Love For Hire

Nicholas could hear the beeping of medical machinery. It was a sound he had come to know well. Slowly the steady beating
grew louder, and he began to wake up. He had no idea how long he had been out. He recalled lying on his bed; he had not been
feeling well. He recalled that he had been weary and lethargic. He had wanted to take a nap. He recalled Kinsley had been
talking to him, but he could not really remember about what.
The mattress beneath him was narrow and firm; it was not his soft, comfortable bed. That and the noise told Nicholas he was in
a hospital. How long had he been in a hospital? Nicholas opened his eyes, but he saw nothing, just blackness. Not even the
fuzzy colours and shapes he had been able to see before he went to sleep. There was nothing now, no light, no colour, nothing.
He was now completely blind.
“He is awake,” he heard his father’s voice. He could hear the footsteps as those in the room came closer. He felt two arms wrap
around him as someone leaned over the bed to hug him. He could tell from the soft form it was female, and judging from the waft
of perfume assaulting his nasal senses, it was his mother. Nicholas was too weak to hug her back. His whole body ached.
“Welcome back, son; we thought we had lost you,” his father said as he touched Nicholas’ shoulder. “How do you feel?”
“Like death,” his voice croaked. His throat was sore and scratchy. “My throat...?”
“It hurts?” His mother asked. Nicholas nodded.
“It is because of the breathing tube they put down your throat a few days ago. You stopped breathing. The hospital incubated,
and a machine was breathing for you for about 12 hours, then you pulled through, started breathing on your own again. I think
the blood transfusion helped get most of the poison out of your system,” his father informed him.
“Poison?” Nicholas asked. Who was poisoning him?
“Turns out, Matthew got tired of waiting for his place on the throne,” Kinsley’s voice came from the left of him and then he felt her
soft hand take hold of his. “So he decided to speed along your demise with a little help from a lot of arsenic. He was poisoning
you for weeks.”
Nicholas was surprised. He knew his brother was a self-absorbed narcissist with designs on Nicholas’ birthright, but he had
never believed Matthew would stoop to actually trying to murder him to secure his claim on the throne. He supposed that meant
Matthew was not in the room at the moment. “How do you know this?” He struggled to ask.
“Well, actually, Kinsley discovered it,” he heard Teegan say. She thought something was fishy, so she had Dr. Horton runs some
tests after you lost consciousness.”

“But how do you know it was Matthew?”
“Well, he was suspect, but it was when he tried to kill Kinsley that we knew for sure he was involved,” Teegan told him.
Nicholas sat up and reached out for Kinsley. “He did what? Kinsley, are you alright?” He asked, feeling for her. When his fingers
came into contact with what felt like a cast, he really began to panic. “Is your arm broken? What happened?” He demanded.
“It is broken, but besides that, just some bruises.”
“What did he do?” Nicholas demanded as his anger began to grow. How dare Matthew harm her.
“He threw me down a few flights of stairs. He was trying to kill the baby... and it worked. I miscarried,” he could hear the sadness
in her voice.
“Baby?” When was she pregnant? Did she tell him she was pregnant? He could not remember if she had. He remembered so
little.
“Do you not remember me telling you I was pregnant?”
“Yeah, sure,” he lied. “How far along were you?”
“A few weeks.”
“You lost the baby?”
There was quiet for a long time, and then he heard her speak again, emotion choking her words. “I did.”
“Kinsley, I am so sorry,” he would kill Matthew. “Where is that son of a bitch.”
“We do not know,” Teegan spoke. “He was caught by the hospital staff trying to smother Kinsley with a pillow in an attempt to
silence her. He ran off when confronted.”
“We will find him,” Samuel spoke. “He will pay for his crimes. He may be my son, but he will face the same penalty as anyone
who commits treason,” Nicholas could hear the sadness and devastation in his father’s voice. It was not easy for any parent
when forced to choose between their children. “The LAPD has been searching the city for him.”
“He is not here anymore,” Nicholas spoke. “He is smart enough to know you would have revoked his diplomatic immunity status.
He would not risk still being in the States when that happened. To avoid prosecution here, Matthew would be on the first plane

out of the country.”
“The private plane has not been moved,” Naya told him.
“Then he flew commercial.”
“I will call home and see if Matthew has returned. If he has, I will give instructions that he is to be confined to his chambers until
we return,” Nicholas could hear his father’s heavy footsteps as he left the room.
“So,” Nicholas began, fearful of the answer to his next question. “How long have I been in the hospital?”
“Three weeks,” Teegan replied.
He had been asleep for so long. “I woke up... I must be out of the woods, right?” there was only silence. They knew something
he did not. He could feel his heart sink. After finding out about Kinsley and the baby on top of his near-death, Nicholas was not
sure he could take any more bad news. “What is wrong?”
“Teegan, honey, can you go find Dr. Horton? Tell him your brother has woken up,” his mother said, and Nicholas could hear his
sister leave the room. He had a feeling that the news was going to be very bad. He did not ask any more questions; he did not
think his loved ones had it in them to tell him what was happening.
Dr. Horton arrived twenty minutes later. “Nicholas, how nice to see you awake,” he could feel the doctor at his bedside. He was
doing something. Nicholas could hear him handling something. “How do you feel?”
“Like shit, how should I feel?”
“I see no response when I flash a light in your eyes. “Can you see this?” He asked, and the room went quiet. Nicholas had no
idea what the doctor was doing. “You do not see it do you?”
“I do not see anything,” Nicholas admitted. “No colours, no light, nothing but darkness.”
“Your vision is completely gone,” Nicholas had figured that out, and he did not require a medical degree. “How about this?” The
room went quiet.
“Doc, I told you I could not see anything. I have no idea what you are doing,” the silence began to make him worry as something
occurred to him. “That was not a vision test you just did, is it?”

“No,” Dr. Horton said with remorse. “Tell me when you can feel me touching you,” he instructed. Nicholas sat in bed, hoping
against hope that at some point, he would feel something, but he never did. “Nicholas, can you wiggle your toes?”
Nicholas tried, but he could not tell if he was or not. He could not feel anything below his waist. He heard the doctor make a
confused and thoughtful sound. “Did I move?” Nicholas asked.
“Are you saying you cannot feel yourself moving?” Dr. Horton asked.
“No.”
“I do not understand Dr. Horton. How can he move but not feel anything?” Naya asked.
“The symptoms resemble congenital insensitivity; it is extremely rare and usually presents in patients with Anhidrosis. It does not
make sense that Nicholas would be inflicted by it.”
Nicholas smiled. “Not being able to feel pain sounds like a blessing?” He could use a little relief from pain and suffering.
“I know on the surface it seems like that, but this is a very serious problem. It means your brain has no way of telling that your
body is hurt or ill and to what severity. This condition is difficult to manage and life-threatening. We need to figure out how to treat
it and whether or not we have any chance at reversing it.”
“Personally, I like the idea of feeling no pain,” Nicholas smiled.
“Really?” He heard Kinsley speak.
“Yes, you have no idea what kind of hell I was living in.”
“Suddenly Nicholas felt pressure on his cheek like he, she had kissed him, and while he knew she was touching him, he could
not feel the softness of her lips brushing his skin. “Could you feel that?” Kinsley asked.
Nicholas frowned. “Barely,” he confessed sadly.
“Your sense of touch will degrade until you can feel nothing at all on any part of your body,” Dr. Horton explained.
“Still think it is a gift from God?” Kinsley asked. If he could not feel her tender touch, Nicholas could see how this was yet one
more disaster in his already disastrous life.

“What are the odds that you can reverse it?”
“Honestly, Nicholas, I am not even sure how you developed it,” Dr. Horton’s confession did not fill Nicholas with any confidence.
“I need to do some research. I have never encountered this before. This is uncharted territory. I am going to keep you for a few
more days. See if your condition does not improve. In the meantime, I have a few medical books to review.”
“I need to use the washroom,” Nicholas said, trying to get up.
“You have a catheter,” Dr. Horton informed him.
Nicholas closed his eyes, trying to control his anger. “One more indignity.”
“Doctor, can we not remove it now that he is awake. I think if he wishes to use the restroom in a conventional manner, his
independence should be encouraged,” Naya said.
“I will have a nurse come in and remove it... if....”
“If what?” Nicholas snarled.
“If Nicholas can prove to me, he can stand on his own two feet,” Dr. Horton laid down his condition.
Easy enough. Nicholas moved the blanket out of the way. He assumed he was in a hospital gown, so he struggled to move his
legs over the edge of the bed. It took a few minutes, but then he sat on the edge of the bed for a moment. Someone must have
reached out to help him, but then he heard Dr. Horton scold them telling them to let him do it on his own.
Nicholas shifted forward, but he could not tell if his feet were touching the floor. Hoping for the best, Nicholas tried to stand. Once
he was out of bed, his legs gave out, and Nicholas hit the floor hard. He had no strength in his legs. He lay on the floor, trying to
get himself back up. Moments later, there were two sets of hands-on him as Samuel and Dr. Horton lifted Nicholas up off the
floor and put him back into his bed.
“The catheter stays in, and you stay in bed.”
“I think I have spent enough time in bed.”
“Well, then I can have a nurse bring in a wheelchair.”
Nicholas could feel his heartbreak at the mention of a wheelchair. It was happening so fast. First, his vision and now his mobility.
He was falling apart at a rapid rate, and his brother’s poisoning had only sped his deterioration along.

Once in his bed, Nicholas asked everyone to leave. He wanted to be alone. He did not want to fall apart in front of them. They
had been through enough. When no one left, Nicholas started screaming and then he heard the sound of footsteps as everyone
left the room. Finally, alone, Nicholas covered his hands over his face. He knew he was doing it, but he could barely feel his own
hands. In a fit of emotional turmoil, Nicholas screamed out in frustration and began to cry. He thought he was ready to face what
was yet to come, but he was not. He thought he had a few more years, but he did not. This was the end.
Nicholas thought about Kinsley. He loved her so much. Because of him, she had been assaulted. Her arm was broken. Her life
threatened. Their child was gone. The longer she was with him, the more she would suffer. He could not allow her to waste any
more time with him. He loved her too much to let her suffer because of him. Besides, he was not likely to live long enough to
make his own wedding. The kindest thing he could do was let her go.