Home > Beyond Just Us (Remington Medical #4)(13)

Beyond Just Us (Remington Medical #4)(13)
Author: Kimberly Kincaid

A ripple moved through him, all the way under the bed sheets, under his gown and under his skin. “It’d be pretty fucking crazy,” he said, not unkindly, and a small, wistful smile slipped over Tess’s mouth.

“A little. But it wouldn’t be real. It’s a means to an end, that’s all.”

For just a breath, Declan wondered what had happened to this woman that she’d have such a jaded view of marriage. But reality was, he wasn’t exactly the marrying sort, either—not in the true sense of the word. Falling in love, finding that kind of happiness, a person to belong with, to belong to? He’d sooner believe he could sprout wings and fly to the moon.

Or that a woman he barely knew but somehow trusted would propose in order for him to get the medical treatment that seemed to be his only option at staying healthy until a kidney showed up to save his life.

“How would this work, then?”

Tess blinked, but to her credit, her surprise lasted only that long before she stepped toward his bedside and said, “Well, the trial officially starts next week, but there’s a bunch of paperwork and some pre-testing involved, so we’d need to get married as soon as possible. The courthouse is open until five.” She glanced at her watch. “If we hurry, we can make it.”

“Today?” Declan’s heart sped up. But that was stupid, really. This was a technicality. Not even real—at least, not in any sense that mattered. Real marriage wasn’t for him.

Tess laughed softly, and the sound put him oddly at ease. “Did you have other plans?”

“I s’pose not,” he said. “So, then it’s just a matter of all the paperwork?”

“Yep. I’ll add you to my insurance as soon as we get the marriage certificate, and then you can get the ball rolling on your pre-trial labs and scans. The trial lasts for ten weeks, and once it’s over and your maintenance period is done, we’ll get a divorce. But since we’re not going to share any property or anything, it’ll be super straightforward.”

“And you’re sure you’re good with it.” A marriage of convenience was still a marriage, after all.

But Tess simply nodded. “I’m a doctor. It’s my job to make sure people get the care they need, no matter what, and this is the only way you’re getting into that trial. So, yes. I wouldn’t have brought it up if I wasn’t sure.”

Declan looked down at the hospital bed, the tubes taped to his inked-up arms reminding him all too starkly that what she said was true.

This trial was his only hope at staying healthy while he waited for a viable kidney. Which meant he needed to do this.

He needed her.

“S’pose I should get ta eating this sandwich, then,” he said, meeting her gaze with certainty of his own. “Seems I’ve got a wedding to attend.”

 

 

7

 

 

To her credit, when Tess told Charlie that she and Declan were headed to the courthouse for a quickie elopement and, oh, by the way, could Charlie please accompany them to be her maid of honor/witness/babysitter, she did not ask if Tess had lost her flipping marbles.

She did, however, have other questions.

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Charlie said after reclaiming her jaw from the floor in the thankfully otherwise empty attendings’ lounge. “You’re going to marry Connor’s friend, the cover model, so he can get the insurance coverage he needs to participate in the medical trial that could potentially save his life while he waits for a kidney to become available for a transplant. As in, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, ’til death do you part, married?”

Tess was tempted—not a little—to point out that it was the only scenario by which a guy like Declan would ever agree to marry a too-brash, too-sarcastic, way-too-headstrong single mother eight years his senior.

But since she didn’t have time to split that particular hair just now, she said, “Yep. That about covers it. Well, except for the death do us part thing. For us, it’ll be ’til divorce do us part. But, y’know. It’s not like it’ll be my first.”

“That’s a very good point. Your divorce from Alec is pretty fresh,” Charlie said, closing her locker to look at Tess so pointedly that she had no choice but to reply.

“If this is the part of the conversation where you ask me if I’m sure I know what I’m doing, you can save yourself the time, along with the energy. I’m sure.”

“Tess.” Her best friend took a step closer, and damn it, she should have known Charlie wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily.

“What?”

“This is the part of the conversation where I tell you that if you need me to go to the courthouse with you to be your witness while you marry Connor’s best friend so he can get the health insurance he needs, I will absolutely do it.”

“But?” Tess prompted, because it was right there in Charlie’s eyes.

She didn’t disappoint. “But you’re my best friend, and I love you. Which means I also want to be sure you’ve honestly thought this through. You’re not talking about loaning the guy your sweater, Tess. Getting married is a huge deal.”

“To you,” Tess said as gently as she could. But come on. She’d tried marriage the old fashioned way, with the vows and the white dress and the registry as long as her leg, and it had turned out to be a colossal joke. “Look, Charlie, I get that you’re concerned, and I’m grateful, really. But I don’t look at marriage the way most other people do.” This was hardly a fact Charlie—or anyone who knew Tess at all—could argue. “What I’m doing for Declan…it’s just a technicality. A piece of paper. That’s it.”

“There’s a bit more to getting married than that,” Charlie argued.

Tess bit back the laugh welling in the back of her throat, mostly because she knew it held no joy. “There really isn’t. Not in this case, anyway. I get that for you and Parker, it’s different,” she added, because a) it was true, and, more importantly, b) Charlie wasn’t going to let it drop otherwise. “And I get that I’m an outlier here in thinking marriage isn’t a huge deal. But I’ve been there and done that, and the traditional way…let’s just say it’s not for me.”

It was, of course, an understatement and a half. Her failed marriage was like the cherry on top of the Things Tess Has Fucked Up sundae.

She shook off the thought. She had bigger things to focus on right now; namely, picking up Jackson from childcare and getting her ass to the courthouse in time to make the appointment she’d booked online. “You’ve seen Declan’s chart, Charlie. You know what he’s up against.”

“This trial is probably the only way to keep him off dialysis before a kidney can be found,” she agreed slowly. “Still. I know he’s Connor’s friend, so he’s not exactly some random patient, but are you sure?”

Finally, a painless question. “It’ll save him and cost me nothing, and you’re right.” Tess’s belly tightened at the hope she’d seen buried in Declan’s bright green stare. She could help him. At least in this one thing, she could trust. “He’s not some random patient. We won’t be sharing anything other than insurance. No assets, no property. No power of attorney. He’s certainly not going to have any rights to Jackson.” It was the one thing Tess had made one million percent sure of with her attorney before even going to Declan with the idea, and it was also the one thing on which she would never, ever budge. “So, yes. I’m very sure.”

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