It took a while, but between them, Liam and Elizabeth convinced Eleanor to go home, rest and change. In the end, it was because Elizabeth said she would stay by his bedside the entire time Eleanor was away.
Elizabeth could see how ill Jasper still was, despite regaining consciousness. He was pale, slurring his words and speaking more than three words was too much for him, and he fell asleep.
She watched her brother breathing, slow and steady. She listened to the heart rate monitor and relaxed to the smooth, repetitive beeping sounds.
"Liv?"
"Yeah?"
"Where Lenor?"
"We sent her home to rest."
"Good. Save m doing"
Elizabeth looked at her brother. She could see cracks on his lips. She gently sat on the edge of the bed and tenderly ran a cool damp sponge over them.
Jasper gave her a weak smile.
Just at that point, they heard a commotion outside their room. Elizabeth went to investigate and found it was a reporter who had slipped past security, and got to the window of Jaspers room, before being tackled by security and removed from the floor.
She went back to Jasper's bedside and he was back asleep. She gently brushed the top of his head, before gently kissing his forehead and sitting back in the chair.
When Eleanor returned to relieve Elizabeth, Jasper was still asleep, and Elizabeth was reading a book.
Elizabeth got out of the chair, picked her handbag up and moved to the door, pausing to squeeze Eleanor's hand as she passed her.
"I would keep those blinds closed your highness. A reporter got on the floor."
Jasper opened his eyes to find the Queen of England stood at the front of his bed.
"Well here we are body guard. You are all over the news, and the country is grateful that you saved Prince Liam. Unfortunately for you, the tabloids have questions. Lots of questions. And as a result, you are going to be giving a brief press conference. Now we cannot let it get out about your past, so we have come up with a cover story."
Jasper groaned.
"We are going to tell them you are CIA, placed at the palace on an undercover mission to infiltrate the Royal Family"
"Mum, that is ridiculous, and if it gets back to the CIA, it will most definitely be revealed as a lie." Eleanor told her.
"That's why I have already taken care of that. Now you have ten minutes bodyguard to get downstairs for a press conference with my family."
Ten minutes later, Jasper was sat in a wheelchair outside the hospital, with a team of doctors behind him, and the Queen and Liam in front of him. Eleanor had chosen to stay in his room.
"We are gathered here today, to introduce you to the man who saved my life. He took a bullet for me which nearly cost him his own life." Liam said into the microphone "Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, I would like to introduce you to my body guard, and a man I also consider to be a good friend, Mr Jasper Frost."
There was a smattering of applause from the crowd, and Liam helped Jasper out of the wheelchair and over to the microphone.
Once comfortably in front of the microphone, Jasper looked at the Queen, and then at Liam, and knew, deep down inside what he had to do.
"My name is Jasper Frost" he said in his English accent, "and I am the personal protection officer for Prince Liam. I am also an American." he continued, letting his accent slip. The journalists all gasped in shock at Jasper's words.
"I am from Las Vegas, and my parents were both con artists. I was not a good man, and I did not have good intentions when I arrived here, but after I spent time as the personal protection officer to Princess Eleanor, and now Prince Liam, I like to think I have changed and I am honoured to have him call me a good friend and I am proud to have taken a bullet to save your Prince.
"Did the Palace know about your shady past when you started working for them?" one reporter called.
Liam jumped in front of Jasper to answer.
"We have know Jasper's identity from the beginning. We believe in second chances, and he has proved himself, more than once, what he will do to protect my family. He is also the best bodyguard I have had."
This seemed to calm the crowd.
"Do you have a woman in your life, and if so, who is she?" another reporter asked.
Jasper looked around, looked at Liam and then the Queen.
"Yes, I do. She is beautiful and intelligent and she stole my heart from the moment we met. But no, I will not give you her name."
Jasper raised his hand to his side. The pain of standing up for so long was beginning to impact him. A lot. He staggered back from the microphone a couple of paces. Liam saw that Jasper was getting pale and was beginning to fade from the effort of the press conference. He ran forward to catch Jasper before he fell, and guided him back into the chair.
"Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for your time. I hope this press conference has quashed your intrigue into my mystery body guard, but he still has a lot of healing to do, so this is the the end of the press conference. I believe the next time you see Mr. Frost, he will be by my side, doing what he does best." Liam announced as the doctors wheeled Jasper back inside.
