Her Royal Madness

Her Royal Madness Part 8

I woke up in my bed. The sun was shining through my window and Daddy was sitting beside me with a worried look on his face. I tried to sit up but I was too weak. 

"Wha-what happened?" I managed to stammer.  

"Don't try to get up yet. You need more rest. Here, let me help you sit up a little bit." As he was saying this, Daddy rearranged my pillows so that I was propped up in a sitting position. He reached over to my nightstand and handed me a drink. 

I took a sip and made a face. "Eeew, what is this? It's way too sweet." 

"It's mostly sugar with some honey and fruit juices, plus electrolytes. You need calories to rebuild your strength. That little stunt you pulled nearly killed you." Daddy held up his hand to stop the questions from pouring out of me. We'll talk about that later. Right now you need to eat. Finish that drink while I go get you a sandwich. Here's a chocolate bar for while you're waiting." 

I took another sip and realized that I was starving. I tipped the glass upside down and drained it. I was still hungry; I opened the wrapper on the chocolate bar and shoved it in my mouth. 

I was licking the last bit of chocolate off the wrapper when Daddy walked back in the room carrying a tray loaded with as much food as I normally eat in three days. Right in front was a huge sub bun stuffed full of cold cuts, lettuce and tomato, with a thick layer of mayonnaise. Beside the sandwich was a plate full of spaghetti and meat sauce. There was also a bunch of fresh fruit, a slice of chocolate cake, cookies and a big bowl of ice cream. I barely tasted any of it as I wolfed it down the way Henry usually does. I looked at the empty tray and couldn't believe I had finished all of it. 

"Wow," said Daddy as he handed me a glass of milk. "I wasn't expecting all that food to be gone quite so fast. Here, drink this and then get some more sleep." 

I looked at my clock and saw that it was nearly noon. I'd already slept 16 hours. I couldn't possibly sleep any longer. Could I? So where was that yawn coming from? "I guess I am a little sleepy. What happened to me Daddy?"  

"You and your brother were fooling around with stuff that's very dangerous for untrained minds. When Henry told me what you had done, I was impressed. That's remarkable for someone with no training but very dangerous. I was worried sick all night. Now that you're awake and have eaten I think you'll be okay. Just promise me that you won't try it again until you're older and I can help guide you." 

"OK Daddy," I said between yawns. "But I didn't know I was doing anything wrong." 

"I know Maddie. I should have talked to the two of you a long time ago. Sometimes it's hard for me to know what to do. Your mother instinctively what to do with you kids, I just kind of stumble along, doing the best I can." 

I think Daddy kept on talking but that's all I heard. I was sound asleep. 

I woke up the next morning feeling a little better. I still felt weak and was famished, but not nearly as bad as the day before. I didn't normally get out of bed this early but after eighteen hours of sleep I needed to get up. 

When I got downstairs to the kitchen, I got out the cereal and milk. I used Henry's bowl; it holds three times as much cereal as any of the other ones. I wasn't quite as hungry as the day before. Two bowls of cereal, four slices of toast and half a dozen scrambled eggs filled me up. Since neither Daddy nor Henry was up yet and it was a Saturday, I decided to have a nap. 

I did nothing else for the rest of the weekend but eat and sleep. By Monday morning I felt almost normal. But I decided I was the only one in the family who was feeling normal. Usually Henry is still sleeping when I leave for school. The high school starts an hour later than my school and Henry doesn't believe in getting up a second earlier than necessary. I think that's partly why he's such a good runner-he always has to run to school. This morning, however, as I was checking the books in my backpack, Henry came bounding down the stairs, hollering "Wait, wait, wait! You can't leave yet!" 

"Henry what are you talking about?" 

"Dad says I gotta walk you to school. He said it's not safe for his widdle baby." 

"What? That's ridiculous. I've been walking to school by myself for years. Where is Daddy? I'm going to make sure this isn't one of your stupid little jokes." 

"Good luck. He's been gone for a couple hours. C'mon, let's get going." 

That was really strange. Daddy usually works from home and he schedules all his meetings for the afternoon. He's never gone before me, or Henry either. 

"Henry! What's going on? You're not telling me everything. What did I miss this weekend?" 

"I'll tell you as much as I can on the way. We better get going. Dad said he was gonna call Ms. Howard to make sure you show up safe and sound, and on time. I also got the feeling that if I'm not with you, I won't be seeing daylight till next fall. Let's go." As he was saying this, Henry was filling his pockets with breakfast to eat on the way-a few pieces of fruit, a muffin, and a hard boiled egg, and a quart of milk. This was a pretty light breakfast for Henry. He was probably planning on eating at the school cafeteria later. 

As we started off to school, Henry filled me in on the weekend's events, between bites of his breakfast. 

"So what do you remember from Thursday night?" 

"Not much, we were experimenting with the dice, and then I started to feel all shaky, and then nothing. I guess I passed out."