The doctor and the Babysitter

Chapter 4

A few days had already passed and I hadn't had the time to contact Sarah again. Claire had been very helpful the past days, so I didn't need a babysitter.

"Ready to go Sophia'" I asked her. Yesterday I introduced them to my 'closest' colleagues. I have informed the ED of the recent change. But I wanted the others to meet her personally. Sophia did surprisingly well. She came out of her room and we went downstairs. Today was extremely cold and windy, so we took the L. Normally we would walk or I would've to take the car. But I haven't had the time to buy her a car seat and the one she already had got destroyed by the car accident.

We arrived at the hospital a bit early so we quickly went to the daycare. I had to let them know, that Sarah would be allowed to pick her up and drop her off. Filling out the document was a matter of 5 Minutes and I received two copies for me and one for Sarah.

I held Sophia's hand while we walked into the hospital. It was a slow walk, which reminded me to buy a stroller if we needed to be quicker. For passerby's I looked like a normal Dad with a daughter. Little did they know...

"Sophia Granger?" a Nurse called her so I stood up and took Sophia's hand, who had already gotten up from the play area. We went into the examination room and sat on a chair, waiting for Dr. Meyer.

"Dr. Rhodes. " She said after she had entered the room.

"Dr. Meyer, this is my daughter Sophia." It felt strange to call her my daughter, but not as strange as it did a month ago.

"Never thought to see you here." Dr. Meyers said after saying hello to Sophia.

"Me neither. " I replied and we started with talking about and with Sophia. Although Sophia didn't say much.

An hour later we were finished. We took some blood to check for any allergies or other diseases we could find out via bloodwork. Dr. Meyers also did a prick-test and we gladly found no allergies. She also tested the Lung function, as well as the heart and both seemed to work well for a three-year-old.

"I will inform you about the results as soon as they are here. " Dr. Meyer said and bid a short goodbye. She had her next patient.

Sophia didn't take the prick-test well, she cried the whole time and now she was so exhausted that she fell asleep. We left the hospital and took the L back to my house.

"Mr. Rhodes?" I had a window seat with Sophia on my lap, as someone said my name.

"Miss Reese, take a seat," I replied and she sat down beside me. Sophia still asleep.

"It's good to see you, I meant to talk to you but I've been busy," I said and she looked at me.

"I am off for the day, we can talk now if you would like." She offered and I had to accept. Because tomorrow would be my next shift.

"That would be great. But I don't want you to keep you from work or studying." I really had to get to know her. I barely knew anything about her.

"No worries, I think I studied enough today," she replied and it felt like she was unsure, I was quite similar at her age. I could study for hours and still be unsure if it was enough.

"I am sure it will be okay!" I wanted to reassure her, the rest of the ride and walk to the house was spent in silence. As soon as we arrived home Sophia woke-up, being groggy and confused about where she suddenly is.

"Sophia, you are at home. You fell asleep earlier." I told her quietly and saw how she relaxed a bit.

"Can I play upstairs?" she asked me and I was surprised, children really are interesting. How fast their energy level can change.

"Of course, but please say hello to Miss Reese first," I answered and she quickly said hello.

"Would you like a coffee?" I asked her and she nodded. I walked into the kitchen and she sat on a chair in the kitchen aisle.

After we both had our coffees we sat in the living room on opposite sites.

"Once again for taking care of her on such short notice! My sister takes her a lot of times and I am very grateful for that, but I realized that I need someone to take care of Sophia so that she doesn't have to be with Claire as much. So that I can give her a break." I said in one swift breath.

"I would love to look after Sophia. But we would need to discuss a few things first." Sarah demanded and I liked her tone. Although she seemed shy she would fight for the important things.

"Of course, we can talk about all of this," I replied and signaled her to continue talking.

"I need to know bits of your Past, not everything. But I need to know," she said. I expected everything but not this. I didn't want to tell, but I knew that when she knows, she will be able to take better care of Sophia. And that's what I wanted, right? At the same time I wondered, why do I care about this? I never cared if anyone knew how I really was?

"Okay...Where do I start?" I said with a break in between. I decided on telling her everything that has to do with Sophia.

"Three years back I was in a relationship with Victoria Granger. It didn't last long, but long enough to get her pregnant. In early September she was in a car accident and died on scene. After her death, they came to me, as I am Sophia's legal father. That's why I barely know anything about her." I responded and saw her shocked face.

"Wow, I didn't expect that." She said honestly and soon after her statement, she brought her hand up to her mouth, shocked about what she had said.

"I am so sorry Mr. Rhodes, this was very inappropriate to say." she apologized and I grinned.

"Don't worry, please call me Connor." she seemed to relax a bit on my offer.

"I'm Sarah. There is one other thing. Did you ever consider going to a psychologist with her?" Sarah said and looked at the ground, fidgeting with the cup in her hands.

"No, why?" I replied a bit harsh, my defense wall building up. She meant good, but Sophia is my daughter and I was a perfectionist and wanted to raise her perfectly, not that Sophia ever needed to meet any standards of mine. Not like my dad did with me.

"I'm sorry Sarah." I apologized. I needed all the help I could get. Even if what they are saying isn't something I like to hear.

"There are just a few things I saw the past week that worry me..." she started and I knew it wasn't the time to say or ask anything. I just let her explain.

"... I was in the kitchen, wanting to start on the Pasta and I couldn't find the stuff. It was stupid from me to ask her if she knew where it was, but she still tried, but after she didn't know why she said she was sorry. She's shy, yes. What I learned is, that you only say sorry if you have to expect consequences. I don't know you... but it just feels like she got abused, or mistreated. Something a three-year-old shouldn't have gone through." Sarah said and her small break in the last sentence told me that something big was coming. But not an accusation like this. Any other time I would have thought it's an accusation against me. But it was how she said it that made the difference. Still, I was extremely surprised by the observation. Now everything fell into place. It makes sense why Sophia is so silent, so shy. She just was afraid I could hurt her.

"Thank you, Sarah! It's something I failed to realize, something I should have. But please, believe me when I say that I never laid a hand on her. I will have to talk to the DCFS lady, see if she knows anything about the family." internally I was beating myself up, how couldn't I have seen this? I'm a doctor, I am trained to see these things. Not look passed the signs. There is a long way ahead of us and I just hope that we can manage together.