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It jerked her into action. “Let me go.” She said with desperate urgency and determination, even when her heart was breaking, and now when she tried to move, he didn’t fight her. He helped her up though, and guided her to a seat. Once she was settled, he strode across the room and filled a crystal glass with iced tea, bringing it back to her and holding it out. She took the glass from the bottom, careful not to touch his fingers – there’d been enough touching already.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’ve been travelling all day. I hadn’t eaten. And the shock of Malik…” And seeing you again, she added mentally, closing her eyes as though that might blot her husband from her mind and her heart.
It didn’t.
“The doctor will be here soon,” Raffa said, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
“I don’t need a doctor,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m fine, truly.”
But the door pushed inwards and a medical professional appeared, distinguishable by his white coat and black leather bag. He joined the servants who were hovering in the door, unsure of how to proceed.
Chloe hadn’t seen this man before, but for once, the doctor was a servant who met her eyes. In fact, he smiled into them kindly, and when he spoke it was as though they were equals. How refreshing it was to be seen as a person rather than simply the Sheikha.
“What happened, your highness?” He asked, placing a bag down beside Chloe and crouching at her feet. His voice was accented, but she understood him well enough. She could have slipped into Ras el Kidan but the language was part of her past – a past she needed to forget.
She stuck to English.
“Nothing, I…”
“She fainted,” Raffa contradicted, coming to stand over them. “And she looks terrible.”
Chloe swept her eyes shut, his assessment no less hurtful for being true.
“Would you mind having the room cleared, sir?” The doctor asked, without looking at Raffa.
Raffa barked a command in Ras el Kidan and the servants disappeared.
Apparently the doctor knew better than to ask Raffa to join them. “Lie down please,” he said gently, arranging a pillow behind Chloe’s head.
“This is silly.”
“Chloe,” Raffa’s voice was thick with torment. “Just do as he says. Please.”
She jerked her eyes to his and felt something pass between them, something she didn’t understand. She’d come to Ras el Kida to mourn the passing of her father-in-law, but also because she wanted to see and support this man, and instead, she’d arrived and brought pain to him, and now she was making trouble when he no doubt had other things to attend to.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said softly, lying back against the pillows.
A muscle jerked in his jaw but he remained resolutely where he was.
“You fainted?” The doctor asked, taking a blood pressure cuff from his bag and wrapping it around her upper arm. It squeezed against her flesh and Chloe stared at the ceiling while it did its job.
“Yeah. But it wasn’t a big deal. Like I said, I hadn’t eaten and…”
“In how long?” The doctor prompted.
“I had an apple this morning. American time.”
The doctor frowned, but it was nothing to the glower or Raffa’s face. “And before that?”
Chloe blinked. “I… can’t remember.”
“Do you make a habit of skipping meals?” The doctor asked, removing the cuff and taking a thermometer from his bag. He placed it under Chloe’s tongue so she shot him a look of pique. He answered with a smile, before removing the thermometer.
“No,” she answered. “I’ve just been…forgetful lately. Out of routine.”
The doctor lifted his gaze to Raffa’s face then returned his attention to Chloe.
“How have you been sleeping?”
