye patch.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hudson
If Wiley hadn’t been sick, it would’ve been game on for us. But I needed my son more than sex right now.
“Come on. I’ll buy you a hundred eye patches later. Let’s see how the wild man is.”
We stepped off the elevator and went straight to my place. As we walked in, Carly met us. “It’s about time.”
“I’m sorry. This is the second time I’ve come home. I had a break-in at the clinic. The police came, and it was a mess.”
Her eyes turned into slits as she said, “Yeah, fine.” But it wasn’t, because her foot tapped out a rhythm on the floor that rivaled any hip-hop song I’d ever heard.
“Carly, I …”
“It’s my fault, Carly,” Milly said. “My dog has taken over here and I’m really sorry. How can I make it up to you?”
Milly’s eyes had been in a constant state of red and swollen so it wasn’t hard to see she was upset.
Carly’s attitude softened. “No, it’s okay. Wiley has been asking about your dog. How is he?”
Milly shrugged. “Hanging on by a thread.”
“I’m really sorry. I hope he gets better. I guess I’ll be going now. What time do you need me in the morning?”
“The usual, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. See you then.”
Carly left, and we went to check on Wiley. He was sound asleep. I felt his head and it was cool to the touch, which was good. The wastebasket by his bed was empty and I hadn’t thought to ask her how he was doing so I walked out of the room and called her.
“Carly, I forgot to ask. Is he still throwing up?”
“No, he seems to have stopped all that. I couldn’t get him to drink anything though. He’s afraid of throwing up again.”
“Okay, thanks. See you tomorrow.”
Milly came up behind me and asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Wiley won’t drink anything.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t for me, either.”
“I need to run out and get some popsicles. Do you mind staying here?”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t I do that?”
“Shit. I need to walk the dogs, too.”
She put her hand on my arm. “I’ll take care of that too. When I get back, I’ll make a food run and grab the popsicles.”
“You’ll do that?”
“Of course. You need to stay with your son. I’ll be right back.”
It didn’t take the dogs long and she was gone for round two. When she came back, she was loaded down with bags of groceries.
“I brought dinner for us. Hope that’s okay.”
“Thanks. I’m starving.” It was close to nine and I hadn’t eaten since lunch. “Thank you for getting all this.” Then she pulled out a giant box of multi-flavored popsicles.
“I wasn’t sure what he liked so …” A soft laugh hit my ears and it was the first one, the first true laugh I’d heard from her since Dick had gotten hit.
“I’m going to wake him up now and try to get him to eat. He needs to sleep tonight anyway.”
She aimed her thumb at the shopping bags. “While you’re doing that, I’ll just put these away.”
“Thanks.”
I went in to wake up Wiley and when I did, he groaned. “Hey cowboy, how ya feeling?”
He fisted is little hands, and rubbed the sleep out of his e
yes. “Daddy. I was sick today.” He reached for me and I gladly took him into my arms.
“I know, little man. Milly came to get you at school. She told me all about it and then Carly did too. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come, but I had to fix some hurt animals.”
“That’s okay. I’m not throwing up no more. But my tummy hurt bad.”
“I know. But it’s better now, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I don’t wanna throw up no more.”
“Nah, it’s yucky. But guess what?”
“What?”
“Milly’s here and she brought you something.”
“She did?”
“Yep. Wanna go and see what it is?”
“Okay.”
He shuffled out of bed, which told me still wasn’t his usual self. When we got to the kitchen, Milly said, “Hey there, dude. How’re you feeling?”
“Better.”
“Good. There’s something special waiting for you.”
“Daddy told me.”
I said, “But first you have to close your eyes.”
When his lids were squished together, Milly took his hand and wrapped his fingers around the stick of a cherry popsicle.
“You can open them,” I said.
A grin spread across his face and his eyes widened. Only his expression suddenly crashed. I knew what was coming. “I don’t want it. I’ll throw up again.”
“No, you won’t. It’ll make you feel better. Just take a tiny bite and see,” I urged. He hadn’t had anything in a while and I didn’t want him to become dehydrated.
“Promise?”
I didn’t want to do that, because what if he did throw up. He would never trust me again. “Go ahead and try. You’ll see for yourself.”
Milly said, “Go on, Wiley. I’ll have one with you.” She grabbed one out of the freezer and took a bite. “Mmm, cherry.”
His eyes flicked between her and his popsicle. Then he took the smallest bite. Then another. And another. When he didn’t throw up after that, he was all in. They both licked away until their popsicles were all gone.
“How does your tummy feel now?” I asked.
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