Checkers

Chapter 18 - The One Drink

I was sitting in a room that reminded me of a doctor’s office with a man who was currently bandaging up my leg.

"This is quite a wound Princess," the doctor observed.

"Yeah," I breathed out biting my lip to keep from screaming. The physician was not gentle in tending to my injury. I averted my eyes from his work to keep my thoughts away from the pain.

"You must have gone through a lot of pain," he remarked as he began to clean up. I examined my now neatly wrapped leg and let out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah, but at least I came in first place! I would have never believed that," I gushed. The physician studied me for a moment before bursting out in laughter. I glared at him when he didn’t stop.

"Excuse me Princess," he stated as he gained control of himself. "It's just that you haven't been taught much in the time you've been here."

"What?" I asked confused.

"The point of this challenge is time management. The judges want you to take as much time as you can so they can see you're well fit and you don't…harm yourself," he explained the last part gently.

"Tell me you're not serious! They said it was for multi-tasking!" I began to freak out.

"I would but I am not much of a liar," he continued speaking as he returned to cleaning up his equipment.

"Does that mean that I just lost the challenge?" I wondered clearly frightened.

"No," he assured quickly. "You cannot lose a challenge though I must admit, you might have lost points."

I groaned but the doctor was quick to add, "It doesn't mean you can't gain them back. Not to worry Princess, you will do perfectly fine."

"Why didn't anyone tell me this before I made a complete fool out of myself?" I almost shouted.

He shrugged as the door opened and Marcus welcomed himself in. He seemed genuinely surprised to discover me here but I figured that he knew where to find me.

"Oh Princess, I'm glad you're here," he said strolling over to me. I raised my eyebrows at him with mild curiosity.

"I am here to escort you back to your room," he explained. Of course, I thought to myself, now Lady Monida is definitely never going allow me to be alone.

"Okay," I mumbled as I attempted to stand. I yelped as my foot made contact with the floor and the physician inspected me with a concerned expression present on his face.

"Just wait here with her please, Sir Marcus. I would like to get her some pain medication before you make your exit," the doctor requested before leaving the room.

Marcus shifted his weight uncomfortably as I tried to discover a decent standing position. The pain was decreasing but I still felt a throbbing. Wincing, I commanded Marcus to distract me.

"What?" he seemed confused by my request.

"Talk to me to divert my thoughts from the pain," I grimaced as I leaned on a nearby chair.

"Um…did you know today was my birthday?" he supplied.

I glanced at him a little surprised, "No. Happy Birthday! How old are you?"

"21," he announced proudly.

I nodded and tried to get him to continue, "How are you celebrating?"

His proud smile turned into a frown, "I'm not."

"Why not?" I asked puzzled.

"My family is out of town and I don't have many friends free from the competition," he replied sadly.