Winning the Heir Who Bullied Me Chapter 49

Easton said we wouldn’t have any staff cater to us during the camping trip, but when we return to our room, there are suitcases and individual camping gear all packed and ready to go.

“What’s camping like?” June asks excitedly. She was very little when we used to go camping, so she doesn’t remember.

I join my sister on the bed.

“Camping is fun,” I answer. “You get to set up a tent and sleep under the stars. You cook food over a bonfire, and you can roast marshmallows or s’mores. And if you’re with a group of people, you can play games and—” A knock on the door interrupts me.

“Hold on,” I tell June as I stand to answer the door.

My eyebrows furrow when I see who’s at the other side of the door.

“Doctor Carter?”

Doctor Penny Carter smiles sweetly. “I told you to call me Penny.”

She’s in her lab coat, but underneath, she’s wearing smart pants and a lilac shirt, and her hair is neatly slicked back. Unlike her disheveled appearance the night she treated June, her appearance suggests that this is an intentional, predetermined visit.

I return her infectious smile. “Penny, what are you doing here?”

She tilts her head to the side, looking into the room. When she sees June, she beams. “Hi, sweetie.”

June hops off the bed and joins me at the door, smiling. “Hi!”

Penny crouches slightly, her eyes running all over June’s face. “You’re looking well,” she concludes, reaching out to squeeze my sister’s cheeks affectionately.

“It’s all thanks to you,” I say. “I can’t imagine what would have happened that night if you hadn’t—”

Penny waves my words away casually. “Nonsense, I was just doing my job. Which brings me to my reason for being here. Do you know what an insulin pump is?”

I nod. Of course, I know what an insulin pump is. It’s a device that automatically pumps insulin through a tube inserted under the skin. It works for more precise insulin control and constant blood sugar monitoring, greater flexibility between meals and activities, and cancels the trauma of multiple needle pricks throughout the day.

It’s also unbelievably fucking expensive.

Penny nods and then smiles at June. “I’ve been instructed to install one for June.”

I blink. *“What?”*

She smiles, clearly amused by my shock. She stretches a hand out for June. “Would you like that, sweetie?”

June glances at me. I’ve always wished I could get her an insulin pump. It’s great for tracking her blood sugar levels, and I wouldn’t have to worry when I’m not with her whether she’s fine or has gotten the correct insulin dose from whoever I asked to take care of her.

Still stunned, I nod to my sister, and she turns back to Penny and takes the doctor’s outstretched hand.

Penny leads us through the mansion to the clinic where she treated June that night. As we walk, I can’t believe what is happening.

I know we were told to ask for whatever we needed, and I’ve taken advantage of that, even asking Isaac for more insulin when June’s current supply ran out.

I never asked for this, though. It never occurred to me because it’s a luxury, not a need.

When we enter the room June had been in, I see an impressive array of supplies: the insulin pump, an infusion set (with tubing, cannula, and adhesive patches), a reservoir, alcohol wipes, and medical tape.

I know what each item does because I spent hours learning about them, wishing I could afford to get them for June.

My sister tugs on my hand, and when I lean down to her, she whispers shakily in my ear, “Will it hurt?”

Smiling gently, I shake my head. “No, Summer. It’s easier than the needles and better for you.”

“Really?”

I nod. “I wouldn’t let you get it if it would hurt you, you know that.”

Reassured, she nods.

“Okay,” Penny says, and we turn our attention to her, “so this is an insulin pump.” She holds up a small black device that kind of looks like an iPod.

She starts to walk us through the process of filling up the reservoir with insulin and priming the tubing. I listen intently, memorizing all the instructions.

Next, she moves closer to June. “Where would you like it, hon?”

June looks at me, and I smile reassuringly. “How about your abdomen? Or your thigh?”

She thinks for a moment before patting her belly shyly.

Penny lifts my sister’s shirt and gently cleans the area with alcohol swabs.

She holds up a circular plastic device. “This is an automatic inserter with the infusion set inside,” she tells me. Then she explains how to insert it onto June’s skin, explaining that I’ll have to change the infusion set and site every two to three days.

When she’s done, she smiles at June. “Ready?”

My sister presses her lips together and nods once.

Gently, Penny presses the inserter against her skin and pushes the button, inserting the cannula with a quiet click.

June lets out a soft giggle. “It didn’t hurt.”

I squeeze her hand. “Told ya.”

“Almost done,” Penny says, applying adhesive tape over the site. Then, she attaches the tubing connector to the infusion set port and primes the insulin pump.

When she’s done, June asks shyly. “Can I see?”

Penny chuckles and points to the mirror on the other side of the room. “Go for it, hon.”

June hops off the bed and rushes to the mirror, turning every which way to see her new pump.

I turn to Penny. “I—” I swallow against the ball of emotion in my throat. “Thank you,” I say sincerely.

She shrugs. “I’m just following orders, sweetie.”

“Who—”

I know the answer before Penny says it. “Master Nathan.”

I drop onto the bed that June vacated. “Why?” Helping her during the accident was one thing—it was reactive. This is proactive; he has absolutely no reason to do this.

Penny smirks. “Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long for him to ask me to do this, considering how beside himself he was that night.”

I frown. “What?”

She nods. “He almost lost his mind the night June had the allergy attack.”

I think of the cool, composed Nathan I walked into that night. “That doesn’t sound right.”

Penny chuckles. “He called me up, screaming down the phone. He said, and I quote, ‘If anything happens to that little girl, Penny, I’m going to lose my shit.’”

My mouth drops open.

Penny nods. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that frazzled before.” She leans in like she’s about to share a secret. “The book he was ‘reading’ when you came in? He was about to throw it across the room in frustration because June wasn’t waking up.”

She leans back and smirks. “Every day after that, he called me asking if June was okay. Did I think she was having any after-effects? Did I need to check her again?

Her words, while in English, sound like gibberish to me. Nathan was so calm and composed that night, as if it were just an inconvenience he had to take care of.

But he *cared*. He cared so much that he was on the verge of losing his mind. The new information shocks me so much that *I’m* on the verge of losing my mind.