Page 75 of Heavy Crown

Then it occurs to me that stomach bugs can be contagious.

Alex.

I stare at my phone through blurry eyes. Too exhausted to overthink it, I fire off a quick warning to Alex not to come see me.

I hope I haven’t made him ill.

I spent longer in the bathroom than I thought, and the sky outside my windows is lit with pink.

Joyce texts me back and says she can take some of my baking out of the freezer from previous weeks and not to worry. She wishes me well, and after I take a moment to process her messages, I turn off my phone and drift to sleep.

A cool hand is on my forehead, and I release a sigh at the contact.

“Rory, I brought Doctor Bennett to take a look at you,” Alex murmurs in my ear.

I roll over to stare at Alex through groggy eyes. “It’s just a stomach bug,” I say.

Alex shakes his head. “There’s been a food poisoning outbreak at Café Plutus. They think the romaine lettuce was contaminated. Did you eat any last night?”

“Food poisoning? Ugh.” I cover my eyes with the back of my hand. “Caesar salad. I had the salad.”

Dr. Bennett circles the bed and asks me some questions. He takes my temperature and does all my vitals with some portable machines he has in a little bag. Some aspects of royal life make me feel as though I’ve been transported back in time. House calls by doctors with little black bags of remedies.

Except food poisoning just has to run its course. This isn’t my first experience with it.

“I’ll be fine,” I mumble while Alex and Dr. Bennett confer just out of my earshot. “Sleep. Liquids,” I call out.

Alex peers around the corner from the kitchen. “You need someone to help you. I’ll take the day off.”

The front door opens and closes, and I assume Dr. Bennett has left because Alex is leaning against the corner between the bed and the kitchen.

I’ve learned Alex’s work ethic doesn’t take holidays. Weekends are just another day for diplomatic or country-wide tasks for him. He’s got boundary issues, but who am I to tell him that? “You can’t take the day off to look after me.”

“Technically half a day. It’s almost noon.” He flicks his watch around to confirm. “I would have come sooner, but this is the earliest I could get here after I lost patience waiting for you to reply to my texts.”

“I turned my phone off.”

“I saw that.” He crosses his arms. “You need help. I can help you.”

“You also have a bazillion staff members. Someone other than you can help me.” After last night, having him cancel his day to look after me is too much like something a boyfriend would do. He doesn’t want that role in my life, and I can’t let him slip into it. Too confusing.

He searches my face for a moment and then glances toward the unlit fireplace. “I’ll tell Stella to spend the rest of her shift here.”

Stella is his personal maid and the one who oversees everything that happens in his wing of the house. He trusts her, but she’s also the most conspicuous choice he could make.

“People will talk,” I say.

“It’s me or it’s Stella. If you don’t want me, you can have her.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want you, Alex,” I huff out, and my stomach stirs. “But if you want to keep us quiet, then having Dr. Bennett come here, having you here, having Stella look after me—not the way to do that.”

“You’re an expert in royal affairs now, are you?”

My cheeks heat. “I’m sick. Don’t be mean.”

He covers his face with both hands and drags them down. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You sent the text about being ill, and then wouldn’t respond about how ill. I was tied up in diplomatic meetings with my parents, and I couldn’t get away to check on you. Then I saw on the news about the food poisoning outbreak at Plutus.” He shakes his head. “I’m frustrated, and I’m taking it out on you, and I’m sorry.”

At his confession, the riot in my stomach returns. “I think I’m going to be—” I cover my mouth with one hand and throw off the covers with the other. When I stumble around the bed, Alex comes to my side and leads me into the bathroom. I kneel over the toilet and shake my head. “Go. Please, go.”