Page 76 of Heart of the High King
“D’Vaire too.”
“I’ll ask His Highness to update your information too so you can have both names, okay?”
“Yes.”
The woman eyed him warily as he spoke with Mortis and handed him the cards back. “You can go through the door into Exam Room Two.”
“Thank you.”
Rafe pushed his way there and a nurse took his vitals, got him up on the scale, and took a small vial of blood from his arm. Relaxing against the exam table, an idea hit him. Maybe Their Majesties knew of a job he could do—perhaps reading files or something easy he could accomplish from D’Vaire that could earn him the money he needed to pay for necessities. Digging his phone out of his pocket, he found the right contact and it was picked up on the first ring.
“Office of the Emperor, how can I help you?”
“Hi, Your Grace, it’s Rafe. I was wondering if there was any way I could get an appointment with Their Majesties?”
“Rafe, it’s so good to hear your voice, but none of that royal stuff. How are you? As one of Their Majesties’ favorite people, I can definitely squeeze you in whenever you’re in Las Vegas. When is your next trip here from Arizona, and how are things at D’Vaire?”
“I’m good and I love being at D’Vaire. I’m actually in Las Vegas right now. I don’t suppose they could get me in today, could they? Otherwise I’ll be here next week for my regular doctor’s appointment.”
“I just knew you’d love being at D’Vaire, it’s so incredible. Just come over whenever your appointment is done, okay? Their Majesties are in office for the rest of the afternoon, so we’ll just scoot you in there as best we can.”
“Thanks so much, Niko.”
“You’re very welcome, we’ll see you soon.”
Rafe hung up and was nearly asleep when Dr. Suricata finally showed up.
“Sorry for the wait, Dermot. The lab is backed up, and I was hoping to get your test results but looks like that might not happen for a little longer,” Dr. Suricata said as she sailed in. “How are you?”
“I’m doing okay.”
“You’ve lost four pounds.”
“I’ve had some stomach problems.”
She stared hard at him, and he barely constrained the effort to look away. “And you’re using the diet I provided you with at the sanctuary?”
“Um…most of the time?”
“I’d guess not at all. This is absolutely unacceptable, Dermot. You’re on a lot of medication, and the last thing you can afford to do is lose weight. I’m going to give you another printout of the diet you need to be on. You need to give this to whoever is preparing your meals, do you understand?”
Rafe let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
“What else is troubling you?”
“Nothing, everything else is the same.”
“You’re taking all your medications?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to enjoy decent food.”
“I know it might not have been the best here at the hospital, but there’s a lot you can do to make food palatable with spices and variety, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Dr. Suricata listened to his heart and lungs, then made him lie down so she could check him out. When she pushed on his abdomen, he winced.
“I’m sorry it hurts. If you go back on your diet, you won’t have such an upset tummy. You can sit up. I’ll go get your printout. I will call you if anything weird shows up on your blood work, though I suspect any anomalies might be due to your lack of compliance. Otherwise, I’ll see you next week.”
