It's So Much More Than That (A Selection Story)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Outside of my room I hear a ruckus, so I sit up abruptly in my bed.

"Move away. Let me see her!" I hear someone say.

"Yes your Majesty" the whispered replies answer.

The door bursts open and Maxon comes in. "America?" His jaw drops when he sees me. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

He crosses the room and kneels down by my bed.

"Maxon it's fine –"

"America, it's not. Please tell me what is the matter – are they okay?" He places a hand on my bump, looking concerned.

"Everything's fine now, Max. It's just that..."

"Just what?"

I take a deep breath. "You're not going to like it."

"America, just please tell me what happened. Why you're in the hospital. They told might right after my meeting that you'd been rushed to the infirmary. Do you know how frightening it was? I thought something had happened to you – to the twins." He says, running his hand through his hair like he does when he's stressed.

"I...was in my study all afternoon and I took a nap. I was feeling some cramping all day and –" I didn't want to say more. Somehow, I knew that what had almost happened would strike a chord in Maxon.

"And..."

"And, when I woke up, there was blood." His eyes widened. "Not that much, but still...I knew what that could mean, so I had them take me here." I barely whisper the last words.

I watch as my husband buries his face in his hands. I knew that it was probably my fault – I was the one who was stressing myself out all day, for goodness sake. That didn't help the fact that I felt guilty for being so careless, especially when I had been told to take it easy.

I had no idea how Maxon was handling this. He was in his own world at the moment – someplace where even I couldn't reach him. The moment I had realized what was happening, my second thought was what Maxon would do if we lost them. I didn't have much experience with pregnancy, but I knew that blood couldn't be a good thing. I felt terrible thinking about what Maxon was thinking – his mother had had many miscarriages before him; he could've had so many siblings.

"Maxon..." I gently wrap my arms around him, trying to coax him out. "Please...talk to me."

Finally, he looks up, his face etched with concern. "You scared me Ames..." he whispered. "I...I don't know what I..."

"Shhh." I say. "It's not your fault. I shouldn't have worked so much."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, the doctors said I'll be alright. I just shouldn't be that busy. They said that I might need to be on bed rest if this happens again."

"Please take some time off, Ames. I don't care if you have to drop your meetings or whatever. We can work this out." He takes my chin so I look him straight in the eye. "Please...do this for them, okay?"

"Okay." I whisper. As much as I hate resting, I can't have Maxon worrying about me all the time. He has way to much else to worry about. "Listen, we'll be okay." I can tell that he doubts himself already, even though this is nothing like Clarkson and Amberly. "I'll rest I promise."

"Okay, America. I love you."

"I love you too."

Maxon has the rest of his day to attend to, but I have to stay put. Before he leaves, he ruefully glances back at me.

"Don't worry, I'll stay put. I'll have Marlee and Silvia bring me some of my plans and we'll work on it on here."

He lets out a tired sigh. "Okay. I'll see you later. Love you."

I spent the rest of the day working with Marlee and Silvia in my hospital room. I was told to stay put, and just let them do the work, but I occasionally pipe in whenever I needed to. I had so much to think about, especially if the Italians were coming.

That night, Maxon gently carried me to bed, telling me to get some rest. The next couple days followed in a similar pattern, except after a while, I was allowed to be at my desk instead of in bed, as long as I didn't work too long. Marlee and Silvia were gracious helpers however, I hated that I was making them work overtime. Nicoletta told me she was coming alone next week, so preparations were being made in the palace.

Maxon was working overtime, and every night when he came back, I instantly felt bad for not alleviating some of the workload from him. He told me it was okay; that he'd get some others to help him sometime. A couple days later, I was surprised to see Kriss show up.

"America." She nodded when she entered my office.

"Oh, hi Kriss." I say. "What brings you to the palace?"

"Maxon asked if I could help with education. I've been touring around the provinces assessing the situation with the...sevens, you know. The Education board and I have come up with some different solutions to the problems we've been encountering on the lower castes and thinking of ways to correct the stigmas that come along with educating them."

"This is wonderful, Kriss, thank you for doing this."

"Oh, it's no problem...your Majesty. This is what I love doing."

"I know."

"How are you doing? Are you doing alright? How are the twins?"

"Good, thank you. I'm supposed to be resting, so there's that."

She smiles. "I understand. America...can I ask you something?" I stare at her, not knowing what to say. In front of me is the girl who was so close to having all of this. Maxon has told me repeatedly that he still would've chosen me, even if the rebels hadn't attacked. I try not to think about that day much; the day where Maxon and I almost ruined both of our lives, and the day where I almost lost him.

Eventually, I mutter, "sure".

She glances down at the ground before returning her gaze to me. "Look, I want to be honest with you. I don't want you to think that by working with Maxon that I haven't moved on or anything like that. I've actually...been seeing someone lately."

"Kriss, that's great."

"Thanks." She whispers.

As much as I appreciate this conversation, it's hard to put my feelings into words for Kriss. I know it's taken some time and distance for her to probably fully get over Maxon, but I admire her politeness on the whole matter. "I understand what you're trying to say, and I would probably be doing the same thing in your position. I'll just say that I completely trust Maxon, and I believe that you will do an excellent job as you always do. Thank you for helping us out, I might need a little extra help around here, as you can see."

"Of course, America."

She turns to leave. "Go tell that guy you're seeing...that I say hi."

She laughs. "Okay, Your Majesty."

I roll my eyes.

"It was nice seeing you, Kriss. Be sure to drop by my office anytime."

"I will. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Sorry for the sort of abrupt ending...I've been super busy with everything, but I'll try to update later this week! Thank you so much for reading! Also, if you haven't already, I would love it if you could go check out my other story, Reign, which I will be updating every Saturday! Thanks. -A