Jasper:
His girl was here. That was all that Jasper could think about. He was so happy that she was the first person he saw when he woke up.
"Hey," he said, smiling at her. Yeah, he was damn articulate alright.
She laughed at him and reached out to cup his face. "I love you too, bodyguard."
He knew that she loved him. Always had, but to hear her say it out loud meant so much to him. He tried to lean up to kiss her but the pain made him settle right back down immediately.
"Whoa, that was not a really good feeling." Jasper winced at the pain he was feeling. He realized how sore his whole body was. How many times did he get shot?
"Jasper, keep still," Eleanor chastised. "You're still recovering from surgery. They had to remove your left lung."
What? Jasper noticed that Liam was standing behind her and he looked to him for confirmation. Liam nodded his head.
"Jasper, I am so sorry," Liam said sadly. He could tell that the Prince was feeling guilty. It was kind of his fault for going after Robert like that. Deviating from the plan that they had agreed upon. The reality of it was that the gun that Liam had was the one that Jasper had given him for protection. The irony was not lost on Jasper. Jasper Frost, shot by his own freaking gun. Jasper couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
"Why are you even smiling right now?" Eleanor roared. "You almost died, Jasper. Is everything a joke to you? You are unbelievable!" She hastily turned to make her way out the room. He quickly made a move to grab her arm and could feel his stitches coming apart.
"Len, wait. I'm sorry. Ow." Eleanor rushed back to his side.
"Are you ok? You are such an idiot. Don't do that again. Don't move." She looked at him with worry. She loved him. Getting shot and losing a lung was totally worth it. He could see the dark circles around her eyes. Has she been here the whole time? What happened to Robert? He had so many questions but his biggest concern was that Eleanor looked like she hadn't slept for days.
He reached for her hand, "Hey, when was the last time you slept. You look exhausted. Raccoon eyes aren't in style anymore."
"Well Jasper, considering the events of the last few days, sleep was the last thing on my mind," she responded.
"Why don't you come and lay down with me for a nap, yeah?" Jasper struggled to move the right side of the bed to make room for her.
"What the hell are you doing! I told you to stay still Jasper. You're going to bloody rip out your stitches!" she yelled.
"Look Princess, you either get into this bed with me or I'm going to get out this bed and put you in it myself."
Eleanor looked to Liam for help and he just smiled and shook his head. He turned and nodded at Jasper. Jasper saluted him in return with a smile. He didn't blame the Prince for what had happened. Liam slowly exited the room, giving Jasper and Eleanor some alone time. He looked back at his Princess.
"This is ridiculous," Eleanor muttered. She started to take off her coronation dress and was left in her bra and underwear. Jasper preferred her naked but this was fine also. She carefully got into bed and laid next to him.
"Am I hurting you?" she asked. She was always hurting him. It was the good kind of hurt though. Every time he was with her he loved her even more. His heart grew with his love for her. He shook his head as he pulled her close to where she was flush against him. He kissed her shoulder lightly. It had been too long without feeling her skin against his. He nuzzled his nose in the crook of her neck and breathed her in. He could feel her body shuddering and he knew instantly that she was crying again. He grabbed her arm to force her to turn her body and face him. He grabbed her chin and kissed her. Once on the lips, then the nose and then her forehead. He had never been a tender kind of guy. Heck, when he and the Princess first started off it was all roughness. She liked it though. Somewhere along the way, he learned that the Princess longed for moments of tenderness also. Through her, he learned to be tender. Softness had replaced some of his roughness and he came to like these moments also.
"Hey, I'm ok. We're going to be ok. We're going to get through this." Jasper said softly. She nodded her head although there were still tears falling.
"I love you, Princess," he said again. He planned to tell her that every day. He earned a smile from her. She grabbed his hand and intertwined them hers and held it against her heart. Her heart was beating just as fast as his was. She didn't have to say it out loud again for him to know that she loved him. He'll never doubt her love for him ever again.
"Let's go to sleep, bodyguard. I'm sure you're tired and I am too. There's a lot that I need to tell you tomorrow." He knew there was a deeper meaning from what she had just said. They'll deal with it tomorrow. Right now, he has his girl in his arms and he's alive. One day at a time.
Eleanor:
Eleanor woke to someone clearing their throat.
"Get out!" she yelled. She hated when her sleep was interrupted. She tried to snuggle closer into her pillow to block out the noise. Although, it wasn't a pillow that she was snuggling into. She looked up and saw Jasper still sound asleep. His arms were tightly wrapped around her. She slowly detached herself from him, careful not to wake him or come into contact with his injuries. As soon as she was off the bed, she was face to face with a doctor and a nurse. They were looking at their feet instead of at her. Then she realized the state of her attire. She was in nothing but a bra and underwear. She coolly walked over to the dress that she had discarded earlier and put it back on. How freaking hard was it to get the Princess a change of clothes. She had told Liam a few days ago to get her a change of clothes from the palace and here she was still in the same goddamn clothes she was in at the brother was damn useless in some aspects. Luckily there was a shower in the hospital room that she was able to use to prevent smelling like a dead animal. Dead. The thought of death had Eleanor in tears again. She looked back to Jasper's sleeping form remembering how close she was to losing him. She recomposed herself, remember that there were other people in the room. She stood up straight and turned toward the doctor.
"Speak," Eleanor demanded.
The doctor cleared his throat again and said, "We're here to check his vitals your Highness."
She moved aside so that the doctor and the nurse can do their thing. She grabbed her phone to remind Liam to bring her clothes. She saw that she had missed text messages and missed calls from Sebastian. Guilt began to settle in. He was a good friend and she owed him an explanation. She was clear to him that she wanted nothing more than friendship. It was true. She wasn't available to anyone else. She had thought about sleeping with him to hurt Jasper but she realized how this was much more than mind games to her. My, how much has she grown.
"Eleanor." It was Jasper and she was quickly by his side. He looked relieved as soon as he saw her and reached for her hand. She didn't hesitate offer her hand to him.
"When can I be released doc?" Jasper asked the doctor.
"In a few days maybe. We want to make sure that you don't react negatively to the blood transfusion. Also, we want to make sure your right lung is able to compensate for the lack of the left."
"I feel fine though. I would much rather be recuperating at home instead of in a hospital. If I feel off, I'll make sure I come back to the hospital as soon as possible. Deal?" Typical Jasper. Still trying to make deals even with a doctor.
Eleanor could see how uncomfortable the hospital was making him feel so she offered an alternative solution.
"How about we have a doctor make a house visit twice a day?" Eleanor offered.
"The cost of that…." the doctor started to say.
Eleanor scoffed, "I'm the goddamn Princess. Money is not an issue." She felt Jasper give her hand a light squeeze as for her to tone down the bitchiness.
The doctor appears to give into her demand and nod his head. "Very well, your highness, I'll make arrangements for Mr. Frost to be discharged. We'll also send a doctor to the palace twice a day until further notice. We also need to fix a couple of the stitches that appeared to have opened." The doctor looked at both Eleanor and Jasper assuming there were some naughty activities that went on in the bed last night.
"I'll rather the doctor go to my place in Shoreditch." That came from Jasper. Eleanor was about to argue with him but decided not to while the doctor was in the room with them.
As soon as the doctor left, Eleanor tried to look at his stitches to see how bad they were.
"Are we playing doctor now? Wrong costume, baby." Jasper smirked.
"You're insufferable, you know that. And what is this business about going to Shoreditch and not the palace?" Eleanor inquired.
"I need some time away from the palace," Jasper said.
Time away from her also? Eleanor couldn't hide the hurt on her face.
"I want you to come stay with me. It's obviously not the palace but it's got a bed and a kitchen, where I'll be the one cooking for you of course. I know it's not Monaco or Paris and I have no right to ask you, but will you stay with me? For a week at least? For us to figure out where to go from here? Where Robert is not going to try and kill me again?"
Eleanor nodded. "Of course, I'll go with you. There's no turning back now. About Robert, he's been detained by MI6 temporarily. They think he suffers from manic depression. Mum is handling the palace affairs at the moment with help from the Privy Council and James."
Another nurse and doctor entered the room.
"We're here to follow up on Mr. Frost's stitches."
Eleanor moved aside for them to work. Liam and Rosie entered in the room also. Rosie handed her a change of clothes and she was so happy that she could have kissed her. She looked at Liam and rolled her eyes. Sending a man to do a woman's job. Once she was done changing, she walked out and say that Jasper was sitting up now. He was laughing and joking around with Liam. It didn't take long for his eyes to find hers. She smiled at him and he smiled back. They were always drawn to each other when they were in the same room. Even when there weren't together. Her thoughts were interrupted by a nurse bringing in a wheelchair.
"I can walk," Jasper said.
They all yelled NO in unison. Jasper knew he wasn't going to win that fight so he obliged. As soon as he was settled in the wheelchair, Eleanor moved behind him to push the wheelchair out.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, Princess?" Jasper said as he turned on the brakes on the wheelchair.
"I'm pushing you to the car." Eleanor responded, confused at what he' throwing a tantrum about now.
"No, you're not. I'm supposed to take care of you. Not the other way around. There's no way in hell, I'm going to let you push me. By the way, I'm too heavy for you."
"Stop being so goddamn stubborn Jasper. If I'm not pushing you out of here, then you can forget about me staying in Shoreditch with you. That's the deal!" Eleanor yelled. The man was freaking difficult and she wondered why in the world was she was so in love with him. Jasper looked to the ceiling as he would find help there and shook his head. He muttered a fine.
As she was pushing the wheelchair down the hallway, she noticed that Jasper was also manually propelling the wheelchair. No wonder she couldn't feel his weight when she was pushing the wheelchair.
"Stop doing that Jasper, I got this." Eleanor gritted through clenched teeth. Did he think she was that useless? They made it to the car and Eleanor and Liam helped him in. She and Jasper sat on one side and Rosie and Liam sat opposite of them. She had to admit she was exhausted. However, every time she looked at Jasper, she knew it was worth it. Jasper caught her staring at him and gave her the Frost smirk. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head. She leaned against him, making sure not to put all of her weight into it. She looked at Liam and Rosie who shared a look and smile and shook their head at the sight of her and Jasper. She wished they could stay like this forever. However, she knew she was going to have to break the news of his parents to him. She wasn't sure how he would react. There was one thing she was sure of though. She was going to be with him every step of the way.