This chapter continues the themes that the last chapter had. Thank you for all of your support!
-CL
"Maxon, she got in the Queen Suite," Carter says, hanging his head. "I'm sorry-I should have run faster."
"It's not your fault, Carter. You didn't know she would take off," I reply. I reach out to stop America from shaking, but wince from the pain. "Ames, calm down."
"No," she says, tears running down her cheeks. "Carter, is it safe to move him to the hospital?"
"Yes, we got the rebels under control," he responds.
"Carter, which type of rebels were they?" I ask.
"Northerners."
"Thank God," I mumble. I try to sit up, but hiss from the pain.
"Maxon, here. I'll help you-" he starts, but then Annabella starts crying. He pulls out his gun. "Who's there?"
"Carter, wait!" America screams. She runs over to Annabella and shushes her. She puts her in her arms. "Carter," she says, walking closer to him, "meet Annabella Zoe Schreave."
"Ames, you had her down here?" he asks, leaning closer. "Do you need a doctor?"
"No, I'm fine. Bella delivered her…" she trails off, looking at Annabella. "Anyways, let's get Maxon to the hospital." She walks over to me. "The bleeding hasn't stopped. Oh God, are you going to bleed out? Carter, let's hurry!"
After a long and treacherous trip, we finally made it to the hospital. I wanted to try to knock on Bella's door, but Ames didn't let that happen. "Can somebody please help us?"
"I'm coming." A young man in a doctor's coat comes walking out from a curtained room. He sees us and drops into a deep bow. "Your Majesty, Your Highness."
"Yes, yes, thank you. Just call us Maxon and America, please," America says, rushed. "Now, please attend to Maxon."
"Of course," he says walking over to me. I'm leaning on Carter, trying not to faint. He takes one look at me and gestures for us to follow him. Carter helps me walk slowly over to the room. We enter and the doctor is grabbing supplies. "I'm Doctor Corden. Doctor Michael Corden," he says, gesturing to the bed. "Now, please, get in the bed." Carter helps me into the bed. He jostles my arm, and I bite back a groan. "Now, what exactly happened?" Dr. Corden appears in front of me with blue gloves on.
"Bella, the Queen, America, and I went to the Royal safe room. America was in labor and Bella ended up delivering her baby-"
"Hold that thought," he says. He turns to America and Annabella. "Would you be opposed to a check-up? I should check on the baby and make sure you have no tears."
"Not at all," America responds, her cheeks flushed. She hands Annabella over and stands awkwardly, not sure what to do. "Do I need to change?"
"Yes, but I will have…Naomi!"
A nurse, Naomi, appears. "Yes?" I look at her face and recognize her. She's the nurse that helped Bella when she…well…Don't go there, Maxon, I tell myself.
"Get me another bed, please. And send someone to get the Princess and King new clothes." She nods and rushes away. Dr. Corden turns to America. "When the bed comes in, I'll have you lay on it. Right now I'm going to do a quick examination of the baby here."
"Her name is Annabella," America says shakily. I glance at America and notice her shaking hands.
"Ames, are you ok?" I ask. I try to reach out for her, but then the pain hits. "Shit," I hiss, quickly putting my arm down.
"I'm fine, Maxon," America says.
"Please continue, Maxon," Dr. Corden says, examining Annabella.
"After America delivered, Bella, well, I don't know if you know, but Bella miscarried, and she blames herself. She hasn't recovered mentally yet and helping America deliver triggered her. She ended up pointing a gun at her head, trying to commit suicide. I jerked the gun away from her, but she fired it in the process. It ended up hitting me and then she fled to the Queen Suite, which no one can enter without her approving it. She even has guards around the Suite."
"Hmmm…" is all that Dr. Corden says.
Naomi walks into the room with a rolling bed. "Where would you like this, Doctor?"
"Here's fine," he gestures. He turns back to Annabella. America lies in the bed, and Naomi looks at Dr. Corden before leaving. A few minutes later, Dr. Corden turns to us. "Annabella looks perfectly healthy. Now, Maxon, I'll help you, then America." Dr. Corden hands Annabella to America and comes over to me. "Can you take off your shirt?"
I move to take it off, but hiss. The pain is too much. "I can't. It hurts too much."
"Hold still," Dr. Corden instructs. He cuts off my shirt, gently pulling it off; I'm now shirtless. He puts the scissors down and changes his rubber gloves. "Now this may sting, Maxon." I nod, clenching my teeth. I turn away and look at Annabella and America. I try to ignore the sting, but it's hard. "Maxon, the bullet is right there. I'm going to try to extract the bullet with tweezers; otherwise, I'll have to take you into surgery. There are very limited doctors, and with Dr. Ashlar gone, we are barely going to be able to help everyone.
"Now, it will hurt, Maxon. Are you ok with this? I don't have time to get anesthesia," he says, already grabbing supplies.
I look over to Ames. "What do you think I should do?"
She shrugs nervously. "I think you should get it done now, Maxon, but I'll be with you with whatever you choose."
A knock on the door interrupts our conversation. Naomi sticks her head in. "I have the clothes, Doctor."
"Thank you, Naomi. Just hand them to the Princess." She does and gives a quick curtsy before exiting the room. "America, please get dressed in the hospital gown. I promise the examination won't take that long." She nods, places Annabella on the bed, and steps behind a curtain that Dr. Corden pulled out. He turns to me with a pair of tweezers. "So, what's your decision?"
I take a deep breath. "I'll just get it done now."
"Maxon, it won't take that long. I will try to make it as short and painless as possible. I can see the bullet from here; it's not that deep." He hands me a towel to bite on. "Here's this if you need it." I nod and place it on the bed. Before I can protest, he puts the sterile tweezers in the hole. I sharply inhale, trying not to scream. I feel the burn, worse than it was before. I feel stretching, making the pain worse and bite back a groan. I'm starting to get dizzy, but soon the burn disappears. "All done, Maxon. I even cleaned the wound. Now, I just have to dress it." He gets to work and America steps out from behind the curtain. She smiles at me before grabbing Annabella, rocking her. She turns around to feed her. Dr. Corden steps back and looks at his work. "Looks good, Maxon. Don't strain it and don't lift any heavy objects. Now, on to you America."
She nods. "Can Maxon hold Annabella?"
"Only if he's sitting down. Still, be careful," Dr. Corden instructs. He takes off his gloves and washes his hands. America hands me Annabella and lays in the bed while Dr. Corden puts on new gloves. He grabs a sheet to put over America's legs. He pulls up a stool and instructs America on how to lay. "Alright, America, open up for me please." She complies and I look away, wanting to give her as much privacy as I can.
Annabella sleeps soundly in my arms, happy from the quick feeding. I inspect her face, trying to memorize every part of her. I kiss her nose and listen to her breathe.
A little while later, Dr. Corden announces he's finished. "Everything looks perfectly normal. It looks like Her Majesty did a great job." I smile, but it's bittersweet. All I want to do is apologize for everything that happened in the safe room. America steps out from behind the curtain, already dressed in normal clothes. Dr. Corden helps me into my shirt, being careful around the bullet wound. "Now, I need to attend to-" he starts taking off his gloves, but yelling from the lobby interrupts. "I'll be attending to that. You two are released." He rushes out of the room. I look at America and hand her Annabella. She nods and we both walk out into the lobby. "How long ago did you find her?" I hear Dr. Corden say. From the sound of it, he's trying not to yell.
"Right before I brought her here. She was in her room for a few minutes before I went to check on her. She seemed distraught when she came back into the room." I hear a man say.
"Well, yes, she was just involved in a shooting, birth, and rebel attack," Dr. Corden says. He continues, but I block him out, realizing they are talking about Bella. I start to run, stopping when I reach Dr. Corden.
"It looks like she overdosed on sleeping pills," the man says. "There was an empty bottle that said it was refilled yesterday. I think she slit her arms with a shard of glass. There was a bloody piece next to her." My knees buckle. I lean against the wall, catching my fall.
"Did you see how many the bottle held? Anything on the label?"
"It said-two hundred."
"Fuck," Dr. Corden hisses. "That's the lethal dose. Naomi! Edward! Anna!" Three nurses come running. "Get her in the bed and wheel her to the operating room. We're going to have to try to pump her stomach. I want someone watching her pulse at times! Grab supplies to stitch wounds! Let's go!" Dr. Corden and the nurses scatter. Dr. Corden brings Bella past me, in the bed. I see blood dripping down her arms, and her chest barely moving. I let myself fall to the ground, leaning against the wall. I put my head between my knees, hoping that this is a nightmare.