“I saw. I think it will be better to announce the coronation and the trip together, and sooner than he’d like. I’ll talk to him about it. In any case, this also means not a single thing can go wrong during the visit.”
“We’ll need to start planning right away, Ma’am.”
Rebecca took a deep breath. Whenever she got overwhelmed, she stopped and focused on just one thing. What needed her greatest focus right now? “Actually, there’s something else that needs attention first.”
She outlined the bare minimum to Mara, simply saying she needed to go in for tests and a small procedure on Friday. “No one can know, not even the other chiefs of staff or admins.”
“What about Tavin, Ma’am?”
“Don’t say anything. I’ll speak to my husband this afternoon, butI’d rather no one else outside family know. Focus on rescheduling everything slated for Friday and Monday too. I’ll let you know over the weekend if I think I’ll need more time.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Right away.”
Now to head to her next meetings, then tell Alex.
eight
ALEXANDER
Alex heard soft voices outside his office, then a sigh as someone entered and closed the door behind them.
Alex looked up and was surprised to see his wife there. He glanced at his watch and cursed to himself. “I’m sorry, darling. I completely lost track of the time. Were you waiting on dinner because of me?”
She shook her head as she headed towards him. “I can’t eat right now. I have some news.”
“So do I, actually.”
She leaned against his desk, sitting on the edge, and he twisted his chair towards her. “If it’s about the tour, I’ve already seen it.”
“I’m sorting it out. We’ve come up with a plan, and our offices should be coordinating.”
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to Mara in depth about it, but I’m sure she’s on top of things. We’ve been busy dealing with something else though.”
He wanted to reach out a hand and comfort her somehow, butshe was sitting rigidly, her arms crossed, and he wasn’t sure if it was the right move to make. “What happened?”
“I had a doctor’s appointment today.”
His breath caught. Was this good news or bad news? Based on how she was acting, it wasn’t likely very good. “I wasn’t aware. Is everything all right?”
“No.” She took a deep breath. “Dr. Safar wants me to have surgery.”
Fuck. “For…?”
“A few things.” She took a few minutes to outline everything the doctor had told her. “It should be a same day procedure. I’ll go in early morning and I should be back home in the late afternoon, if everything goes well.”
He couldn’t even entertain questions of ‘if’ when it came to her health.
“I think it’ll be good to get it out of the way with the tour and coronation and everything coming up. Things will only get more hectic from here, and I’ll want to take a few days to recover, even if I won’t really need it. I’m exhausted as it is, and it’s not just my workload. Something is wrong with me to feel this tired and in pain so much.”
Now he did reach out for comfort, hers as much as his. He stood and pulled her into his arms. She took a few moments, but eventually relaxed her arms and wound them around him. “We’ll figure this out, darling, and hopefully this surgery will shed some light. How soon?”
“Friday. I’ll have the weekend as cover in case I need to stay longer. We’ve already arranged things with the Royal Wing at the hospital, but we can’t have everyone there, it would be too conspicuous.”
“Well, I’ll be there, certainly.”
“You have work to do, more because of the tour.”
He separated from her just a bit to look into her eyes. “I’ll be there.”
