Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell #6)(68)

“She was tired,” Aidan felt the need to add when Darrin didn’t say anything.

“Yeah,” Duncan said, nodding his head in agreement, “tired.”

When he still didn’t say anything, Duncan reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous gesture that Darrin was all too familiar with.  Knowing exactly how to push his brother’s buttons, Darrin folded his arms over his chest and focused all of his attention on Duncan.

The weak link in the room.

“So, ummm,” Duncan said, clearing his throat uncomfortably, “we’re umm, just gonna go now….”

He simply cocked a brow.

“Duncan,” Aidan whispered harshly, sending their fidgeting brother a warning glare, but it was too late and they both knew it.

Duncan’s mouth worked soundlessly as he stared at him, looking helpless beneath his glare. It was only a matter of time now before he-

“It was Aidan! I had nothing to do with it!”

“You dumb son of a bitch,” Aidan said, sighing heavily as he closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief, but Duncan was on a roll and there was nothing and no one that would be able to stop him from spilling everything he knew.

“He snuck her a sedative and then he started bitch slapping me! I had to put him in a headlock! I had to! It wasn’t my fault that Marybeth rolled off the bed! It was that bastard’s fault!” he pointed out frantically as he gestured wildly towards Aidan, who simply stood there, shaking his head in disgust.

Nodding, he digested that information before he asked, “You drugged my wife?”

“She needed it,” Aidan said firmly, meeting his gaze head on.

“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully as he shifted his attention to his wife. “How much longer will the sedative last?”

“It should last her through the night,” Aidan explained.

“You’re sure about that?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Good,” he said approvingly as he reached back and pulled his phone out of his back pocket, deciding that this was probably the best time to start making some calls.

Chapter 34

“Ummm, what exactly are you doing?” she decided to ask when she felt him place something else on her back.

“Shhh, not while I’m learning,” he whispered, placing what felt like another piece of paper on the growing pile of papers on her back.

“Umm, learning about what exactly?” she asked, turning her head so that she could see what he was doing.

“How to take care of you,” he said, throwing her a quick smile before he returned his attention to the large stack of papers on his lap.

“When exactly did I come with instructions?” she couldn’t help but ask as she awkwardly reached back and grabbed the haphazard stack of papers covering her lower back so she could see what had her husband up at the crack of dawn.

Gripping the stack of papers, she sat up and leaned back against the headboard. Yawning, she reached up and rubbed her eyes with her free hand, tempted to curl up and go back to sleep, but she was thirsty and needed to use the-

“What the hell is this?” she asked, blinking her eyes as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

“Information about endometriosis, treatments, diets, hysterectomies and after care. The surgery won’t cure your endometriosis, but it will stop it from getting any worse. There are a lot of decisions that we have to make before we get back, but I think we should look into natural remedies first before we try hormone replacement drugs,” he explained as he handed over the piece of paper that he’d been reading and picked up the next one off the large pile.

Frowning, she looked down at the piece of paper that he’d handed her and felt like she was going to be sick. “There’s still time to figure all of this out later,” she said hollowly as she placed the stack of papers down on the small space between them and stood up, needing to put some space between them for this conversation.

“Dad and Aidan managed to call in a few dozen favors for us. The surgery is scheduled two weeks after we get back,” he explained as he continued to read through all the paperwork covering the bed.

“I didn’t ask them to do that,” she mumbled, leaning over her suitcase to find some clothes.

“You didn’t need to ask.”

Ignoring the way that her hands shook, she grabbed a change of clothes and swallowed hard. “I’m not having the surgery. At least not yet.”

“This was the best date they could get for us, Marybeth. If we pass it up we might not be able to get in for a few more months,” he explained distractedly as she knelt there, listening to him shuffle through more papers.

“I’m not having the surgery yet, Darrin,” she said more firmly as she stood up and turned around to face him.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, looking up from the paper in his hands to frown at her.

“I can’t have the surgery yet.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You need this surgery!”

Licking her lips nervously, she hugged the clothes in her arms against her chest. “I’m not saying that I won’t have the surgery,” she hedged, “I’m just not going to have it now.”

“You need this surgery, Marybeth,” he said evenly as he tossed the papers aside and got up, probably to shake some sense into her.