The Cambridges - BRF Fanfiction

13. Hospital

"But don't fall asleep, Vic..."

Lights and sounds, everything muffled. Her being lifted from the cement and carefully placed on something more comfortable, a breathing mask on her face, bright lights in her eyes. A nice woman calling her name, telling her to answer.

"Can you hear me, Victoria?"

James' hand on hers, his grab, his voice. "Vic it's okay. I'm sorry Vicky, I'm so, so sorry."

Her, trying to open her mouth and speak, finding it unbearably difficult. "Not... Your... Fault..."

"Oh then you hear us," the voice of the paramedics. She was smiling, she knew it. "You're gonna be okay Victoria, don't worry, we're taking care of you."

As her eyes felt heavy, the last thing she heard were ambulance sirens.

***

Victoria slowly opened her eyes. She was feeling completly numb, like if her body was unable to communicate with her brain, and they were both just working on their own. She was feeling like if she had just been ran over by a truck. Her throat was completely dry and it hurt as she tried to speak. Her vision was still a bit blurry, but for sure she wasn't in her bed. As she carefully tried to move, someone squeezed her hand. She hadn't realized she wasn't alone. Actually, she hadn't realized many things.

"Vic, sweetheart."

"Granny," the Princess smiled, or at least tried to.

Carole jumped up from her chair, leaning over her granddaughter.

"I'm here love, I'm here. Easy, uh?" she smiled. A tiny smile, but so needed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure I'm feeling at all," she replied.

Her grandmother let out a sigh, vaguely amused. "How didn't you lose your sense of humor?"

"Should I have?"

"Well maybe," Carole raised an eyebrow. "You're just like your father."

Victoria let out a low moan as she began to feel her body again. It hurt, without doubt.

"What- What happened?" She managed to ask. "We're mum and dad?"

"Oh Vicky," her grandmother cooed. "They're going to be here soon, I promise."

The Princess sighed. "Okay, no more half answers. Can I... Know what happened?"

"You don't remember anything?"

"Ehm," Victoria tried to focus. "I was... Walking in London with James and- oh my god" she whispered, starting to panic, as she tried to get up and on her feet. Immediately, she felt the strongest pain she had ever experienced and eventually she fell back on her bed breathing heavily, as her sight went black for a second.

"Yes, yes love he's okay, he's not hurt at all" Carole hurried to her, trying to calm her down. "He's okay."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled, nodding, as she gently caressed Victoria's hair. "I'm a hundred percent sure. He has been here since you arrived, way earlier than we did. I told him to go get something to eat."

Slowly, the girl nodded as well. "What... What about mum and papa? And what... What happened, exactly?"

"While you were on the walk, a man approached and tried to stab you."

"Stab me?" Victoria's voice came out way higher than usual.

"Everything's alright, don't worry. You're safe now," Carole assured. "He got caught. Mum and papa are coming, they should be here any minute. Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes granny. Thanks." She smiled.

"That's my girl. Can I leave you just a second, I'm going to call a doctor to tell them you are awake." She gently squeezed her hand. Victoria squeezed it back.

"I'm not going anywhere, I suppose."

They both giggled. Carole grabbed her bag and walked out of the room. Within seconds, a nurse walked in holding a stack of papers. She gently smiled to Victoria and approached, introducing herself.

"Good evening Victoria. Or should I address you as Your Royal Highness?"

As a reply, Victoria smiled back. "Victoria is fine. Or Vic. Whatever you prefer."

"Perfect, Vic. I'm Emily. Nice to meet you." She placed her papers on the edge of the bed while Victoria gave her a look. She wasn't much older that her, and surely not older that twenty-four. She had long, brown hair and blue eyes, and nice and reassuring smile. "Can I check something?"

"Sure."

Emily got her stethoscope and placed it on Victoria's chest. She asked her to breath twice and nodded with a big smile. "Seems perfect. How are you feeling?"

"Not bad... I mean-"

"Not bad?" The young woman gave her a glance, smirking. "Well you're a superwoman if you feel 'not bad' less than five hours after getting a knife in your abdomen." She pretended to curtsy, causing Victoria to giggle.

"Well it does hurt a bit, but I would have expected it to be worse." She admitted.

"Yeah, don't go tasting victory just yet, you have enough morphine in your body to put an elephant asleep." She joked.

"Oh, good to know." Was Victoria's reply.

"I'm just kidding of course," Emily took her papers. "Everything seems pretty fine, you shouldn't be here much longer if nothing changes. A few days only. I'll come back later tonight to check again." She walked to the door, then she turned back one last time. "If I were you, I'd make sure to thank your Protection Officer. For what they told us, you could have hit your head pretty bad falling as a dead body to the cement."

Victoria seemed a bit confused. She distinctively remembered Jane grabbing her just before she could hit the ground. None of her POs had made it to her, yet.

"Oh he's not my protection officer." She smiled. "He's my friend."

Emily raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Are we talking about James Moore?"

"Yeah. Him."

Suddenly, the nurse giggled. "Oh I got it. I got it. Don't worry, he is your friend." She made sure to stress the last two words. "I'm not telling anyone, your secret is safe with me, Princess." She smiled once again and left, leaving Victoria wondering what she had just witnessed.