The Paladin (The King Eternal Monarch AU)

Calm in the Night

She was struggling to wake up. Her left hand felt as though as it was tied down. Something in her mind was screaming out danger.

She opened her eyes and saw bright fluorescent lights. Then she remembered excruciating pain.

No! Not again. Not a hospital again. I've got to get out of here.

Someone touched her and she went into attack mode. She pulled out the cable that tied her down and sat up. Her arms were raised to lock in hand-to-hand combat.

Better. Much better. She felt free.

"Your majesty. Your majesty. You must calm down."

Majesty? Me?

"Your majesty, it's me, East," a man said.

She felt confused.

She focused her gaze on one of the two men. One was in a white lab coat. She knew his face.

"Dr Jason. East," she said, trying to breathe slower. She was hyperventilating.

"You pulled out the IV line again, Your Majesty," the grey haired doctor said. "I think you're hydrated enough, for now. We'll put another in during the morning rounds. It seems like you can't sleep with one on."

She felt ashamed. She had always kept her vulnerabilities hidden. She looked down at her hands.

"Would you like to have some dinner?" East asked.

The thought of eating was repugnant.

"Something simple, please."

East nodded and spoke into his ubiquitous earpiece. It dangled out of his ear. She should get him a better one.

Elizabeth braided and unbraided her fingers repeatedly. She didn't like the idea of sleeping with people around.

It seemed like Dr Jason and East already knew what it was like when she slept. They looked at her warily when she woke up as though afraid that she was going to go ballistic.

She hated that.

She glanced around at the room. The royal ward was so different from the other wards downstairs. Wooden panels covered the walls and tasteful sculptures and paintings decorated the periphery. There was also a gurgling water fountain near the head of her bed.

She turned her head to her side, trying to see the monitor she was hooked up on. Blood pressure was 150/90. Heart rate showed 137 bps.

She always woke up like this between blessed snatches of deep sleep. Her palms were always a little sweaty and her heart always pounding.

She rubbed her palms on the soft sheets, trying to get rid of the cold sweat.

She really hated showing this side of herself to anyone. She wanted to hide herself in the sheets.

"Dr Alice is here, your Majesty," East informed her.

Alice? No, not Alice.

"I don't want to see her."

She watched me get cut open by my damned uncle.

"Your majesty...," East wheedled.

"No. Only Dr Jason and no one else."

She didn't have a choice either. She was threatened by Edward too, her mind reminded. But....

It was hard to be objective when intense pain was involved. Elizabeth remembered the three days in the small room where she drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes doubled over without anaesthesia.