Accidentally in Love

Shadow On The Ground

Life without Connor was strange.

It wasn't lonely, per se, it just felt like something was missing. In all honestly, I had very little time to soak up his absence. My maternity leave had ended, but I couldn't bear to leave Sophie with anyone else, so Eli had allowed me to work from home.

Thus, I spent my days working for our newest client, an up and coming girl band, and playing with Sophie when I needed a break from work.

My daughter effortlessly filled the gap Connor left in my life. One look into her beautiful blue-grey eyes and I knew I was wrapped around her little finger. She never failed to make me smile and the fact that each day she grew to look more and more like her father aided in my missing of Connor.

It would seem reasonable that in such modern times, keeping in touch with someone who was halfway around the world would be quite easy. However, the time difference made it difficult for Connor and me to coordinate our schedules, meaning we only talked about once a week.

It had been two months since Connor left and so far, life had been quite peaceful. Sophie had learned to sit up and roll over on her own, making it easier for me to play with her. Our days were filled with toy blocks and fluffy balls and stuffed animals.

It was at night that I missed Connor the most. His smooth, silky voice was the only thing that seemed to soothe Sophie to sleep. I had tried singing, but seeing as my vocal abilities were severely lacking, I had settled for walking her around until the movement finally lulled her to sleep.

All in all, we were taking it day by day. Until Sophie's scream jolted me from my work one afternoon.

Standing from my desk, I rushed to Sophie's crib to find her squirming and wailing as small tears streamed down her chubby, red cheeks.

My heart instantly went into overdrive as I leaned down to pick her up. This was so unusual. Sure, Sophie cried, but it was usually out of hunger or because she needed to be changed. And her crying generally didn't involve actual tears.

The fact that my shoulder was now wet, as I held her against my body, worried me greatly. Supporting her neck, I bounced her against my shoulder, making hushing noises into her ear.

"Hush, sweetie. What's wrong?"

When, after five minutes of hushed whispering, she didn't stop crying, I pulled her closer, resting my face on her soft hair. It was then I knew something was wrong. Her skin burned against my cheek, causing my heart to stop beating completely.

She was sick.

Placing her back in her crib, I hurried to put her bag together before strapping her into her stroller. Thirty minutes later, I was breathing deeply as I walked into the emergency room at the hospital.

You would think my irrational fear of extremely sterile places would have subsided due to the fact that I had attended so many doctors' appointments during my pregnancy. But no. I still turned into a shallow breathing mess at the sight of scrubs.

I wheeled Sophie's stroller up to the desk, knocking on the counter to get the attention of the young man sitting behind it. He was tan with warm black eyes and light black hair that was buzzed short.

He smiled warmly at me. "Hello. Can I help you?"

Taking another deep breath to calm my nerves, I responded. "My daughter is sick."

The man nodded, handing me a clipboard. "Okay. Fill this out with his symptoms, and we'll have a nurse take a look at her."

It confused my slightly that an emergency room would work so slowly, but I took the clipboard and sat down in a waiting room chair, rolling Sophie's stroller back and forth in front of me as I filled out the various forms.