Stephanie Dees - A Baby For The Doctor

She squeezed his arm as she walked by him. He stabbed his fingers through his hair, annoyed in spite of himself. His siblings were always making fun of him for his dimples, blond hair and blue eyes. And sure, in high school and college, he’d loved the attention from the ladies. Now it was just a distraction.

He didn’t want someone who liked him for his looks. He wanted to spend time with someone who was interested in what he thought, what he cared about. He would never tell his brother, Joe, this, but he wanted a soul mate, like Joe had found in Claire.

He sighed. Maybe it was best that he hadn’t found that. Marriage and family might work for Joe, but it wasn’t in the cards for him. He pushed open the door to little Levi’s room.

Jordan had Levi dressed in navy blue fleece pajamas with rockets and moons on them. The toddler’s big brown eyes, his eyelashes wet from tears, met Ash’s for one long moment before he stared out the window again.

“He let you dress him. I didn’t hear any screams.”

She shook her head. “He wasn’t happy about it, but he did let me touch him. Baby steps, I guess.”

As Nurse Amber went through the discharge papers with Jordan, Ash made sure to stay close to the door, away from where his presence might upset Levi. Other than the terrified reaction when Ash had gotten close to the bed, the little boy had shown no interest in anything and had made no sound at all. The hospital had done some preliminary evaluations, but no one could tell at this point how extensive the damage to Levi might be.

Amber handed Jordan a stack of prescriptions and then said, “Okay, sign here and you’re good to go.”

When the orderly rolled the wheelchair into the room, Levi looked toward it, brown eyes going wide. As the orderly brought it closer, Levi began to whimper. And when Amber reached for him to put him in it, the little boy lost it.

He screamed and scratched, jerking away from the nurse until she gave in and dropped him back onto the mattress, where he collapsed, sobbing.

Jordan stepped toward the baby, putting herself between him and the wheelchair. “Please take that out of here. Now.”

The orderly left without a word.

Jordan nailed Amber with a look. “I know it’s against hospital policy but I’m going to carry him out. The chair is obviously terrifying to him and I can’t let him be more traumatized.”

She held her arms out to Levi, whose huge waif eyes were full of dark fear. “Come on, buddy, let’s get out of here. No chair. Just you and me.”

He didn’t move. Ash was pretty certain that she was going to have to carry him out kicking and screaming, but suddenly, the injured toddler threw himself into her arms.

She paid exactly zero attention to the snot running down his face, just cuddled him close and grabbed the backpack she had brought with her.

Amber was between Jordan and the door. She held Jordan’s gaze for another moment before she relented and stepped out of the way. “I’ll make a note in the chart that Dr. Sheehan walked you out.”

“Perfect. Ash, let’s get this little guy out of here.”

Pulling the door open, Ash stepped out of the way and Jordan walked past him without looking back. Levi’s little arms were clenched around her neck, his face buried in the hollow of her shoulder.

Ash thanked the nurse and followed Jordan into the hall. He’d dated a lot of Ambers, girls who were pretty and sweet, smart even. Jordan was different. She didn’t care about her hair. She didn’t wear makeup, that he could tell. More often than not, she had something questionable staining her jeans and hay sticking in her hair.

But she had just stood up for Levi, knowing instinctively what he needed. In her therapy practice, he had seen her create magic between a child and a horse. She was complicated and gifted and stunningly beautiful, despite the fact that she obviously didn’t notice.

Or maybe because of it. And every time he tried to talk to her, the words stuck in his throat.

In the parking lot, Jordan’s truck beeped as it unlocked, and she tucked Levi into his car seat, gently brushing a curl off his forehead. Crocodile tears started down his thin cheeks. Ash pulled a lollipop out of the pocket of his coat and held it out to Levi. He looked at Ash with suspicion, but took it and stopped crying.

“Now you find a lollipop? Where were you when I was trying to dress him?” She rolled her eyes at Ash and he laughed.

“Next time I’ll do better.”

“Okay, buddy, here we go.” Jordan clicked the harness into place and closed the door. In an unguarded moment, Ash saw grief and pain flash across her face before she shuttered it. “He’s really hurt. I wasn’t prepared for how badly.”

He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’ll come by and check on him after clinic tomorrow morning. And you can call me if you need anything.”

She nodded and her eyes lingered on his for a long second. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Jordan rounded the car and got in, turning around to give her little charge a reassuring smile. Ash watched as she drove out of the parking lot, lifting a hand as she turned the corner onto the highway.

Yeah, she was different. Not his type at all. So why was he so interested?

Chapter Two

Jordan turned on the coffeemaker in the kitchen, but not before she added another scoop of ground coffee to the filter. While it was brewing, she laid her head against the cool stainless-steel surface of the refrigerator. She was exhausted.

Levi had shunned the crib altogether, opting to fight it out in the living room. He’d stayed awake until he absolutely could not hold his eyes open anymore, finally falling asleep staring into the fire she’d built in the big stone fireplace. His dimpled fingers were entwined in the fur of her German shepherd, who was glued to his side. She didn’t know exactly what had happened to this baby but he was stuck in fight-or-flight mode.

It was heartbreaking. He needed to learn to trust that she would take care of him, but his body wouldn’t let him. Even her dog, Gus, understood Levi had broken places and all they could do to fix him was just be there.

A soft tap at the door had her glancing up in panic, but Gus just lifted his head and woofed softly before laying it back down. She put her finger over her lips and let her sister, Claire, in through the French doors that looked out over the pond to the barn on the other side.

“Hey, I just came to see how our new little guy is doing. I brought you some clothes for him.” Her sister’s long brown hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, an oversize sweatshirt hiding her still tiny baby bump.

“He’s asleep on the couch. The crib was a no-go.”

Claire peeked over the back of the blue velvet couch. “Oh, sweet baby. Has he eaten yet?”

“No. I tried everything I had that was kid-friendly. He wouldn’t even eat one of those applesauce pouches. I’m not really sure what to do.”

Claire shook her head. “Maybe Ash will have some ideas. He’s so tiny. It’s hard to believe he’s three.”

“That’s what the paperwork says, but it wouldn’t be the first time the age was wrong on the paperwork.” She poured coffee into a ceramic mug and topped it with cream so she could drink it faster.

“Amelia said she would take care of the horses this weekend so you can get Levi settled.”

“Bless her.” Claire’s stepdaughter, Amelia, had bonded with the horses from the first time she saw them. If she was looking after the animals, Jordan could stop worrying about them. “How’s Sweetness feeling this morning?”

“Cranky. I left her with Mrs. Matthews, eating breakfast. She loves those tiny pancakes Mrs. M. makes.”