by Raye Morgan
She visited the recreation center and considered playing a little table tennis, something she once had been good at. But she couldn’t keep her mind on that, either. Her heart and her mind were in that operating room and there was no way to get around it.
At one point, she stopped into the royal breakfast room. Pellea had given her a pass. The tables were covered with a sumptuous feast of a breakfast spread. Everything looked delicious. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to get anything down, so she made a short tour of the room, smiled at a couple of people who eyed her curiously and left again.
Outside, she went to a railing and looked down at the crowd in the halls on the floor below. And then she caught sight of something that chilled her blood, and she stepped back quickly so as not to be seen. Down below she saw her brother, Rolo, with her cousin Jasper. From what she knew of both those men, no one should have ever let them inside these castle walls. She began to walk, getting as far from them as she could. She could hardly breathe. What were they doing here? And what was she going to do about it?
Nightmare scenarios as to what they might be up to went swimming through her head, one after another. She knew she should tell Pellea about these two interlopers, but if she did, Pellea would find out quickly what sort of family she came from. She’d been gracious with her, but that would be a step too far for her to go. Rolo and Jasper would be sent packing—but so would she herself! And she couldn’t go until she knew that Mykal was all right.
But not much longer than that. She had to leave before anyone knew she was pregnant. Of course, Mykal thought he knew already, but he wasn’t going to tie it to her unless he got his memory back. And that was the abyss that yawned before her. They wouldn’t want her once they found out about her ancestry. But they would want her baby.
A frantic wave of panic swept through her. No one must know. She would leave as soon as she could, go to the continent, maybe immigrate to Australia or Canada and take her baby as far from Ambria as she could get. She would get a false ID. She’d done that often enough in the past. She knew people who could help her. She had to go. No one must know.
She looked at her watch. Suddenly it was time to go back to the medical unit. She had to be as close to Mykal as she could get. It would be another hour or more before the surgeon would come out and give them the verdict, but she couldn’t stay away any longer. Turning, she hurried to the elevators.
The waiting room was brightly painted and well-lit, but it seemed like the gloomiest place on earth to Janis. She sat in the plastic chair and flipped through a magazine, not even seeing the articles. Inside, she repeated a prayer over and over.
Please let him be safe. Please let him be safe.
It was impossible to sit still. She got up to pace, but as she passed the window to the nurse’s station, she noticed the chair was empty. No one was manning the entryway. And that meant there was no one guarding the information.
Information—like files with background on a patient’s health—or the details of the accident that had put him in the hospital in the first place. Should she? She stopped, thinking. Why not just ask to see them? But no. That never worked with people in charge of information. She would be told she had no standing. Better to try to do it on her own.
Gliding quickly, she went to the file cabinet and pulled open the drawer she thought should have Mykal’s records. The folders were filed alphabetically and she began to search through them. She heard footsteps in the hall. She only needed another second or two.
The door opened and she was back pacing, but her heart was beating a mile a minute.
“Hello,” the nurse said before dropping down into her seat behind the desk again.
“Hello,” Janis said back. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything?”
The nurse shook her head. “Sorry. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”
“Thanks.”
She went back to her chair and slumped into it, calming her heart rate and picking up her magazine. Mykal’s folder hadn’t been in the file drawer. She supposed it might be in the room where he was staying. At some point, she had to get hold of that file. It had become an obsession with her. She had to know.
She hadn’t been there long before Kylos came sauntering into the room, dressed in black, as usual. She looked up and gave him a slight smile. She assumed his twitch was his answering salute. She went back to the magazine and he slipped into a chair beside her, looking just as tense as she felt.
“Have you heard anything?” he asked.
“No. Nothing.” For a moment she thought they were going to have a bonding moment over the fate of his brother. He really seemed to care. A small wave that was almost affectionate went through her.
“I guess it was pretty much a surprise to you when he was told he was one of the lost princes,” she commented.
“Not really,” he replied, a pinch of bitterness in his tone. “Mykal always gets the gold ring. It seems to be his birthright.”
“Yes,” she said faintly. “I know what you mean.”
“And what about you?” He leered at her. “How do you think someone like you is going to hang on to him?”
She blinked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I told you I was going to look into your background. I’ve already found out a few things.”
Icy fingers traveled up and down her spine. “Like what?”
“Never mind.” He leered again, acting as though he liked making her wait. “I’ll talk to you about this later.”
She shrugged, reminded of how annoying he was. But she couldn’t think about her own problems right now. She had to worry about Mykal.
He moved restlessly. “What do you think? Is he going to die?”
She looked up, shocked. “No, he’s not going to die! Where did you get such a ludicrous idea?”
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I thought the shrapnel was pretty deep and pretty bad, and since they kept saying—”
“He’s not going to die.” She said it with passion, but she shivered deep inside. “What we’re hoping for now is that he has no impaired motion. That his legs will work. That the operation won’t leave him damaged in any other way.”
Kylos frowned. “He probably won’t be needing the pain medication anymore, huh?”
She stared at him, wondering at such a strange question. But then, Kylos was a strange man. “I have no idea.”
He growled. “He shouldn’t have done it.”
“I’ll tell you this. If this operation is successful and he comes out in good health and spirits, we’re both going to tell him our secrets. Aren’t we? I’m going to tell him who I really am and you’re going to tell him about your parents. Right?”
“Are you crazy? He won’t be ready to hear about that. Not for days.” He shook his head and muttered, “Not for at least a few more days,” but she had a feeling that wasn’t really meant for her to hear.
“Kylos, do you have a job?”
“Of course I have a job. Well, I do contract work.”
“What sort?”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, here’s the deal. I went to law school. But the dean had it in for me so I never finished. But I got enough so that I can do some kinds of paralegal work. And that’s what I do.”
“Freelance?”
“Sort of. I’ve got a good friend, Leland Lake. He’s an attorney and he hires me for various things.”
She went back to her magazine. He moved nervously for a while, then got up to visit the restroom. Looking over at the seat, she noticed he’d left his mobile behind. And almost immediately, it rang.
She had to make a decision. His ring tone was awful, shrill and demanding. It seemed to echo off the waiting-room walls. It was way too loud. It had to be stopped.
Ordinarily she wouldn’t answer someone else’s phone like this, but the noise was unbearable. Snatching it up, she flipped it on and said, “Yes?”
“Kylos Marten, please.”
She recognized the voice. It was Griswold, the daily butler.
“He’s not here right now, but this is Janis Davos. Hi, Griswold.”
“Oh. Hello, miss.”
“Can I give him a message?”
“Uh… Oh, well, why not? Please tell him that the party in question has arrived.”
“Okay, Griswold, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific. What party in question?”
He paused, then said, “The people interested in the house. He’ll know what I mean. Tell him I will escort them about the grounds until he gets here, unless he calls and tells me differently.”
“I see.”
“Just tell him that. Thank you, miss.”
Janis sat very still with her lips pressed together, thinking that over as she waited for Kylos to come back. And when he did, she waited until he had picked up his phone and began to take his seat.
“You had a call.”
He reacted badly. “What! You answered it?”
“I had to stop the noise.”
“That’s not noise.” He seemed quite offended. “That’s my favorite band.”
Rolling her eyes, she told him, “Griswold says the people interested in the house have arrived and he will go ahead and escort them about while waiting for you to show up.” She frowned, gazing at him sharply. “What are you doing, selling the house?”
He didn’t answer, but he gave her a furious scowl and bolted for the door. “I’ll be back,” he muttered as he disappeared.
Janis frowned after him. The little bugger was selling the house, and without talking to Mykal first. She had a very bad feeling about that. She didn’t think Mykal was going to be happy when he found out. But of course, Mykal didn’t know their parents had died. And here was Kylos, selling the house out from under him. That just wasn’t right.
She went back to her magazine but she couldn’t even see the pictures anymore. Please, please, she kept chanting silently. Make him be okay.
It was already half an hour later than she’d been told it would be. Time seemed to be going in slow motion. Pellea looked in.
“Have you heard anything?” she asked.
Janis shook her head, feeling lost.
“I’ll find out what’s going on,” the queen said, marching in through the double doors. And marching right back out again.
“No one’s talking,” she told Janis. “I’ll be back a little later and see if I can get anything out of any of them.”
Another half hour dragged by. Then another. She was up and pacing now, fear and panic chasing each other throughout her system. What could be wrong? Why wouldn’t anyone tell her anything?
She’d tried going in to the operating room but a nurse had sent her back out. She was going crazy with worry.
Pellea came back to sit with her. She made a few calls on her mobile, trying to scare up some information, and finally she did get a scrap.
“They’ve sent for more experts from Vienna,” she told Janis. “They sent for them quite some time ago and they are coming in as fast as they can get here.”
“What does that mean?” Janis was as shaken as she’d ever been.
“I assume it means they’ve hit a problem. But don’t worry. These guys are the best in the world.”
Don’t worry! She was nothing but worry. Any more and she would be lying in the corner in a fetal position, whimpering like a baby lamb.
But before she had time to really panic, they arrived, three of them, sweeping in through the waiting room and on into the operating theater like gods down from Olympus. Janis and Pellea stood holding each other, each whispering their own prayer. At one point, they heard shouting and Janis’s eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, no!” she cried. “Something’s happened to him.”
“Hush,” Pellea told her. “He’ll be okay.” But somehow her voice didn’t have the conviction it had held earlier.
Another half hour passed. Kylos was back. When Janis introduced him to the queen, he was like a different man, all smiles and good manners. Janis could hardly believe the transformation, but she had no time to mull it over. She had to worry. If she didn’t worry enough—superstition being what it was, she didn’t know what would happen, but she knew she had to keep worrying. It was all she had left to do.
And then it was over. Dr. Pheasar came out, taking Pellea by the hands and shaking his head. Janis began to sob, but he looked up, surprised.
“No, my dear, don’t cry. I think the prognosis is fairly good. Not perfect, but much better than I expected.”
“Oh, doctor.” Janis grabbed his arm. “Are you sure? Do you mean it?”
“Yes, I mean it. I think you’d better leave him alone tonight, but you should be able to go in and see him first thing in the morning.”
Now she was really sobbing, and so was Pellea. But they were both laughing through their tears as well, looking at each other.
The doctor shook his head. “Women,” he muttered.
But Janis didn’t care. One hurdle had been crossed. Now all that was left was for Mykal to heal from the surgery—and get his memory back.
CHAPTER NINE
CLOSE to dawn, Janis slipped into Mykal’s room and went right to his bed. Leaning over him, she kissed his lips and then she took his hand in hers. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. She waited nervously to see what her reception would be.
It was all that she could have hoped for. His smile was slow but it grew until his mouth was wide and his happiness reached his eyes. His gaze alone seemed to reach out and wrap her up for the keeping. Instinctively, he loved her. She could feel it. His head hadn’t gotten the word yet, but his heart knew it.
“Hey,” he said to her. “You’re back. I’ve been waiting to see you.”
“Me, too,” she said simply. “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
His smile wavered. “We did know each other before, didn’t we?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it. Funny how I can feel it, even though I can’t remember it.” He looked at her expectantly. “And…?”
She tried to smile was her nerves were getting the better of her. “First tell me how you feel.”
“I feel great. I could practically get up and dance right now if I didn’t have this damn IV stuck in my arm.”
“None of that. You need to stay still and heal.”
“Sure.” He smiled at her, reassuring her again. “But, Janis, I’m going to be okay. I’m not going to have to spend my life walking around wondering if any slight little jostle will render me paralyzed.” He shook his head. “You don’t know what a relief that is.”
“Oh, don’t I?”
She smiled back at him and he searched her face, then reached out with his free hand and touched her cheek. She wanted to bury her face in his palm and kiss it, but she didn’t dare do that. Not yet.
“Okay,” he said, pulling back. “I’ve told you my news. You tell me yours.” His eyes darkened slightly. “Did you find my wife?”
She nodded and she could tell her eyes were sparkling. Too bad she couldn’t hold back the excitement she felt. It might just be her undoing. And yet she was about to tell him the truth. That had to be a good thing, no matter how he reacted. “Yes, I did.”
He watched her, just barely holding back a smile. “Is it you?”
She nodded again.
His grin widened. “I had a feeling.” Reaching out, he pulled her to him. “I knew it was going to be you.” He hugged her a bit gingerly, using only one a
rm, but he breathed in the scent of her hair and shivered. “You couldn’t have told me anything that would make me happier.”
Janis laughed, full of joy. She ran the flat of her hand inside the opening of his hospital pajamas, caressing the chest she knew so well. This was almost the old Mykal. This was almost the old feeling. If only this moment could last forever.
Lifting her face, he kissed her lips and she kissed him back.
“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?” he asked huskily.
“I couldn’t.” This was going to be the hard part. “We had to be so careful not to upset you in any way.”
“But finding out I’ve got a wife like you wasn’t going to upset me,” he began. Then he saw the look in her eyes and his face changed. “Or would it?”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sat up on the bed beside him. “It would,” she said sadly, “if you knew the whole story.”
He looked away for a moment and she wondered what he was thinking. When he looked back, his eyes were troubled. “Maybe we should just leave it alone, Janis,” he said quietly. “Maybe it would be better to pretend it never happened—whatever it was.”
She shook her head. “We can’t do that, Mykal. Even if we wanted to. In fact, now that you are going to be royal, every single fact of your life is going to be common knowledge. You’re not going to be able to hide from it.”
He groaned and leaned his head back. “Okay. Lay it on me. What was so horrible that you’ve felt you had to hide it from me?”
“Okay.” She looked at him, all her love in her eyes. This might be the last chance she had to look at him without seeing anger and resentment coming back her way. “When you got blown up on your bike,” she began, “we weren’t together.”
