Love For Hire

His family had come by a few times through the next few days to see him, but Nicholas had left orders with the medical staff to
send them away. He did not want to speak to anyone. He had spent a lot of his time thinking. The nurses told him he needed to
get up out of bed, so at least once a day, they put him in a wheelchair and wheeled him out to the hospital atrium so he could get
some air. When they brought him back to his room, Nicholas asked them to park his wheelchair by the window and to open it so
he could hear the birds.
He had been sitting by the window for a while when he heard footsteps come into the room. They were too heavy to be female,
and since he was not taking visitors, they had to be Dr. Horton’s. “Hello, Doctor.”
He heard Dr. Horton chuckle. “How did you know it was me?”
“Lucky guess,” he lied. He did not feel like explaining his process.
“My nurses told me you asked to see me when I came on duty.”
“Yes, thank you for coming.”
“How could I say no to my favourite patient?” He could hear Dr. Horton pull up a chair and sit down. “So, you wanted to talk.”
“How is your research coming?”
Dr. Horton sighed. “Honestly, I am getting nowhere. I do not know how to help you.”
His heart sunk, but it was what he had expected to hear. “Be honest with me, doctor... I am at the end, are not I? I am failing
fast.”
“Nicholas, there is always hope.”
“No, there’s not. You know it as well as I do. I am about two steps away from the grave,” Nicholas held a hand out. “I want to sign
a DNR.”
He could hear Dr. Horton gasp. “Nicholas, you know what that means?”
“Yes, it means If I stop breathing or my heart stops for any reason, the hospital staff is not to resuscitate me with CPR or other
life-saving measures. They are to let me die.”
“You cannot do this. Think about your family; think about Kinsley.”

“I am. The longer I linger, the more they suffer. I am a burden. I cannot keep doing this to them. To myself. Just let me die. I
promise you may have my body for your research. Maybe one day, you can save someone else... but where I am concerned,
just let me die.”
“You sound like you have given this some thought.”
“It is all I have thought of since I woke. I am done, Doctor. I am not doing it anymore. No more medication, no more treatment,
just send me home and let me die in my own bed.”
“If that is what you want?”
“It is.”
“I will have the paperwork drawn up. I will see they are signed by the end of my shift. I will call your family and tell them you are
being discharged. But I am sending you home in an ambulance. No car service is going to take on the liability of transporting
you.”
“Fair enough.”
He heard the sound of the chair drag against the floor, and he assumed that Dr. Horton had stood up. The sound that followed
was Dr. Horton leaving the room.
Now he just had to figure out how he was going to tell his family.
***
Naya rushed through the house to the parlour, where she found the others. Octavius had received word from Dr. Horton saying
that Nicholas had left the hospital against the doctor’s suggestions, and they were sending him home in an ambulance. Everyone
was gathering in the parlour because the EMS had called ahead to tell them they were five minutes out.
Samuel stood at the fireplace with one hand resting on the mantle and a glass of bourbon in the other. Teegan and Kinsley sat
together on the couch, discussing their theories of why Nicholas was refusing medical treatment. Naya took a seat on the couch
across for the girls. “He should be here any minute,” she said.
“I do not understand why Dr. Horton allowed him to check himself out,” Teegan said. “He is not a well man.”

“He allowed me to leave because it is a free country, and even dying men have rights,” everyone jumped when they heard
Nicholas speak. He was at the door. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a deep blue button-up shirt. His eyes were
sunken, and he was very thin. He was still seated in a wheelchair, and Octavius was pushing it. Nicholas did not look like he had
the strength to move the wheels on his own.
It was breaking Kinsley’s heart to see him. She remembered the man he was the first night they met, and now he was a husk of
that man. He looked like a living corpse. “Nicholas,” Naya spoke as she went to his side. “You are not well; you should be the
hospital where the doctors can care for you. What will we do if something happens?”
“You will do nothing,” Nicholas told her. He then held his hand up, and Octavius took a document out of the bag hanging on the
back. “I took the liberty of having the doctor and the hospital draw up some papers,” he said when Octavius placed the papers in
his hand. “This is a living will. It states that I am not to be kept on life support if something happens. It also had a DNR. I am not
to be revived if my heart stops or I stop breathing. It is signed by myself and the doctor. It is witnessed and notarized, and legally
binding. To go against it would be to go against my final wishes.”
Kinsley looked at the devastated looks on Samuel and Naya’s faces. “You want us to just let you die?” Naya asked. “That is too
much to ask of a mother,” she refused.
“Then, you may leave. I did things your way. All I received in return was misery and suffering. No more. I am done with it. His
document is legally binding. Make your choice. Accept it and stay until the end or leave now in protest and be done with it.”
Kinsley watched as Naya and Teegan both rose and left the room in protest. Samuel came over to his son. “Nicholas, think
about....”
“Goodbye, father,” Nicholas snapped, refusing to listen to anyone who disagreed with his choice.
Samuel did not bother to fight it; he just walked out the door. Kinsley walked over to Nicholas. “I do not think this is fair. You are
just giving up. If you do this, you will never make it to our wedding day.”
“That will not be a problem,” Nicholas said. “There will be no wedding. You and I are over. Pack your things and leave. Octavius
will have Stephen drive you to your parent’s house,” she had no choice but to go home to her parents because Kinsley had given
up her apartment when Nicholas asked her to marry him. Now he was just casting her out like she meant absolutely nothing to
him.
“Why are you doing this?” Kinsley asked, trying not to cry.

“I was willing to marry you because I wanted a child before I died. You failed to fulfill your end of the deal. Your services are no
longer required.”
He was treating her like the whole thing had just been a business relationship. Her heart was broken. Kinsley walked over and
slapped Nicholas across the face with her good hand. “You are going to die miserable and alone,” she snapped and stormed out.
She paused in the doorway for just a moment when she heard Nicholas mutter under his breath, “That is the plan,” that was
when it struck her; he was not throwing her away; he was trying to spare her the heartache of watching him die. She bit back her
tears and then left.
***
Nicholas sat in his wheelchair, trying not to show the pain he felt at sending Kinsley away. He listened to her footsteps as she
left. His chest ached at his loss. When he was sure they were alone, Nicholas spoke. “Octavius, after Miss. Wells has left. I want
you to go into town and pick up refills of all my medication.”
“I thought you said no more treatment?”
“I am not. I am going to party until I drop dead. Now do your job.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”