Page 87 of Protecting his Heart

“Your treatments, your care, your appointments. Anything that you’re willing to share. We want to do everything we can to help provide the best care possible, but when people…smudge the truth, it’s not easy to figure out.”

Jessica brightened. “I can do that. During my treatments through the years, I’ve spoken to many people about their experiences. Many people don’t realise that some patients don’t mind talking about their health. In fact, they want to. They want to be heard and not quietly put in a corner. I have plenty of things to say about it, but you might not want to hear it,” she said candidly.

Andrew smiled. “I want to hear everything. I can’t help if I don’t know where the problems are, and I can’t celebrate if I don’t know what’s going right.”

“I’d love to help.”

As Andrew and Jessica discussed her illness and Randall made notes, Owen pulled Evan against him, knowing what they heard was difficult for him. She had been dealing with this for many years, and as she spoke, they realised just how bad things had got. After half an hour, Jessica rubbed her side and rotated her shoulder, and Owen squeezed Evan before sitting forward.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. Sorry for interrupting. Is there a chance we could continue this a little later? There’s still one more stop on our tour I would like to let Jessica see.”

Andrew’s brow furrowed a little, and Owen met his gaze, hoping he understood the undercurrent to his words. Normally, Owen wouldn’t have interrupted him for anything, but Jessica’s health was important to them all.

“Of course! I let time run away with me.” He leaned forward. “You are welcome to come back anytime, Jessica. And we can make more appointments to chat whenever you’re free.”

Jessica smiled. “I look forward to it, Your Majesty.”

Andrew sighed. “Please call me Andrew.”

Jessica bit her lip and winced. “Thank you…Andrew.”

Andrew’s grin lit the room. He’d finally got someone to call him Andrew to his face—a feat he had yet to get anyone else to do.

When they left the king’s office, Owen guided Jessica to the wheelchair. She glared at him but didn’t argue when he helped her to sit down. He crouched in front of her.

“You have two choices now. We can settle you into a guest room so you can have a rest and then have more energy to continue our tour, or we can keep going and only get one more stop before we take you home.”

She glanced at Evan, who stood beside her, and reached for his hand. Then she looked at Owen again. “A rest sounds wonderful.”

Owen grinned. “Good choice.”

“May’s old bedroom is ready for use,” Randall told him, and Owen nodded his thanks.

Once they’d settled her in with any phone numbers she might need when she woke, they headed for Sec HQ. They’d return with Jessica later to introduce her to everyone, but for now, he wanted to check in and see how the hunt was going.

Brett was on the phone yelling at someone when they entered, so he headed for Felix instead.

“Anything new?” he asked.

Felix grinned. “Yes, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

Owen’s heart skipped a beat, expecting the worst, and exhaled. “I don’t like any of this, anyway.”

“Well, remember how you had a close encounter with a bullet?”

Owen punched Felix’s biceps. “How could I forget?”

Felix chuckled and faced the computer, bringing up a document. “Well, we got a fingerprint from the bullet, and it—”

“Wait, you found the bullet?” Owen said.

Felix faltered. “You didn’t know?” He glanced to the side, and Owen followed his gaze to Brett. “I might be in trouble for telling you that. I didn’t realise they hadn’t told you.”

Owen waved his hand. “Keep going.”

“In for a penny…” Felix muttered. “Anyway, we got a fingerprint from the bullet, and it matches the fingerprints from the gifts you’d received.”

Evan stepped closer. “You’re telling me he was aiming for Owen?” Evan’s voice dropped to a deadly growl.

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