Page 23 of The Un-Apparent Heir

“Hi, Luce. It’s Ed.”

“Hi, Ed. What is going on?”

“She’s had a complication. They want her here until they do the retrieval—if they do the retrieval. She’s in a lot of pain and on a lot of drugs.”

“Shit. I’m so sorry for you guys. Okay. So, she doesn’t want to tell the parents what is going on?”

“Correct.”

“There is no way Vanna will buy this. She’s been through it. She will see?—”

“Nor will Robbie,” Ed sighed. “Can you just try? Whatever you need to say. She is in a world of misery right now. I am so tired, Luce. I need help more than ever.”

“Oh… okay. I will handle it,” Lucy said. “I will ring Meredith?—”

“You need to ring her parents. Directly. Meredith will bury this—per Nat. Those are her orders. I’m just the messenger. I don’t know how.”

“I do,” Lucy said. “Don’t worry.”

Lucy hung up and stared out over Lake Michigan, shivering as the cold finally hit. She stepped back inside, approaching George.

“George, I need your phone.” Lucy held her hand out.

“What?”

“I need your phone. It’s an emergency and I won’t get through to your parents any other way. Can you call your Mum and put me on? It’s an emergency.”

“Okay,” George looked concerned but obliged, dialling his mother. “Yes, Mum. Sorry. It’s important. Well, I do not know.”

Lucy gestured wildly and George handed the phone over.

“Vanna, I am sorry to do this. We’re still in Chicago with Pat and George.”

“Oh, how was Malcolm’s birthday? Did you get the basket of sweets?”

The woman couldn’t have been sweeter if she tried. Her son had just woken her up at 1 AM to hand her over to a member of her former staff—his ex-girlfriend—and she wanted to make sure the baby had gotten a present.

“We did. It was so nice. You didn’t have to, but we all appreciated it.”

“Good. I am sorry we didn’t get to attend the party.”

“It is okay. George and Patrick outdid themselves and still will with this New Year’s celebration. I’m not calling because of that. Natalie and Ed rang me. They will be in hospital a few more days.”

“She said it was a cyst. Lucy, what are you not telling me?”

Vanna’s voice was on edge. Lucy didn’t want to lie, but Natalie was her best friend and employer.

“I… ma’am…”

“Lucy, don’t ma’am me. Malcolm is a great nephew to me. Winston is my godson. I do not want to hear that. Tell me. I promise you that what you say will stay here. I will not tell Natalie what I know. Alright?”

“Fine… uh… Natalie took fertility drugs. It’s an ongoing thing that I will not get into. It’s her business. Regardless, she is having a very bad complication, and they are on the fence about doing something more or just letting it resolve, I guess? I dunno. They’re in the hospital indefinitely.”

“Oh my God. She’s on fertility treatments? Why did she not tell me?”

George now stared at Lucy in confusion. He’d heard all.

“She didn’t want to have people pity her or ask questions, I think. Vanna, I… she will kill me for ratting her out, but the press will demand answers and she’s aware you need time. I can work on a release?—”

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