Bethyl Modern AU- Hello My Sovereign Father

Not Your Average Workday

Beth's POV

This was literally the most hectic morning of her life. Not only had she had to stay late at the office yesterday but they'd had a power outage last night and her clock hadn't gone off. It was the middle of summer, their busiest time of year. Kids are breaking bones and getting scraped up from all of their summer activities. She sped down the common road in her navy blue Volkswagon. She usually  never went above the speed limit, but she was already late enough as it was.

She had her coffee in one hand and the steering wheel in the other. She  cursed suddenly as coffee spilled down her shirt. Just another thing to add to her disheveled appearance. As she pulled into the office parking lot she rubbed her shirt with as many napkins as she  could find. Finally giving up, she grabbed her work bag and headed inside.

An old, gray haired, woman sat behind the front desk. She looked up as she entered and she tskd irritability. "Beth, honey your late." She sighed as she headed into the back. "I know Carol. But I worked late last night and we had a power outage so my alarm didn't go off." Carol let out a loving sigh. "Beth, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't need to stay that late. Because things like this will happen."

She laughed. "I like working too much Carol. You know that. It's one of my favorite things." Carol chuckled. "Yeah. Second only to chocolate or any kind of sweet." She gasped with mock offense. "How dare you Carol? You know my one true passion is coffee!" Carol shook her head. "It's time to open up shop." She nodded. She went to the back bathroom and slipped into her doctors uniform. She hated these uniforms. At the next town meeting she was going to request a change for brighter colors. To make the kids more comfortable.

She walked up to the front desk and glanced at the computer. "Who's coming in first?" Carol glanced at our schedule, packed as usual, and replied. "You've got Miss Savanah at 8:30. She's still got her cast on from breaking her arm in early June. She needs the all clear from you to go to summer camp." She smiled. Savannah was a darling little ten year old. She had her heart set on becoming a professional baseball player. Of course, being as rambunctious as she is, she's bound to get hurt at some point.

"Who's next?" Carol scanned the computer again. "You have Jason on his ankle follow up." She nodded. Carol looked again and frowned. "What is it?" "Someone scheduled an appointment for Lilly. She's had some pretty severe headaches lately. And she can't even run up the stairs without shortness of breath." "Maybe she's not eating right again. That's always been a problem of hers." She was about to say something else when the door was almost thrown in. Her and Carol jumped, startled. It was Lilly and her mom.

"Mrs. Alder! What's the matter?" "I'm so sorry Miss Greene. Her father just got back from his rounds in Afghanistan. I thought he wasn't coming back till winter." Beth beamed at her from behind the desk. Everyone knew Mr. Alder' s dedication to his country was immense. We all prayed for him every night. It seems like all that praying paied off. "I'm sure you have other kids coming in soon, but I wanted her to be able to be with her father the whole day. So I brought her in early."

Beth walked around the desk to mother and daughter. "It's quite all right. I understand perfectly. Let's go on back and get down some recent information." She looked down at little Lilly. She was a tiny copy of her mother: dark hair, hazel eyes, and a heart shaped face. Lilly was one of the more shy kids in town and she loved to read. Beth lead her back to the scale. "Okay Lilly. Take off your shoes and we'll get your weight."

As the tiny girl stepped onto the scale Beth frowned. Fifty two pounds. Last time she was here she was sixty one. As Beth did her height, she whispered to Mrs. Alder. "She's lost a considerable amount of weight. Is she eating all right Mary?" Mary's eyes shone with a mother's worry. "No she hasn't been. She says her head hurts too much. Also she sleeps less. She claims she can't sleep because she can't breath."