Page 32 of The Billionaire's Virgin

“I’ll go and get a doctor,” she said.

I wanted to ask her if she thought it was bad, but I didn’t want to frighten Jenna, so I just kept quiet. Jenna rested her head on my shoulder and sighed.

“I don’t feel good,” she said, in a small voice.

“I know, sweetheart.”

“I want my daddy,” she said, in a heartbreaking voice.

I wanted to cry right then and there, but I held back my tears for Jenna’s sake. “I know, darling,” I said, kissing the top of her head and wishing I could do more for her.

A few minutes later, a doctor showed up. She was a tall woman with a commanding presence. But as intimidating as she looked, she turned to Jenna with a kind smile.

“Hey, kiddo,” she said. “I’m Doctor Farris. I hear you’re not feeling so good?”

“I feel really, really bad,” Jenna said, leaning into me.

“Well, we’re just going to do a few tests and see what the problem is, okay?”

“Will they hurt?” Jenna asked immediately.

“We’re going to make sure they don’t hurt,” the doctor said with a wink.

As the nurse distracted Jenna with a few worn out toys, I walked over to Doctor Farris. “Doctor, this isn’t just a simple fever, is it?” I asked, lowering my voice.

“I can’t say from first glance,” the doctor said. “But it’s a good thing you brought her in. Like I said, I’ll do a quick examination of her and then I’ll be able to diagnose her accurately. But in my professional opinion, it looks like more than just a simple fever.”

I felt my stomach turn, and I realized that I needed to inform Reed. I was about to call him when I decided to wait till after the doctor’s examination. That way I would have something definitive to tell him. We were moved to the emergency room where Jenna’s tests were conducted. The nurses were sweet and excessively patient with Jenna and I was grateful that I wasn’t being dismissed anymore.

Almost an hour later, Doctor Farris approached, but her expression gave nothing away. “Sweetheart,” I said to Jenna. “Do you want to play with those toys over there?”

Jenna looked pale and lifeless however and she shook her head. I felt awful, but I could only stroke her head and give her a little kiss on the forehead.

“I need to speak to the doctor, darling, will you sit here for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

Jenna gave me a forlorn look and I could see that all her energy had slowly drained away. I squeezed her hand reassuringly and walked over to the doctor.

“It looks like Jenna has an advanced case of pneumonia,” Doctor Farris said.

“What?” I balked. I stared at her for a few seconds, completely baffled.

“I… advanced… but… she’s been a little sick for a couple of days, but I never thought—”

“Sometimes symptoms don’t exhibit themselves severely until later on in the illness.”

“What can we do?”

“I need your authorization to go ahead and perform a thoracotomy,” Doctor Farris told me. “We need to do it as soon as possible.”

“I… can I authorize that myself?”

The doctor frowned. “You are Jenna’s mother… or legal guardian?”

I swallowed hard. “I’m just her nanny.”

“Well, you’ll need to inform her parents immediately. We need parental consent before we can go ahead with the thoracotomy.”

“Give me a second,” I said, dashing off to a corner with my phone. I dialed in Reed’s number and prayed to God he would answer immediately.