Page 31 of The Billionaire's Virgin

Chapter Ten

Taylor

I put my hand on Jenna’s forehead, and my body went cold with worry. She was burning up. She seemed hotter than she had been when the two house doctors had stopped by, almost two hours ago. She’d had a hard time getting any sleep the last night, and now, despite her high fever, she seemed to be sleeping restlessly through it.

I got out the thermometer and gently placed it under her armpit so that I could check her temperature. Even though my instincts screamed the truth to me, I still hoped that Jenna’s fever hadn’t gotten worse. The thermometer beeped, and I took it out quickly and stared at the reading.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, as I realized her temperature had spiked. She now had a fever of a hundred and four.

I raced out of the room, keeping her door open, and dialed in the emergency numbers that Reed had left with me just before he left for his business trip. He had two doctors who he usually called in whenever he needed. Doctor Mueller was one, and if he was unavailable, then it was Doctor Cleats. I had been so desperate that I had called both of them, one after the other. They had both paid Jenna a visit, at separate times, and both had affirmed that it was just a virus that needed to run its course. There was nothing to be done apart from wait for her body to fight it.

Given that her fever had spiked, I had needed more than that from them. I called Doctor Mueller first.

“Hello?”

“Doctor Mueller,” I said quickly. “This is Taylor—”

“Who?”

“Taylor… ah, I work for Reed Davis, I’m Jenna’s nanny. You stopped by the apartment a few hours ago.”

“Ah, yes, Ms. Taylor,” the doctor replied, and he actually sounded a little annoyed. “As I told you before it’s just a virus and—”

“It’s gone up,” I said, interrupting him out of pure desperation. I just really needed him to listen to me, and it seemed like he was about to blow me off. “Her fever has gone up; it’s—”

“Mr. Taylor,” Doctor Mueller replied with an excessive calm that was deeply condescending. “I know all you nannies panic the instant the parents leave town and the child falls sick, but really, it’s nothing to worry about it. You’re overreacting.”

“Excuse me?” I said, getting angry now. “I am not overreacting; Jenna’s burning up and—”

“Her body will fight the fever,” the doctor replied, growing slightly more impatient with me. “Children are extraordinarily resilient.”

“But I—"

“I have to go, Ms. Taylor. I have lots of patients, and I don’t have the time to hold your hand through this. You are the child’s nanny, so do your job and be her nanny.”

A second later the line went dead, and I stared at the phone in disbelief. I knew that had I been anyone but the nanny, I would have been afforded a little more respect. But from the sounds of it, he just considering me to be an over reactive nanny.

Grinding my teeth together, I dialed the second doctor’s number and waited for him to answer. I counted to ten Mississippi, but no one picked up. Frustrated, I tried again, and again I got no response. Panicking royally now, I raced into Jenna’s room and found her sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Jenna, sweetheart,” I said, kneeling by her bedside. “How are you feeling?”

Jenna looked at me helplessly, and I saw how pale she was. “I don’t feel good,” she said.

I put my hand on her forehead. She was still hot, but I saw her body shiver violently with a chill. At the same time, she coughed loudly, and I felt it reverberate through her tiny frame.

“That’s it,” I said, jumping into action. “We’re not going to just sit around and wait for your body to fight this. We’re going to a hospital, and we’re going to speak to a doctor who actually cares.”

I kept her in her pajamas, but I bundled her up in a big warm coat. Then I called a cab, and the moment it had arrived downstairs, I hoisted Jenna onto my hip and headed downstairs. We made it to the hospital in less than ten minutes and I felt slightly better as I ran through the doors with Jenna on my hip.

“Excuse me?” I said, looking towards the first nurse who looked at me. “Please, I need your help. Jenna… this is Jenna. She’s really sick and—”

“Calm down, ma’am,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I can help you, but you need to slow down.”

“She’s really sick; she’s had a high fever all day, she’s coughed intermittently throughout, and she’s started to have chills.”

“Okay, come with me, ma’am.”

The nurse led us through to another section of the hospital. There were a bunch of beds set up in neat rows and curtains surrounded each one. The nurse told me to put Jenna on the table and then she examined her carefully.