Page 115 of Ghost Ribbon

“We’re changing your doctor,” he said.

I sat up straighter despite the ache in my head. “No.”

His hand stilled. “No?” he repeated.

“I can’t.” The words came too fast. “The others are asking for too much. The specialist I saw before was already expensive, and the newer ones are even worse, and I already told you the check was too much and I can’t keep—”

“Marco.”

He turned fully toward me, one leg folding onto the bed, his entire attention suddenly narrowed to me and only me. His gaze hardened. “I’m going to be very clear.”

Every instinct in my body went still.

“There will be no argument when it comes to your health. You will do what I say.”

I stared at him. My mouth opened, then closed again.

Because a part of me wanted to push back immediately. To tell him he didn’t get to decide things like this for me. That this was still my problem.

But another part of me heard something else beneath the command.

Panic.

Not mine.

His.

And that made resisting harder.

Still, I tried. “I was trying to save money,” I whispered.

Alexei went silent. I could feel him looking at me.

I hated how small my voice had gotten. How young I sounded.

“For my mom,” I added after a second. “And because mine always turns into more. It’s never just one appointment. It’s tests and follow-ups and medication changes and transport and more tests and then someone says they want to monitor something and suddenly it’s three months of bills and—”

My throat tightened. “And I thought if I felt mostly okay, then maybe it could wait.”

Alexei’s hand came back to my hair, but this time it rested there instead of moving.

“I don’t care what they charge. I will pay it.”

“You can’t just—”

“I can.”

“I don’t want—”

He touched my face. “I know. You don’t want to need anyone. You don’t want to cost anyone. You don’t want to be the reason your family suffers again. I understand that.”

My eyes stung immediately.

“But you’re not making this decision alone anymore.”

I shook my head. “You don’t get to just—just take over everything.”

“No. I get to keep you alive.”