“Ooh, do you want to know how Edward is because you like him?” Abigail chimed teasingly.
I could feel my cheeks go rosy red. “I like him as a friend, of course.”
“I think you like-like him,” Abigail continued to tease.
Was it that obvious?
Drew didn’t tease me at all, though, thankfully.
“He is doing okay. He has a headache, but he’ll live. Mum is making sure he has nurses with him all the time.”
“Is it still that serious?” I asked, growing worried.
“I don’t think so. I think my mum is just overreacting. I saw him this afternoon, and he seemed fine. Maybe a little tired.”
“Yeah, and he can’t watch any movies! He’s super bored!” Abigail said.
I had heard that, actually. That you couldn’t watch TV or read after a concussion. Something about needing to allow the brain to heal, though admittedly I didn’t entirely understand it.
“We’re going to go visit him after our lesson, so he’ll be less bored. Want to come?” Abigail asked.
“Oh, no, no. I’d better not. He should get his rest, be only with his family.”
I was relieved to know he was being well cared for.
That week dragged on slowly. Every day, I was hoping Edward would be well enough to walk around the palace and intrude on a lesson. Every day, I was sorely disappointed. After my ribbing from Abigail, I stopped asking about him. I didn’t want anything to seem suspicious to the kids.
At the end of the week, I went home and grabbed our mail to find I had another letter from the hospital. It sent a wave of panic through me. Even though I’d been making the minimum payments on my bill, if they were sending a letter to ask for another payment this month, I wouldn’t have the money. Or if my minimum payment amount for each month went up, I couldn’t afford that either.
I walked into my flat and sat at the kitchen table before I opened it, fully prepared to have a meltdown if this letter changed my financial burden in any way. I had finally felt like I’d gotten ahold of my finances, and now I was about to get pushed behind again? Just my damned luck.
I couldn’t see any reason for the hospital to send a letter except for a bill. So, I braced myself and tore the envelope open.
I was shocked at what I saw.
It was an invoice for a payment … except I hadn’t made a payment.
The hospital seemed to think that I did. For the life of me, I didn’t know why.
It showed the balance for my father’s bills at zero. Everything was paid off. The balance was taken care of.
That wasn’t possible.
I tried not to allow myself to be relieved because, clearly, this was a massive mistake. Obviously, someone else had made a payment, and it had been credited to me. I couldn’t see any other reason for this to happen.
I definitely had to call them tomorrow and sort this all out. Hey, at least I wasn’t getting an additional bill in the mail.
14
Edward
This was truly the most boring week of my entire damned life.
The whole week, my mother had me on round-the-clock care. It seemed wholly unnecessary to me, but she had a nurse checking my vitals multiple times a day. They brought me soups and electrolyte drinks to make sure I stayed hydrated. They made sure the lights in the room stayed dim and that I wasn’t playing on my phone or anything.
Not that I would. The doctor had made it abundantly clear that for my head to heal properly, I needed to stay away from reading or watching anything.
Which was unfortunate because, frankly, I really, really wanted to text Maggie. I wanted to ask if she’d visit me. Man, this would be a lot less boring if she was here.
Though I did have people from the palace stop in a lot. My siblings also kept me company whenever they were available, and my mother was checking in on me all the time. Still, when they left and I had nobody to talk to, I was horribly bored.
I tried to sleep, but there was only so much of that I could do until I was entirely awake.
I decided to give my lawyer a call. I could do that without looking at my phone, I just had to use voice commands.
I’d called him the night of my concussion and instructed him to find out what hospital Maggie’s father had been treated at and subsequently pay off all his hospital bills. I wanted to see how things were going with that.
“Hello, offices of Davis and Smith,” the receptionist answered.
“Hello, it’s Prince Edward Wellington. I just wanted to check in with Mr. Smith on the matter we discussed earlier this week.”
“Yes, sir, Prince Edward. One moment please.” An old classical tune filled the brief air before my lawyer’s greeting.
“Oh, Prince Edward, I was just about to call you. Everything has been handled with Miss Spencer’s father’s medical bills. The balance with the hospital has been paid in full.”
“Fantastic! I’m so happy to hear that.” I smiled to myself. This was going to make things so much easier on Maggie.
“No problem at all. Is there anything else I can get done for you?”
“Nope, that will be all for now. Thank you again.”
“Of course, Prince Edward. I am wishing you a speedy recovery.”
At least that was one positive thing that came from this accident. Although I did get a concussion, it was purely a selfless act for obsessively considering Maggie’s hardships and consequently deciding to assist.
I should have thought about it more before making the final decision. I really wasn’t sure why I didn’t. Impulse, perhaps. Instinct. I supposed sometimes it took a mallet to the head to force me to come to my senses.
Though I’d be happy to avoid all future mallets if at all possible.
All week, I’d been avoiding calling Maggie. Though I’d texted her many times before, I’d never actually phoned her. For some reason, that felt a lot more intrusive. I'd suppose it was because people rarely just called anyone anymore. I didn’t want to seem too attached.
The thing was, I couldn’t help being attached. All I could think about right now was how badly I wanted to speak with her. I wondered if she wanted to speak to me too.
So, I commanded my phone to call her. She answered on the third ring; I’d counted.
“Hello?” Her sweet voice sent a shiver down my spine. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it this week until right now.
“Maggie, hey. It’s Edward.”
She chuckled a little. “Yes, Edward, I do have caller ID. How are you? I heard about the accident, and I’ve been worried sick.”
So, she’d been worried about me, huh? That seemed like a pretty good sign to me.
“I’m doing okay. Though I am horribly bored. Do you think you could come visit? I’m at the palace, I’m not sure if you know that.”
“I do,” she said. “I heard from the kids. But, uh, I’m not sure I should.”
“Oh, come on, Maggie. I’m injured. If you don’t come to me, it’ll force me to come to you. If I do that, I might accidentally injure myself again. If you’re the reason the heir to the throne is hurt, all of England will hate you,” I teased.
“All of England hating me is actually one of the reasons I don’t think I should come,” she answered seriously.
“What? Why is that?”
“Because… Edward, how would it look if I came to visit you? People … they talk. If anyone saw me…”
“Maggie, we’re in the palace. I just have nurses checking in on me. I’m all by myself, and we’re safe within these palace walls. Please, just come visit. I promise you; word won’t get out.”
She sighed. “Okay, fine. Because you’re not feeling well. That’s the only reason. I’ll come by when I’m done with my shift.”
“Perfect, I’ll see you then.”
I hung up the phone with a grin on my face. I couldn’t have been more eager to see her. Suddenly, I felt a lot less bored. At least now I got to fantasize about the fact that I’d be wit
h Maggie in only a few hours.
Normally that thought would get me a bit revved up, but I was in no state to accept any sexual desire. My body shut that all down immediately. I had a headache just rolling over in bed. I certainly didn’t want to do anything as strenuous as having sex.
The minutes passed slowly as I waited for her. I kept glancing at the grandfather clock that was on the other side of my dimly-lit room. I didn’t know if I was supposed to be reading clocks, but I didn’t much care at the moment.
When I finally heard a knock at my door, my heart began to race.
“Come in,” I said softly, as I prayed it wasn’t just another nurse.
It wasn’t. Maggie walked in slowly, hesitantly, looking around the room as if there would be someone else here.
“It’s just me, I promise you,” I assured her. “Come on, come in. Keep me company. I’m bored out of my mind.”
She looked hesitant but pulled up a chair. She didn’t get too close to my bed, though. She was feet away from me.
“Hey, I don’t bite.”
“Yeah, well, this looks a lot less suspicious,” she said.
“Suspicious to who? Maggie, you worry too much. It’s just us here. Relax a little.”
“I can’t relax… It’s my job on the line, Edward, and you know I really need this job.”
I sighed. “Alright, as long as you’re hanging out, I guess that’s all I can ask for.”
“So, how are you doing? I’ve been thinking about you.”
“I’m okay. I think I’m more bothered with my mum and everyone in the palace fussing over me than I am my actual head pain. It’s getting annoying, fending off everyone.”
“They’re just concerned about you. I would be too.”
I smiled at her. “Well, I wish it was you fussing over me instead.”
“Me too,” she said, a little sadly.
I wasn’t expecting that reaction.
“What? What is it?” I asked.
“No, nothing.” She shrugged it off.
“Seriously, what is it?” I pressed.
She didn’t have an opportunity to answer. In walked one of my nurses with a tray of food.
“I’ve got to check on your vitals, Edward,” she said to me.
“Right, of course.”
She began to take my blood pressure as well as my heart rate, and I could see that Maggie was incredibly uncomfortable. I felt a little bad. I’d insisted she wouldn’t be seen, and then somebody walked in.
She really was overreacting a bit. We weren’t doing anything uncouth. She was sitting halfway across the room, for crying out loud! This woman was a professional. What was she going to do? Run down the hall and tell everyone who would listen that the royal tutor was in my room? We were friends! It was no big deal.
Still. I felt for her discomfort and didn’t want her to experience any more of it.
“You know, I don’t think I need to be checked on again tonight,” I told the nurse.
She side-eyed me a bit. “I can’t let you go unchecked all night.” Then she glanced over at Maggie and seemed to understand why I wanted to be alone. “Perhaps I can push off your next check until midnight.”
“That would be awesome.” I smiled at her. “Thank you.”
She nodded and then left the room.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Maggie stood.
“I should go.”
“Maggie, wait, please,” I said, sounding more desperate than I’d intended.
“Edward, I shouldn’t be here. Really. Anyone could come in at any time and—”
“She was the only one who would ever come in unannounced, and she just said she’d leave us alone until midnight. What’s the harm? I mean, we’re both adults. Even if people did assume, we were dating, would that be so wrong?”
“No,” she said definitively. “Their assumption that we were dating wouldn’t be so bad. The thing is they’d never assume that. Because you’re a prince and I’m a tutor. So, what they’re going to think we’re doing is hooking up. I don’t want to be known as the royal whore.”
“Well, you’re not a royal, so technically…” I gave her a playful smile.
She was unamused by my joke. “Edward, I’m going to go.”
“Maggie, please. Nobody would think that of you. You’re a sweet, charming, honorable woman. You’re here to keep a friend company while he has a concussion because he’s begging you to. It’s nothing more than that.”
She sighed as she sat back down. “Fine, I can stay a little longer.”
“Thank you.” I smiled. “But, uh, do you think you could stay a bit closer to me?”
She laughed. “What? You want me to inch my chair closer?”
“Even closer than that.” I patted the bed next to where I was lying.
“Edward, tell me you did not call me in here for a booty call!” She stood up angrily. “I absolutely would never have intercourse with you when you’re in this state.”
I had to laugh at her use of the word intercourse. She was so funny. I loved the way she spoke. It wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met.
“I don’t want to have sex, Maggie. Are you kidding? I’m injured. I have no sexual drive right now. I just want to be near you.”
She looked skeptical. “Really? Why?”
“Why do you think? Because you comfort me. Because I love your presence. Just come cuddle me for a bit, please.”
I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to say no, but she couldn’t resist this request. Why should she? It was a pretty simple request.
She walked over to me slowly, slid her shoes off, and then climbed up next to me on the bed. We’d done this before, but only after sex. It was never like this—never clothed and never innocent.
When she crawled up under my arm, it immediately felt different. It was somehow more intimate. I wouldn’t think that lying with somebody fully clothed would feel more intimate than undressed. Somehow, it just did. It was nice.
I could smell her hair, and I leaned into it, putting my cheek on the top of her head.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” she asked.
“For staying … I really missed you.”
I could feel her body tense up as I said that, and I wondered if I’d said something wrong. A moment later, she responded.
“I missed you too.”
“So, what do you want to do until midnight?” I asked her. “I wish we could watch movies or something, but unfortunately I’m not allowed to do that while I’m healing.”
She looked up at me. “I guess we could just talk?”
“Yeah.” I smiled down at her. “Let’s do that. Let’s just talk. How are things with your dad?” I wondered if she knew about the hospital bill yet.
“They’re good … a little stressful. I mean, he does seem to be doing better this week. It doesn’t matter how well he seems to do, I’m constantly worried that I’m going to lose him. I mean, to be honest, I used to be afraid of losing him even when he was healthy, but I guess his cancer really amplified those fears.”
“Really?” This confused me. “Why would you ever worry about him while he was healthy?”
“Oh, well, I guess that was just a consequence of losing my mom.” She had never told me about her mother, not outside of passing moments. Though because of how she went unmentioned, I had understood she wasn’t in the picture and never dared to ask more. “I think when you lose a parent, it really puts mortality into perspective. When I lost my mom… I just couldn’t imagine having to go through that pain and grief ever again. So I feared that happening with my dad a lot.”
Somehow, I knew exactly what she meant. “That went through my head a lot after my father passed,” I told her.
“It did?”
“Yeah. I really began to care so much more for my mum. I mean, I have always loved my mum, of course. It’s different after a parent dies, you know? My mum became everything I had after my dad passed.”
&nbs
p; “No, I totally get it. I feel the same way. My dad is everything to me. I don’t even mind taking care of him, juggling hospital bills, spending all my nights in. It gets lonely sometimes, I guess, when my dad is too tired to talk to me.”
“It does, huh? Maybe I should keep you company? Come visit with your dad?” I suggested.
“Oh my God, that would be so cool! He would flip out if he got to meet the Prince of England! That would be so nice of you.”
That wasn’t how I meant it.
I was trying to gauge her reaction to me meeting her father, not suggest that I’d visit him for fun as a kind gesture. I didn’t want to get to know her dad as a kind gesture…
I wanted to get to know her dad as her boyfriend.
I didn’t say this out loud. It felt really weird to say. What if she took it badly?
I normally didn’t fear rejection. One, because I rarely ever was rejected, and two, because I didn’t care enough about the women I asked out to be bothered by it.
I cared about Maggie. Man, did I care about her. More than I’d ever cared for a woman in my life. So, to be rejected by her … that would hurt. It would hurt more than my throbbing head right now.
If she was going to reject my advances, I wanted to savor this. I didn’t want it to happen when I was already stressed and in pain. I’d rather I found out later, when I was healed.
Though I hoped I wouldn’t have to be rejected at all.
“Anyway, I don’t want to talk too much about myself. What about you? How are things going in your life?” she asked.
“Oh, well, uh … they’re going.” I forced a smile. “Actually, I’ve enjoyed my life a lot recently. I definitely enjoy hearing about you, especially when hearing about your family history.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
“I guess because it’s so unknown to me. I mean, you pretty much get to know mine. My entire ancestry is out there for the world to see. But you … you’re a secret. Your life is hidden from the world, which seems nice.”
“Not to brag, but it is kind of nice,” she agreed. “I really don’t know how you do it, dealing with people always prying into your life. I mean, you got hit on the head with a mallet, and I got a damn alert on my cell phone!”
Royally Loved: The Royal Romances Books 1-5 Page 10