Chapter 1 #2
I took advantage of that moment and reached out to caress her cheeks and dry her tears. At first, I thought she would reject me, but she surprised me by allowing me to do it and smiling more broadly.
“You know what we can do? I can put on a video of Princess Aurora for you and, while you watch it, we can continue talking. Do you agree?”
Aurora nodded her head. Without wasting time, I took my phone and searched for a Sleeping Beauty video that had songs and featured the princess and the fairies because I was sure she would like it. When I found it, I gave her back the phone and she became hypnotized by what she was watching.
“Would you like to sit on my lap so we can watch it together?”
With a bit of shyness, she stretched out her little arms, and I picked her up and sat her on my lap. It was time to keep her distracted so I could examine her.
“Rosi, can you bring me the thermometer?” I asked.
“This girl is an angel. I wish all doctors were like you, Dr. Dulcet,” said Rosi, looking at me and nodding her head.
“Mr. Cavaller doesn’t like his daughter using phones or any technology,” Alba said, a bit nervously.
“Mr. Cavaller isn’t here at the moment, and I assume it’s more important to him that his daughter be examined,” I stated, without looking at anyone and with a calm voice so as not to disturb Aurora, although I was indignant thinking about that careless father and that little girl abandoned to be raised by employees.
At that moment, Aurora's little laugh touched my soul. She was watching the images on my phone screen and laughing with joy.
“Look,” said Aurora, laughing and pointing at the phone to show me the scene where the fairies try to bake a cake for Aurora and make a mess of it.
While the little one watched the movie attentively and I distracted her by telling her the names of the fairies and talking about the little animals that appeared there, I was able to examine her without any problems, reaching the conclusion that she was absolutely healthy—this child had nothing physically wrong with her.
In my understanding, all she was asking for was love and attention.
I was surprised when at a certain moment she turned and hugged me. That hug touched my soul. Her little arms wrapped around my neck as she hugged me to ask, once again, to replay the scene with the fairies cooking.
I noticed that Alba was watching us and looking increasingly astonished.
“This child is never this affectionate with anyone, not even with me who has cared for her since she was a baby,” she admitted.
“Ah, but nobody can compare to Dr. Dulcet. This young woman is an angel, an angel,” Rosi insisted.
At that moment Aurora turned again and hugged me, and what left me perplexed was that she kissed me.
She gave me one of those wet kisses that children give that manage to squeeze your heart.
But the precious and emotional moment was eclipsed by a deep, authoritative voice speaking in a very unpleasant manner.
The owner of that voice was in the hallway, but certainly very close to the room we were in because his voice was booming, or perhaps the man was simply shouting.
I immediately sensed it was the little girl’s father, and the first thing I did was start talking to distract her, pointing out images and telling her things about the movie while we both laughed and Mrs. Alba turned pale with fright.
“Where is my daughter?!” his voice thundered.
“This way, sir,” I heard a nurse say.
The door opened...
“You’re going to explain to me immediately...”
I felt his presence, but I didn’t look up because I tried to distract Aurora so she wouldn’t notice her father’s bad mood, but I noticed that he not only stopped talking but remained still in place.
I don’t know if his surprise was from seeing his daughter on my lap or because at that moment Aurora was laughing and giving me a kiss.
“Mr. Cavaller, I apologize for not notifying you personally, but your secretary told me you were in an important meeting and couldn’t be disturbed.”
“My daughter comes before everything else, and you should know that, Alba. It’s not what my secretary says, it’s what I say,” he stated in a dry tone, though I noticed he didn’t speak harshly to her.
“I apologize. Fortunately, Aurora is fine. The doctor examined her thoroughly and found absolutely nothing wrong.”
“Alba, wait for me outside,” he ordered, with that authoritative voice that didn’t intimidate me in the slightest.
Alba left the room without saying another word.
At that moment, I decided to look up and.
.. I was stunned by the man standing before me.
He had an imposing, almost majestic bearing.
He was probably over six feet tall. Beneath that elegant, expensive, and understated suit, one could discern a physique drawn with ruler and square.
He wore his dark brown hair in a classic, fresh, and casual cut that highlighted his penetrating and enormous eyes of a dark blue color, a color I had never seen before, which at that moment shone like two gems. Yes, he was extremely attractive, perhaps the most attractive man I had ever seen in my life, but I wasn’t intimidated by such beauty.
I tried to appear calm and continued looking at him, waiting for some reaction on his part, because he was also looking at me and seemed surprised, though I suspected his surprise was from seeing his daughter calm in the arms of a stranger.
“You’re the doctor?” he finally asked, but in a tone of voice that sounded somewhat contemptuous to me.
“That’s right. My name is Devon Dulcet. I assume you’re Aurora’s father,” I said, without extending my hand to greet him as would have been proper and without standing up because at that moment I had the little one on my lap.
“I’m William Cavaller; and yes, I’m Aurora’s father. Explain to me right now what happened with my daughter,” he said, so authoritatively that I couldn’t help myself and responded without thinking.
“There’s no need to raise your voice, I don’t have hearing problems, Mr. Cavaller.
Your daughter is healthy, there’s absolutely nothing physically wrong with her.
You can take a seat here while we finish watching Sleeping Beauty,” I said, pointing to an armchair next to the bed where I was sitting with Aurora, “or you can wait outside, whichever you prefer.”
“What?” he said, completely bewildered and with a furrowed brow.
At that moment Aurora looked at him.
“Daddy, Daddy,” she said, with a big smile and lifting my phone to show him.
Something happened in that room when that man smiled at his daughter. I had the feeling that the room had lit up. He approached the little one, leaned down, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Hello, my love. How are you?” he asked, with a sweet voice that didn’t match his appearance at all.
—“Daddy, look,” she said, trying again to get her father to look at the phone, while he gazed at her adoringly.
I would never have imagined that this man could be so loving with his daughter, but apparently he was, and that reassured me.
—“Do you want to come with me?” he asked, stretching out his arms.
Aurora looked at him, then looked at me, and with complete spontaneity replied:
—“No.”
Mr. Cavaller dropped his arms, perhaps a bit dejected, and raised his gaze to fix it on me. He looked at me with surprise, and I couldn’t help a smug smile.
—“Your daughter is fine, you can relax. The woman who brought her did so as a precaution because Aurora wouldn’t stop crying, but I examined her thoroughly and her crying isn’t due to anything physical.”
—“How old are you?” he asked, looking me up and down arrogantly.
—“Excuse me?”
—“I believe I was clear. I asked your age.”
—“And why do you need to know my age?”
—“How long have you been practicing medicine?”
—“Are you suggesting I’m not capable?” I asked, frowning because I was starting to lose my patience.
—“My daughter’s doctor is Miranda Nur, and I demand that she be the one to examine her.”
I had to summon my greatest self-control, and I only did it for Aurora. I took a breath, exhaled slowly before continuing to speak to him, and looked him directly in the eyes.
—“Dr. Nur is not at the clinic, but you can call her if you wish. Regarding your daughter’s health, she won’t tell you anything different from what I’ve told you.”
—“Divon, look,” said Aurora, mispronouncing my name and holding the phone in front of my eyes.
—“She’s a beautiful princess, but not as beautiful as you,” I said, caressing her cheek.
Aurora hugged me again and gave me a kiss. When I looked at her father, I could see the astonishment reflected in his eyes.
Well, point for Devon! I told myself.
—“Aurora, we need to go,” he stated immediately, while approaching us.
—“No,” the little girl replied again.
—“Aurora, we need to go home.”
—“No.”
—“We can’t stay here, we have to leave. You have all your toys at home,” he insisted, trying to convince her.
When he addressed his daughter, he was a different man; his voice softened and he looked at her with genuine love, but Aurora didn’t even respond to his last comment and continued watching the phone screen.
—“Well, then I’ll have to pick you up and take you anyway,” he said, and approached to take her in his arms.
Aurora looked at him and turned to hug my neck. At that moment, I didn’t know what to do. It broke my heart to separate them, but I had no choice because her father was looking at me completely confused and even a bit agitated.
—“Aurora, do you know what you can do?” I said, and she looked at me, giving me her full attention. “Ask your daddy to take you shopping and buy you the Princess Aurora dress so you can dress up like her. I’m sure it will look beautiful on you.”
I dared to look at her father and found him with his gaze fixed on me, but he still seemed disturbed.
—“Daddy, Daddy, I want the Pwincess Aurora dwess.”
—“Go with your father so you can go buy it,” I said, trying to separate her from me.
Aurora looked at me seriously, but then turned toward her father and stretched out her arms.
—“Come here, little one,” he said, taking her in his arms and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
—“Well, now you’ll have to take her shopping. Aurora wants the Sleeping Beauty dress; I don’t think it will be too difficult to find.”
—“What?” he said, looking at me as if I were speaking in a language incomprehensible to him.
—“Aurora wants the Sleeping Beauty dress. You can find it in any toy store,” I said, standing up and facing him.
At that moment, Aurora turned and stretched to hug me again, which caused her father’s body and mine to collide, leaving us just inches apart. Looking up was a serious mistake. Those wonderful eyes were looking at me with astonishment and something I couldn’t decipher.
—“Little one, what are you doing?” he said, trying to move away from me.
—“It’s no problem,” I said, taking a step back to distance myself from them. “Aurora and I have already become friends.”
—“Friends?” he asked, seeming not to understand anything I was saying.
—“You shouldn’t be surprised. To my happiness, I have hundreds of friends between the ages of 0 and 16,” I stated, smiling, and at that moment he fixed his gaze on my lips, and I must confess that it managed to unsettle me.
The voice of nurse Rosi, who was entering the room at that moment, made him look away, but I noticed that he blinked and then looked back at me with amazement.
“And you're lucky that Dr. Dulcet was here, she's the angel of pediatrics, there's no child who can resist her charms. The doctor is adored by all her patients, and by the parents too... I mean fathers and mothers, of course,” Rosi clarified with a smile.
“It's also good for you to know, Mr. Cavaller, that the doctor shouldn't even be here, she should have left the clinic hours ago, but as always, she put her patients before her own life, so instead of shouting in the corridors, you should be thanking her,” she finished, looking at him with anger.
It was obvious that Rosi had heard all the commotion this man had caused, but I was embarrassed by her lavish praise. He couldn't take his eyes off me, I didn't know where to look, and Rosi was staring at him as if demanding an apology. Obviously, the apology never came.
“Aurora, we need to go,” he said, and turned to leave.
“Divon, Divon,” the little girl called out to me, stretching out her little arms.
“You need to go get the princess dress, don't forget,” I said, waving goodbye to her.
“And you can come visit me anytime you want, in fact, you should ask Alba to bring you so you can show me how beautiful you look in that gorgeous dress,” I stated, trying to make it clear that I was suggesting she come with the nanny and not with him.
Aurora nodded and he left the room without looking back and without saying goodbye.
“What a rude man,” said Rosi, bringing me back to reality, because I had been lost in thought looking at the sad little face of that child as she was leaving, and I must admit, also at the father's frowning face.
“Don't worry about it, Rosi, and thank you for defending me.”
“I only told the truth. That man should be grateful instead of addressing you with such arrogance.”
“Well, now I'm really leaving,” I stated, without commenting on what Rosi had said.
“That's good, doctor. Good night.”
“Good night, Rosi.”
When I was getting into my car, I realized that Aurora hadn't returned my phone.
“Oh no! How could I be so stupid?” I exclaimed, resting my head on the steering wheel.
The phone was essential for me, especially for work, and it had all my schedule and important data on it, so I needed to get it back as soon as possible.
For several minutes I sat thinking about how to solve this problem and came to the conclusion that, at some point, the father would notice and would probably send one of his employees to the clinic to return it.
But if by the next day he hadn't done so, I would try to get the family's information to go pick it up, although that idea didn't appeal to me much.
Not because of Aurora, of course, but because of her ill-tempered and arrogant father.