A/N:
I would like to recommend the OST for this Fanfic. It inspired me to continue this.
I would like to apologize for the haphazard writing but I'm trying to write as much as I can because after the community quarantine, I might not be able to write again. Stay Home!
"Rewrite The Stars"
(from "The Greatest Showman" soundtrack)
by Zac Efron & Zendaya
and
"8 Letters"
by Why Don't We
Read and Review
Chapter 8
The doctors were overconcerned, it made Izana panic… even more. He never imagined that he would panic in any situation, but here he was. The combination of fear, anxiety and dread were too new for him. Minutes before, he would have shed a tear… cried even, when he saw Althea's state. He also felt anger. It's taking everything he could to hide and control those feelings from everyone.
They were in a private room especially prepared by the Arleon household. Two doctors were brought by the knights. They have all the medical instruments needed as they were already briefed with the condition of the patient. Present in the room were Izana, Lord Makiri, Lady Haki, two maids and Izana's personal knights.
"This is the first time I saw these kinds of wounds in a Lady." The older doctor remarked. He was in his white gown. "If I knew better, it looked like she just came from a war."
"… and fought in it too." The other doctor added.
Izana winced. If they only knew. She could imagine Lady Althea fighting for her people. And it told him that the war in the Kingdom of Florin is worse that he thought.
"I need two basins of hot boiling water. We need to sterilized our tools." The older doctor ordered the two maids with them.
"We're going to have surgery." The younger doctor announced.
"Surgery?" Izana couldn't help but echo.
"Yes. The wound in her neck needs to be taken care of. It's strange why it's not bleeding… but its the reason why she's alive, thank heavens. She would have bled to her death." The old doctor was babbling. He checked again the wound and clicked his tongue. "We have to check if the arteries or her trachea were cut. If not attended, then we may lose her."
Then he turned and looked at them.
"That's why with all due respect Your Majesty, my Lord and Lady, I need you to leave the room." The older doctor continued. "I'll call you when it's done."
They followed the doctor's instructions.
Outside the room, Lord Makiri confronted him. The man wasn't really keen in hiding his displeasure towards him. It was not threatening but still a form of antagonism, regardless.
"Your Majesty, do you know that Lady?" Lord Makiri asked scowling. Lady Haki was also showing her curiosity.
Should he lie? That will just complicate things, Izana decided.
"She looked like a friend of mine. Although with the circumstances with which we found her, I'm not sure." Izana smiled.
"Its also concerning where she got all those wounds from. I couldn't imagine what she went through." Lady Haki showed her concern. Izana knew it was sincere.
He also couldn't imagine it. The anger he felt to those who caused it. He couldn't imagine what he would do.
"Do you think the criminals from Alcatraz is involved?" Lord Makiri asked.
Izana was sure. He remembered when Lady Althea talked about her uncle making an army out of them. One or some of her wounds were probably inflicted by those bastards.
"We should prepare, just in case." Izana advised him. He nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll inform my captain of the guards." Lord Makiri said.
They went to their own rooms to rest for the remaining hours. Izana plans to comeback a little later to check up on her. In the meantime, he will have to sort his thoughts and feelings first.
He lay in the bed, closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. It was then, at the moment of privacy, that he started shaking.
He thought he will never see her again. She said he will not see her again. And then she appeared and he thought her dead.
The image did not leave Izana's mind. It will haunt him for the rest of his life. It terrified him.
What the hell happened to her? Who did that to her? What is happening in the Kingdom of Florin to make her in that horrid state?
And then there's the dream. How did that old man know she's going to appear in the middle of winter in Lilias? Who is he? How did he know about Lady Althea? He's now certain that the "she" that they were talking about was Lady Althea.
The old man told him to give Althea what she deserves.
Izana thought he should give her everything.
…
It took three hours before the surgery was completed successfully. For the life of him, Izana couldn't imagine why it took that long. The doctors were surprised to see him waiting outside the room.
"I didn't expect you'll be waiting, Your Majesty." The older doctor said.
"Why did the operation take that long?" He demanded, ignoring the remark.
"Please come with me." The older doctor said.
Lady Althea's still unconscious. She looked clean now and better.
"Is the lady now safe?" Izana asked.
"She's in a coma." The doctor answered him. When the doctor saw Izana's face, the doctor added as a placation "But I assure you, Your Majesty, that its only temporary. Her body is doing its best to recover. It will probably take her two to three days though."
The doctor then proceeded to explain their operation. He started with the wounds in the neck. Its all bandaged now. "The wound in the neck missed all the arteries. The cut is large and long so it took us a while to stitch it up."
Izana was looking down on her and noticed the bluish-purple bruise in her left cheek.
"What is this?" He pointed out.
"Another battle scar, I think. I couldn't imagine how the Lady could receive a blow in her face."
"Another battle scar?"
"That what we decided to call it." The older doctor removed her blanket and Izana saw Lady Althea's arm bandaged up too. It getting harder for Izana to look at her.
"Its beginning to turn bluish so we could assume she received that one or two days earlier." The doctor said.
"Now, the reason why it took us a long while..." The doctor was starting to unbutton her shirt.
"What are you doing?" Izana asked, taken aback.
"Your Majesty, you were asking why it took us three hours." He stated. And then he showed his amusement.
"If you turn your back for just a second, Your Majesty."
Izana immediately followed.
The older doctor asked for a cloth from the younger one.
"I think this is the best we could do for propriety." The old doctor said.
The doctor covered Lady Althea's breast but the one that caught Izana's attention was the wound in the middle of her torso. He wasn't sure if it was a wound. It's the first time he had seen it.
There was a black stone in the middle of Lady Althea's body and from it were thin violet nerve-like line spreading for at least two centimeters.
"Is that a wound?"
"No. We did try removing the stone, but it won't budge." The younger doctor said.
"Then was is that?" Izana asked.
"It's poison." The older doctor's eyes glazed.
"Poison? Is it killing her?"
"With all honesty, we do not know."
Izana moved closer. The stone was round but too polished. There's something strange about it. He had the urge to touch it but he could never do that out of propriety.
"We saw several signs of broken ribs but it's all healed now." The doctor said.
Izana nodded. He steeled himself as he numbs all his emotions. Its all too much. She's been through too much.
"To live with all of this, she's a strong one." The young doctor commented.
"Without imposing Your Majesty, I would like the Royal Pharmacist to recommend any medicine that might at least help with her scars. It would be bad for a Lady to have scars all over her body." The older doctor suggested.
"Yes, of course. I'd take care of that." Izana answered absent-mindedly.
When the doctors said that they couldn't do anything anymore until she wakes up, Izana acknowledged and thanked them for their service.
"What are your names?" Izana asked
"I'm called Thorace, Your Majesty." The older doctor said.
"I'm Vacus, Your Majesty, at your service." The younger doctor said.
"Well, then if you need anything else or if the lady wakes up, please call us." Doctor Thorace said.
Both doctors bowed to him and took their leave.
As Doctor Thorace closed the door, he saw the King sat at the bed as he looked over the patient.
…
The coach was waiting for them to take them back to their homes. After the knights gave them their tools and the two doctors have settled in their seats, it was Vacus who asked the question.
"Isn't the King engaged with the Lady of the Arleon?" Vacus asked.
Thorace gave him an irritated glance but did not answer him.
"The King looked like he knows the patient." Vacus continued.
Thorace kept silent but the young man was determined to talk about it. They just finished the operation and Thorace knew both of them are tired.
"Did you see the way he looked at the Lady? It was the first time I saw His Majesty looked like that."
"Do you think she's His Majesty's lov…"
Before Vacus could complete his sentence, Thorace interrupted him.
"Doctor Vacus, its best that we leave that kind of issue to the people involved." He admonished. "Furthermore, its not appropriate for us, doctors, to discuss the personal lives of our patient."
"It's not like we are going to tell other people." Vacus reasoned out. Thorace glared at him. Young people are really more inclined to talk about the lives of other people. Vacus conceded.
"What we can do, as citizens, is to wish His Majesty peace and happiness as this will result to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Clarines." He said.
Thorace remembered how the King looked at the Lady. He knows that look. His Majesty tried so hard to look otherwise, but he failed. He smiled. The King showing that kind of vulnerability is humanizing and he was grateful that he is one of those people that he was able to show that to. And then he took pity for His Majesty. For common people to have that look is not a problem but for His Majesty to give that to a Lady of unknown origins… well, for all reasons that are royalty, is an issue. A complicated issue. He shook his head.
He sincerely wished for King Izana's happiness.
For the prosperity of the Kingdom of Clarines.
