The Agreement

Chapter 9

"Tired," She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

"Sleep," Victor whispered, "We will be here when you wake."

"No," She mumbled as she pulled her hand out of his. "Leave."

"As I was saying Sir, Countess Graves," Esme stirred and moved to sit up, "Easy does it," the doctor said walking away from Victor to help her sit up. "How are you feeling?"

"Drained," She mumbled. She noticed the large group of men and frowned, "Why?"

"They informed me that they are your husbands Ma'am and Lady Elizabeth confirmed," He explained as he held her wrist. "I legally can't force them to leave."

"Don't," She groaned as he gently turned her neck.

"I'm sorry Countess but my hands are tied," He spoke softly. "As your spouses, I'm obligated to answer any questions they have." She weakly glared and he smiled sadly. "I'm sorry but good news is that this one wasn't as serious so you can leave as soon as you feel strong enough to walk and keep food down."

"Thank you," She closed her eyes as he helped her get more comfortable.

"Hopefully I won't see you for a while," He patted her knee and she gave him a thumbs up.

"Elizabeth," She mumbled softly.

"I already made the plans My Lady," Elizabeth said rushing to her side. "The car is on standby for when you are strong enough to leave."

"Thank you," She sighed as shifted to try and get more comfortable. "How?"

"Osiris, Shiva and the pride are just fine," Elizabeth spoke softly while pulling up the gallery. "They have taken up the porch at the moment and there are two new little ones. It's still too soon to tell the genders but I'm personally kind of hoping for one of each. I think Kiari is the mom but I'm not totally for sure. Raja and Nala are completely healed from their surgeries and are walking better now. Roscoe is still as stubborn as ever but is tolerating the workers from a distance." She kept showing her pictures then smiled, "Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you the sanctuary in South Korea is now open and they have sent a video of a couple of baby orphan panda cubs being claimed by some females that lost their cubs."

"How sweet," Esme sighed watching the video of the baby pandas playing. "Glad."

"We have to wait a couple of weeks but we should be able to go visit soon," Elizabeth said as she put the phone away. She looked back over and smiled seeing Esme sleeping. "You might as well leave and get some sleep yourselves. She is going to sleep all night long."

"We are staying here," Victor shook his head. "We aren't leaving her."

"Good luck with that," Elizabeth shrugged and opened her laptop.

"You won't tell us what happened?" Sean asked.

"Not without verbal consent from My Lady," She shook her head without looking up from where she was typing. "I did my duty as her lady in waiting and notified you that she was in the hospital. Nowhere in my job description does it say I have to betray her trust and disclose personal information without her consent. That goes for my job as her lady in waiting as well as her best friend. You can force the information from her doctor and deal with the anger she will have for gathering her personal information behind her back or you can wait until she wakes and try to get the information from her."

"Do you think she will tell us?" Victor asked making Elizabeth sigh in annoyance.

"Honestly? No," she looked up from the laptop, "but then again, I didn't think you would stalk her all the way to Ireland or give into her request and leave her alone then show up here so I can't say for sure how she will react. You keep throwing her for a loop so I can't say for sure one way or the other."

"Well, thank you for being honest," Owen said as he cleaned his glasses. "Guess we will just find out when she wakes up."

Esme stirred and tensed for a second. She was back in her bedroom in her house. She sat up and looked around in confusion.

"Oh My Lady, good morning," Elizabeth smiled as she came in and moved the curtains to let in some natural light.

"What in the?" Esme asked as she yawned.

"Well, it seems that Sean Green is actually a doctor and after he gained the trust of your doctor, he allowed him to bring you home," Elizabeth explained as she helped Esme get out of bed and made sure she was steady on her feet. "Dr. O'Brien didn't reveal your medical history so they still don't know."

"Good," Esme said as she attentively took a few steps and smiled. "I hate feeling like this."

"Maybe you should tell them My Lady," Elizabeth said gently. "They might be able to help."

"No," Esme said sternly. "You've seen their kind of lifestyle, Elizabeth. That lifestyle is would only cause more. I won't be a part of that lifestyle and I won't force them to give up their way of life just because of my health."

"You aren't forcing us to do anything." She turned around in shock to see Victor come into the room with the rest of them following. "We don't like being in the public, actually we were forced to be in it. Ever since our parents have passed we have been stepping back more and more. We like our privacy more, we actually like your lifestyle and want to live that kind of way. Please, give us a chance to prove it to you. Please let us help, tell us what's wrong so we can help. Please, Esme."

She looked at Elizabeth who smiled gently and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on Elizabeth's arm and looked down at the carpet, "I have epilepsy. It has already greatly affected my health. If my stress and anxiety get too bad, I have seizures and pass out."