Page 30 of East (The Moral Compass 3)

It’s then that panic strikes. I spin round in the bed and pull the sheets over to cover myself.

“Zed! You didn’t use a condom, did you?”

“No, East, I didn’t. Things just got away from me. Things we need to talk about, but not now. I’m totally clean, so you don’t need to worry about that, and I’m assuming that because I am the only person you’ve slept with, you are also as clean as a whistle. Unless—”

“No, you fucking idiot. That’s not the problem.” I huff. “I’m not on any birth control.”

“Oh shit! I just thought… you know, a girl your age would be at least on the pill.” His hand rises to his face in panic.

“Why would I be on the pill? I have never you know… done it before you.”

“Ah, fuck, East.” He gets off the bed and stands. “I got a carried away, and then when you called me sir in that fucking sweet voice, I just lost my mind. You really can’t talk to me like that, you know.”

“Oh really? Why?” I question, knowing that it obviously turned him on so much. “Anyway, that’s going of the subject. We need to find a pharmacy and get me the morning-after pill or something. I can’t get pregnant, Zed, and especially not to you.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? ‘Especially not to me’? What’s fucking wrong with me? And may I remind you I am your fucking husband?”

“Only until we get it fucking annulled. So, you can cut that shit out right now. We are not staying married for a minute longer than necessary, and I am not having your baby.”

“Right! Yes! Agreed. We will go and look for a pharmacy straight after we’ve been to the chapel and get this sorted out, okay?”

I nod in reply. My first time was a freaking mistake, my second was my wedding night and my third is my first time without a condom. What the hell!

I jump off the bed and wrap the sheet around me. I only make it a few steps before the sheets get tangled in my feet. My knees buckle, my feet don’t move, and my body lunges forward as I see the floor come up to meet my face. My arm reaches out to stop myself, but it catches on the dresser. Searing pain fires up my arm, and I hear a crack as the rest of my body falls to the floor.

Zed rushes to pick me up and touches my arm. The pain is unbelievable.

“Don’t touch my arm. I banged it on the dresser. Ow, it really hurts.”

“Let’s get you up, and let me look at it,” he says gently.

I feel like a child as he sweeps me up off the floor and positions me in one of the chairs.

“Here, hold your arm out straight.”

“I can’t. It hurts too much.” I look up to his face, and I can see the worry.

“What? What’s wrong? Do you think it’s broken?”

“I don’tthinkit’s broken East. I can tell. Your arm is completely distorted. We need to get you to the hospital. It looks a bad break, and it needs to be sorted. Like,now.”

“Argh, seriously, Zed, this really hurts. I need some painkillers or something. I can’t go anywhere like this, and I need to get dressed.”

Zed grabs two painkillers and some water, and while I’m taking them, he goes and grabs me some clothes from my room. After a struggle and a few more choice words, we are heading downstairs to the hotel reception. A grey-haired lady dressed in a bright-pink twin set with pearls stands before us in the queue.

“Is that Margarite?” I whisper to Zed.

Zed taps the lady on the shoulder. “Hey, Margarite. Where the hell have you been?”

“I’m sorry, young man, but I’m not Margaret or whatever you said. I’m here with my girls from the Golden Years Club.”

“My apologies. I thought you were someone else. I don’t mean to be rude, but could we just ask the receptionist a question?” She nods and gestures to the receptionist.

“My wife has had an accident, and we need to get her to the hospital. Could you please call us a cab to meet us outside?”

“My wife.” He seems to be liking this husband and wife thing.

The receptionist looks at us both, a little worried.

---