Addicted (A Billionaire Romance Novel) (17 page)

At the end of her evening, Kelly grabbed two Styrofoam containers and made them dinner for the night. She was too tired to cook. Once she packed their dinners, she hopped into her 2006 green Honda Civic and headed to Dawn’s house to pick up her daughter. She couldn’t wait to lay eyes on her little girl, and Emma would be excited when her mom brought home food from her work. As she pulled into Dawn’s driveway, she spied her blonde sweetheart peeking out the window at her. She barely got out of her car before her pride and
joy was running out the front door coming to greet her.
 

“Emma Buggy!” Kelly rejoiced, scooping up her child and hugging her tightly. Even though she was eight years old, she was tiny for her size.
 

“Hi, momma! I missed you today,” the girl attacked as she squeezed her arms around her mom’s neck. “I had so much fun while you were gone!”
 

“You did? What did you do?” Kelly asked as they made their way toward the living room to gather Emma’s things.
 

“Aunt Dawn bought us a bunch of new finger paints and she let me paint before we had lunch!”
 

“That was sweet of her,” her mom said as they walked through the front door.
 

“Hi,” she greeted her friend as she put down her purse.
 

“Hey, Kell! How’s it going?”
 

“Eh, not too bad. We’re still horribly slow at work,” She complained. “But I had a customer who generously gave me a $40 tip!”
 

“Forty dollars? Was it a big group?” she wondered as they sat down at her kitchen table.
 

“No, it wasn’t. It was a great looking man who was dressed nice and carried himself well,” Kelly bragged as she blushed. “And he left me his business card.”
 

“Oh boy, what does he sell?” she rolled her eyes as she inquired about this handsome stranger with a business card.
 

“Here, let me show it to you. I might be wrong, but I bet he owns a bunch of commercial properties or something.”
 

Her friend glanced at it, “So why did he leave you this?”
 

“Turn it over, didn’t you catch the arrow he drew at the bottom?”
 

Dawn turned it over and read it. “Hmmm. You always seem to attract the most
undesirable
men.”
 

“Heather and Sarah were trying to talk me into calling him. He looked handsome, but I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship right now.”
 

“I don’t blame you.” Her friend agreed as she got up to grab a glass of water. “Hey Kell, I wanted to ask you about something. Did anything happen to Emma’s knees? She was complaining about them so I checked them out and they’re pretty swollen.”
 

“I meant to tell you about it this morning when I dropped her off, but she had me running late so I forgot. We have no clue what happened. I called her pediatrician this afternoon and I take her in on Thursday at 4:30.”
 

“Oh, okay. Emma complained it hurts her to walk and anytime she bends her knees. I questioned whether she fell and she replied that she hadn’t.” Dawn explained.
 

“I know, I asked her the same thing. By chance, did she run a temperature at all today?”
 

“No, why?”
 

“She ran an intermittent fever on my days off work. Wendy, the doctor’s assistant, said not to worry too much about it, and explained that Emma may have caught a bug or virus.”
 

“Oh, no, she didn’t seem feverish or flushed. She acted and played just fine. I’ll keep an eye on her the next couple of days when I have her though. Would you guys like to stay for dinner tonight?”
 

“No, I grabbed us a bite to eat from work. She loves when I do that.”
 

“She always brags when you bring food home.” Her friend acknowledged.
 

“Well, I guess I better go collect my rambunctious daughter and her things. We’ll visit you tomorrow.” Kelly reported as she gathered Emma’s bag and called her to the front door.
 

“Okay. Hey!” Dawn stopped her. “You might want to watch her, she did something else weird today.”
 

“What?” she asked, concerned it had more to do with her daughter’s illness.
 

“It’s nothing bad, but she picked the scab off her arm and used the blood to create small red dots all over her body to pretend she had chicken pox,” Dawn said laughing.
 

“Oh. My. God. No, she didn’t! I swear, my child has an imagination!” Her daughter smirked at her and shook her head, agreeing with her mom.
 

“Momma, you brought us home dinner for tonight?” she asked as she opened the car door and spied the containers in the seat.
 

“Yep, I figured my Emma Buggy would love to have fancy food from my work.” She beamed in the rear view mirror as the child buckled herself.
 

That night after her daughter was ready for bed, she sat down on the couch to relax before she went to sleep. As she followed the television program, she thought about the man who gave her the generous tip that afternoon. It was a beautiful gesture, but for a salad? He must have motives; then she realized—he left the lavish amount of dough with his phone number. He was trying to
impress her so she would call him. She was torn on what to do.
 

Kelly drifted off on the couch as the television continued to play. A loud scream that came from Emma’s room startled her from her slumber. She jumped up and ran to check on her. Emma was sitting up in her bed, tearful while holding her legs.
 

“What’s wrong Emma Buggy?” she asked, despite how sleepy she was as she tried to rub her eyes.
 

“Momma, they hurt. I can’t even bend my legs,” she cried.
 

“Let me have a peek,” her mom insisted, pulling the covers back. Emma’s knees had swollen more than they had been. Kelly lightly
touched them, trying to investigate what was causing the swelling. “Emma Buggy, you’re scalding hot. Can I take your temperature?”
 

Her daughter nodded her head as she got up to grab the thermometer. She placed it under Emma’s tongue and waited for the beep. When she removed it, she was surprised when it read 101.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
 

“Do you hurt anywhere else? Is your throat sore or do you have a headache or anything like that?” Kelly probed her daughter, trying to find the cause of the fever.
 

“No, momma. It’s just my knees, and my back hurts down at the bottom. My whole body feels tight.”
 

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be just fine. I’ll go get your medicine, would you take that for me?” She asked as she brushed her daughter’s hair away from her face.
 

She nodded and replied, “Yes, but will it make me feel better?”
 

“I hope so honey. I’ll have it ready for you in a minute.”
 

Kelly went to the kitchen and poured out a dose of ibuprofen for Emma. As she did, she wondered what was wrong with her. Her baby almost never got sick and when she did, she never actually complained; it was puzzling to her. After she had replaced the cap on the bottle, she headed to Emma’s room with her meds and a cup of water.
 

“Okay sweetheart, you have to take a little and I brought you water,” Kelly said as she held up the small pink cup. “Drink this up and get rested. You should feel better in the morning.”
 

Like a good girl, she took the dose and drank the water before she dozed off. Her mom stayed with her until she was fast asleep. Once she was sleeping, Kelly headed to the kitchen to place the spoon and cup in the sink. Worried about the child, she decided that she would go to sleep in Emma’s room for the rest of the night. She scooted her daughter over in her bed and climbed in beside her before she curled up with her and nodded off.
 

In the morning, she woke up to moaning in her sleep. She listened for a moment before waking her; she was in so much pain.
 

“Emma Buggy,” she whispered. “Emma….” Kelly nudged her. “Are you feeling okay?”
 

She opened her eyes and looked at her mom, unaware she’d been making noise as she slept. “I hurt mommy.”
 

“Yeah, I caught that baby. I’m calling in to work today and am going to try to get a hold of your doctor. You rest here for a little while.” She got up.
 

“Momma, I don’t like being in here by myself. Will you carry me to the couch and let me watch cartoons?”
 

“Sure, come here,” she gently scooped her up. “Do you want me to bring your blanket or pillow?”
 

“My blanket, please,” Emma said, wrapping her arms around her mom’s neck.
 

Kelly grabbed the blanket and headed for the living room. After she had been settled in, she went off to start a pot of coffee and make her daughter a bowl of cereal before she called the doctor.
 

“Here you go Emma Buggy. I’ll call Dr. Hinton’s office to see if they can get you in any sooner.”
 

She hated calling in but didn’t have a choice in the matter. She really couldn’t afford it, but she also couldn’t let her daughter suffer. True, Dawn would’ve taken excellent care of her while she was ill, but her baby needed her mommy.
 

“Brian, this is Kelly. I won’t be able to make it in today.” She explained to her manager.
 

“What? Why not?” he asked.
 

“Well, it’s Emma. She’s been sick the last few days, and the doctor’s office said they can’t get her in until tomorrow. I’m going to find out if they can schedule her for this afternoon. She’s gotten progressively worse and I’m worried about her.”
 

“You’re aware that’s a point if you don’t come in, right?” He reminded her of the attendance guidelines.
 

“I know, but I never call in and I have no points right now. I’ll keep you informed and tell you what the doctor says.” Kelly said, annoyed that her boss would try to make her feel threatened by the company policy.
 

After she had hung up with her manager, she went into the living room to check on Emma. “How are you holding up?”
 

“I’m okay momma. You won’t get in trouble for not going into work are you?” the child asked, overhearing the phone conversation.
 

“No baby, it’s fine. Don’t you worry about that. I will call Dr. Hinton now. I’ll be back.”
 

Emma was so sweet, she thought. Her daughter was suffering but was worried about her mom. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she dialed the doctor’s practice.
 

“Dr. Hinton’s office, this is Wendy, how may I help you?”
 

“Hi, this is Kelly Hall again. I called yesterday about Emma?”
 

“Oh yes, did you still need your appointment or were you calling to reschedule?”
 

“Well, I was trying find out if there’s any way you could get her in today instead of tomorrow. She ran a high fever last night, 101.6, and she’s in more pain.”
 

“I’ll take a gander,” Wendy looked, scanning the daily schedule. “I don’t have any open slots. Let me put you on hold while I go talk to the doctor and we’ll figure out how we can work you in somehow.”
 

“Okay, thank you.” Kelly uttered as she listened to the hideous elevator music that crackled over the phone line.
 

After a few moments, the assistant came back on the phone. “Okay, Miss Hall?”
 

“Yes?”
 

“Dr. Hinton confirmed that we have nothing available today, but it sounds urgent. He asked if you will bring her in at 5 PM when the office closes and he’ll stay after to examine her. Is that okay with you?”
 

She thought about it for a moment; she hated making her wait so long, but it was better than waiting a whole extra day. “I’ll accept it. We’ll be there early.”
 

“Okay, we’ll fit her in at five o’clock,” Wendy told her as they hung up the phone.
 

She walked back into the living room, “All right Emma Buggy, momma’s working her magic and the doctor will see you, but we have to wait until the office closes. He can’t take you in until he’s seen everyone else. Do you think you’ll brave it out until then?”
 

She shook her head yes. “Momma, would you turn on SpongeBob? He’s my favorite cartoon. I don’t like these kid cartoons.” She commented as she watched Woody Woodpecker.
 

Kelly chuckled at her daughter and her way with words. “We wouldn’t want you looking at childish shows! What was I thinking?” She changed the television channel and said, “Okay, one more call to my boss and then I’ll come hang out with you.”