The Urban Princesses: Aurora

Chapter 8

Florence's POV

"She has been in there a while, do you think she is ok?"

"Maybe we should check on her."

"Let's leave her alone."

"But dinner is ready. She oughta be hungry."

My hand hovered above the crystal doorknob, still contemplating whether I should make contact with it and come face to face with my sweet Audrey.

"Ok fine." I quickly opened it.

And I wished I hadn't.

We all gasped. Audrey was sprawled on the floor, her golden curls draped across her face, arms askew. She was unconscious.

We rushed over to her and Fiona checked her pulse.

We should've protected her better. This is exactly what wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to protect her, keep the anonymous threat away from her. It was all our fault, she could be dead.

"No stab wounds or any signs of physical injury." Mary sniffed as tears streamed down her face.

"She has a pulse." Fiona let out a breath.

"Call an ambulance."
___

"You were supposed to protect her!" Steven was fuming. I don't blame him. His daughter was unconscious in a hospital bed right now, the blood tests were just about to come out. Fiona and Mary were getting coffee so I could explain what happened to Steve without them breaking out into sobs.

"I'm sorry, sir. We were outside her room the whole time. Either she did this to herself, or someone got in."

"How could somebody get in? My home is almost more secure than the White House...." His voice faded and fear filled his eyes. "The tubes."

"I thought you took those out years ago?"

"I was supposed to, but Audrey was little and she liked to play in them. I completely forgot about them after she went with you." He sat down in a chair and rubbed his forehead. "I'm such an idiot."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "She will be fine. Just have faith. She isn't dead."

He looked up at me with sad eyes. "But she could be in a few hours if we don't find out what happened."

The room was silent all except for the steady beeping of Audrey's heart monitor. That monitor is probably my favorite thing in the room right now, other than Audrey of course.

Finally, a doctor stepped into the hospital room. "Her tests came back. It's a foreign substance we can't quite place. It looks like a sedative that was chemically modified to put a girl Audrey's size and demeanor into a coma-"

"How long will she be out?" Steve asked.

The doctor sighed. "It's hard to tell, but it doesn't look like she is going to be waking up anytime soon. We will have to intubate her in the next hour before she stops breathing."

Steve nodded forlornly and the doctor left.

"It's ok, she will pull through-" I was suddenly interrupted by Horace staggering into the room, his face red as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead, he was breathing heavily. In his hand, was his smartphone on it's Recently Called list, a blocked number at the top of the queue.

"M-Margaret........ has..... Phillip......"

Steve shot out if his chair. "How did I not know?! Of course it was her! M! It all makes sense now." His expression turned from excited to terrified, the color flushed from his face. "If only I had known sooner...."