Bought For Marriage

“No! Of course not!” I slid out of my chair and moved to sit next to him on the mattress, carefully stretching my arm around his back. “How could you think that for even a second?”

“What else am I supposed to think, Kinsley? The guy paid for my surgery and to put me in this place, and I’ve never met him, let alone had the chance to thank him.”

“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “His job is crazy busy, but I’ll make sure to bring him by to see you soon. I promise.”

“I guess I can’t complain too much about the guy working so hard, when it’s his money that’s paying for my stay in the best rehab facility in the state.” He squeezed my hand where it lay on his arm and rose to his feet. Then he turned, crossing his arms, and stared down at me with narrowed eyes. “I have him to thank for the fact that I’m able to stand already, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to neglect my responsibility as your big brother to make sure he treats you right. I don’t like the bags under your eyes or how pale your skin is. He needs to take better care of you.”

“I told you already, it’s just because of how busy we’ve been with everything lately. We don’t have any more travel scheduled, so now that I’m back in town with nothing to do, I’ll have plenty of time to catch up on my sleep.” I stood up too quickly, and my vision turned black around the edges. I reached my hand behind me to make sure the mattress was right there and dropped back down onto it.

“Kinsley! Shit! I don’t care what you say, you’re not okay. You almost fainted.”

“Do you have any other symptoms?” my brother’s nurse asked. Our heads swiveled her way in surprise, since neither of us had heard her enter the room. She hurried to the bedside and fussed over me, taking my vitals like I was the patient instead of my brother. “Let’s see if we can get you up on your feet okay.”

She helped me up, and I was relieved when I was able to stand without getting dizzy again.

“Your color looks a little better. When’s the last time you ate?”

“I had a light breakfast before I left home to come visit my brother.”

“How light, exactly?” she asked.

“Knowing my sister, it was barely anything. She’s never been much of a morning eater. It used to drive our parents crazy because they never could get her to eat before she had to leave for school.”

I must have been more exhausted than I realized since my eyes welled with tears at the reminder of happier days when there were more than just the two of us in our little family. “I was so tired it was making me nauseous, so I only had some toast with cinnamon and sugar this morning,” I choked out.

“Mom’s favorite.” My brother reached out to squeeze my hand.

“How about I take you down the hall and get you a snack?” the nurse suggested.

“Can’t you bring her something in here so she can sit down and rest?”

“Nope. Sorry, but since she’s not a patient I’m going to get her a snack from the employee lounge.” The nurse tugged on my arm to lead me towards the door. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back in a jiffy.”

She nudged me in the direction of the nurse’s station and settled me into a chair there.

“I thought we were going to the employee lounge?”

“I lied.” She glanced down both sides of the hallway before scanning my face with kind eyes. “I didn’t think you’d want to have this conversation in front of your brother.”

I had no idea what she was talking about. “What conversation?”

“Have you been experiencing any other symptoms besides nausea, tiredness, and dizziness?”

“Symptoms?” I echoed. “You’re talking like I’m sick or something.”

Her gaze dropped down to my stomach. “Not sick. But pregnant, maybe?”

“No,” I gasped, shaking my head.

“You’re newly married, right?”

I nodded. “Around three months.”

“But you don’t think it’s possible that you might be pregnant?”

“I’m on the mini pill. I take it every single day.” I yanked my phone out of my purse and pulled up the clock to show her the alarm I had set as a reminder.

“You were traveling for your honeymoon?” she asked. “Where did you go?”

“Australia.”

She jerked her chin towards my phone. “Did you take the time change into account when you were gone?”

“No,” I answered slowly as my eyes grew wide with understanding.

“Your doctor should have mentioned it when you got the prescription, but the mini pill is slightly less effective because it’s only one hormone. Because of that, the timing is much more important for patients who use it.”

“Yeah, I didn’t respond well to the estrogen in the regular pill, so she switched me to the mini a couple of years ago,” I whispered.