thirteen
ALEXANDER
Alex 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, doyoufeel 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.”
