Doctor Daddy: A Second Chance Secret Baby Romance

ETHAN “Dreams are wonderful places to be. Anything can happen in dreams. They can be cruel and bitter, happy, scary, but in the end, it’s a figment of our imagination. Nothing is real.” Ryder stares at me like I’ve suddenly grown two heads. We’re in the cafeteria having lunch, and I’m guessing this is the first time he’s had lunch in days. Ryder is a general surgeon. He is also posted to the ER. His work is brutal and exhausting. I’m pretty sure he’s only taking a break to eat right now because I asked him to. “What the hell are you saying, Ethan?” he asks, taking a bite of his burrito. “A quote. Think about it. One day, everyone could be saying it. A quote by Ethan Myers.” I raise my hand through the air for dramatic flair. “Are you high?” Ryder asks point-blank, his blue eyes staring straight at me. I scoff. “I’m offended you would even think that of me. I’m a doctor… and I haven’t gotten high since Saturday.” I’m joking, but Ryder doesn’t laugh. “I worry about you, man,” he says. “Thanks, brother. I appreciate the worry,” I retort with a smirk. He shakes his head before turning his attention back to his food. Wind blows in through the windows beside us, ruffling his dark brown hair. He runs a hand through it and I fight the urge not to gag because I’m positive he hasn’t washed his hair in days. He notices my reaction and gives me the middle finger. Then he wipes the hand on a napkin before standing. “I’m off,” he says. I look up at him. “What’s the hurry, bro? You haven’t even finished yet.” He shows me the screen of his buzzing phone. A resident from the ER is calling. “There’s trouble afoot. I’ve gotta bounce,” he says, running off. “No one talks like that,” I yell after him. He replies with his favorite finger. I finish my meal before standing up and heading to my office. I pause at my secretary’s desk. “Hey, Kim. What have you got for me?” I ask her. She’s pretty. Brown hair, brown eyes, light brown skin. Her lips are blood red. Blood red? Clearly, I have been spending way too much time in the OR. “Mrs. Campbell will arrive for an appointment an hour from now. Dr. Light also just informed me that the premature twins in the ventilator are showing signs of recovery and can be discharged soon.” “That’s nice. And their mother?” I ask. Kim shakes her head. “She’s still critical.” I briefly shut my eyes. The mother is a teenager. She’s seventeen years old and she had her babies two months early. From what I can gather, the boyfriend isn’t in the picture and her parents have disowned her. The only guardians the young woman has are her best friend’s parents. They’ve been here every day, praying and checking up on her and her babies. Hoping she wakes up. It’s a hard thing to witness. The complications with the pregnancy are because the babies came prematurely and although she’s seventeen, it appears maybe her body was a little slower to adapt to the pregnancy. She has a condition called postpartum hemorrhage, when a woman has heavy bleeding after giving birth. I performed a laparotomy, but she still fell into a coma. I’m really hoping she wakes up. There’s nothing more I can do for her. She has to find the will to live for her babies. “Anything else?” I ask Kim. She shakes her head and I make my way into my office. I fall onto my chair and groan. I’m bored. It’s terrible of me, but I can’t help wishing for an emergency or some excitement. While I love my job, it’s really starting to seem a little too easyI’ve been at this hospital for two months and I’m already being praised as the best OBGYN they have. And yet, I’m still bored out of my mind right now. A knock on my door interrupts my inner idiotic ramble. “Dr. Myers?” Kim says, sticking her head in through the door. “Yeah?” “Melissa’s here and she would like to see you.” My eyes widen. “s**t. Tell her I’m not here,” I say. “She saw you walk in, Doctor.” “Then tell her I’m dead!” Kim smirks, obviously amused. I take it back. I don’t want excitement. “I’ll just let her in,” Kim says with a smile when I rub my hands over my face repeatedly. I want to call her back and tell her to make up an excuse or something but I know it won’t work. It’s Melissa Prize. Daughter of the best cardiology professor at Missouri Grove Specialist Hospital. She has been obsessed with me since I arrived. It was cute at first, but it’s getting old. She’s twenty years old but looks much younger than is. She could easily pass for sixteen. “Ethan!” she squeals, poking her head through the c***k in the door before walking in. “Hey, Mel.” The nickname is not my choice. She forced me to call her that. She’s a sweet girl but she’s used to getting everything she wants and, unfortunately for me, I seem to be the target of her fascination. Melissa walks toward my desk and sits in front of it. She’s tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She’s a beautiful girl, but she spends way too much time at the hospital with her dad instead of socializing with people her own age. Her mom passed away when she was a kid. She idolizes her father and the two are super close. “I brought some sushi for Daddy. And for you, of course,” she says with enthusiasm, placing a box on the desk in front of me. I clear my throat. “Thanks, Mel, but I already ate,” I tell her. Her response is as expected. A pout with sad eyes—sad eyes that have a warning in them. I sigh before opening the damn container and taking a bite of the sushi. She immediately looks happy. It’s a little adorable, actually. She’s not a bad person. A little spoiled, obsessive, and annoying, but not bad. I wouldn’t have a problem with her if I wasn’t the object of her fixation. “How long have you been at the hospital?” I ask her. “Since this morning. My dad didn’t come home last night because of a surgery so I brought him food.” “What about what we talked about, Mel?” She blinks innocently. “What did we talk about?” “You going to college. Aren’t you bored?” She shrugs. “Not really. If I went to college, my dad would be lonely. I don’t want to leave him alone.” She genuinely cares about her father and it’s really sweet, but it would be great if she tried to get a life of her own. She still has so much to explore beyond the hospital walls. “Plus…” she says, twirling the chopsticks between her fingers, “I wouldn’t get to see you every day.” She even bats her eyelashes. “You could go to the community college and live at home, Melissa,” I say sternly, ignoring the latter part of her statement. “I’ll think about it,” she says, and I decide to give up. It’s another thirty minutes before she leaves. By the time she does, it’s time for Mrs. Campbell to arrive. It’s a simple case. She has some pain in her lower abdomen. It’s nothing too serious, so I prescribe her some meds and she leaves. The rest of my day goes by without a hitch. I head home, have dinner, then sleep. It’s simple, easy, and routine. This is my life now. My playful, carefree days are over. I’m older, more mature. I’ve grown up, and despite how boring it can get, it’s not horrible. I can live with my life now, looking forward without thinking of the past. My past is filled with sordid, bleak experiences, that I’m not sure I would like to revisit.