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Erin stared at the phone, resisting the urge to hurl it across the room. His Majesty definitely needed lessons in how the non-royal portion of the world lived. Arranging her cousin’s marriage? Preposterous.
Erin opened the front door and tossed the phone out without looking to see if there was anyone standing there to catch it. Hearing it ring seconds later, she slammed the door shut in her wake. Taking several deep breaths, she started to calm her breathing down when her stomach made itself known once again. Rushing for the bathroom, she gave into the nausea.
After rinsing her mouth and cleansing her face with a damp washcloth, she climbed back into her bed. She needed to call Shira, but it would have to wait until she was feeling better.
*****
Erin struggled to fight off the nausea for the next several days, but when Friday rolled around and she was still not feeling better, she made her own appointment to go see her physician.
She had returned to work the day after her phone confrontation with Kam, just to ensure that Talib would not force some unsuspecting physician to make a house call. She had no doubt that Kam would make good on his promise to summon a physician for her.
She didn’t want Kam to hear about her doctor’s appointment, so she made up an excuse for the driver, “I’m going to do some shopping after work. You can drop me off at the Crystal City and I’ll call you when I ready to return home. It will probably be late, around 8 or 9 pm.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” his voice conveying his trepidation at following her orders without first checking in with her ever present, but seldom seen bodyguard. After the incident in her office, Talib had made his presence more visible, but still kept a discreet distance and unless Erin looked for him, he was usually out of sight.
Erin watched and was pleased when he didn’t immediately pick up his radio. Maybe she could get inside the mall before he was able to tell Talib of her change in plans. She knew her actions would most likely precipitate another phone call from Kam, but she really didn’t’ care.
“Right here will be fine. I’ll meet you back here, in this same spot,” she told the driver after he opened her door and assisted her from the vehicle. Entering the mall, she immediately turned towards her left and headed towards the western exit. Her physician’s office was located three blocks over, but the walkways were covered and crowded with people anxious to start their weekends.
She glimpsed behind her, smiling when she saw that Talib did not appear to be following her. When her cell phone rang, she glanced at the number to see that Kam had already been notified of her defection. Turning th
e ringer off, she made her way to the doctor’s office, arriving just in time for her appointment.
She fought back her nausea and dug down deep for her reserve of energy. She just needed to get through the next several hours and then she would sleep all weekend. Maybe she just needed some vitamins to get her over the hump.
Chapter 11
“What?” Erin whispered, looking at her doctor as if she had suddenly grown two heads. “Pregnant?” she whispered.
“Yes. I take it by the expression on your face that this is a surprise?”
Erin could only nod in response. She was pregnant? Oh Lord, she was pregnant with Kam’s baby!
“I’m going to write you a prescription for some prenatal vitamins, and also for some gum that should help with the nausea. It doesn’t taste the greatest, but believe me, it really does work if you can struggle through the first minute or so.” The doctor issued this statement with a smile of encouragement. She herself had fought morning sickness for the first several months of her pregnancy and found the gum, while chalky tasting, capable of quelling the ever present urge to empty her stomach.
Erin nodded again, still speechless. She was pregnant. She was pregnant!
“Erin, are you okay?” her doctor asked.
“I will be. Thank you, doctor.”
She finished dressing, taking her time as thoughts of the future crowded her tired brain. What was she going to tell Kam? How was she going to tell Kam? Oh Lord, what was she going to tell her parents?
She was so lost in trying to answer those questions as she left the doctor’s office, she didn’t see the town car sitting at the curb, or Talib and the driver leaning against it with their arms crossed over their massive chests. She turned towards the walkway, which would take her back to the mall, and was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t hear her name called.
Talib hurried after her, hesitant about touching her to stop her from walking away, but seeing no other option open to him. Gently taking her upper arm, he pulled her to a stop and turned her towards the car. “Erin, the car is this way.”
Looking up at the tall man holding her arm, Erin was relieved to see Talib standing there. When she looked forwards, she almost cried to see the vehicle sitting there as well. She didn’t have the energy to make the trek back to the mall, and right now, she only wanted to get home so she could crawl under her covers and hide from reality for a few more hours.
Talib helped her into the waiting car and then climbed in after her. She looked at him questioning, but when he made no effort to explain his presence, she turned her head towards the far window, laying her head back against the seat cushion.
Talib watched her relax into the seat and then fall into a deep sleep. The dark circles beneath her eyes spoke volumes about her current physical state. Connecting a call to Kamal, he spoke softly, “Your Majesty, we found her.”
“Where?”
“She was in a doctor’s office.”
Kamal cursed in Arabic before demanding, “Put her on the phone.”
