At that moment, Xander truly wished he could give Shawn a couple of hard ps. And maybe himself, too. He hadn''t noticed anything wrong with the ''doctor'' either.
Because Yvonne was so angry, it took Xander a long time to coax her back into a good mood. He even had to promise to take her out for hot wings that evening.
Back in Ferrond.
After Yvonne finished exining everything over the phone, Ste was stunned silent for a good while. Her pregnancy had already made her a bit slow on the uptake, and now, hearing Yvonne''s story, her brain felt like it was buzzing.
"Let me get this straight. Xander and Shawn hired a mental patient to be your psychiatrist?"
Yvonne''s voice on the other end was weary. "You got it. Oh my God, those two brothers are certifiably insane."
She soundedpletely drained, defeated by their sheer ipetence. A mental patient hired as a psychiatrist... who wouldn''t bepletely broken by that?
Ste gasped. "I told you Xander was unreliable! And Ronald was trying to convince me he had his act together." This wasn''t just ''unreliable.'' This was a whole new level of ipetence.
Yvonne sighed. "I was so mad I actually got into a fight with the guy."
"Did you punch Xander?"
"I didn''t have the energy left!" She''d been too angry to even hit anyone. That''s how infuriating the whole thing was. At that moment, she''d wanted to tear Xander limb from limb.
"What about Shawn? He should be shipped off to the South Pole to hang out with the penguins!" With a brain that foggy, he needed to be somewhere cold enough to freeze it back into working order.
Yvonne groaned. "Don''t even mention him." Just thinking about him made her want to hit something.
"So, why are you seeing a
psychiatrist in the first ce?" Ste finally asked the most important question. She''d wanted to ask soon as Yvonne mentioned it, but the story about Xander and Shawn''s screw-up was just too shocking to ignore.
Yvonne exined, "What else could it be? All that stress from looking for Susanna and dealing with Hull. I think the pressure got to me. I''ve been throwing uptely."
"Stress-induced gastritis?"
"Probably. I get nauseous anytime I''m anxious."
A wave of guilt washed over Ste. She should have told Yvonne sooner that Susie was safe. She sniffled sadly. "And now? Are you still worried about Susie?"
"She''s with Ronald, why would I be worried? It''s just... I think I was bottling it all up before. Now, I can''t handle any stress at all. The minute I get anxious, I throw up."
rt ached for her. Anxious
Ste''s heart
to the point of vomiting... it was easy to imagine how severe the pressure had been. On one hand, she had to answer to Hull; on the other, ck Gate refused to release their captive. The situation could have easily caused a permanent rift between. Hull and Ronald Under that kind of pressure, Yvonne''sst few weeks must have been hell. It seemed like she was taking all her frustration out on ck Gate, but in reality, she was bearing the heaviest burden herself.
Ste sighed. "That sounds serious. You need to see a proper doctor. Why don''t youe back home?"
"It''s fine. I''lle back after this business with Hull is wrapped up."
They chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up. When Ronald came into the room, he
found Ste holding her phone imet
one hand and a piece of baby clothing in the other. Since they found out she was having triplets, gifts and supplies had been pouring in, and she insisted on inspecting every single item herself.
She was still so young. In Ronald''s eyes, Ste was still a child herself, but she was already taking to motherhood so naturally.
The man walked up behind her and scooped her into his arms, sitting down with her in hisp.
"Hey, be careful!" Ste grumbled, though without any real heat. She was used to him carrying her around, but now she had babies to think about.
Ronald gently squeezed her hand. "What''s wrong? Is my Star not letting me hold her anymore?"