Jeffrey woke up feeling weak and tired. He groaned slightly as he sat up in bed and frowned when he saw the white of the hospital wing. Shit, he thought. He had woken up in his room, then passed out again on his way to the hospital wing. He couldn't remember what had happened, just that a male voice had told him to keep his eyes open. But he didn't want to keep his eyes open, he wanted to sleep. But now he was awake and fully aware of what he did. He glanced to his right and saw his mother sitting on a chair, fast asleep.
"M-mom," Jeffrey said, slightly loud, hesitant to wake her up.
Annalise's eyes shot open, and she hugged her son tightly, "Oh thank God you're awake." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Why would you do something like that?" She asked as she pulled away with tear filled eyes.
"I'm sorry, mom." Jeffrey said quietly as he looked down.
"I want an answer, Jeffrey!" Annalise said as she raised her voice. "You're lucky Greg and I found you when we did, you could have died!"
Jeffrey ran a hand through his hair, "Why does it matter? Why are you even in here? You don't have custody of me, Uncle Rupert does!"
"Actually, that's not true anymore. While you were sleeping my lawyer paid us a visit, the judge deliberated and decided that you're better off with me. Your uncle has a non-association order against you." Annalise said as she ran a hand through her son's hair. "Is that why you did it? To get away from Rupert?"
Jeffrey nodded, "I couldn't take it anymore…"
"Well, now you're back with me, where you belong," Annalise said. She wrapped her arms around Jeffrey and kissed him on the head. "Don't ever do something like that again."
"I won't, I'm sorry mom," Jeffrey said quietly, unable to make eye contact.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and a petite blonde doctor entered the room. "Ah, Your Highness, good to see that you're awake." The doctor said. "I'm Dr. Lawrence and I'll be over seeing your stay."
"I'm feeling better, can I just go back to my room now?" Jeffrey asked as he glanced at his mother.
Dr. Lawrence shook her head, "I'm afraid we take these things very seriously, Your Highness, I've put you on a psychiatric hold, you'll be here for the next three days."
"Three days?" Jeffrey complained.
"It could be longer, it depends entirely on your behaviour," Dr. Lawrence said. "Mom, could I speak to you for a second outside?"
"Of course, I'll be right back, Jeff." Annalise said as she stood. She followed Dr. Lawrence from the room and closed the door behind her.
"I'm going to get straight to the point, we would like to send your son to a psychiatric facility," Dr. Lawrence said.
"I'm sorry, what?" Annalise asked, stunned.
"It's standard procedure following a suicide attempt for the patient to be admitted to a facility, but of course Jeffrey does have his doctor and his therapist here, so it's really your call, Your Majesty," Dr. Lawrence said.
Annalise shook her head, "I just got him back, I'm not losing him again."
"All right, we'll monitor him here then," Dr. Lawrence said.
"Thank you," Annalise said.
"You should get some rest, Your Majesty, your son is safe." Dr. Lawrence assured the queen.
Annalise nodded she said goodbye to Jeffrey, then made her way out of the hospital wing. Callum had been left alone for too long and she knew she needed to explain to him what had happened, though she wasn't quite sure how she was going to do that. Annalise was surprised to see Greg sitting in the waiting room with a newspaper on his lap. "Greg, what are you doing here?" Annalise asked.
"I just wanted to make sure you and the kid were okay." Greg said as he stood.
"Have you been out here all night?" Annalise asked, it was ten in the morning and aside from a phone call with her lawyer she hadn't left Jeffrey's side.
"Yeah," Greg replied.
Annalise pulled him into a hug, "Thank you, for what you did, you saved his life."
"I'd gladly do it again, but hopefully I won't have to." Greg said as he rubbed Annalise's back. "Do you know why he did it?"
Annalise nodded, "I'd rather not say."
"I understand," Greg said. "The kid deserves some privacy."
"Thank you, again," Annalise said with a yawn. "I should probably get some rest, and you should too."
Greg nodded as he yawned, "Yeah, I'm pretty tired."
Annalise smiled at him, hugged him once more than walked away.
Annalise knocked, then entered Callum's room. She found the ten-year-old playing with his lego set. "Hey, Callum, I need to talk to you," Annalise said softly.
Callum nodded and set his toys down as he approached his mother, "You look tired, is everything okay?"
"Sort of," Annalise answered honestly as she sat down on his bed. She patted the space beside her and Callum sat on the bed beside her. "Your brother did something very dangerous last night, but he's okay now."
"What happened?" Callum asked, concern filling his small voice.
"He…he tried to kill himself," Annalise answered quietly as she forced back tears. "But it's okay, because Greg and I got there just in time."
"Is he okay?" Callum asked, and Annalise could see him struggling to understand what had happened.
Annalise nodded, "He's resting in the hospital wing, do you want to go see him?"
"Yeah, I miss him," Callum said as he hugged his mother. "Why did he try to kill himself?"
"He didn't want Rupert to have custody of him," Annalise answered. "But that's all behind us now, so now we can move forward as a family."
"I'm glad we have Jeffrey back, maybe now he'll be nicer," Callum said.
Annalise nodded, "I think he will be. Do you wanna go see him?"
"Yeah!" Callum said. "Can we bring him some brownies? I know he likes brownies."
"Of course, we'll have the kitchen whip up a batch," Annalise said with a yawn.
"Okay!" Callum agreed excitedly. He tugged on his mother's hand and Annalise followed him out of the room with a smile. She was glad that he seemed to be handling the news well, though she doubted he fully understood what had happened.
Annalise was on her way to the kitchen to grab the brownies with Callum when she ran into Joel in the hallway.
"Hi Joel," Annalise greeted with a smile. She nudged Callum in the direction of the kitchen, and he took off running.
"Hey, is everything okay with Jeffrey?" Joel asked. "I saw the commotion last night; he didn't look so good."
Annalise nodded, "It was a…medical emergency, he'll be fine." She assured him. She didn't like lying to her Selected, but she also wanted to give her son some semblance of privacy.
"What happened?" Joel asked.
Annalise sighed, "I'm trusting you with this, because you're so good with him, but Jeffrey tried to kill himself last night."
"Jesus Christ." Joel said as he ran his hands through his hair. "There must be some reason for the attempt, I know Rupert's been pretty rough with him…"
Annalise nodded, "Rupert's the reason that he did it, he told me he couldn't take it anymore." She said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I just won custody of him back, Rupert's been served with a non association order, so that's at least been resolved. I just, I can't believe he wouldn't come to me first."
"He probably felt like he couldn't go to you, Rupert must have had a pretty strong hold on him, I thought he was abusing him mentally and physically, he must have done something to trigger the attempt." Joel said as he placed a hand on Annalise's shoulder. "If you want, I can arrange for my son, Cypress, to talk to him. I know he had some suicidal thoughts when we first adopted him. Maybe Jeffrey needs someone he can confide in?"
"That's very kind of you, but the less people who know about this the better, I want to protect my son's privacy," Annalise said.
"Still, even just as a friend," Joel said.
Annalise thought it over, "Jeffrey could sure use more of those, we could set up a video call, once he's out of the hospital wing."
Joel nodded, "I'll talk to Cypress, I'm sure he wouldn't mind meeting the prince."
"Thank you, Joel," Annalise said.
"He'll be okay, he's a good kid, and I'm sure under normal circumstances he never would have done something like that," Joel said.
"I know," Annalise said. "I should probably go, Jeffrey's been alone for a while, and I hate the thought of him sitting in that hospital room by himself."
"If you need anything, I'm here for you," Joel assured her.
"Thank you," Annalise said. She smiled at Joel before she retreated into the kitchen. I'm going to have to tell the rest of them, she thought with a sigh. It was only fair to the Selected. But still, some gut feeling told her not to tell all of them, only those she felt she could trust.
That afternoon Annalise went to Rupert's office, where he was busy packing his belongings. He stopped when he heard the door close and turned to face Annalise.
"Come to gloat, have you?" Rupert asked.
Annalise drew back her hand and slapped his across the face, "How dare you torment my son the way you did!"
A smile played on Rupert's lips as he took a step back from Annalise, "I was merely trying to make your boy stronger; the way Darren would have toughened him up."
"Darren would have never abused him!" Annalise shouted angrily. "I want you out of my palace, now!"
"Relax, Annalise, I'm packing." Rupert said as he motioned to the box behind him. "I'm still Lord Regent, you know, don't think that I won't fight this."
"The courts sided with me once, they'll side with me again," Annalise said firmly. "You put my son through hell, Rupert."
"I made a law, Annalise, I did this to help the realm!" Rupert seethed. "Your son is weak, and a weak king will only endanger the country."
"My son is not weak, he will make for an excellent king and his reign will be one of peace and prosperity, you're lucky you're still Lord Regent, Rupert, you're lucky the courts didn't take that away from you too," Annalise snapped.
Rupert glared at her, "I pity the people once your son takes command, luckily for me that won't be for another four years. I'll do what I can to make sure he has this peaceful reign you speak of."
Annalise returned the glare, "I don't care what you do as regent, just stay away from my son like the courts ordered."
Rupert rolled his eyes, "Of course, Your Majesty, is there anything else I can do for you?" He asked snidely.
"No, the guards will escort you out," Annalise said. She turned on her heel and left his office, slamming the door behind her.
Annalise was in the kitchen, sipping some tea when Noah came in. He smiled at her, then wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Tea? You're drinking tea?" He questioned.
Annalise smiled, "I didn't want to trouble you for a cup of coffee, and I needed something to settle my nerves."
"Right, I heard that something happened with Jeffrey, is he alright?" Noah asked as he started preparing himself a cup of coffee. "Are you good with your…tea or do you want some of my famous brew?"
Annalise chuckled then rubbed her eyes, "I guess I could use some coffee too."
"Coming right up," Noah said.
Annalise smiled, "And to answer your question, he'll be fine, he just had a medical emergency last night, he's in the hospital wing for the next few days."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I hate to say this, but you look exhausted." Noah said as he set her cup of coffee down on the counter. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"I dozed off shortly after they stabilized him," Annalise answered. "But sleeping on those hard plastic chairs hardly qualifies as sleep."
"Stabilized him?" Noah asked. "You don't have to tell me what happened, but I'm here to support you no matter what."
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Annalise said. She grabbed her mug and took a sip of coffee. "I swear this is even better than last time."
Noah grinned, "If there's one thing I know, it's how to make a good cup of coffee, and I don't think there's a problem that coffee can't solve."
"It certainly helps, I just don't know if I should stay with Jeffrey tonight in the hospital wing, I visited him this afternoon with Callum, but the two seemed to want to be alone so I took a nap." Annalise admitted with a yawn.
"Honestly? I don't know what happened, but in the hospital wing he's in good care, you need to take care of yourself too, Annalise," Noah said. He placed a hand on her's. "You're a good mother, but eventually you need to put yourself first."
Annalise sighed, "I know, it's just, I just got him back from Rupert."
"You won?" Noah asked.
Annalise nodded, "Sorry, I meant to tell you all, but I've been busy…"
"That's understandable, congratulations on winning, I knew you would." Noah said with a smile.
"I couldn't have done it without your help, that lawyer you hooked me up with was amazing," Annalise said. She leaned in and kissed Noah on the lips, and Noah hesitated a moment before kissing her back. "I owe you so much."
"You don't owe me anything, I just did what anyone else would have done," Noah said.
"I really appreciate it, now that Rupert's out of the picture I'll be able to give you all some more time," Annalise said.
Noah nodded, "Good, I look forward to spending more time with you." He said as he nudged her with his elbow.
Annalise chuckled, "I should probably go check on Jeffrey, I'd let you come with me but him and I need to have a talk. And he doesn't seem too fond of any of the Selected yet."
"I understand, you're a mother first," Noah said.
"I'll see you around, Noah." Annalise kissed him on the cheek then stood and left the kitchen, bringing her cup of coffee with her.