2. Telepathic Sickness

Spirit froze, the kit suddenly weighing a hundred pounds.

If she went back to the hospital now, she would lose the five-thousand-dollar bonus. Worse, Katherine would know she had failed on her very first day, completely ruining her credibility before her residency even truly began.

She thought of Liam’s school fees, thought of the empty pantry, and her student loan, which she had to pay back in six months.

Stand your ground, she commanded herself. She forced her voice into the calm tone she’d practiced during clinical simulations.

“Listen to me, Mr. Voss,” Spirit said, squaring her shoulders.

“I am a licensed Registered Nurse, not a babysitter. Your grandfather signed a medical directive for three days of continuous private care, and I have signed a legally binding corporate NDA. If you have a grievance with his arrangement, you are welcome to call his office. Until then, I am entering this house and doing my job.”

The man didn’t flinch. If anything, her defiance only made his expression harden into something chilling.

He didn’t look at her like a medical professional; he looked at her like an annoying insect that had flown onto his porch.

“I don’t care about your little contract, and I definitely don’t care about your nursing patch,” he said as he leaned down, completely invading her space.

“My grandfather is an old man who likes to control things. I am a grown man who doesn’t like uninvited guests. Turn around, get back in the car, and tell them you couldn’t handle the assignment. I won’t ask you again.”

He was, without a doubt, the most pigheaded, unreasonable person she had ever met. He wasn’t just rejecting his grandfather’s care; he was deliberately trying to humiliate her.

Before Charles could physically shut the door in her face, a lazy, drawn-out voice drifted from inside.

“Charles, drop the attitude. What type of man sends away such a gorgeous nurse?”

The words sliced into the air, instantly making the hairs on the back of Spirit’s neck stand up.

“We don’t need her to treat us..,yeah, we totally lied to Grandpops about being sick,” the voice continued, dripping with amusement.

“But we do need her for other things.”

Spirit felt her skin crawl. Her eyes darted past Charles’s broad shoulder, tracking the sound to the sofa. The second triplet was sitting up now, a devilish smile stretching across his face as he bit his bottom lip.

God, he’s a creep, she thought, her stomach twisting into a tight knot.

The distance she had been fighting to maintain completely shattered, replaced by a genuine, suffocating wave of fear. She was entirely isolated in a gated estate with three men who clearly thought they were above the law.

“What is wrong with you two? You’re terrifying her.”

The third voice cut through the suffocating tension like a breath of fresh air.

It came from the staircase.

The triplet who had been glued to his phone finally sighed, locking his screen and sliding it into his pocket. He stood up straight, and despite the panic clawing at her throat, Spirit couldn’t help but briefly admire his beauty.

While Charles was an imposing, aggressive storm, and the brother on the couch was a walking nightmare, this third brother has this calm aura.

He walked toward the door, stopping right beside Charles. He gave his brother a look of exasperation.

“You’re the absolute worst person to answer the door,” he said softly before turning his gaze directly to Spirit.

The cold atmosphere that surrounded the first two brothers instantly evaporated the moment he looked at her.

He offered a warm, genuinely reassuring smile that actually reached his eyes.

“Please, come in. Ignore them.”

Spirit let out a ragged breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, her shoulders dropping in relief.

Finally, she thought, a wave of relief washing over her.

A normal one.

The “normal” brother stepped forward, smoothly cutting off Charles’s path. He reached down and took the medical kit from Spirit’s grip. His fingers brushed hers briefly—warm, gentle, and completely unthreatening compared to the oppressive presence of his brothers.

“I’m Chris,” he said, his voice soothing her frayed nerves. “And the brute who tried to block your way is Charles. Please, come inside out of the heat.”

Spirit forced her legs to move, stepping across the threshold into the sprawling living arear. The cool air-conditioning hit her face, but it did little to stop the racing of her heart.

She kept her eyes glued to Chris’s back as he carried her kit, treating him like a human shield.

“Oh, look at that. Chris is playing the white knight again,” a mocking voice chimed.

The second brother stood up from the sofa, stretching his sculpted torso. He walked toward them, his hips swinging with the swagger of a model.

Up close, his face were identical to his brothers’, but his smile was entirely different… teasing, chaotic, and mischievous.

“Don’t tell me you’re charmed already, sweetheart,” he purred, stopping just a few feet away.

“I’m Chase. The fun brother. If you’re going to be trapped here for three days, you might as well figure out who actually makes the rules.”

“You’ll have to forgive my brothers. They have zero manners,” Chris said, his tone a mix of embarrassment and charm.

“But Chase wasn’t entirely lying. We aren’t sick. Grandpa, being Grandpa, went ahead and arranged a blind date for each of us today. None of us were interested in playing his little matchmaking games, so we just called in sick to get out of it.”

Spirit frowned, her medical mind rejecting the logic immediately.

“The three of you? At the exact same time? That doesn’t make any sense.”

A lazy smirk spread across Chase’s face.

“Yeah, well, Grandpa raised us from day one. He knows our triplet telepathic sickness is a real thing, and it’s not something to be taken lightly.”

Spirit blinked, processing the ridiculous explanation. The panic that had been squeezing her chest for the last ten minutes rapidly flipped into hot anger.

Triplet telepathic sickness. What absolute bullshit.

She had risked her entire career, bypassed hospital orientation, signed a terrifying corporate NDA, and driven forty minutes out of the city into a gated fortress: all because three grown-ass men wanted to play hooky from their grandfather’s blind dates.

“So,” Charles muttered, his deep voice cutting through her disbelief. He crossed his muscled arms as he leaned against the doorframe, his icy blue eyes boring into her.

“Now you know the truth. There is no medical emergency. There are no patients. You’re entirely useless here, Nurse…”

His eyes flicked down to her identification badge before snapping back up.

“…Browne. Are you going to leave on your own, or do I need to call security to escort you past the gates?”

Spirit’s hand instinctively drifted toward her pocket, where her phone rested against her thigh. Her first instinct as a professional was to page Katherine immediately.

She needed to report that the assignment was a fraud and that she was being hostilely dismissed by the subjects.

But then she remembered the text message she had received right before leaving the house that morning. It was a notification from her bank showing her current balance: $43.12.

She remembered Liam’s upcoming tuition deadline. If she walked out, Katherine would rescind the five-thousand-dollar bonus. She would be thrown right back to the bottom of the residency pool, struggling to make ends meet on a base stipend.

She looked at Charles’s arrogant, smug smirk. He thought he had won. He thought a first-day rookie would turn tail and run the moment he snapped his fingers.

Spirit took a deep breath. The introverted, terrified girl who had wanted to pass out five minutes ago was pushed deep down, replaced by the fierce, protective older sister who had kept a household running for five years.

She took a step toward Charles, refusing to look down as he towered over her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Spirit announced, her voice ringing out clearly.

Chase let out a surprised, delighted laugh, while Charles’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing. Chris simply raised his eyebrows, a look of genuine surprise and respect washing over his handsome face.

“Like I said, Mr. Voss,” Spirit continued, turning her gaze to all three of them.

“I signed a contract for three days of continuous private care. If your grandfather says you require supervision, then as far as Voss Memorial Hospital and my license are concerned, you are my patients. For the next seventy-two hours, you answer to me.”