Her Fear, His Obsession

Red as dark as the blood that was about to spill

"SQUAWK!!!!"

Alia woke to a start as she heard the loud pitched squawking sound. Rolling her eyes, she forced them open to a bright room, complete with a sleeping Luca. His eyes remained closed as he breathed at an even place, his hair tousled perfectly as if a stylist has just perfectly laid it across his forehead. With his mouth slightly ajar, he looked, dare she say it, kinda cute.

Shaking her head, Alia turned to try find the source of the noise. Quietly slipping out of bed, she hobbled slowly towards the windows, taking great care to not put too much weight on her hurt foot. Finally reaching her destination, she leaned up against the wall near the window, peeking out at all the angles, trying to find the squawker. Seeing nothing, she turned, huffing in anger, and started making her way towards the bathroom. As she was about to approach, she stilled, hearing yet another squawk.

This time, it appeared to be coming from the bathroom. She slowly walked in, carefully to not make a sound. How Luca hadn't woke up yet, she wasn't sure. But she wasn't going to be the reason why. Opening the bathroom door, she hobble-toed in. Quietly tuning and pulling the door shut, she then hobbled in search of the squawks. As she panned the room, she noticed a flash of brown on the floor behind the bathtub. Walking over, she frowned as she found her cause. A cute little bird, lay on its side, looking like it was trying to find the energy to squawk with its right wing all crushed laying on top of it.

Alia slowly said "Hey", and reached for the bird. Gently reaching around it to lift it up, she cuddled it closely to her chest. "What happened to you, little birdie? You get hurt?" Cradling the bird into her robe and hobbling, she limped over to the bedroom door, while passing a still snoring Luca. Slowly opening the door, Alia poked her head out, slowly stepping out and closing the door behind her.

Met with three men looming over her, she gulped, wondering if this was the right move. All three dropped to a knee, the man in the middle spoke, "My Queen, how may we serve you?"

"Ummm... do you guys know where I could get medical supplies?"

The men flashed each other a look and the middle one stood instantly.

"Medical supplies? Are you hurt, My Queen? What about the King? You there, call for backup! My Queen, I must go inside and see the King!" The middle man spoke with vigor as he stepped forward, his large frame looming over Alia. Within seconds, a rush of men flooded the hall as they all converged on the King's bedroom door. Alia began to hyperventilate, the men hovering over her. She pressed her back into the door and cowered, clutching the bird closely to her chest, while trying to figure out how to slip past the men.

"Hold!" Called a man from the back. Gliding through the crowd, he made his way to the front, placing a shoulder on the man, pulling him back.

He stepped to the front and bowed. "Viraj, my Queen," he smoothly stated. Alia recognizes him, he was the man that was always with Luca. "My Queen, what is wrong?"

She slowly brought the bird out from her robe. Seeing the men looming, she continued to whimper and hold it closely. "Is the King sleeping? Is that why you came out here?"

She nodded, "I didn't know if he'd get mad if it woke him up and kill it so I brought it out here," she whispered.

"My Queen, with your permission, may I escort you to your library? We can have a vet come look at this bird there?"

"I can help it- I just need supplies," she responded, still not daring to speak above a whisper, still terrified of the men looming.

Viraj looked perplexed at her demeanor but followed her jolting eyes and clenched muscles- she was terrified of the men. Gritting his teeth, he turned and hissed, "If you weren't already here, leave." Turning to the man he pulled back, he whispered, "you have 3 seconds to make like the wind. And never show your face to the Queen. You are banished to the dungeons forever." The guard gulped. Staring at the two left, he noted, "you two will stay here and notify the King when he awakens."

Without another word, he turned to the Queen, indicating the direction with his hand. They began to walk, slowly as Alia was still limping. They made their way down the hall without a word. Viraj noted out of the corner of his eye the struggle Alia was having and silently placed his hand out, proferring his arm for balance.

Silently, Alia held on to his arm with her left hand, allowing her left foot to get some rest and she rested her weight on him. "Thank you," she murmured, as they continued down the corridors.

"To serve you is my honor and duty, my Queen," he responded. Nodding at the guards stationed in front of her office, Viraj gently guided her into the room, settling her onto the large recliner while moving the coffee stand to be right next to her bed, placing a pillow from the window ledge on there.

"Get me a vet and the first aid kit purchased for the Queen," he demanded of the guard that had followed them in. The guard quickly bowed and ran off. Viraj then moved to kneel next to the Queen. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his handkerchief and places it on the pillow on the coffee table. "My Queen, if it pleases you, you could place the bird here. Allow it and yourself to get some rest while we await the vet."

"Okay, but I don't need a vet, I know how to take care of it, Mr. Viraj. Thank you for your help," Alia spoke softly as she gently placed the bird down, taking care to place it so there was no pressure or weight on the right wing. THe bird gently chirped in response. She began to gently maneuver the feet and wings of the bird, trying to assess exactly what kind of damage had happened. 

Viraj watched with amazement as she assessed the bird from head to toe. He knew that she was a doctor, but had never expected her to be this good with animals too. Bringing the first aid kit up to the table, he asked, "I don't mean to pry, my Queen, but I thought you were a human doctor, but looking at this, I would think you're an animal doctor."

"No, Mr. Viraj, I'm a human doctor, but when the shift happened, there became a massive shortage of doctors in general, so I began learning about how to care for all beings. In the town I live in, I'm the only one with any medical training, so I help with all the animals and humans there." Alia responded, almost robotically, her focus remaining on the bird as she isolated the middle of the wing as the source of the trauma.

"My Queen, just Viraj please. The King would murder me if he heard you say that." Viraj paled, thinking of the King. As he moved to stand, muttering to himself that he should have kept his distance, Alia reached and grabbed his forearm, pulling his hand towards the bird.

"Sorry, I need your hands real quick, please. Can you please put your hand here?" She moved his hand towards the bird's body. 

As if it was divine intervention, the door opened at that very moment, and Luca walked in. Seeing Alia's hand, holding Viraj's, all he saw was red. Red as dark as the blood that was about to spill.