Chapter 13

thirteen

ALEXANDER

A lex entered their apartments with some trepidation, but relaxed when he saw Francine reading a book in their sitting room.

Or, he did relax until she saw him and her expression froze him on the spot.

"Francine? Is everything all right? Rebecca?—"

Francine rose from her chair, stormed over to him, and poked him in the chest as she spoke with an angry whisper. "Why didn't you call me sooner? My daughter's a fucking zombie and you didn't think she needed help?"

As a future king, it wasn't every day that someone poked him in the chest with such ferocity. In fact, his siblings had probably been the last to do it, though he hadn't been scared then. Taking in his mother-in-law, however, and he wasn't ashamed to say that he was afraid now.

Alex spoke in the same raised whisper back. "Of course I knew she needed help. That's why I called you. "

"Why wasn't I here sooner?"

"I thought she'd get better on her own. It's only been a few days since the surgery and?—"

"It's been six days since the surgery."

He started to get defensive. "Well, why didn't you come sooner?"

Francine's anger slipped. "Because I thought she'd call if she needed me. She always has before. This is the first time…anyway, it doesn't matter. She needs help."

"Do I?"

Both Alex and Francine whipped their heads around to see Rebecca standing in the hallway, watching them.

Alex could see she'd at least changed, maybe even showered—that must have been Francine's doing. "Darling?—"

Rebecca stepped closer. "Do you think I need help?"

Alex and Francine looked at each other, then Francine nodded to him.

Fuck . "Darling, you're not yourself."

She frowned slightly. "Who am I then?"

He moved to her and took her hands in his. "It's like you woke from the surgery different. Not ‘bad' different," he rushed to add. "But it's not you. Your personality has changed, that's all." He waited a beat, then asked the question he'd been afraid to. "Do…I mean, do you feel different?"

She pursed her lips together for a moment. "Yes…yes, I think so. But I don't know why."

Francine stepped forward and rubbed a hand down Rebecca's back. "I think maybe we should call the doctor. What do you think?"

"The doctor?" Rebecca asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Fuck, he'd meant to call the doctor earlier and it had slipped his mind with the threat and tour and everything else. He needed to do a better job of helping his wife. "Yes, that's a good idea. I'll call her now, see if she can come over."

He squeezed Rebecca's hands, then stepped back into the sitting room to make the call where Rebecca wouldn't hear .

Dr. Safar arrived within thirty minutes and, after long conversations with all three of them, had figured out what happened. "I believe this is a reaction to her pain medication. It can affect moods and energy, basically all the issues we're seeing."

She turned to Rebecca. "Are you still taking it?"

Rebecca shook her head. "This morning was the last dose."

"Then I'll stop by again tomorrow morning and see how you're doing. It can take up to a week after your last dose to return to ‘normal', but I'd like to follow up in any case. Take ibuprofen in the meantime for the residual pain you're feeling."

Rebecca sighed. "I can't believe I didn't think the medication could be affecting me. I should have realized."

"Don't worry about that," Dr. Safar said gently with a soft smile. "Drug interactions can often be the last thing people think of, especially the patient themselves. The important thing is that you'll start feeling better from here on out. The surgery removed the polyp and the labs for that came back clear. We confirmed your PCOS and endometriosis diagnoses, and the next step is to develop a treatment plan for those. We'll discuss that in about a week, once you're feeling more like yourself."

Alex took a deep breath and relaxed his tense shoulders. Thank fuck. His wife was going to get better, and now maybe things could return to normal. Well, as normal as they could for a royal family.

REBECCA

One week later

"I'm perfectly fine." Rebecca grabbed her planner and headed out of their bedroom.

Alex dutifully followed, his voice lowering as the staff were currently in their apartments preparing for their trip to America. "You are not fine. You only just recovered from the surgery and everything after. Darling?—"

She turned abruptly and he stopped mid-stride and mid-sentence. She gave him a soft smile, then a deep kiss, then another smile, and patted his suited chest. "I really like this tie, you know. You should pack it for the trip."

Alex had a look on his face that said ‘I know what you're doing but I won't let you get away with it'.

Rebecca sighed and turned for the kitchen. She'd need some food if he was going to be like this.

Alone in their tiny kitchen, he pulled her into his arms and she let him. "Darling, I'm only worried."

"I know. I love you for worrying, however much it annoys me."

"Hey."

"It's too much. You can't be like this on the trip, or people will know. Or they'll assume your hovering is because I'm…"

Pregnant . The word was left unspoken between them.

It was up to her to give birth to the next heir to Valleria and everyone—the entire country and even the entire fucking world—knew it. Despite recently revealing their miscarriage, everyone still expected her to become pregnant and soon.

Alex sighed. "I don't mean to hover. I've just…I hate seeing you in any kind of pain, whether physical or emotional or mental, and since I can't take your pain away physically, I overcompensate for it in other ways."

She cupped his cheeks and cuddled closer to him, and he dove both hands into her loose hair. "I love you so, so much. I do. I appreciate everything you've done for me, and how patient you've been through all my health issues. I know it hasn't been easy, and I know I'd probably be acting just like you if the situation were reversed."

"Thank you for saying that, darling, however, I sense a ‘but' coming."

She gave him a small smile. "But we finally know what's going on with my body. I know I still need another surgery, but I need you to stop being my nurse and start being my husband again." The doctor had recommended she have endometriosis excision surgery, as it was the best way to remove the tissue in her body causing her so much pain. The recovery time varied, but it could take up to twelve weeks for the tissues to fully heal, so she was planning to have it as soon as possible to get it done before the trip.

This type of surgery was expensive and rarely covered by insurance. But she was going to make sure it was covered under the new comprehensive healthcare plan, along with extensive training for up-and-coming OB/GYNs, who often weren't trained in this type of surgery.

Alex frowned and pulled her in even closer, her heels skidding slightly against the floor while he did. A lock of his inky black hair fell forward, and she gently pushed it back. "I never stopped being your husband."

"I know you didn't, but you've thought of me as ‘sick' for so long, and I just want us to feel normal again, whatever that is for us. Maybe we need to redefine or reset what normal means for us now, I don't know. I do know that I'd like to use this trip to reconnect, to not worry about anything but the work we need to do and each other."

He touched his forehead against hers. "We never did get a honeymoon."

"No, and this doesn't count either, but we could think of it as a pseudo-vacation."

"Maybe we can even find time to sneak away together in-between engagements."

She snorted a laugh. "As if we could sneak away from the press and paps. They'll hound us on this trip, probably even worse than our Vallerian paps."

"The paparazzi are often vicious, that's true, but maybe we'll get lucky this trip and they won't be as much of an issue. In any case, pack a swimsuit."

She laughed. "Why? "

"Ethan let me know the house he and Anda have rented in L.A. has a pool."

"Long-range lenses will still capture the future queen in her swimwear."

"Perhaps, but I'm taking a swim regardless, though I wish we could find a way to go to the beach. How often will we get a chance to swim in the Pacific?"

"Royals don't often get that chance to be that free."

"I wonder…"

When he didn't continue, Rebecca tugged at his tie. "Wonder what?"

A devious smile spread across his face. "Nothing, merely an idea. I'll tell you more if I can pull it off."

Just what was her husband up to?