Again, Thanks for all the wonderful and thoughtful reviews. Love to hear what you think and your ideas on the story!
Responses to Reviews!
RossoDiSera: Ohh no, not forgotten that little tease seed of info will become a major part of chapters to come. ;) As for Coran, I really wanted to spend time on his backstory, he always seemed like he had lived so much yet hardly any time was spent on him. The normally one dimensional Nanny will also be getting similar fleshing out :D
wade wells: I wonder how much longer I can keep turning up the knob till they blow, heh. As to Lotor and Cossack, Cossack is one of my guilty pleasure characters to write for. A perfect comic foil for the ever plotting overly serious Lotor.
JustLucky05: Mmm Coran's past is going to make a big impact on choices he is going to make. Seeing himself reflected is bringing back all the memories he's bottled away. Yesssss, Keith seems to have a wicked imagination, it's always the quiet ones!
Smithy: Stubborn, opinionated and unwillingness to just let go already! Those two men have a lot in common, but don't tell either of them I said that!
bluebaby1219: Yeah, I've got so many sub plots it can be dizzying at times! Been fun trying to slowly unpeel them all like layers of an onion. As to what Graham meant by "If only they knew..." he was referring to the weapon of choice of a certain giant robot. ;) To Hawkins' "So it began..." he was reflecting on the first time he saw Jeff and Keith together. The flower is getting closer and closer to exploding, I know there will be at least one team member who is going to be traumatized by it. ; The History of the Lions as well as Vehicle Voltron and both mecha's pilots is going to be the underling story that HHE will be exploring. :D
bknbu: :D Glad you enjoyed the trip into the past: Will be more flashbacks as the fic goes, so much history to explore! Alfor has always been an interesting character to me. Coming up with a compelling backstory for him that is not the norm has been a real interesting journey. To nanny, remembering sitting in hospitals with loved ones even in the most awful times the tension is often relived with laughter, hoping to capture a bit of that. Yep, o'l Jeff is overdue to be getting some payback!
Notes on this chapter. This is another heavy one and not one if you need to find your happy place. If you want to kill me after reading this, it's okay. ;) get in line behind Lance.
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28 Whiplash
Allura and Romelle had returned to the hall where Sven, Lance and Pidge sat side by side finishing off their sandwiches, Hunk and Nanny's still fast asleep. Allura gave Romelle's hand a squeeze with a smile then flashed her eyes to Sven.
Romelle squeezed back Allura's hand and went to sit beside Sven, his arm lifting to his side to wrap around her waist. Allura sat down on the other end of the settee next to Pidge who shifted a bowl of Arusian grapes between them so she could reach them.
"Thanks Pidge." She smiled taking one of the small fruits. She then looked over to Lance sitting in the middle of them all who was again looking far off and distant. "Lance, you okay?"
The red pilot looked to her, then let out a strained chuckle. "I suppose." He ran a hand through his hair then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees to look at Nanny, half cured up on the floor of her cell.
Sven lifted his hand to teasingly ruff the back of Lance's neck. "Can you blame her, Flyboy?"
"Uggg, don't remind me."
Pidge looked over to Lance curiously. "Um, Lance? What exactly was she trying to do when she attacked you?"
Lance buried his face into his hands. "Undo my pants so she could re-tuck in my shirt properly." He let out a breath. "When she reached in and realized I wasn't wearing any… well…"
There was a strained silence in the hall as everyone held their breath so as not to laugh but soon they all exploded.
Pidge slapped him across the back. "Nanny was in your pants!"
"I think my boys have shriveled away in fear, never to return." Lance suddenly looked up to look left and right to the blushing princesses. "Err, umm sorry ladies."
Allura shook her head at him. "So because Romelle's here you're suddenly going to pretend you're a gentlemen?"
Sven chuckled. "I've told her too many stories for her to believe that."
Lance's brow shot up. "Exactly what stories?"
Sven sucked in his lips and looked at the ceiling.
Lance's eyes drifted to the even more flushing Romelle. "Romelle?"
"Nothing fit for a Princess to speak of."
Lance's jaw twitched. "I see. Well two can play at that game. Romelle, did Sven ever tell you about the time He, Jeff and I had physicals coming up and…"
Allura saw Sven's face contort and she leaned forward in anticipation of another embarrassing story from their academy days when her com went off. Seeing who the call was from she keyed it open and lifted it to her lips. "Go ahead, Coran."
"Princess, I need to see you as soon as possible. There is an official correspondence I need to send that I needs your approval."
"Coran, can't it wait? I'd rather just…"
"I am sorry, your Highness, but this really should not be delayed. I will be in the conference room."
"I see." Allura let out a sigh. "On my way." She turned off the com.
Romelle looked at her sympathetically. "A Princess's job is never done."
Pidge got to his feet. "I'll walk you. I need to be heading back anyway."
"Thanks Pidge."
"No problem." He offered his elbow to her and they walked out together down the halls towards the lift to control.
Allura looked to her escort who was lost deep in thought a slight smirk on his thin lips. "What?" She asked curiously.
"Ah nothing." Then after a few steps he added. "Did you know it takes more than a week for methylene stain to wear off if it is on an area of skin that cannot be roughly scrubbed?"
"What?" Allura's brow furrowed.
Pidge blushed. "Uh nothing just… er, science stuff."
Pidge escorted Allura to Control's conference room where the man was waiting for her. He gave Coran a nod. "I'm going to continue to analyze those readings."
"Thank you, Pidge." Coran nodded to him then Pidge took his leave and walked into Control, letting the doors close behind him. Instead of going to the main control console he left the lead tech on duty there and went to one of the side stations and began keying up the readings from before, his mind struggling to put all the pieces together but he was missing many of the pieces. That Coran obviously knew one of them but wasn't sharing was weighing heavily on his mind. He sat down on the chair and tried to think. It was something about Allura's reaction to the spell and the Black, but Coran had said it wasn't the spell. He keyed up the Black Lion's readouts on his screen then opened the recordings of Keith's last flight to watch them again.
"Increase scans in sector 12b." The lead tech spoke over the com to the guards on duty.
Pidge's ears perked up, the forest just the other side of the bridge. He turned to the main screen. "Something up?"
The tech looked over. "Just the Black making some noise. Making sure it's nothing."
"Ahh." It wasn't uncommon for the Black to occasionally udder a noise, especially if Keith was out and about out there. But as Keith was in his room on ordered rest it was a good idea to check it out, especially when on heightened security with Lotor's threat.
Pidge watched the various scans flash through on the main screen, cameras clear, motion scan clear, infra-red clear, UV clear, magical radiation clear… He turned back to his screens and his eyes then caught something unusual, one of the windows he had pushed aside, the live feed from the Black. Normally it would be flat lined but there it was again, that rhythmic reading that looked like a pulse but it was slightly different this time, the pace between the beats, slower than before, but then it began to elevate just as the lion let out another groan. It then evened out again then after a few minutes faded out to nothing. "Weird." Pidge quickly switched his view to the medical wing but all was still quite there. "Hmmmm." He got up and went to the central command console. "How's it look out there?"
"Sensors and reports from the patrols say all clear. He's seems to have stopped growling."
Pidge nodded then rubbed his neck. "Good, but I think I'd like to go out and check on the Black."
The tech nodded at Pidge. "Probably not a bad idea, Sir." He reached down to hit the button to raise the shoots.
Pidge nodded back. "Thanks." And then sprang for shoot one.
After lying in bed for as long as he could delay Keith eventually had to give in to how uncomfortable he was. Making his way to his shower he froze feeling something wasn't quite right. He turned to look out the window to regard his metallic friend perched across the lake. Walking to the glass he reached his hand out to touch. "What is wrong my friend?" He closed his eyes and reached out his mind.
His mind found a thread of connection and he felt himself being pulled along with it. In his mind's eye he saw a beautiful visage off of a robed clad woman floating in space, a rainbow of colors surrounding her, so beautiful! Then there was a brilliant flash of light and just as suddenly the sense of weightlessness took him, that weightlessness dissolving away and becoming freefall. No matter how much he fought to keep in control his legs gave way beneath him, unable to keep his balance as the sensation grew more and more powerful, then everything went black.
Moments later he stirred. He found himself collapsed onto the floor by the glass. He ran his hands over his uniform feeling the salty sweat of his skin and also feeling a new heavy stickiness. A strong metallic taste began to grow in his mouth, the familiar taste of blood. He blinked his eyes to focus, realizing he must have bit himself when he fell.
He reached up his hand to wipe his mouth but it came away clean. Strange. His eyes then drifted back out the window but the lion was quiet. He struggled back to his feet and wove his way into his bathroom. He walked up to the mirror placing his palms on the counter for support then raising his head slowly up to look at himself. The bedraggled person that looked back at him was hardly recognizable. He looked at his mouth for the cut, pulling his lip this way and that but even though the taste was still strong he could see no blood. He turned on the water cupping his hands beneath it and lifted them up to fill his mouth. He swished the liquid around a few time then spat it out into the sink. Clean.
He looked up at himself again his brows furrowing, not wanting to acknowledge that his fatigue might have just reached the point to become completely delusional. He reached out for his toothbrush filling it with more than enough paste and began scrubbing the taste away in earnest. After several brushings and rinsings with antiseptic he reached for a nearby hand towel to wipe his lips dry, satisfied that at least the taste of mint was stronger than the lingering taste of metal. He then grabbed up his razor and ran it over his stumbled jaw to clean off the rouge patches of hair that had begun to show.
He looked at himself again and let out a breath, unable to stall himself from the inevitable, stripping down and taking a shower. He leaned forward onto the counter and braced himself with his hands as he closed his eyes and began kicking off his boots.
"Allura did you hear me?" Coran looked across his desk to his charge who's mind was obviously someplace else.
"Huh, wah?" Allura blinked her eyes a few times then looked up at Coran. "Sorry, just exhausted. What was that again?"
Coran rubbed his mustache in concern. "Allura? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I think so." Her eyes looked far off but then she shook it off and straitened her posture in an attempt to look regal but her loose hair and tired eyes failed to complete the picture. "Yes, I'm fine. Read it again."
Coran's lips tugged to the side. The strain of the last few days had been heavy on all of them. He was going to have to get a firmer hand on making sure they all got their rest. "I'll just paraphrase then." He cleared his throat. "We of planet Arus are overjoyed to hear of your request to send us aid. We welcome any support you can offer us, with the understanding that Arusian sovereignty will continue to be respected as an honorary member of the Galactic Alliance. As stated in amendment 452DW3c 'Arusian Territories and Alliance Polices'." He looked up to Allura who seemed to only be half paying attention to him. "Allura?"
Allura looked up with a start. "Oh, yes." She sat up tall again. "Are they really going to send us aid this time? So hard to believe."
"Well it looks like it, and more help than we could have ever dreamed."
Allura cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Coran walked around his desk to lean against it. "They are planning on sending the Explorer to Arus."
Allura suddenly sobered. "What! That can't be? The other Voltron, here?" Her hands came up to cover he mouth.
Coran smiled. "Looks like it. The Commander got the call when he was out on patrol and I got the official assignment documentation from Garrison an hour ago."
Allura squealed and jumped to her feet and rushed into Coran wrapping her arms around him. "I can't believe it!"
He wrapped up his little princess in his arms, enjoying the feel of her in his fatherly embrace. "In truth, neither can I. I've grown the cynic in matters with the Alliance over the years, it is nice to be proven wrong on occasion."
"Oh, I must tell the boys! I wish Hunk was able to share in this news."
Coran pulled back a bit. "Princess. Keith has specifically asked that only we three know about this for the time being."
"Why, it's such joyous news?"
"He has concerns, genuine ones at that. He feels that until we know for certain Garrison is truly committed to this that it's best not to tell the team, especially under the strain they are all under at the moment."
Allura nodded. "They have disappointed us in the past."
"Yes indeed they have, many times over. His concerns specifically were focused on young Pidge."
Allura's eyes drifted in thought and then came back to Coran's. "His brother." She buried herself in his arms again. "Oh, that would be terrible for him to get his hopes up only to have them change their minds."
"So, can I assume I can include the royal seal on this correspondence?"
Allura looked up to him, eyes wide in amusement. "You have to ask?"
Coran nodded with a chuckle. "Yes I do." He raised a brow. "Your Highness."
Allura beamed at him then took a step back and put on her most regal aire. "You have my permission, Coran."
"Come, let's send it together." He motioned to her to come around his desk to stand beside him. He added the royal signature to the document and then together they both hit the button to send it on its millions of light-years journey. He then glanced over to Allura who then had her eyes closed, hands raised to her face and her fingers twisted in an awkward gesture. "Princess?"
Allura's eyes fluttered open and she glanced at her hands. "Oh something Pidge taught me. You cross your fingers like this when you wish for something to come true."
Coran looked on her with mild amusement and lifted his hand but his old and worn fingers had difficulty duplicating the gesture. "I will have to pray to the lions instead." He smiled at her. "Now about you." He looked his charge up and down, again taking in her darkened tired eyes. "As Nanny is not able to nag you about your wellbeing I believe I will have to step in for her and order you to get some rest. I want to start everyone on mandatory bed rest. As much as we want to keep watch over our comrades, it would be silly to let our enemies win because of simple fatigue. I've already had to order Keith to rest for the rest of the day. And you, princess, are almost looking as worn out as he."
Allura hung her head low. "But Coran, as Princess I don't..."
"No buts Allura." He then smirked. "And I do believe the Blue Lion pilot would agree with me."
Allura's mouth twitched into a slight smile. "Yes, I understand, Coran." She nodded her head, the defiant Princess dissolved away to be replaced by the confidant pilot.
"Please have the guards escort you." Coran dared to add.
"Yes, Coran."
Coran made a mental note to remember that trick. "Good. I will let the others know that you will not be returning to them. I will also be ordering Lance on bed rest. I will keep you all informed if there is any change. But as of now rest and the team's health and mental fortitude need to be a top priority."
"Understood, Thank you." Allura smiled again to her adviser and took her leave.
Allura nodded to her guard escort and made her way to her suite. As much as she wanted to argue against it Coran was right, they were all dangerously tired. Thank goodness Sven and Romelle were here now. She felt more secure in just knowing that they had Voltron if they needed him, and Romelle was here to give her a shoulder when she needed it. She had missed her cousin more than she wanted to admit it and selfishly hoped that she and Sven would be able to stay.
She reached her hall noting the increase security presence stationed by her door and patrolling the royal wing. She thanked them and then entered her private quarters. She walked into her bedroom and looked to the large expanse of windows and suppressed a shudder at the memory of Lotor crashing through them, knowing it was a silly reaction. The glass had been long ago replaced with a composite polymer material that was stronger than the steel walls of the castle itself. The castle would fall before the glass would break again. Even so, she walked up to the wall an keyed the metal shutters closed, the large metal blast panels sliding down into place sealing her in. She heard the comforting sound of munching overhead to look up to see her little friends relaxed and nibbling up in the chandelier hanging in her bedroom. She let out a breath and finally let herself relax. As she did so the exhaustion that she had been suppressing rose up over her like a wave and as she did so she let her guard down and felt another sensation wash over her. She closed her eyes and her mouth slowly dropped open. She took a few cleansing breaths as the feeling of being under a refreshing waterfall tingled over her skin.
Her eyes suddenly flashed open as the cool shifted to stinging heat. "I must be really tired." She shook her head with a chuckle and walked to her bed to kick off her shoes and then crawled into it, not bothering to change out of her pink dress. She tried in vain to not think about who and what she had been fighting to keep out of her thoughts and in her fatigue failed miserably, quickly drifting into a daydream and letting her freed mind wander to where it most desired.
Keith slowly let the water wash away the sickly feeling on his skin. Raising his head and opening his mouth to the stream he let the cooling water flow over him trying to clean him inside and out. Once thoroughly rinsed off he reached for the temperature controls raising it up to as hot as he could take it, the steam rising up all around him and filling the bathroom. He reached his hand under the soap dispenser and began scrubbing every inch of his body starting from the top of his head and working his way down. As he scrubbed he fought to keep his thoughts free of his temptations, using his well-trained mental discipline to clear his thoughts of Allura and her shower. Don't think of her, just think of the water, the flow… the… heat…
"Ughhhhh." He gave up trying to control himself collapsing against the shower wall, his arousal teasing at his feeble attempt at control as it touched the cool metal wall of his shower the contrast of the cool metal and the hot water bringing a hiss to his lips. The steam was growing thicker, enveloping him in a muggy heat and his body began to sweat.
He closed his eyes and let his mind imagine her body where it was in his dream, his body pressing against the wall of the shower craving to touch. His breath becoming heavy in the thick air as he finally gave in and let go of the last threads holding his mind in check, hand dropping to grasp onto his desire as he flattened against the wall. His mind began swimming with his imagination.
He felt his body press against her, felt her skin tremble under his touch, he heard his name called between her moans, soon driven into a frenzy in the dizzying heat… The heat, her moans, her cries spurring him on further, harder, deeper… her moans becoming screams… screams… screams.
A vaguely familiar shrill ragged voice came into focus and ripped into his ears… "NO!"
He flinched and pushed himself hard off the wall. Falling against the other side of the shower he squinted his eyes into the steam to see Allura, body scarlet with bruises slowly sliding down the wall in front of him. A disembodied but familiar voice softly came from her swollen and bloody split lip. "No… no… no…"
His breath came in increasing heaving gasps. He turned and slapped his palm onto the shower's controls to turn the water off then when he looked back she was gone. He fell out of his shower and stumbled his way to his sink and hunched over it as the sensation of bile began rising in his gut but nothing came.
He looked up to a bluish hue in his fog covered mirror and reached up his hand to wipe it clean only to look into the yellow eyes of his mortal enemy. "NO!" He screamed into the image. "NO!" Then the image began to shimmer, blue shifting to tanned skin, white hair shrinking away and turning to inky black, the reflection twisting into the reflection of very familiar eyes. Deep dark pits of rage looked back at him… eyes he had hoped to never see again. He snarled, pulling back his fist and punched the reflection.
"FUCK!" He screamed as he spun away and he grabbed at his fist. The sudden and sharp pain of the impact stung his senses back to reality. His eyes began to water as he tried to fight the pain. His eyes looked back to the glass, thankfully made of the same ballistic material the castle's window's where it was still intact, but now a line of red was smeared across it. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." He cursed himself as he reached down and turned the water on to rinse off his bleeding hand. He carefully began repeatedly stretching out his fingers and making a fist to ascertain the damage. He silently thanked his martial arts training for saving his hand from any real significant damage. The bones had been spared, but his split open knuckle would need attention. He grit his teeth. Great, just fucking great.
He reached down to a drawer, angrily ripping it open and pulled out the first aid kit he had there. He tossed it onto his counter and went about cleaning the wound, gluing it shut and wrapping it in gauze.
"Why?" He looked at himself in the mirror as he ran his hands into his wet hair to get it out of his face. Why was he thinking of that bastard now? He pulled his hands away looking at his hair as it lay neatly slick back against his head. He let out a snarl and quickly sent his fingers into it to thoroughly muss it back up.
His eyes then looked into the mirror over his shoulder at the shower where moments before he had imagined Allura beaten and battered… his eyes blinked a few times and his mouth slowly dropped open.
He turned and sunk to the floor and buried his hands into his face. No no no no. I'm not like that. I'm not. I'm not like him!... His fingers slowly spread open and he looked between them back to where Allura's used body had lay… "Am I?"
.
The small boy heard their voices coming down the long highly polished bamboo hall, the voices echoing off of the hard surfaces. He dropped to the floor between a plant and a pillar and clamped his hands over his eyes hoping to hide himself away and tune it all out, but the sound just reverberated around him as the voices grew louder and louder.
"You were looking at him!"
"I was looking at everybody!" The woman's words were slurred. "It was a fucking banquet!" He heard the muffled sound of a struggle. "Get your hands off me!" Then the sound of heals quickly clicking away on the floor.
The boy dared to peer up between his fingers only to lock eyes on the imposing tuxedo clad man looming in front of him. The man's body whipped around to face him. "What are you looking at!" He reached down and grabbed the boy by his shirt, yanking him off of his feet. "And where were you when I needed you! You were supposed to do one thing, one thing all night and you failed me!" The man's nostrils flared.
The toxic smell of alcohol on the man's breath made the boy want to gag. He instinctively flinched away then instantly regretted it as his body was tossed hard against the stone column near the wall with a priceless jade vase perched atop it, he and the vase toppling down and it shattering to pieces all around him.
The man raised his hands up and raked them through his immaculately groomed short dark hair. "You're as useless as your mother!"
The shock of the fall quickly took over, numbing the pain slicing at his skin. The boy went limp knowing admitting to the pain would just make his punishment worse.
"Baaaa, Useless. So help me if either of you ruined this deal I will kill you!" He stormed down the hall in the same direction the woman had gone.
When he could finally no longer hear the footfalls the boy groaned and tried to get up but his hands and feet just slid out from under him on the polished floor. He rolled onto all fours and began to crawl his way clear of the shards. He then heard her scream, the shrill sound echoing out of their bedroom. He staggered his way to his feet and limped down the hall after them, oblivious to the trail of red he was leaving on the floor. When he reached the door he froze in fear. His father had his mother shoved face against the wall, her diamond encrusted gown torn clear up her back and he was pressing his body against hers.
"You… are… mine!" The man's voice grunted. "Mine!" he pushed harder against her. "Do you hear me!"
"Yessss." The woman hissed back through her tears. "Yes, my love."
"Liar!" He pulled back, grabbing onto her shoulder and flipped her around. His hand reached for her neck and lifted her to her toes. "I will make you understand!" He spun her around him and tossed her onto the large bed, flipping her again so her back was to him. He reached down and grabbed her hips pulling her back to him and positioned his body behind her.
"Noooooo!" she screamed but he ignored her and slammed his body into hers and she let out a gut wrenching scream.
On hearing his mother's plea the boy couldn't help but to scream too. "Mother!" He cried but the sound was more a whimper than anything. His parent's heads both snapped to him and all he could then see was his father's rage with utter hatred in his dark eyes. He saw the man stand up and walk towards him. He raised his hand up defensively, but before anything happened the world started to go foggy and he fell into blackness.
.
.
His eyes slowly opened, the bright lights all around him blinding him. He tried to raise up his hand to ward off the light but found he couldn't, it was caught on something. He tugged on both arms but it was no use. His eyes finally focused enough to look down to see his arms were strapped down to the side rails of the bed he was laying on, each was wrapped tightly in gauze, a tube with red liquid flowing through it extending up behind him from his right forearm. He blinked his eyes confused then the oh too familiar sounds of beeping machines came to him. He was in the hospital again.
"He's awake sir." A woman's voice called from nearby but his vision didn't quite focus far away yet, the figures just shadowy forms.
"Ah good." An unfamiliar man's voice answered and he felt his bed shift as the man sat down on it. "You are a lucky boy, young man. You lost a lot of blood."
The man's face slowly came into focus. The boy looked him up and down, eyes fixing on his white coat.
"Do you know where you are?" The doctor asked.
The boy shrugged. "Hospital I guess."
"Good." The man smiled.
"And do you know your name?"
The boy looked down to again study his arms and hands all wrapped in bandages, remembering how they got that way.
"Do you know your name?" He asked again.
The boy refused to look up. "Keith."
"Good good. And do you know how old you are, Keith?"
Young Keith looked at his fingers, a few of them also wrapped up in cocoons of gauze. "Ten."
"Very good. Nurse, when they get back you can let his parents in."
"Yes doctor." The nurse replied.
The doctor patted Keith's leg. "You get some rest."
Keith watched the doctor go and then stared out vacantly to the wall across from him.
He heard the voice of his father well before he was in the room, laughing with some other men out in the hall. "What you are doing here with nano science is amazing. I cannot commend you and your staff enough."
"You flatter us, but you know full well we couldn't have done any of it without you."
"Ha, well not so much me as my money!" His father laughed, the other men in the hall laughing with him. "And now let me see that clumsy boy of mine."
Keith looked up to see his father dressed in a fine suit his smiling mother on his arm and they both surrounded in a sea of grinning white coats.
"Awake I see." His father smiled then raised his brow in caution to the boy out of sight of the doctors around him.
Keith dropped his eyes. "Yes sir."
"Such a clumsy boy. I swear he gets that from her side of the family not mine." He chucked the doctors all laughing with him. "Isn't that right my love?"
His mother nodded her head and gave the doctors a beautiful smile. "Yes, always falling down or crashing into things."
"Only this time it was into an original antique Vanderan vase!" His father chuckled.
His mother laid her hand on his father's arm giving it a squeeze. "Now don't you go pretending you liked that old thing!"
He turned to his wife and gave her a tender kiss. "I will have to send you shopping to buy us something new then."
Keith's jaw flinched as she beamed beautifully at him bouncing on her heels. "Oh! I know just the thing!"
The younger doctor that had earlier questioned him came back into the room holding a report reader getting one of the older doctor's attention. "Sir, if I may. I've been looking over his records. I'm a bit concerned that he may have a genetic issue or deficiency. The amount of injures and broken bones he's had indicates there may be a weakness in his…"
"No need, Doctor." The older white coated man put his palm over the reader's screen. "We've already tested him fully, and I can personally attest as having been to our generous benefactor's estate and seeing how this young boy rides their horses I can tell you it's a true miracle he hasn't broken more!"
Keith's father patted the older doctor on the shoulder. "Isn't that the truth! He's a daredevil that one. If only he would put the same focus into his studies." He shot Keith a scowl.
Keith's mother squealed and reached her hand to the older doctor. "Oh! You simply must come to the interplanetary gala fundraiser were hosting in a few weeks. Our polo team will be playing and then dinner after, you and your lovely wife must come!"
The doctor smiled back at her. "How could I possibly refuse? It's the event of the year so I have heard." He then gave her a wink. "All that money in one place and my poor hospital in need."
Keith's father raised his brow in mock offence then laughed. "What do you need now?"
The doctor beamed. "Funny you should ask."
Keith's father shook his head with a chuckle. "Send my office a proposal and I'll see what I can do. Now if you would excuse me a moment doctors I'd like to speak with my son for a minute before we have to leave."
Keith's brow raised. Wow, he actually remembered I was here. He then scowled at the doctors as they all bowed to his father respectfully and took their leave, the beaming grin not leaving the head doctor's face.
His father eventually turned to him and crossed his arms. "They are keeping you here overnight until your blood levels have stabilized so I've sent for your language tutors to come here this afternoon."
Keith dropped his eyes. Of course, this man was not here in concern of his son's wellbeing but his own needs.
"This is bad timing, bad timing indeed. Your mother and I are heading to an opening tonight and will be gone the next week on business. You will keep to your studies. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." Came Keith's automatic reply to his father's orders.
"As I understand by the nature of your injuries you will be in need of some physical therapy to speed healing. As I need you in good form for the gala I have will arrange for my trainer to come to the estate to work with you."
Keith nodded his head keeping his eyes downcast. "Yessir."
"What was that?"
Keith looked up, meeting his father's eyes. "Yes sir."
"Good. Now we're already three hours late for our chartered flight, we must go." He reached his hand to the small of his wife's back, guiding her out of the room then pausing to turn back at the door to glair at Keith again. "And get a damn haircut!"
