Chapter Four-Rex
2005 Words
I had been at the hospital since last night.
I hadn’t left.
Not because I was suddenly the kind of father who could put everything aside and sit beside his sick child all night.
I wasn’t.
I had tried to be there.
That was the truth.
When the nanny called and told me Kai had a fever, I had dropped everything and come to the hospital.
A fever that high scared me.
Forty degrees.
Forty-one at one point.
I didn’t understand how it had happened.
Kai hadn’t been sick when I left home.
At least, I hadn’t noticed.
And that thought bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
I knew I was busy.
I knew I worked too much.
I knew I wasn’t around enough.
But I had never thought Kai was being neglected.
There was always someone with him.
The nanny.
Housekeepers.
Drivers.
Security.
Doctors when necessary.
Everything money could provide was available to him.
So why did I still feel like I was failing?
I stood in the hospital hallway with my phone pressed against my ear.
“No.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
“That isn’t acceptable.”
The woman on the other end of the line sighed.
“Mr. Sullivan, we’ve already contacted every available candidate.”
“I don’t care.”
My voice hardened.
“I need a nanny.”
“Sir—”
“Immediately.”
I looked through the glass panel of Kai’s room.
He was sleeping.
His fever had finally started coming down.
Not completely.
But enough that the doctors weren’t panicking anymore.
“I don’t care what it costs.”
“We understand.”
“Then find someone.”
There was a pause.
“Mr. Sullivan, we’ve sent fifteen nannies to your household over the last ten months.”
I frowned.
“So?”
“All fifteen resigned.”
I went silent.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
The woman sounded almost apologetic.
“Some left because of the hours. Others said the position was too demanding. One lasted only two weeks.”
I clenched my jaw.
“And what exactly do you expect me to do?”
“We don’t believe we currently have anyone suitable for Kai.”
I stared at the floor.
The nanny had already told me she was quitting.
She had warned me months ago.
I’d told her I’d find someone else.
I hadn’t.
Now Kai was sick.
And I still didn’t have anyone.
“Find someone,” I repeated.
“Mr. Sullivan—”
“Find someone.”
I ended the call.
I stood there for a moment.
My entire life had been built on solving problems.
Business problems.
Financial problems.
Legal problems.
I had always found solutions.
But somehow, I couldn’t find someone willing to stay with my son.
And maybe that should have told me something.
I didn’t have time to think about it.
My phone rang again.
Another business call.
I answered.
“Yes.”
I began walking down the hallway.
“No, move the meeting to three.”
I listened.
“No. I said three.”
Another pause.
“And have the documents sent to my office.”
I kept walking.
My son was lying in a hospital room.
I was standing outside it negotiating a multimillion-dollar deal.
And somehow, that felt normal.
That was my life.
That had always been my life.
Work.
Meetings.
Deals.
Numbers.
Responsibilities.
I knew how to run a company.
I just didn’t know how to raise a child.
“Kai’s doctor wants to see you.”
I turned.
A nurse stood behind me.
I looked at my phone.
“Can it wait?”
She shook her head.
“He said it’s important.”
I sighed.
“Fine.”
I ended the call.
⸻
The doctor’s office was quiet.
I knocked once before entering.
The doctor stood behind his desk.
Young.
Very young.
I estimated mid-twenties.
He wore a white coat, and his dark hair was slightly messy, as though he had been awake most of the night.
He looked at me.
Then offered his hand.
“Mr. Sullivan?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Mian.”
I shook his hand.
“How is my son?”
He motioned toward the chair.
“Please sit.”
I sat.
He remained standing for a moment before taking the seat opposite me.
“Kai’s fever has come down.”
I exhaled.
“Good.”
“He responded well to treatment.”
“What caused it?”
“An ear infection.”
I frowned.
“An ear infection?”
“Yes.”
He explained the treatment plan.
Medication.
Fluids.
Monitoring.
Rest.
I listened carefully.
“How long will he stay?”
“At least until we’re confident the fever is under control.”
I nodded.
“Fine.”
The doctor looked at me.
Then he asked,
“Can I ask you something?”
I leaned back.
“What?”
“Why did Kai have an ear infection?”
I stared at him.
“What kind of question is that?”
“I’m asking because children often show signs before an infection becomes severe.”
I said nothing.
He continued.
“Did you notice him pulling at his ear? Complaining of pain? Trouble sleeping?”
I looked away.
“No.”
“Because you weren’t there?”
The question was simple.
But something about it irritated me.
“I wasn’t.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
I wasn’t sure why I had said it.
I rubbed my jaw.
“I run a company. I’m busy.”
“I see.”
He looked at his notes.
Then his voice became quieter.
“Last night, while his fever was very high, Kai was talking in his sleep.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He was calling for you.”
I looked at him.
“He said he missed you.”
I didn’t answer.
“He kept asking you not to leave for another meeting.”
My jaw tightened.
“I had a meeting.”
“I assumed you did.”
The doctor looked directly at me.
“He said he would be good. That he would be quiet. He promised he wouldn’t bother you.”
I looked down.
I didn’t know what to say.
The image of Kai saying those words made something uncomfortable move inside my chest.
“I work.”
The doctor didn’t respond.
“I have responsibilities.”
“I understand.”
“I can’t simply stop.”
He looked at me.
“Why not?”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Why can’t you make time for your son?”
There it was.
That question.
I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like the way he asked it.
I leaned forward.
“Because I don’t have time.”
“You have time for your company.”
“Yes.”
“Meetings?”
“Yes.”
“Business?”
“Yes.”
“And your son?”
I stared at him.
“That’s what the nanny is for.”
The room went silent.
The doctor’s expression changed.
He looked almost disappointed.
“Mr. Sullivan.”
“What?”
“That’s your son.”
“I know.”
“Then you should want to be part of his life.”
My jaw clenched.
“I am.”
“No.”
His voice was surprisingly firm.
“You provide for him.”
I stared at him.
“That’s not the same thing.”
I didn’t like hearing those words.
Not from him.
Not from anyone.
“You don’t know anything about my life.”
“You’re right.”
He took a breath.
“I don’t.”
“Then don’t judge me.”
“I’m not judging you.”
He paused.
“I’m telling you that your son needs you.”
Something inside me snapped.
“I can’t.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
The doctor stared at me.
“Why?”
“I just can’t.”
“Why?”
“I said I can’t.”
His eyes softened.
“Because you’re busy?”
I looked away.
“Yes.”
“Or because you don’t know how?”
I looked back at him.
He had hit something.
Something I didn’t want touched.
“You don’t know me.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“But I know what I heard your son say.”
I remained silent.
“He was burning with fever, Mr. Sullivan.”
His voice was softer now.
“And even then, he wasn’t asking for his pain to stop.”
I swallowed.
“He was asking for you.”
I looked toward the window.
The city was beginning to wake up.
“I can’t be the father he needs.”
The words came out quietly.
The doctor looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said something I wasn’t expecting.
“That’s mean.”
I turned sharply.
“What?”
His expression remained calm.
“That’s mean.”
I stared at him.
Nobody spoke to me like that.
Not employees.
Not business partners.
Certainly not strangers.
And yet this omega doctor sat across from me and looked me directly in the eyes.
“You shouldn’t treat your child like he’s an inconvenience.”
My temper rose.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe I don’t.”
He stood.
“But I know a child shouldn’t have to beg his father to stay.”
Silence.
Something inside me cracked.
I didn’t know what it was.
Anger.
Pain.
Grief.
Maybe all of it.
I stood too.
“Well…”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“If you think you can do a better job raising Kai…”
The words left my mouth before my brain could stop them.
The doctor froze.
I stared at him.
Then I finished.
“Marry me.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even I couldn’t believe what I’d just said.
The doctor’s eyes widened.
“What?”
I swallowed.
But I couldn’t take the words back now.
“Marry me.”
His lips parted.
I continued, my voice strangely calm despite the chaos in my chest.
“If you think you can do a better job raising Kai, then marry me.”
He stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Mr. Sullivan—”
“Then you’ll have a legal right to be in his life.”
I didn’t know why I was saying it.
Maybe I was angry.
Maybe I was desperate.
Maybe I was tired of everyone telling me what I should be doing without understanding that I didn’t know how to do it.
I looked at him.
“I know I can’t.”
The words came out quieter.
“I can’t be the father he needs.”
The doctor’s expression changed.
For the first time, I saw something other than anger in his eyes.
Confusion.
Maybe even sympathy.
I swallowed.
“But you think you can.”
He stared at me.
Neither of us spoke.
The absurdity of the situation finally hit me.
I had walked into this office expecting a medical update.
Instead, I had just asked a complete stranger to marry me.
A doctor.
An omega.
A man who had met my son less than twenty-four hours ago.
And somehow, the strangest part wasn’t that I had said it.
It was that a part of me meant it.
Because for the first time in five years, someone had looked me in the eye and told me the truth.
Kai needed me.
And I didn’t know how to give him what he needed.
So I had offered the only solution my broken mind could find.
The doctor slowly sat back down.
I remained standing.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
And neither of us knew that one impulsive sentence had just changed both our lives forever.
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