Princess Lea (Part 1) Eng.

Chapter 14

Lea had a couple of strange dreams, and she woke up with a headache. There was no one else in the room, so she sat down on the bed and massaged her temples, but it didn't bring her much relief. Someone unhooked her empty drip. She slowly got out of the bed and made her way to the bathroom. There was a clean set of clothes, a towel and toiletries on the counter. She decided on a cold shower, it was always a relief for her headaches. She took off all of her clothes and stepped into the shower. Counting to three, she turned on the water and cold water ran down her body. She shivered but didn't change the temperature.

Whenever she toughened up that way, she felt good at first, but later it dawned on her how much she missed the warmth. She didn't want to have a breakdown, but she remembered Ned's warmth. That's why she isolated herself from other people, so that she would not feel the comfort of being close to another person, because that always brought problems with it. Because her parents had so many children, they rarely hugged her. Her youngest siblings probably knew best how this felt. They were small and cute, and there were a lot of older people in the family, so there was a lot of pampering of the little ones. The older ones, like Lea, were left to themselves, assuming they would manage somehow. Her sister Letycja was a bit like those little children, in need of attention from her parents and always had it.

Lea couldn't do that, she had always assumed that she was an adult, and that was how she had behaved, building a wall around herself that Ned had cleverly bypassed. She still hadn't been able to figure out how he did it. She could also see the way that Samuel would look at her when Ned was around. It was a source of amusement to her because he had no idea what was going on either.

She washed her hair and was on her way out of the shower. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but her reflection in the mirror hadn't changed much. She dried herself off and changed into some clean clothes. She walked out of the bathroom with a look around. Lea left the room in a somber mood, taking all the balloons with her.

– You're not supposed to get out of bed - the nurse told her as she approached the duty room.

– I need to know which rooms are occupied by children – she said, ignoring the nurse.

The woman looked at the balloons the girl was holding and sighed heavily.

– There's no one in surgery today, we have three children in gastroenterology – she started to look at the computer, but before she finished, Lea left the desk and headed for the exit of the ward – you can't leave the department! – she shouted after her, but of course Lea didn't pay any attention to nurse.

Lea had only been to the gastroenterology clinic once before, but she had no problem finding the children; at that time of day they were all sitting in a room with a television set and toys. She walked into the room.

– Princess! – squealed one of the mothers as soon as she saw Lea. She bowed her head, but Lea just smiled and motioned with her hand for her not to get up from the chair.

– No need – she said with a slight smile – good morning.

– Good morning – the other two mothers squealed and curtsied as well.

– I didn't want to bother you, I just brought some balloons for the kids – she smiled as she saw two girls and a boy turn their heads away from the TV in curiosity.

Lea crouched down and the balloons were filled with helium, which made them float in the air. All three of them dropped the toys they were holding in their hands and ran up to her. She handed them two balloons for each of them.

– Thank you – one of the moms came up to her - we heard about the accident – she looked at Lea's forehead - I hope it's nothing serious.

– It's fine – Lea said, trying to sound convincing – there's nothing to worry about.