Amnesia or Excuse Me But Are You My Wife?
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the storyline.
Author's Note: I'm sending a big hug to my faithful beta, Rach. Thanks dear, you're the best!
Chapter 1
"I cannot tell her now." Charlotte repeated for the third time.
"Why? You can go in anytime unobtrusively. And it's an emergency. Why don't you understand that?!" Mia cried. "Grandma has to know what happened… Look I would go inside, but that would be a bit interesting."
"I agree…"
"Finally! At least on one point."
"It's an official meeting with high dignitaries." Charlotte tried to make Mia to understand. "It has formal rules, it's not a playground."
"But Grandma loves him, she needs to know…"
"And that's the other thing. Your Majesty and Joseph are only friends, of course she appreciates him more than other members of the staff, but that's natural, because he is her personal bodyguard, they spend nearly every minute together."
"If the situation had have not been this serious I would have something to say about that, but right now I will not argue with you."
"Finally, I knew you would understand," Charlotte smiled relieved.
"Yeah, I completely understand it." Mia smiled then her expression changed in a flash. "Go inside and tell her… NOW! And it's an ORDER," she finished before Charlotte could reply.
"Fine," she answered with a forced smile and waved to the guards. "But I still don't agree."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When Charlotte stepped into the Queen's office Mr. Montaz just finished his speech. There was murmuring in the room, but she did not bother with them, but stepped to the queen and whispered something in her ear.
Clarisse had to take a deep breath before she found her speaking voice, but within a second she was a perfect queen again.
"Excuse me My Lords that I have to interrupt you, but I think we should continue this meeting on another occasion. Please discuss an appointment with my secretariat, thank you."
As she finished she was already at the door, not waiting for any reply. She tried to breathe normally, which was quite hard, while she was walking quickly through the corridors. Charlotte and Mia were on her tail.
"How is he?" Clarisse asked breathlessly.
"I don't know. I only heard about his 'accident', but as seems that it was some kind of a fight."
"A fight?!" Clarisse gasped from surprise. "He is not that kind… But what happened? Why do I have to pull out every word from you Charlotte?"
"I'm sorry Your Majesty. I just…"
"No, I'm sorry Charlotte." She stopped and turned to face her. "I'm just a bit nervous. You know he… he is a great friend of mine and I just want to know how he is."
"I understand Your Majesty, but I already told you everything I know. Maybe at the hospital…"
"Of course. Go and tell Shades that we are leaving. I'll wait for you in the car," she said and rushed out.
Charlotte froze for a moment, looking after the queen deep in thought, when Mia remarked,
"Not in love, right?"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The staff of the Genovian Royal Hospital was quite surprised and panicked about the Queen's visit. They certainly knew about the Head of Security's injury, but seeing the queen personally in the building was something really astonishing.
"How is he?" asked Clarisse as the doctor greeted her.
"Very well for the circumstances and…"
"Can I see him?"
"Of course Your Majesty, but…" The doctor tried when Clarisse already closed the door behind her.
"Well, what do you think, Charlotte…" asked Mia as they remained alone. "Don't you think it was a bit…"
"Strange?"
"Not 'strange' is the word I would use, rather 'dangerous', if you know what I mean."
"Oh yes. It is more than enough for gossips. The Queen rushes to see her Head of Security, almost pushes everybody aside."
"Yeah, I think we have a problem here, but… what is that song?... Love Is In The Air?" asked Mia mischievously.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Inside Joseph's room…
As Clarisse stepped in she was desperate. Seeing him like this – lying in bed with all the stuff in his arms - was terrifying. His head was turned away, resting on the pillow, while his breathing was normal.
First, she just tried to get used to the view, then finally she had the power to sit down next to him. He was so close to her and also so far away at the same time. Watching his chest rise and fall was the best medicine for her nerves. In another situation she would have had different thoughts… desires, but now she was grateful and relieved that he was… he seemed ok, at least. Suddenly she felt the urge to touch him, just holding his hand, showing on her own shy way that he could count on her anytime and that she loved him. That was her only way to tell him – and only him - her feelings. In her dictionary 'touching him' – which consisted mostly of holding his cheek - was her secret and safe way to tell him that she loved him. She only hoped that her dictionary was bilingual and he… he could understand it.
A warm feeling woke her up from daydreaming, which was none other than Joseph's hand on hers.
"Oh my God, Joseph!" she cried. "Are you… are you alright? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." He smiled, looking at her lovingly. "I just dozed off a bit."
"Do you have any pain?"
"Seeing you is killing every pain, my darling. I'm so sorry I scared you."
"Never mind. You are ok, and that's the only thing is important." That was the moment when she realized that Joseph was still holding her hand and… he had just called her 'darling'.
"And that you're here with me," he continued. "You know how much I love you."
Clarisse held her breath, she really needed a few moments to gather her thoughts… Was it? Had he really said what she heard? Or only her fantasy played a dirty trick on her? He just admitted that he loved her… It was so sudden and surprising at the same time, but nothing compared to what he said next.
"But I'm afraid we must defer our second honeymoon, but I promise we will make up for it."
Ok, that was too much for her. If she had not be the queen she would have said "WHAT?!" but she just murmured:
"…Would you… Would you excuse me for a moment?"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Oh Grandma, finally! What's up with Joe?... Hey, are you alright?" Asked Mia as Clarisse closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
"I… I don't know," she answered, confused.
"But what happened?"
"He just admitted that he loves me…"
"Shut up! What a… That's amazing Grandma!" cried Mia. "I'm so happy for you two. But what's the matter?"
"That's not everything…"
"He wants to marry you, am I right?"
"Um… sort of…"
"Sort of?" asked Mia, at a loss.
"He thinks we are already married."
To be continued….