I just want to welcome my new readers❤️ Glad to have you
"do you believe in love?" Bell asks
John frowns "in love?" he asks "why wouldn't I?"
"because it doesn't exist?"
"you never had somebody who loved you?" John asks
They're walking in the castle grounds.Side by side while the breeze blows against them. It's in the afternoon, about an hour before sunset. Ever since John spoke with her that day she found herself with him often. Usually in their breaks when they're free to take a walk and talk for a while. The conversation with Arthur has kept her up for a week now. She hasn't slept well from that day. She feels a mixture of emotions. She feels bad for being so cold, she feels disgusted because she doesn't believe in this love crap, she feels cheated because he told her he cared about her and he doesn't, she's angry that he just spat that at her and said nothing else. She's overwhelmed with emotions. The only good thing about this is her not being able to sleep means no more nightmares about witches and witch craft. Count your blessings where you find them.
" family..." she says "family is different...family love you because they live with you and they actually know you for who you are. Strangers only know what you want them to know. It's not the same"
he shrugs "I don't know" he says "All I can think about is getting my knighthood. I can't afford to think about anything else"
"how's your training?" she asks
"I failed" he says "again"
she sighs sadly "oh.."
"I'm too weak..." he says "and pathetic"
"you're not weak and you're not pathetic" she says "You'll make it. I know you will-"
he shakes his head "whatever I don't want to think about it right now"
she drops the subject and welcomes the silence.
"what made you ask about love anyway?" he suddenly says, sounding more chipper "was it Richard?"
she stops in her tracks as an uncontrollable smile spreads softly on her face "Richard?" she asks "what about Richard?"
"he likes you"
she laughs softly"no he doesn't"
"yes he does" John says "and he's been meaning to talk to you for months now"
"well why doesn't he?" she asks
"he's probably shy" he says "at least that's what Simon told me"
she looks down, her face hot "that's really sweet..."
"You're blushing" he says and she scoffs as they resume their walk "whatever"
"you don't believe in love you say?"
"shut up John"
"Bluebell!"
they both sharply turn around. It's the head of the medical building. She's hurrying towards them. Bell inches backwards, closer to John.
"there you are!" she says when she reaches them. She's out of breath and red in the face "I was looking all over for you!"
"why were you looking for me?" she asks slowly "I don't work with you anymore"
"change of planes" she snaps "you're being transferred back to my building"
Bell blinks at her "wh-"
"and you have authorisation to receive patients. Under my supervision of course"
Bell gasps "but I thought...I wasn't....how?"
"you have strong connections" she says bitterly "you start after a week"
the head turns and walks away.
"oh my god" she whispers and looks at John "I can't believe this"
He smiles "finall-"
she hugs him, cutting him off.
"I feel like I can finally breath" she says as she lets go
"you should go pack and get everything straight"
"okay" she says, still beaming from the news. Suddenly her smile starts falling slowly and she says "sorry...I'm celebrating while you're upset"
"no don't worry about it" he waves her off "I'm happy for you"
she looks at him sadly "you will pass" she says before she turns back to the castle.
She opens the door to her rooms and she opens her hair, releasing it from the tight, slightly messy bun. She starts wrapping it again when she turns and gasps in fear, dropping her hair in the process and allowing it to open and cascade around her face.
"Sorry" Arthur says as he winces "Didn't mean to scare you..."
she fidgets on her feet "um.." she looks around the room then back at him. He's sitting on one of her patient beds they have set up. Barely sitting straight she notes. She almost feels annoyed. How many fights does this man get in? How many times does she need to patch him up?
"what can I do for you?" she asks
"I seem....to have developed a severe pain.." he says "on one side of my head"
"oh" she says, instantly recognizing the symptom and feeling really guilty for jumping to conclusions about him "it's more common than you think"
he says "I know I get it often but this time it feels different"
she walks closer to him "what do you feel?" she asks
he stays silent for a while before he says "I feel sick"
"and?"
"I feel like the side of my head is going to explode" he leans back and lies down on the bed. He covers his eyes with a hand.
"how long have you had this for?"
"started about an hour ago" he says "doesn't seem to be decreasing"
she lays her hand on his neck and he actually visibly flinches and looks up at her in surprise.
"sorry" she says "Just seeing if you have a fever"
he pushes her hand off "I don't"
she nods and retracts her hand. He doesn't like her touching him. She's noticed multiple times.
"do something" he says "I need to get back to work"
Suddenly the room is engulfed in darkness as she draws the curtains closed. He removes his hand from his eyes, his face filled with relief for a second.
"better?" she asks
"what about the pain?"
"I'll make you something for the pain now" she says "it'll take a while to finish so if you'd like to go back to your room, I'll come and hand it to you once I'm done"
"I'll wait here"
she presses her lips together and goes to her table. She takes all the ingredients she needs from her inventory and starts.
"Do you know what triggers it?" she asks
it takes him a while to answer "stress usually does it"
she looks up from her work and frowns. He's on his side, his breathing heavy and his eyes tightly shut. She's seen another person with such severe symptoms before. That girl used to get them frequently and months later Bell discovered she had taken her life trying to relieve the pain. She walks to the hot water on the fire and she moves it to his bed side table.
"High temperatures are known to help" she says and he sits up.
She puts a small fabric into the hot pot and she picks it up carefully with the tips of her fingers. She puts it on his forehead and she goes back to making the herbal medicine.
"I want a cure" he says "I have work. I can't stay long-"
"I can't cure a splitting headache" she says "I can make you feel better while it passes"
He looks annoyed as he lies back down then he suddenly says "I don't have time for this" and throws the fabric away from his forehead as he stands up. She sighs and puts down the bowl to go after him but she finds him leaning on the bed, having not gone far. His head is down and his stance is rigid, unmoving. She approaches him slowly.
"Your highness?" she asks and lowers her face to look at his.
"I can't see" he says and starts to slightly sway. She grabs him quickly and helps him sit down again. She puts two fingers in front of him "how many fingers do I have up?"
He's sweating, his breathing labored.
"Uh..." there's a tremor going through his voice as well "one? or..."
"Lie back down, come on" she pushes him back until his head lands on the pillow. She lifts his feet on the bed and sits next to him. She puts the hot fabric on his head again.
"I have work" he mutters
"Can you move your hand?"
"I have work Bluebell"
"move your hand for me"
"I need to work...I have a responsibility..."
"Arthur" she says "stop"
His semi panic pauses for a second.
"move your hand"
He doesn't. Instead he just curls on his side with his eyes tightly shut.
"I'll just wait it out" he whispers
She replaces the hot fabric and goes to finish the medicine. She comes back and sits next to him on the bed. This must be the climax of it. The severe pain and eye blindness will last for about 30 minutes before it starts to subside again. There really isn't much she can do except to try to make it easier on him and maybe help prevent it from happening again in the future.
He won't be able to drink the tea she's made. Not with him clenching his teeth like that.
She hesitates but then she says "Arthur?"
He flinches. Noise must be really painful for him now. She tries to shake him but doesn't. People with this kind of headache are very sensitive to movement as well. She sighs softly, giving up on the tea. She scoots closer to him. Closer till her back hits the head board of the bed and she moves his head softly on to her lap. Years back a healer had told her lavender oil and a massage helped with this kind of chronic head ache. She puts some on her hand and starts to massage his head. He looks passed out but he isn't. He's just in too much pain to be a hundred percent conscious or aware of his surroundings.
Minutes later she finds herself observing his face. She starts by massaging his scalp. She's almost mesmerized by the way his golden hair moves. It's almost like water with some strands shinning gold when they hit the faint light coming from a crack in the curtains. She's always admired his golden hair. She remembers the first day she ever saw him. The color of his hair caught her attention and she often referred to him as the blonde Boss in her mind. Now she's touching it and here he is, the King, his head on her lap as she massages him. Almost seems absurd. She hesitates but then her hand almost automatically moves to his face. Her fingers stop inches above his skin for a second before she strokes the side of his face. She strokes away a lock of hair from his face. She faintly touches his beard and inches closer to his lips. When she's millimetres away from his lips, she removes her hand instantly, feeling ashamed of touching him like this. He looks like a child. She lays her head back on the board, blinking away the unexplainable stinging in her eyes.
This is so confusing. 30 minutes later it's pretty evident that he's fallen asleep. She pushes herself lower so that she can lie down a bit more and she closes her eyes. The darkness, the even breathing of Arthur, and the softness of the bed is almost lulling her to sleep. Not to mention the sky is dark outside by now.
Her eyes shoot open and she comes face to face with Luke. He was shaking her awake. She's about to shoot out of bed only to notice that Arthur is still on her lap. Her eyes widen and she sits back down again, stuck between Arthur sleeping and Luke's disapproving gaze. She looks back behind him and feels tears gathering at the back of her eyes, wanting to appear but she blinks them away.
Katia and his mother are standing by the door. Katia looks upset, emotional even while his mother only has a stoic expression on her face.
"I can explain" she whispers to Luke and starts to slide from underneath him but Luke's hand shoots out and stops her. He looks mad but he whispers "Let him sleep" he turns and walks over to Katia and the queen mother. He whispers something to them.
"we have guests coming tomorrow" says Katia "he needs to prepare for it"
Luke stays quite as he looks back at them. She almost squirms under their eyes.
"why don't we just wake him?" whispers Katia, her face upset and her eyes almost in tears
"he hasn't slept for days" whispers Luke
"I don't care!" she whispers "look at them!"
"He doesn't deserve to sleep" says Queen mother and walks out.
"Katia" Luke says and whispers something to her. They look...friendly. Like they're really close. The way he's standing. His face a foot away from hers. His eyes looks into hers deeply. Katia stares at Luke for a couple of seconds before she turns around and walks out as well. Luke follows after her. She almost wants to go after them but the idea of moving Arthur discourages her. Minutes later Arthur's guards stand by the door. How she always manages to get herself into trouble is beyond her.
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If you haven't guessed guys, Arthur had a migraine attack. Apparently its really disabling and painful. I honestly have no clue what made me think of giving him a migraine attack but I was writing and suddenly I found myself writing about him having a migraine attack. That doesn't mean that this chapter is meaningless though. As some of you have noticed, my chapters always have a point. You just need to find it. There's always progress, something moving. A new thing discovered or a new ploy introduced.
Also, if you find grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes it's probably because I missed it. I don't generally make grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes but when you write really fast you tend to miss some things. If you find any mistake do let me know. I'll write a comment with the correct word or phrase.
-P.p { (12:22 am Abu Dhabi time) 30,08,2018 }