Third Person POV
"Emalina," the girl whispered from the bed. Everyone in the room froze. Emalina looked to the girl, and then to the prince, uncertain. The prince felt rage growing inside him. Why? Jealousy? There was no rational reason I should be upset that this girl is calling my maid's name, he thought. The reason he had left Emalina with her in the first place was that he thought the two of them might bond, that Emalina would help her feel comfortable. Clearly that worked. But he couldn't help but be angry that the name spoken by her sweet voice wasn't his.
Realizing the rest of the room was waiting for his reaction, he gestured with his head for Emalina to go to the girl. Emalina bowed her head and hurried to the girl's bedside, kneeling on the opposite side of Avus.
Prince Cassius was, of course, still mad that Emalina allowed the girl to escape. But in a way, her broken leg helped the situation. She wasn't going to be in a position to leave for quite awhile. He watched as Emalina took the girl's hand and stroked her forehead, smiling. The eye contact between the two made it seem as if no one else was in the room.
"Maybe we should speak outside," Avus suggested, watching Emalina comfort the mystery girl. Prince Cassius nodded, still fixated on the pair.
Cassius paced in the hallway, the doctor continued the conversation.
"We will have to sedate her to do the resetting."
The prince paused for a moment, and then spoke. "How bad would the pain be if we gave her some pain medication without sedating her?" he asked.
"Excruciating," Avus replied, "but it can be done. It usually happens where there are no medications for sedations. Performing a resetting for a traumatic fracture like the one she has without sedation would be highly unusual, but not unheard of. But if your highness permits me to question," he said hesitatingly. The Prince nodded. "What's your rush? The sedative will wear off in a few hours."
"There is no rush," he said sternly. "I was exploring other options. I still have no idea who this woman is and I have to make sure she's not any threat to us," he said, trying to cover the real reason for pursuing quicker options. He was tired of waiting. The prince had not been raised to be patient – he was used to getting what he wanted right away. And right now, he wanted to know who she was, why she was found near death by a river, and why she was so afraid. But all of that could wait a few more hours, and he didn't want to further traumatize her with extreme pain.
"We'll do the sedation. How long will it take you to set the leg?"
"Not long," Avus replied. "It's a fairly simple procedure. Then we'll splint her up and she should be able to hobble around the castle in a few days, which should also be how long it takes her to regain her strength from the hypothermia. Of course, we'll want to look her over for any potential frost burns or wounds, but that might be better to do when she is sedated. Given the way she reacted to the stethoscope, I doubt she will be comfortable with that process."
"So until then she can't go anywhere?" he asked. Avus shook his head. "She can use a wheelchair for the first few days, but she shouldn't walk anywhere."
The prince nodded. "How long will it take the leg to heal?" he asked.
Avus shrugged. "There's no magic number. Most breaks heal completely in 6 to 8 weeks. But she will need to do exercises every day. I can do it, or I can teach Emalina or one of your guards the exercises and just check in on her progress regularly. Whatever your preference."
Prince Cassius couldn't help but be happy that the girl would not be physically capable of trying to leave for at least a month or two. Hopefully by then he could convince her not to run again.
"I just wish I knew how to communicate" he said thoughtfully. "I doubt she will be comfortable with us sticking her with a needle of some unknown substance either."
The two began walking towards the room. That was when the prince heard it. It wasn't in Ledish – Cassius recognized the words as Anguinese, Emalina's native tongue. He enjoyed hearing her vent about him, so he had never told her that he could understand it. He dealt with sycophants all day – having some brutal honesty about times where he had been a prick was refreshing. But what he didn't expect to hear was Anguinese coming from the mysterious girl's voice.
"Promise me, you will never tell anyone."
He heard Emalina's voice respond, "I promise."