My loyal, royal subject - Kingbury

Chapter 20

Sam and George went to bed after a few hours of following their new kitten around and making sure he didn't break anything, and George decided to once again not return to his own room, telling himself that it was in case Sam had another nightmare. In reality, he mostly just wanted to be close to Samuel.

Sam crawled onto the bed, feeling too warm to even go under the blankets. George laid down next to him, wrapping his arms around the boy and closing his eyes. Sam smiled tiredly.

"Sam? Are you okay, you're really warm, and you were getting very tired as we chased Charlie around the castle." George asked, genuinely worried. Was he getting sick?

"Yeah, 'm fine. Just...just tired." Samuel mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. George still felt worried, but let the conversation drop. Sam needed sleep if he was getting sick. George laid there for a bit, watching Sam sleep to make sure he wasn't having a nightmare like the night before. After a while he drifted to sleep too, a worried expression still set on his face.

The next morning when he woke up, he found that he had been pushed off the bed and onto the floor, though he didn't question how he slept through that. Climbing to his feet he noticed that Sam was curled up under the blankets, and appeared to be shaking pretty badly.

"Sam? Are you okay?" He asked nervously, and his partner whimpered sadly. George pulled back the blanket a bit, and gasped when he saw Sam.

He was paler than usual, and his cheeks were bright red. He had tear tracks down his face, since he had obviously been crying. He appeared to be struggling to even breathe, and he was shaking, still curled into a ball.

"Sammy? Oh my gosh, I-I...are you okay? Do you need me to g-get a doctor, or s-s-something?" George asked, putting a hand on Samuel's shoulder. Sam nodded weakly, and George could only assume that meant that Sam needed a doctor. He ran out the door of Sam's room, running to the nearest servant he could find, who was dusting a painting of a fish. He grabbed their shoulder, spinning them around to face him.

"G-go find a doctor, p-please." George could barely hold himself together as the servant nodded, running off to follow the king's orders. George covered his eyes with his hands, his heart pounding. Sam was really sick, and he didn't know what was wrong. They were finally happy together, and now he could lose it all. He could lose Sam.

Walking back to Sam's room slowly, he walked in and sat on the edge of the bed, next to his sick partner, who appeared to have fallen asleep again, still shaking and pale. George felt a tear roll down his face as he picked up Sam's hand, holding it lightly. He couldn't lose Samuel, he couldn't live without him.

A man carrying a briefcase walked into the room, and ran over to the bed when he saw Samuel.

"Greetings, Your highness, I-I'm Dr. Oldford. Um, I'm so sorry about this, but could you leave the room while I tend to your...uh," the doctor's eyes flickered back and forth from Sam to George as he spoke, not sure what to call Sam, "friend?" He finally finished.

Hesitantly, George let go of Sam's hand, kissing it one more time before slowly walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him. If the doctor had made him leave the room, that couldn't be good. He leaned on the wall, sliding down it and putting his head in his hands as he began to sob.

He couldn't lose Sam.

He just couldn't.