Royally Kissed | ✓

18; the daintily damaged

Paige plastered an amused smile, completely refraining a laugh and she was sure her face was turning red at this. Arthur shifted from hovering her and stepped back a little so he could sit in her bed, facing her without unlatching his grip from her. She had to straighten her arm down to hold onto him too. Jouwee sidled close to her, darting a hand out to run her fingers through her hair, sending a comforting sensation down her spine.

She didn't have much friends but she was infinitely thankful for having the very best ones by her side.

"Have you eaten, yet?" Arthur asked as it was already nearing to lunch time, frowning when she shook her head.

"Aoife's on her way back," she replied. "She insisted I'd eat something far better than the ones they could give here. How about you, guys? So I could call her and add your orders. I can give you the food they will hand over, though. I heard they're gourmet so I think you might like it."

Jouwee immediately shook her head. "We're good. Don't mind us. It's you we're concerned about."

"Thank you." She smiled softly.

"Although it'd be interesting if you could show your stitches to us," Jouwee suggested in a sly tone, chuckling when she gave her an eye-roll.

"Sooner or later, possibly."

Showing them the stitches would clearly mean she'd have to lift her dress up. That wouldn't be an issue, if she weren't only wearing her panties underneath it. She'd quickly taken a mental note to wear shorts later. The skin on the inner part of her legs had suddenly turned cold and her knees shifted a little like she hadn't moved an inch.

She almost missed the moment when Arthur's lashes fluttered down her body rather flippantly, which was covered with a deep-red blanket over her hospital gown. And he'd blinked when his eyes turned up, only to realize that she'd been watching. It was hard not to fight the flame that seemed to redden her cheeks.

Jouwee probably had sensed the tension, even at the slightest hint of it, that she cleared her throat in a casual manner and her voice hitched higher than normal when she spoke again. "So...red-blanket, huh?" she gestured at the said cloth wrapping around her.

She could only respond with a half-roll of her eyes at first. Jouwee hadn't meant it be offensive whatsoever but it was a pressing reminder how her grandmother took a firm stand of her being a red-blanket patient. She would only stay there for two days, three at most, and she didn't feel the need to be treated as a VIP.

It was ridiculous how her family could spend for services that a pair of extra hands could give. In addition, the hospital should've just focus more on the patients that needed extra care, not because of what they could pay but because of the level of medical attention they had to cater to the said patients.

It somehow enraged a sickening stir in her gut.

"Don't even get me started," she replied after a suppressed sigh.

Even if both knew how laid-back and simple she could be about living her life as a Cadwyn, she still had to take hold of what she could hide. Paige had always been careful with her actions, and being an ungrateful heir was one of them.

She hadn't minded it then, but one classmate of hers back in grade school thought she was being a hypocrite. That eventually and ironically had become one of her insecurities, and she didn't want to make Jouwee feel like she was an inferior to her.

Jouwee waved at her dismissively as if she'd read her mind. "Well at least they could give something for donations and stuff or build better facilities. But gosh, you rich people are so complicated."