-UndoubtedlyYours-

-Chapter♚♛OneHundredTwentySeven-

✧WAKING UP✧

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"Merlin, what is that god-awful ringing?" The patient hadn't opened his eyes as of yet, but at the mere touch of Rhea's hand into his, he curved it and turned to take a proper gaze.

And Rhea had caught another symptom, a single glossy eye—Almost as if clouds had taken over her iris.

"W-where—What's happened?"
"You tell me, brother. Rhea says you took a fall in your study." Alphard had pulled his hand out from Rhea's hold and managed to get himself up from his seat before reclaiming her touch.
"I...I did, didn't I? Perhaps that headache was a bit much, I should have added an extra day to our stay instead of travel. I'm sorry I worried you, love."
"Do you have a headache now?" He stalled his answer but ended up nodding once again, and Rhea's shoulders sagged in response.

"We have some difficult news to share, Alphard."
"It better not be the company, Orion. I put good faith in you." Rhea squeezed his hand and pried his attention away from work, and even he had noticed the start of fresh tears in her eyes.

"Rhea..."
"You have Dragon pox, Alfie."
"I—What?" The sheer bit of shock had him gaping down at his wife, not believing that it was even possible. "I couldn't—But how?"
"Well, luckily your wife is a Healer, so perhaps she could explain the underlying issues." After Rhea had managed to take her bearings together, she wiped her eyes and tried her best to give her husband a reassuring smile.

"The headaches and body aches you were having, it could have been a sign...Mav thinks it's because you had two leading stressors that the other symptoms had been masked."
"But how the hell did I get Dragon poxs?"
"Perhaps meeting someone who had it, touching something—It's hard to say. I couldn't—We can't be in this room without a vaccine, and even then it may not protect us from catching it as well." With each passing moment, it seem Alphard was slowly losing his confidence, and with it, his position against the propped-up pillow.

"And a cure?"
"There is no cure, Alfie...There are plenty of treatments and we will talk about which may be better suited. Maverick is still running a few more tests." No cure. It felt as though the Hogwarts Express had taken its run to hit him and drag him down the tracks.

"There is no beating this, then?"
"It's something we will have to live with, the treatments are readily available. And you'll be able to come home, but I—No, there is no cure." Orion's eyes flickered between both husband and wife, keeping his distance between the pair as he wasn't about to risk his own life for the sake of unwanted comfort.

But even he felt like he was overstepping at a moment like this.

"I'm sorry, love...If I had listened to you then—"
"It's stage two, and you are in good health. Promise me you'll fight through this."
"I will, little goddess. You have my word." And thus, their conversation had transcended into Rhea explaining just how Dragon Pox would progress.

The scales would grow in various places, become a constant irritation and some shed off—The one's inside acted as a worry. There were procedures that would allow the patient to have them removed, but it was difficult to see which were harmful.

But anything actively growing inside one's body was issue enough to find reasonable difficult to function.

Alphard had listened, eaten, taken a few tonics and found himself at peace. Though it was Rhea who was prepared to spend another night beside her ill-forsaken husband.

There was no telling what would happen, but she was ever so thankful that the support was well and there. And Orion had conformational proof that she was going to be head of Black affairs.