Paralyzed (Tboah!AlbeCale)

34) Rumor Reveal

A/n: kinda shippy but nothing actually happens lol

"Agh! What are you doi—"

'Shit.' Cale could not look away from the palm that was upturned for the entire room to see. It had been a minute or two since he had last wiped the blood, so there was more leaking out of the wounds, highlighting the injury.

"..."

'Why isn't he saying anything?'

The crown prince was silent as he looked at Cale's palm. After five seconds of awkward silence, he yanked his hand out of Alberu's grasp.

"Fuck! What the hell was that for, huh? Be more gentle when you suddenly grab someone, it hurts!"

Finally, Alberu spoke.

"Hey, you. You really didn't check him at all?"

Gulp. 'Ah, fuck!'

The physician immediately left the soup on Cale's bedside table and rushed to grab a healing potion. He didn't want to get fired; where else would he get paid so much?!

Cale just angrily reached for his soup, which he noticed had now grown cold, and shakily drank a spoonful. He didn't feel hungry anymore, but he couldn't just ignore it when the crown prince was watching him like a hawk.

"It's not even worth a potion, just wrap it and it'll scab over in a day. Tsk, why do you even care!? Why are you here anyway? Isn't there a meeting going on in my father's office? Why aren't you there? Stop bothering a patient!"

Alberu just leaned against the chair backing and picked up a nearby book, thoroughly ignoring Cale's frustrated grumbles.

'He's similar to an agitated cat when he acts like this.'

Alberu planned to stay until Cale's bowl was empty anyway, but he also wanted to see how long Cale could complain for. He was the only person to act like this around him, and Alberu felt extremely entertained whenever Cale would try to insult him.

"Hey, are you listening to me?! I said to leave me alone so that I can take a nap. Go do your war meeting or whatever the fuck it is. Leave me alone, ugh..."

"Then take a nap, don't let me stop you from resting."

Cale stared at Alberu for a few more seconds before admitting defeat. He was actually really tired after talking so much, and it was not like Alberu was being loud.

He huffed out one last sigh of annoyance before lying down on his side, facing away from Alberu.

'I will just rest my eyes for a bit... Until he leaves, and then I can go back to my room...'

___

Alberu glanced up at the physician, who came back from a storage closet with a high grade healing potion. Cale had laid down not even two minutes ago, and yet his breathing was already at a slow and steady pace.

He watched as the physician dripped a small amount of liquid over Cale's hands, and then closed the bottle again, moving to return it to the storage closet at the other end of the room.

"Leave it here."

The physician's eyes shook a bit as he gently set the glass bottle down on the trolley which held the half-empty bowl of soup.

'Haaa. He most likely doesn't have an appetite, but he really should eat more. He weighed barely anything when I picked him up earlier.'

Alberu's mind trailed back to how thin Cale looked when he first stumbled out into the hallway. He frowned, remembering how the staff constantly treats him.