The Perfect Life (Ianthony)

Chapter 15: Maya's Visitor

"Rae, I can't. I still have 15 patients to see."

"Well reschedule them or something. I can't take her with me to this meeting, Anthony." I rubbed the bridge of my nose in aggravation, getting a concerned look from Ian that was sitting across from me at our usual lunch table.

"I can't reschedule. I'm backed up until December." Rae groaned.

"Please Anthony. I can't study abroad if I don't go to this meeting and if I don't study abroad I can't get my master's degree next semester." Ian placed his hand on mine and flashed me a small smile, dampening my sudden stress a bit, but not by much. I sighed a little, quickly thinking of an idea before answering her.

"Okay, here's what I'll do. After I finish my lunch, I'll rush to the school before my break is over, sign Maya out of school early, and bring her to work with me. Will that help?" Renee let out a large breath of relief.

"Yes. So much! Thanks big brother."

"You're welcome. Make us proud, alright?" Rae chuckled.

"You bet. See ya."

"Bye." I hung up with Rae and put my phone in my white jacket pocket, scarfing down the last few bites of my salad and gulping down my water.

"You gotta get Maya out of school?" I nodded, my mouth full of lettuce and kale.

"MMhmm." I swallowed my large bite before continuing. "You coming with me?" Ian nodded.

"Of course." I then gestured to his half eaten plate of beef Chow Mein.

"Well then you better hurry up and finish. I gotta leave as soon as possible if we are to be back before our break is over." Ian immediately began to scarf his meal down a long with myself, us both finishing in about five minutes. We threw our empty containers away and briskly walked out of the building, not really speaking much on the way to Maya's school. It took us about ten minutes to get there and another five for me to sign Maya out and for her to get to the office.

"Hi Daddy!" She greeted, running into my arms.

"Hey sweetie."

"W-Why did you get me, Daddy? We were about to listen to a story."

"Auntie Rae had a meeting today and couldn't pick you up from school, so you get to come to work with Ian and I for a few hours. Is that okay?" Maya gasped, a large smile painted on her face.

"YES!" I chuckled a little at my daughter.

"Alright then. Let's go." On the way back to the hospital, I only focused on trying to get back to the hospital quickly and in one piece while Ian talked to Maya to keep her occupied.

"So, how was school, Maya?" Ian asked after a couple minutes of princess talk.

"Good. I got to finger paint, sing the alphabet, and I talked to Daddy Jess." I accidently break-checked us as soon as I heard the words come from Maya's mouth, causing Ian to almost hit his head on the dashboard, but that was the least of my concerns.

"Ow! Daddy, what was that for?" Maya exclaimed, rubbing her shoulder that forcefully hit her seatbelt.

"Maya... Honey, where did you talk to Daddy Jess?" I asked, my voice a little shaky.

"At recess. He came and talked to me through the big fence, but Mrs. Noel made me come away from the fence." I felt like I was about to vomit all over the car, cold sweat pouring out of my pours like a tropical waterfall as I stared forward at the road ahead of me. Ian's voice snapped me out of it, but only long enough to pull the car over to the side of the road. I placed my head into my hands and started to breathe a little heavily.

"No... No, no, no, no, no, no..." I whispered, voice broken. I used to have panic attacks in the past, but they seemed to line themselves out after I switched to a vegan diet. However, knowing that your daughter could be in danger reaches deeper than a diet change. I felt as if everything was closing on me, losing all sense of reality as my breathing rapidly increased

"Daddy?" Maya called, bringing me back into the real world.

"What is it, honey?" I asked, trying to somewhat pull myself together for her.

"Why are you panicking?"

"I-I'm not, Maya. Daddy's okay." Or at least I was trying to be for her. Ian placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Deep breathes, babe. Maya's okay and you're okay. Deep breathes." I began to focus on calming my breathing down as Ian spoke to Maya to get more information. "What all did you talk about with Daddy Jess?" He asked as he comfortably rubbed my shoulder.

"He asked about how my princess collection was going and gave some Cinderella candy." I jumped up and spun around to face Maya, more fear running through my veins now more than ever. My traumatized ex-husband that swears I killed his mother has given my child candy. WHO KNOWS WHAT THE HELL IS IN THAT SHIT!?

"Maya, please don't tell me you ate any of that!" Maya's eyes went wide at my sudden change in tone.

"N-No... Mrs. Noel made me garbage it." I let out a large sigh of relief and leaned back into the seat.

"Thank God." I whispered, pulling out my phone from my coat pocket and dialing the number to the clinic, my breathing still trembling.

"Los Angeles Pulmonary Center." Betty answered.

"Betty, It's Anthony. I need you to cancel the rest of my appointments for today." She heard her keyboard tapping as she spoke back to him.

"Anthony, I don't know if you can do that. There's 15 patients on your schedule and some of them have been waiting months to see yo-"

"It's an emergency. I'll work on a Saturday or Sunday if I have to. This is an emergency." Silence fell as Betty tapped on her keyboard some more.

"I'll give them a call. The dean isn't going to be pleased with this, Antho-"

"I'll talk to him personally. He'll understand when I tell him why."

"Okay then."

"Thanks Betty."

"Mmhmm. Bye Bye." I hung up with Betty and put my phone back into my pocket, starting up the car and getting back on the road.

"Anthony, you jus-"

"My daughter's safety is worth more than some appointments that I can reschedule. So, police station now, patients later." Neither Ian or Maya questioned anything and kept silent as I drove us to the station.