Page 133 of Lee

Lee almost would rather have learned that his dad had been evil from birth. It was frightening for Lee to think that something lurked deep inside him, just waiting for the right time to burst forth, revealing itself to the world in a horrible way.

He hated that. He hated that his genetic makeup came from two such awful people. It didn’t seem like he had any chance of escaping his horrific past.

A knock on his door had him groaning as he shifted onto his back.

“Come in,” he said, expecting it to be Charli or Janessa.

They’d checked in on him a lot over the past week. So it was no surprise that since it was nearly noon and he had yet to make an appearance that they had come to see how he was doing.

“What’s going on, Lee?”

Lee lifted his head to see his oldest brother—and the doctor—approaching the bed. Dropping his head back, he stared at the ceiling.

“My stomach hasn’t been feeling great, and I’m not sleeping well. I always feel tired.”

Gareth went to the small table underneath the window and picked up one of the chairs there and carried it over to the bed. He swung the chair around backwards and straddled it, resting his arms along its back.

“When exactly did it start?” Gareth asked.

Lee wondered if there was any way that he could get this past Gareth without the man realizing that it wasn’t truly a physical malady. Still, he answered all his questions as honestly as possible.

“Have you had any pain anywhere?” When Lee shook his head, Gareth said, “Would you mind if I palpated your abdomen?”

“No. That’s fine.” Lee flipped back the comforter, then lifted his T-shirt.

Gareth got to his feet and leaned over Lee, pressing against a few spots, but nothing generated any pain.

Another knock at the door brought Janessa into the room. “Want me to take his blood pressure?”

“Might as well.” Gareth said, moving back so that Janessa could take his spot beside Lee.

Gareth crossed his arms, a frown on his face as he watched Janessa wrap the cuff around Lee’s upper arm, then press a button on the machine.

Once the cuff released, she gave Gareth the numbers of both Lee’s blood pressure and his pulse.

“Both are a tad high, but nothing to be too concerned about,” Gareth said. “Are you feeling any better? I mean, you’ve been going to work, right?”

“Yeah. But not for the full day.” Lee pushed himself up to sit against the pillows, tugging his shirt back down over his stomach. “I usually have to dip out early in the afternoon. I start off feeling okay in the morning, but soon I’m just worn out because I’m not sleeping or eating well.”

“I think we should run some tests,” Gareth said, glancing at Janessa as he rattled off a bunch of stuff that Lee didn’t understand.

He might be in the medical field, in as much as he treated animals’ health, but that didn’t mean he understood everything about the tests that were required to diagnose illness in humans.

It felt dishonest to undergo tests when he knew very well what was wrong. He might be able to put them off for a bit. However, if he did that, he would need to pull himself together, so he would appear to be improving. Otherwise, his siblings would insist he get the tests done.

“Let’s just let it ride for a bit longer,” Lee said, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I really don’t think it’s anything serious.”

“It’s been a week, and you’re not doing significantly better.” Gareth frowned at him. “I am concerned.”

“I appreciate that, so if I’m not feeling back to my normal self by Wednesday, I’ll go for your tests.”

Gareth didn’t look convinced. “I’d prefer you go sooner rather than later. There’s no need for you to wait.”

For Lee, there was all the need in the world to wait, actually. But maybe he should just agree to get the tests done, then try to get “better” while they waited for results. “I’ll go sooner.”

“Perfect.” Glancing over at Janessa, Gareth said, “I’ll get the requisition done up on Monday.”

“Okay.” Janessa gathered up the blood pressure machine and got to her feet. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”

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