Love For Hire

“Right this way, Your Majesty,” the nurse at the desk said as she led him and Brutus into Dr. Horton’s office. “Please take a seat,” he reached around until he felt the chair. Sitting down, he told Brutus to lay down, and he did so at Nicholas’ feet. He heard the nurse’s footsteps as she left the room, and then he heard Dr. Horton come into the room.

“Your Majesty,” He heard the doctor’s voice. “How are you feeling?”

“Same as always.”

“Have you been eating?”

“Yes,” not that it made him feel any better. It had been five days since he’d seen Dr. Horton, and he had been violently ill every day along with terrible headaches, cramping in both his stomach and muscles.

“Good to hear. Well, I scheduled the ultrasound for a week from Monday.”

“That is not why I am here.”

“Oh, then why are you here?” Dr. Horton asked with interest.

“My eye,” he said. “There has to be something, anything we can do to restore my vision. I have heard that sometimes an organ transplant can help the blind see.”

“Well, yes, that is true.”

“Then let’s do that.”

is nothing wrong with your eyes. The organ itself is fine and healthy. The problem is the large tumour pressing on your optic nerve. So long as that tumour exists, you will not

“Then, cut it out.”

you the location of the tumour in your brain has rendered it inoperable. I cannot cut it out

can do. There is always something. How do

thought. “Well, if you are willing, we can try chemotherapy. With radiation treatment, it might be possible to shrink the tumour, and if we

try that,” Nicholas

warn you there are

“I am already fatigued.”

suffered that daily. “Digestive problems, dry or sore throat

it is going to be miserable,” Nicholas said. “When do we

***

just told the whole family at

the side effects

ate very little, so slipping the poison in his food was not smart. But Matthew had taken to sharing a drink with Nicholas after dinner each night. They talked about the future and how Nicholas was feeling. It was all a trick giving Matthew the opportunity to poison his brother’s bourbon. After drinks, Nicholas

says that with radiation treatments, the tumour might shrink and relieve the