Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 6—Princess Yelina

Horatio still lay on Yelina's couch with his arms folded when a light pierced his sleep. The police officer in him reacted, and he quickly opened his eyes. As the rest of his senses came back, he heard a familiar clicking noise and realized someone was on Yelina's computer in the next room. Lightning and a distant rumble of thunder came through the windows across the room. Other than that it was still dark outside.

Convinced that he could relax now, he rubbed his eyes and reached for his watch. Three in the morning.

"This doesn't help me at all" he heard Yelina say with a frustrated sigh.

As he stretched and looked around, he heard more tapping, more clicking, and now the gurgling of the coffee pot. Then footsteps. Then silence.

He stood up to find Yelina carrying a steaming cup of coffee and holding her belly as she walked slowly to the computer. She looked up at him sadly. "Horatio. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No, I was just coming to check on you" he said, stretching a little. "Are you all right?"

Yelina didn't answer. She just walked past him and sat down at the computer again. Horatio furrowed his eyebrows as Yelina slapped down the cup of coffee and leaned her head on her hand, her messy curls falling around her face again.

He walked up behind her. "What is it, Yelina?"

Yelina never looked up. She began crying, her sobs becoming louder and more helpless. He pulled up a chair behind her.

"Yelina?"

Slowly she turned back to him, her face wet with tears, her hand still on her slightly swollen belly. A glance at the screen showed that she had minimized the internet page. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

He reached for the mouse. "May I?"

She buried her face in her hand again. "Go ahead, Horatio. I don't care what anybody does anymore!"

He clicked on the task bar to open the web page. Staring back at him was…. Furniture? "Thinking about some new furniture?"

A fresh wave of sobs came over the P.I. Not knowing what else to do, he gently and tenderly rubbed her back. "Just looking" she said through her tears.

He nodded thoughtfully. "You couldn't sleep again."

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "I haven't been able to sleep since I stopped taking that Tylox a few days ago."

"Are you still having pain?"

She shook her head. "I wish I could get rid of this, though."

Horatio looked down at her hand over her still swollen belly. "Yelina, you need to give yourself time to heal. It's only been two weeks. If you push yourself too hard, you might start bleeding again. You almost didn't make it."

Yelina nodded, wiping her eyes again. "No, I just feel funny, that's all."

"Well, I know you've been finding out everything you could about this surgery." He sat a little more closely to her and clicked on the mouse again. "So why don't we see what's been causing you to not sleep?"

"Okay" she said weakly.

A hysterectomy website popped up. His blue eyes scanned it. "So you've been looking at a hysterectomy support website. Well, let's see if we can't find out what's causing this." Reaching in front of her he clicked the keyboard. "It says here you might not sleep because your body's been through a trauma. Any kind of surgery is a shock to your system." He read further down. "It also says that you're probably crying because your hormones are out of balance."

Yelina stroked her belly again. "How? They left my ovaries in."

"Maybe, but they shut down after having a knife so close to them. So you're just going to be in menopause for a little while."

She smirked. "Great. I'm just too…."

He looked at her with a sleepy grin. "Too young?"

She looked down. "I guess you were right about…."

"About what, Yelina?"

She looked longingly at the table now. "Even though I have Ray Jr., I won't ever be able to have any other children again. And I wish this would go away."

Horatio glanced at the webpage and then put his hand over hers, helping to caress her belly. "You mean the 'swelly-belly'?"

She smiled. "Yes, the 'swelly-belly'. I can't get into my jeans yet. I've had to wear those leggings."

"You haven't even had your post-op appointment yet."

"I know."

He looked at her more seriously now. "Yelina, you're going to need your rest. It's only been two weeks. Maybe your scars are healing, but—" he glanced at the webpage again. "It says here that your insides are going to take months to heal. And if you keep pushing yourself too hard, you're going to end up back in the hospital."

She closed her eyes. Ray Jr. Her work. The house. The boredom. Getting back into action.

Horatio watched her. "Yelina?"

She finally sighed, frustrated. "I'm sorry, Horatio."

He glanced back at the website again. "But I noticed something else here." He scrolled down on the page. "It also says that this is the time for you to indulge yourself and let everyone treat you like the princess you are."

"Oh, please."

Smiling sleepily, he stood up. "So, Princess Yelina. What will it be? Would you care for some more coffee? Put your feet up on the sofa?"

She smiled. "Horatio, stop it."

Without another word he put his arm under hers and lifted her up, walking her to the sofa. She let him ease her down where he lifted her feet up. He then retreated to the kitchen where he poured her another cup of coffee. He set it down on the end table next to her, giving her a slight bow of his head. "Your cup of coffee, my beautiful princess."

Yelina only closed her eyes and smiled. It was so corny, but she was really enjoying it. "Thank you."

He then sat at the end and lifted her feet in his lap where he gently kneaded her toes. "Would my princess like her feet massaged?" he asked with a soft smile.

Yelina could feel the frustration slipping away as he kneaded her toes one at a time, from bottom to top, and then took her feet in each hand and worked them gently with his strong, firm hands. "Mmm. That feels good" she whispered. She closed her eyes and relaxed.

Horatio noticed that she was still caressing her belly. Gently he reached up and locked his fingers with hers. With gentle circular motions he caressed her angry, swollen belly. "Better?" he whispered soothingly.

"Mm Hmm."

For several minutes Yelina closed her eyes and listened to the gentle rustling of his hand caressing her. She smiled.

"How do you feel now, Your Highness?"

The sadness was long gone now, replaced with a floating bliss. "Mmm. Thank you."

"I think Your Highness would like to go back to sleep." Yelina was about to roll on her side. He put a hand on her shoulder. "No, just relax."

Gently he put an arm under her shoulders and one under her knee and scooper her up. "Hold onto my neck, your highness."

Yelina grinned tiredly as he walked her to the bedroom and laid her gently on the mattress and tucked the sheet around her neck. He then gently kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Princess."

Without a word, Yelina reached up and put her arms around his neck, guiding him down to her lips. Gently she kissed him, her lips touching his for a few seconds. Horatio responded by wrapping his arms around her curls and pressing his lips closer. She stroked his red hair as the Florida heat lightning lit up the room again and again. Finally he stood up and smiled at her.

"Now that was a kiss fit for royalty" she whispered with a sleepy smile.

"I would agree" he whispered back. "Now you get some sleep, princess. I'll see you in the morning." And with that he kissed her forehead again.