My ex husband's baby

Doctors ordes

The doorbell rang at 2:37AM.

Ava’s heart nearly stopped. She was still on Leo’s bedroom floor, his small body burning against her chest. The cold compress in her hand was now warm.

Damian was already downstairs. She heard his voice. Low. Commanding.

“Room 2. Now.”

Three men in white coats walked in. Not regular doctors. These had equipment. An IV stand. A portable monitor.

One of them had “Mount Sinai” on his badge.

Ava stood up too fast. Her legs shook. “What’s happening?”

Damian turned to her. His face was stone, but his eyes... his eyes were worried.

“My doctor. And two specialists. They’re going to check Leo.”

“I can’t pay for—”

“Did I ask you to pay?” His voice cut through the room. But it wasn’t angry. It was tired.

The lead doctor, a woman in her 50s with sharp eyes, knelt beside Leo. She took his temperature. 40.1°C.

She frowned. “Has he been vomiting?”

Ava nodded. “Twice. Today.”

“How long has the fever been like this?”

“Four days.” Ava’s voice broke. “I thought... I thought it was just teething.”

The doctor exchanged a look with Damian. A look Ava didn’t understand but it made her stomach drop.

“We need to run blood work,” the doctor said. “And start IV fluids now. Dehydration.”

Ava backed away. “No hospitals. I can’t—”

“It’s not a hospital,” Damian said. He stepped closer. Too close. She could smell his cologne. Cedar and something expensive. “It’s my house. And my doctors.

Leo stays here tonight. Under observation.”

“But the cost—”

Damian grabbed her wrist. Gently. His thumb brushed over her pulse. “Ava. Look at me.”

She did. His eyes were dark. Intense.

“You signed a contract. 6 months. That means I’m responsible for you. And him.

So let me be responsible.”

Before she could answer, a nurse was already inserting an IV into Leo’s tiny arm. Ava gasped.

Leo whimpered but didn’t wake up.

“Hey,” Damian said. He pulled her back. “Breathe.”

He led her out of the room into the hallway. The mansion was massive. Cold. Echoing.

He stopped at a door she hadn’t seen before. Guest room. King bed. White sheets.

“You’re staying here tonight,” he said.

Ava shook her head. “I need to be with Leo.”

“You can see him every hour. The nurse will call you.” He paused. “But you need sleep too.

You look like you’re about to collapse.”

“I don’t—”

Damian sighed. It was the first time she’d heard him sound human. Exhausted.

“Please. For me.”

That word. *Please.* From Damian Cole.

Ava’s knees gave out. She sat on the edge of the bed. “Why are you doing this?”

Damian stood in the doorway. Hands in pockets. He looked younger like this. Less CEO. More man.

“Because you’re mine for 6 months,” he said simply. “And I don’t let what’s mine suffer.”

The words should’ve scared her. They didn’t.

They made her chest ache.

The nurse knocked. “Ma’am. Leo’s stable. Fever’s down to 39.3”

Ava exhaled. The first real breath in hours. “Can I see him?”

“Of course.”

She stood. Damian didn’t move from the doorway.

“I’ll walk you,” he said.

They walked in silence. The only sound was their footsteps on marble.

At Leo’s door, Ava stopped. “Thank you.”

Damian nodded. “Get some sleep. Doctor says he needs 48 hours of monitoring.”

“48 hours?” Ava whispered. “I can’t afford—”

“I can,” Damian said. Final. “Now go rest. That’s an order.”

He left before she could argue.

---

Hours later, Ava woke up to a knock. 6AM.

Damian stood there with two mugs of coffee and a plate of toast.

“You didn’t eat,” he said. Like it was her fault.

She took the coffee. Their fingers brushed. Electricity.

“Leo?”

“Sleeping. Fever’s 38.1”

Relief flooded her. She sagged against the doorframe.

Damian watched her. “You should eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You will be.” He pushed the plate into her hands. “Eat. Then we talk.”

“About what?”

“About the contract,” he said. “About the next 6 months.

And about why you didn’t tell me you had a sick kid when you agreed to marry me.”

Ava froze. Coffee burned her tongue. “I didn’t—”

“You didn’t think it mattered,” Damian finished. “But it does. To me.”

He stepped into the room. Closed the door behind him.

The room suddenly felt very small.

“From now on, no secrets,” he said. “Agreed?”

Ava stared at him. At the man who just spent thousands of dollars on her son without blinking.

At the man who made her feel safe for the first time in years.

“Agreed,” she whispered.

Damian’s jaw ticked. “Good.”

He turned to leave, then stopped. “And Ava?

Thank you. For letting me help.”

When the door closed, Ava sank onto the bed.

Her hands were shaking.

This was supposed to be a fake marriage.

So why did it feel so real?