Reign

32. That Dr. Mineo

Chapter dedicated to pcolleens. Thank you for the dedication, for always reading my story and mostly for being kind. Kindness never hurt anybody, people.          

                  32. That Dr. Mineo

"They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered".

This side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The whole recovering process was slow and gradual, as expected. Six days after the violent incident and the Queen was still on her hospital room, fighting with the pain and waiting the better blood results that weren't coming. Her system was still weak and her body unable to regain its previous strength. Although her shoulder was healing fast and the orthopedics soon removed the sling, every time she was trying to get up, her limbs simply weren't responding.  

 The King was always there. Every day he was leaving the hospital in the morning, performing mechanically all his official duties till noon and then, after the visiting hours were over, he was creeping inside her room like a thief and stayed with her till her eyelids started closing heavily. Then, he was spending his nights in the waiting area, reading and signing documents concerning the realm or simply treading up and down the corridors till the dawn. The pressure from all sides was immense. The government and the palace were pushing him to work even harder, the police Chief wanted him to testify, whilst he felt he didn't have anything to say and the reporters, oh the reporters, where following his every step, violating the coveted privacy in every way possible. 

"I brought the apple-pie," he said, before even he entered her room. "I gave the clerk a tip of two hundred Euros and..."

His voice faded and his brisk steps became heavy, as the first thing he noticed was that Dr. Mineo sitting on Roselyn's bed, gently stroking her wrists, while narrating some probably hilarious story.

"Alexander, you are here! I didn't expect you so early," the woman exclaimed and smiled even broader, as the doctor rose up and bowed awkwardly. Alexander was always visiting her later, and during the day he was always calling a few times to check her.

"There are some documents you have to sign," he said flatly and placed a folder on the table next to her. "It's about the legislation Hudson informed you yesterday. And you asked to eat pie, so I stopped at the best bakery."

"For sure the patient can't eat this yet, Your Grace," Dr. Mineo commented professionally and Alexander couldn't help but scowl at the handsome confident surgeon. 

"Rose, you have to decide where you will stay afterwards. There are preparations that have to be made. For security reason, obviously. I have to remind you that we have an infirm..."

His stern words only made the atmosphere even tenser. Roselyn readjusted her torso on the pillows and gaped momentarily.

"I don't want to that room. And I said I am not ready to decide yet," she hissed through her clenched teeth.Then, clearly agitated, she jotted down her signature in the bottom of each page of the document and placed the folder again on the table, without addressing any other word to him. Alexander, realizing that he was unwanted, grabbed the folder and turned on his heel. As he reached the exit, he threw the packet full of pie to the trash bin. 

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The meeting was dull and so was the whole day. The plan the minister of Finance was presenting for a whole hour didn't satisfy him at all, so he had to force him redo it twice. Everyone in the palace's conference room was aware of his moodiness, which was increasing as the time was passing by. Some ministers advised him to take a break, since his attention on the subject was lessening each and every minute.