TPATSD 8

"Gabriella is doing better. She has a severe bout of croup." The Dr said, as he ushered himself past Shaan and offered Alex and Henry a seat. If he recognised Henry, he didn't comment on it. Henry was managing to keep Alex relatively calm, subconsciously drawing circles on his back in comfort as the doctor spoke to them. "Croup is a condition caused by a viral infection. The virus leads to swelling of the voice box (larynx) and windpipe (trachea). This swelling makes the airway narrower, so it is harder to breathe. Children with croup develop a harsh, barking cough and may make a noisy, high-pitched sound when they breathe in (stridor). Croup mostly affects children between six months and five years old, but it can affect older children. Some children get croup several times throughout their childhood."

"So, she could get it again?" Alex asked, shocked. Croup was something that no one had mentioned to him back in the NICU.

"Yes, but let's focus on now." He said softly, looking at Alex. "Right now, Alex you did everything right. I know it's easier said than done, but do not worry too much."

"But her breathing ...?" Alex began. He was getting himself worked up. Henry pulled Alex closer into him to comfort him and the doctor reached out and placed her hand on Alex's forearm in comfort.

"Croup usually begins like a normal cold. They might even have a fever, runny nose and cough. Your child's cough will change to become harsh and barking and might sound like a seal. Their voice might become hoarse. When your child breathes in, they may make a squeaky, high-pitched noise, which is called stridor. That is what you were hearing." She smiled at him. "In Gabriella's case, it was severe."

"It came on so fast..." Alex tried again. "Henry, did you notice..?"

"Croup can come on suddenly and get worse very quickly. In severe cases of croup, like Gabriella's, the skin between the child's ribs or under their neck may suck in when they breathe, and they may struggle to breathe." Dr Saunders began softly. "Unfortunately, croup often begins without warning, in the middle of the night. The symptoms are often worse at night and are at their worst on the second or third night of the illness. The signs and symptoms of croup may last for three to four days; however, a cough may linger for up to three weeks. The stridor should not persist."

"She was born at twenty-nine weeks, does that make a difference?" Alex asked worried that this was something that was caused because she was born too early.

"Whilst it isn't the direct cause, babies born prematurely can be more susceptible to certain infections." The doctor explained. She was very kind and empathetic. Thorough in her explanation of everything that was going on. A fact that Henry, Alex and even Shaan was thankful for. "Whilst premature babies have a greater risk for chronic health problems. They are more susceptible to infections and may suffer from other problems such as asthma or difficulty feeding, please do not focus on that. In Miss Gabriella's case, upon triage she was categorized as severe. The grey colour around her mouth was worrying, combined with her low oxygen sats and work of breathing. She was immediately assessed with a full set of obs and she was given nebulized adrenaline and dexamethasone to help get her airways open. We also gave her a snuff of oxygen too. We called the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit team to standby, in case of worsening symptoms. She is responding beautifully to the treatment. Did you want to come and sit with her now?"

"Yes." Alex's reply was instantaneous, and he was on his feet in a split second, pulling Henry up by the hand as well.

"Well, come on." She laughed. The two men broke apart hastily. Alex, Henry and Shaan followed the doctor through the locked double doors. She led them off to the right and towards the resus cubicles. When Alex saw Gabriella lying in the bassinet, he hesitated. Henry could tell he was scared and needed a small shove of encouragement. So, Henry placed his hands on Alex's shoulders and physically steered him to his daughter's bedside. "Gabriella is doing much better now, Alex. As you can see her oxygen sats are at ninety-six percent. Ideally, we'd like it to be a point or two higher, but from where she was; this is good. She is doing so much better. We're going to admit her to our pediatric ward, so we can monitor her progress."

"Thank-you." Henry said, taking a step closer to Gabriella. He had given Alex a chance to answer her, but he hadn't been able to find the words. Once the doctor was gone, she pulled the curtain around the cubicle for privacy. Loosely, he wrapped his arms around Alex's shoulder into an odd, awkward hug from behind that somehow seemed to work. He dropped his voice low into the shell of Alex's ear, "I told you that she would be ok. Look at her Alex. No more grey around her mouth. Sleeping peacefully, minimal work of breathing and no stridor sounds when she breathes. She did it, Alex. You did it. You called an ambulance, and you got her here. You knew something wasn't right and you followed your instincts. That's what a good parent does."

"Thank-you." Alex said softly.

From their new position, their heights were almost equal, and Henry's body was close to Alex's. Alex may have known and accepted his bisexuality from his teens and the incidents with Liam. But he had never been in such a physical, intimate embrace with a man either. He wasn't even sure of what Henry's sexuality was.

He knew he was attracted; he'd even had a lust-filled dream about Henry that had left his shorts wet and his member hard as a diamond. But he also knew it was too soon to think of anything happening. He knew he was still mourning Erica and her loss. Most nights, he had nightmares of her. Trapped inside the mangled car wreck, screaming for help and no one coming to help her. But being in Henry's arms had felt heavenly and he couldn't help the small sigh that escaped his lips.

Feeling Alex in his arms, soft and relaxed, feeling him leaning back into his embrace was almost everything Henry had ever dreamt of. Henry was reluctant to take it further though.

One, he didn't want to mess up a great friendship on the off chance he was reading Alex's cues wrong.

Two, he needed to let Alex grieve Erica and let him come to terms with the trauma of what had happened to her and her infidelity.

Three, he needed to mourn the loss of the expectation of his child being a perfectly healthy, full-term baby and face the reality of everything that having a premature baby entailed.

Four, ideally one, if not both of them would have to come out to the other about their sexuality. And that was if they were both interested and consenting.

Shaan and Henry left the hospital all too reluctantly, especially the latter, around one in the morning when Alex and Gabriella were transferred up to the pediatric ward. Shaan had tried to engage Henry in conversation, but he could see the prince was tired, worried and felt conflicted about things. Shaan had witnessed the embrace between Alex and Henry, as well as Henry's affections he had passed off as platonic. There had been a moment when he thought Alex might have thought about kissing the prince, but nothing had happened. Henry had physically been there for him and comforted him, the best way he knew how.

Letting themselves back into Kensington Palace, Henry and Shaan were surprised to be greeted by a footman telling them that their presence is requested in the sitting room in Her Royal Highness, Princess Catherine's apartment. It was late at night; technically very early morning and the halls of the palace were deserted. There were only three or four footmen on duty and some security staff. it was void of the usual hustle and bustle of the palace.

Shaan knocked tentatively and softly, if she was sleeping, he did not want to wake her. "Come in." Her voice called back. It was firm and fair, definitely not sleeping. Catherine was wide awake, as was Bea. Both women were at the small card table, a game of Hearts in progress. "Oh Henry, Shaan, come in and tell us everything."

Henry shook his head and Shaan put his hand on Henry's shoulder in support. "It has been a trying night, Ma'am."

"Alex was a mess, mum." Henry sniffed softly. He could feel that burn in your eyes you get when you fight off the tears. Fighting off the tears was something that Henry had never excelled in. As his eyes grew heavy and Henry couldn't fight the urge to rub them out, he let them fall instead. "He had to ... call an ambulance." Tears and heart wrenching sobs were causing him to have hiccups and he was struggling to form his words. "She was struggling to breathe."

"Oh Darling," Catherine consoled him, abandoning her cards to hold her son close to his chest. "I know. It hurts and you want nothing but to take her pain away. Sounds like she is in the best place possible."

Bea looked up at Shaan discreetly and he shook his head no. Bea was asking if any press managed to get wind of Henry being at the hospital with Alex and Gabriella. Bea was relieved. Tonight, had given her a small insight into the lengths that Henry would go to protect Alex and his little girl. She knew that tonight's conversation after Henry left would be null and void if their gran, and possibly Philip knew of Alex and his daughter. If they knew what Henry's relationship was with them.

Henry let himself soak up his mother's love and comfort, enveloping him like it did when he was a small boy. It had been a long time since his mother had held him and comforted him like this. Since before his father's death. Before his diagnosis. Perhaps all the way back to when he was ten years old. When his last dog Snickers passed away. It wasn't even something she had done in the immediate moments up to and including when Arthur had drawn his last breath. Almost from his diagnosis, Catherine had begun to shield her heart away. On the outside, she had been brave, strong, fierce. On the inside, she was a scared little girl who was slowly letting the grief of her husband's terminal illness and looming death take over her, until there wasn't anything left.

"What did the doctors say?" Bea slowly asked, inserting herself into the hug to help her mum comfort her brother. She didn't know if her mum knew what Henry's true feelings were for Alex, or what explanation he had given their future queen for why Henry felt so drawn to this small baby and her father. But Bea knew. Henry had confessed his true feelings to her, and she was eager to meet them.

"Severe bout of croup." Henry managed to get out. Pulling back, he relayed everything he could remember about what the doctors had said to them. What they had done to Gabriella and what the plan was going forward. He confided in them that she had been admitted and Alex had sent them home to get some sleep.

After hearing of everything that had happened since he had left them at dinner and seeing how tired Henry looked, Bea took matters into her own hands. "Come on, Hen. Up." She said, standing and pulling herself up too. "Off to bed. Get some sleep. The sooner you get some sleep, the sooner you can pester Alex into an update. He is probably sleeping too."

Henry scoffed. "Un-bloody-likely" under his breath. But he supposed that Bea was right. She was his sister, and she always had his best interests at heart.

"Bea is right, Darling. Off to bed you go." Catherine urged him. Her tone reminded him of a time when she was full of love and life. back to a time before his father's death, before his father's illness. To a time when Catherine was his mother, first and foremost. To the time when his mother was not lost in her own grief.

Alex never slept well in hospitals. Not when he was four and had to have his tonsils removed. Not when he was seven and broke his arm for the first time and had to get pins put in it. Not when he was fifteen and had to have an emergency appendectomy. Not when he and Gabriella had to room in, upon her NICU discharge and certainly not right now. After he had spent the bulk of the evening in a near constant state of panic. He had been worried about his daughter. Gabriella was all he had left in this world.

He had managed to squeeze his masculine, six-foot-two frame onto a tiny pull-out sofa barely five-feet-five long and curl in on himself. But that had been as far as any kind of rest he had gotten. His body had been twisted and contorted in the shape of a pretzel. His mind had been racing a million miles an hours. Meanwhile, simultaneously replaying every single interaction that had occurred in the last twelve hours.

When he had realised that Gabriella had been having difficulty breathing between coughing, he had panicked. Alex was ashamed to say that he panicked. It had been his first instinct and he had been unsure what to do. Every other time in her short life, when she had been having trouble with breathing, he had had a whole team of medical personal, complete with a hospital set up for support. But there he was, panicking. Trying hard not to have a panic attack, as he focused all of his attention on his daughter's needs. What had been worse, was the fact that he had been wearing just his underpants when he had broken down and called an ambulance for his daughter. She had been so upset and distressed; he had been unable to put anything else on until the paramedics arrived. They had barely let him put clothes on before they were being bundled up and taken to the hospital by ambulance, before promptly removing her from his arms and leaving him behind to treat her.

When Henry had pulled him to a hug and let him cry against his chest, Alex had felt safe. He had felt cocooned. He had felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. It was a feeling he couldn't quite put his finger on as his mind was still reeling. Hearing Henry tell him everything would be ok had been like a salve for his bruised, battered heart. Henry's pep talk had reminded Alex of June and Nora - the way they always gave him a pep talk when he needed it most.

The feeling of Henry's hands on his body had made him realise that he is very bisexual. he tried not to melt when henry had his hands on his shoulders. The way he stood inside his personal space. The way the prince murmured encouraging words into his ear. The way Henry stepped up to be his friend and supported him.

"Argh!" Alex sighed softly into the abnormally flat and shapeless pillow the nurse had managed to scrounge up for him. The pillow that did nothing for him in the way of neck support.

Thinking about Henry and how he had felt when Henry had held him had made him feel guilty. He had liked being in Henry's arms. Being held by him. His traitorous heart had been wildly fluttering against the cage of his ribs.

It had made him feel like he was being unfaithful to Erica. Logically, he knew it wasn't the truth. But emotionally, his heart ached. Still, he missed her. He was missing her. She had been his first true love. She had been his everything. He had worshipped her and loved her unconditionally. She was gone. He didn't let his mind think about Erica's betrayal, or the heartbreak that came with those thoughts. He just let his mind think about her. Think about her dark hair, her porcelain skin. Her brown eyes that had flecks of a chestnut colour that he would get lost in.

Gabriella's crying startled him from his thoughts, and he immediately sprang to his feet. The doctor had told him, and Henry had reiterated the message to him. If he remained calm when she was crying, she would stay calm too. Soothing his daughter against his chest, his heart worked double time, feeling like it would beat right out of his chest as she snuggled into her Papi. Smiling at his little girl, he tossed the flat, more than useless pillow off the bed and folded it up one handed. Retrieving the flat pillow and Gabriella's blankets in one hand, he took a seat back on the sofa and got comfortable. He let her nestle in against him as she dozed back to sleep.

The smell of earl grey tea brought Henry's senses online and he was surprised to see that Pez was in his room, holding the mug under his nose. "Good morning, my precious flower." Pez cooed. His voice sounded jarring to Henry and his sleep-addled brain took a moment to twig that it was Pez in his room.

"Is that what time it is?" He quipped to Pez, taking the offered mug of tea, which his friend had fixed to his exact liking.

"You look like shit, mate." Pez deadpanned, taking note of the dark circles under his eyes and the severe lack of sleep on the prince's part. Once Henry looked like he was more awake, he spied the clock beside his bed and saw that it was just gone nine. "I heard from Alex this morning. He wasn't big on the details. Are they ok?"

"Why are you asking me?" Henry asked, through a yawn and cursed his brain that he couldn't filter his thoughts better. "Sorry Pez, it was a long night."

"I saw Beatrice this morning on my way in." Pez scrutinised his friend closely. "I didn't know you had been with Alex most of the night at the hospital. I am glad he had someone there for support."

"Yet, you still thought to wake me up. Unbelievable." Henry complained dryly. Pez knew there was no heat in his actual complaint, so he let it roll off his back. "He kept calling and I had to keep sending the calls to voicemail. We were having dinner with Gran. He called Shaan and Shaan came in and gave me the message."

"Are you ok though?" Pez asked his friend, as Henry was now awake properly and the two men were walking with David down the hall to let David outside. "I know you care for Gabriella, a lot."

"Now, I am." Henry smiled at his friend, as he popped a piece of bread in the toaster. "I'll admit, I tried not to let Alex see how worried I was. He was beside himself."

"She is doing better?" Pez asked. Henry wasn't surprised to see the genuine concern on Pez's face. Like with Henry, Gabriella had managed to get under Pez's skin too and he had fallen in love with the little girl. Pez lovingly called her Auntie Pezza's princess.

"Yes." He offered a buttered piece of toast to Pez, as Pez refilled his mug of tea. "I wouldn't have left the hospital last night, if she wasn't. Even with Alex's insistence that I get some sleep."

"You and that strumpet of yours Hen." Pez muttered to himself, more than anyone else. "You two are going to be the death of me."

Alex hadn't been officially working for them that long. Barely forty-eight hours when Pez noticed that the two men non-stop flirted with one another. It wasn't a soft, subtle flirt. It was a hardcore flirt and made Pez want to roll his eyes. The day he had accompanied Catherine to lunch, she had all but interrogated him on her son's relationship with Alex and the baby girl. Admittedly, Henry had been pretty tight lipped about what exactly was going on, but Pez had eyes and he could see his royal friend's feelings written all over his face. To say that Alex knew, was ridiculous. The man was the most oblivious man Pez had ever met. But he was smart, he was brilliant, and Pez quickly learnt he was a shrewd lawyer, the kind that the Okonjo foundation needed on their books.

"We're just friends, Pez." Henry warned his friend. Percy Okonjo might be a fantastic friend and the brother that Philip hadn't been in too long. But he was also a world class pain in Henry's side.

"Do not lie to me, Henry George Edward James." Percy warned him earnest. "My poor heart won't be able to take it if you started lying to me now."

"It's true." Henry sighed, softly. It was only then when Pez looked closer at his friend, he could see the feeling of hopelessness. The look of the grief at Henry's belief that he was alone in his feelings for Alex.

"Oh, Haz." Pez bundled him up in a Pezza hug and comforted his friend.

Hearing his cell go off jarred Alex out of his slumber. Figuring it was Henry, he snapped it up before it could wake the sleeping baby on his chest, not bothering to check his caller ID. "Hen, is everything ok?"

"Who the hell is Hen and why are you asking if everything is, ok?" The voice came back to him, and it was none other than June Claremont-Diaz, his own flesh and blood. "You are ok, right? Gabriella's ok, too?"

"He's nobody, Bug." Alex tried to deflect. "What's going on?"

"Alex, I have been sending emails to you office for almost a week. They're bouncing back." June's voice sounds worried, Alex can tell. It's the same tone she has had too many times in the past. "What's going on?"

"I sort of don't work there anymore." Alex said softly, trying not to wince as the word's left his mouth. He knew as soon as June heard the words, she would be panicking, and he didn't want that. He loved his sister, but when things were bad, she always went to their parents and Alex didn't want her going to them. "But I have another job already." He rushed to add, hoping to contain her worry.

"What the hell, Ale?" She asked. Her tone was mildly ticked off and Alex felt himself since lower in the sofa. He had known she would be worried. But the hostility in her question had caught him off guard. "How can you just not work there anymore? You are a father. It's really irresponsible of you to just up and leave. What the hell were you think-"

"They fired me, Bug." Alex interrupted her. He was upset that his big sister had taken that tone with him. She was usually his biggest supporter.

"Oh, Ale!" She sighed, feeling guilty. Her brother had enough on his plate without her adding to it. "What happened?"

"They cited 'it was a lack of dedication to the firm'. But essentially, it was because I am now a single father." Alex explained and June was indignant.

"They can't do that." June argued. "You should fight it. Go for unfair dismissal."

"They said it and it's my word against theirs." Alex sighed. "Doesn't matter, I have found something else. Something more flexible with Gabriella."

"Well come on, tell me all about it." The journalist in her, had her curiosity peaked.

"It's for the Okonjo Foundation." He told his sister proudly. "Working not quite full time, but enough to be comfortable. I am able to bring her with me. As soon as she has clearance from her doctor, there's a childcare facility nearby that is good. Thoroughly checked out and vetted. Plus, Percy and Henry like to babysit if I have to go into a meeting or go to court."

"You let two strange men babysit your child?" She asked, bewildered that her brother would do something like that.

"I should elaborate that Percy is Percy Okonjo, the owner and Henry is Prince Henry of Wales." Alex said smugly and listened as June tried to back pedal on her comments.

"Wait, when you answered my call, you said Hen. Is the prince of fucking England the man you call Hen?" June asked, her journalistic mind piecing the pieces together. "Why the ever-loving fuck are you on a first name basis with the prince of fucking England?"

"We're friends, Bug." Alex answered with a smile. He was glad this wasn't a facetime call because Alex knew that if June could see his smile, he would be screwed. June can always see right through him.

"A friend? Like friend-friends?" June asked, surprised. Of all the people her brother had made friends with since he moved to London, she could scarcely believe he had made friends with a real-life, actual prince. "Like actual friends."

"Like being there for one another and supporting each other, yeah." Alex felt all warm and fuzzy thinking of the way Henry had pressing his lips to Alex's soft, messy curls the night before and how Henry's presence had made him feel safe and secure. How he had steadfast in his support and willingness to be there for him.

"No offence, Ale. But how the hell did that happen?" June asked.

"Beats me." Alex quipped. There was no way he was telling June that henry had been coming around since Gabriella was still in hospital. that he had held her. Something that his own sister had not yet had the pleasure to do.

"And the prince of England babysits for you?" She asked again. She was really having trouble believing this. it sounded too far-fetched. Not that she thought Alex was lying, per se. But more he was trying to make her believe he was ok.

"Yes." Alex replied again. "But enough about me, why were you emailing me?"

"Oh, Dad's on break next week and I need to come to London for some research for my book. We were thinking of making a visit out of it." June would never know that those two sentences had Alex's eyes watering. He had missed his sister, and he missed his dad. A lot. "I mean, Nora's going to be stuck here and we'd only be there for a week, but can we."

"Hell, yes." Alex cried out, slightly startling his darling daughter. "Did you hear that Gabriella, Tia June and Abuelo are coming for a visit. Bug, I gotta run, text me the details. I can't wait to see you. Love you."

"Love you too, Squirt."