Ever After | Book 2 of the Selected Series

18.

Warning: mention of miscarriage. medical stuff. For anyone that could be triggered by that.

"It's been two weeks and she still wont talk to anyone." "Do you think the wedding is off? " "I heard they don't even talk to each other anymore."

Madison continued to cut her steak into tiny pieces, eyes focused intently on her plate, blocking out the obvious whispers. She checked every single slice, making sure it was well cooked before bringing it to her mouth. The meat was a bit hard, but that's how she demanded it to be. She had to be careful and be attentive to everything that could be harmful. She had to be careful.

Grace glanced at her friend, a bittersweet feeling settling in her stomach. She kept quiet, eating between Madison and Harry, just like she had for the past week since Mady left the hospital. It was beyond awkward and Grace wished she knew why she had to separate them, but if it made Mady comfortable and at ease, she couldn't refuse. Especially after what happened to her. So she sipped on her wine and quietly sighed, hoping things would get better soon. She locked eyes with Louis, sitting across from her, and they both forced a short smile. Louis' job was to keep an eye on the Prince, making sure he was okay. Obviously, Harry was far from alright, but Louis was his supporting shoulder.

Harry had been feeling absolutely miserable, he'd wake up every morning nauseous and Louis basically had to drag him out of bed every day. He barely slept at all in the past weeks, terrified to close his eyes and have horrible nightmares about what happened. Madison was not in bed with him, everything felt cold and lonely and he hated it. So he had asked Louis, out of desperation, to stay with him. It wasn't Madison, it wasn't his love, but it did make him feel less alone. Every night for the past week, he kept thinking of her. Did she feel alone? Did she have someone to comfort her before she fell asleep? Was she okay at all? Every day was getting harder, being so close to her but not being able to touch or even breath in her direction. He knew nothing about her state, he knew nothing about her health or wellbeing. No one wanted to tell him if she was alright, and it drove him insane. Not even his friends would whisper a word about her, she must have forbidden them from saying a thing and it was painful, absolute torture.

And he didn't understand why. Louis had told him that Mady knew about what happened in England, that he explained everything to her, yet she made no move to contact him since then.

Wrong, the last time he spoke a word to her was when the Doctor announced the news. At that moment, he thought everything would be okay, that there was hope. But he had seen something shift in Mady, something that terrified him and he didn't know what to do. He felt absolutely hopeless.

2 weeks ago. Limia General Hospital. 3PM.

Harry was dozing off on a rather uncomfortable chair, trying to pass the hours by sleeping but the pain in his back was certainly keeping him awake. He had nowhere else to go, nowhere that mattered at least. He wasn't allowed in Mady's room yet, but he couldn't just go back to the castle and sleep in his bed while she was curled up in pain in a hospital room. So he stayed in the VIP waiting room, drinking coffee after coffee or trying to sleep on the stiff chairs. Louis or Mady's friends would come update him from time to time, saying she was getting stronger but still in pain. It had been a week since the incident now, but it still hadn't sunk in. He felt still so confused and lost, not understanding why she did that. He understood that he drove her to it, but Mady knew she was pregnant, why did she drink so much? Why wasn't she letting him in her room? Too many questions, so little answers.