Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. Charisse fainted when we last left her, and Raul already had a doctor there.What is going on with Raul?
“Charisse!” Conor ran to her. He turned and shouted towards the stairs, “Get the doctor up here now.”
Charisse was already coming around when he bent to the floor. “What’s going on?” she asked.
He cradled her in his arms, lifted her up and set her on the bed. “You fainted. Are you okay?”
“I fainted? I don’t understand what’s happening. I took a nap, but it didn’t help, so I drank a cup or two of coffee. I was so dizzy when I turned around to see you.”
“There’s a doctor on the way…”
“I’m here,” said Dr. Beaumont, rushing in with Raul right behind her. “What happened?”
“How did you get here so fast?” asked Charisse with her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Was I out that long?”
“You have Raul to thank for her already being here.” He stared at Raul as he spoke, both grateful and perplexed.
Raul had paled, appearing about ten years older.
“Why don’t the two of you go so I can do a full examination,” said Dr. Beaumont, glancing between Conor and Raul.
Charisse grabbed Conor’s hand. “I’m really sorry,” she said. “I wanted to go to the party, I swear. I didn’t do anything to cause this.”
Christ, she had to be thinking of Josh again. He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “Please don’t worry about it. I would rather have you up here getting better than down at the party.”
She nodded, but he wasn’t sure she believed him.
“I’m serious,” he added.
The muscles in her face relaxed. “Okay.”
He kissed her again, wishing the party could go on without him, and he could stay here, holed up with Charisse.
He told the doctor that she’d been seeing a therapist, worried that Charisse wouldn’t bring it up herself.
Dr. Beaumont nodded while assessing Charisse with her eyes.
Conor looked at Raul and nodded toward the door. When they reached the hallway Conor shut Charisse’s door and said, “My room. Now.”
Raul opened Conor’s bedroom door for him but avoided eye contact. Raul closed the door behind them.
Conor paced. His worry for Charisse colored everything. He wanted to be grateful Raul had already called the doctor, but he didn’t understand why he had gone behind his back.
He stopped at the foot of his bed and turned to face Raul who still stood at the door. “I’m glad Dr. Beaumont was here when Charisse fainted.”
“Yes, sir.”
Conor couldn’t read his expression. Conor said, “I understand you used to take care of Charisse’s family when she was a little girl, but you work for me now. You should’ve told me you thought she needed a doctor.”
“I’ve told both of you,” he replied with a blank expression.
Conor made fists at his side, something he had trained himself never to do. “Fine, you told us. But you didn’t tell me today, and you called the doctor in my name. I don’t appreciate looking like an idiot or worse, someone who neglects those around him…”
“I did it out of loyalty to you.”
Conor gaped.
“Yes, I’ve been worried about Charisse, but ultimately I called the doctor in an attempt to keep her away from the party.”
Evelyn Aster 