Page 51 of Omega Tricked

“I’m sure he is. But I don’t want to defy him, and I’m not going to lie and say I examined Lex if I didn’t.”

I bit my bottom lip. “He’s probably sleeping. He’s very tired.”

“He can go back to sleep when I’m done with the examination. It will only take a few minutes. I don’t plan on taking blood or urine. I just need to give him a cursory exam so that I can tell Charles I did.”

Frustrated, I moved toward Lex’s room. “This is ridiculous.”

“I’ll be quick.” He followed me.

I knocked softly on Lex’s door and opened it. Lex was sitting up, looking amiable. His expression changed when he noticed Dr. Peters and the stethoscope in his hand. “This is my boss, Dr. Peters.”

Lex frowned. “Okay.”

“Charles wants him to check you over. To be sure what you have isn’t contagious.” I grimaced, well aware he knew exactly what Charles was up to, as I did.

“Sorry to intrude.” Dr. Peters gave an uneasy laugh. “Charles is a hard man to refuse.”

Pressing his lips tight, Lex met my gaze. “You’re cool with this?”

“I don’t really have any say.” I scowled. “Charles runs the show.”

Irritation was plain on Lex’s face, but then he said, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything to have a checkup.”

“I’m sorry. Charles is being a jerk.” I sighed.

“It’s fine.” Lex threw back the covers.

I turned away and left the room, giving them privacy. I went into the kitchen and began peeling potatoes for dinner. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I was able to make a pretty good beef stew. I tried not to think about how annoyed I was with Charles. I understood that his job was to keep us all safe, but his fixation on Lex was definitely getting ridiculous. Lex hadn’t done anything suspicious that I was aware of. He’d only used the phone once, to call his office, to let them know he was taking a few sick days. If he was a criminal mastermind, surely he’d have done something other than lie in bed all day.

I had the potatoes boiling and the beef defrosted by the time Dr. Peters came out of Lex’s room. He tucked his equipment away in his bag, and he joined me in the kitchen.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

He leaned against the counter. “No fever. His throat isn’t red or irritated. He said he had a touch of intestinal issues, but whatever he had seems to have passed.”

“Good.” I faced him, crossing my arms. “He wasn’t faking. He looked horrible this morning.”

“Sure. I believe you. You both went through a lot. His sickness could have been stress related even.” He hesitated. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

His lips curved in a smile. “You’d say that no matter what.”

I frowned. “If I was sick, I’d say so.”

His smile faded. “I hope you know I’m not taking sides with Charles against you.”

I didn’t respond because I wasn’t sure what he thought about Lex.

He sighed. “What do you really know about this Lex fella?”

“I know that he saved my life.” I tried to keep my impatience out of my voice. “I know that he hasn’t done anything to deserve Charles’s suspicion.”

“Charles means well.”

“Does he?” I scowled. “To me, it seems more like he needs someone to fixate on, and Lex is the lucky candidate.”

“Come on, Dylan. Charles isn’t like that. He has good instincts.”