TPASD 15
Catherine left shorty after. She gave Alex a moment to remunerate on Henry in her presence, before kissing his cheek and telling him that it was important he got some sleep. Taking her leave, reminded Alex of Catherine's son. The way that he stares at Alex, with everything he has. As if he's saying to Alex without actual words 'You're the worst idea, I've ever had.' With that small, sexy smile of his, that is so much like Catherine's in this moment, it's evident he got it from his mother.
Sleep could wait. Alex needed to think.
He sat back on the sofa after seeing Catherine to the door and thought back on everything that had happened since he and Henry first met. Following Catherine's advice, Alex put everything else out of his mind and let it go blank. How did his kiss with Henry make him feel?
Besides feeling horny. Alive. Like it set his soul on fire.
Wanted. Desired. Needed. Joyous. Elated. Happy.
Henry made him feel things he hadn't felt in the longest time. Made him feel some things he never thought he had felt before. Made him feel things he thought he would never feel again, after he lost who he once thought was the love of his life. Alex didn't even know it was possible to feel this way. To feel this deeply. This was the same, yet so different to how he had felt with Erica. This was all consuming. This was serious. This was deep and fierce. Fiery and hot. Burning to love. Burning to feel. Burning a hole in his heart.
Yet he was afraid. Afraid of losing someone close to him. Losing another love. Afraid of the heartbreak and the heartache of having loved and lost. Alex had been thinking hard, a by-product of his ADHD; his thoughts spiraled. The thoughts swirling in his brain. Something he recalled from the college course June had encouraged him to take of English Literature. 'What was that idiom? It is better to have loved and lost ... Wasn't it Alfred Lord Tennyson who had said it. Very few people Alex knew, besides June with her double degree in Journalism and English Literature and Henry with his master's degree in English Literature know that the real quote is "I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." The irony that Tennyson had written that for a man who was his best friend by the name of Arthur Henry Hallam. He had a Henry. One who's father's name was Arthur. Only his Henry would not be betrothed to his sister; like Arthur was to Tennyson's sister, Amelia.'
Laying down on the soft, plush bed in the guest apartment at Kensington Palace; shutters down, blocking the bulk of the noise out. The faint sounds of the storm raging outside was the perfect metaphor for how Alex was feeling inside his head. His head was a storm. His brain a ship in the rough seas, struggling to stay afloat.
As the boat rocked from side to side, jostling back and forth, making his stomach nauseated and rolling with nerves. All of the loose items on board his ship had been knocked off kilter. Only the raging sea hadn't done it to his brain. It had been Henry's lips on his, short-circuiting his brain and completely rewiring the way it operates.
As the rain pelted the aluminium shutters and the branch of the oak tree scratched the mortar, Alex felt a blinding headache building behind his eyes. The kind that he only ever felt right before migraine. He mentally prayed to every deity he knew off the top of his head to starve off this migraine, let Gabriella sleep through the night and switch his brain off to let him sleep.
Alex rubbed furiously at his eyes. His head was a mess and he knew he had been holding at least one panic attack at bay today. Excuse the pun, but it had definitely been a stormy day for him.
Frustrated, tired and slightly nauseous, Alex plugged his cell phone into the charger and switched off the remaining lamp, settling under the covers. He was physically spent. Between a sick child, an unexpected disruption with a drunken prince, the court appearance from hell that he'd barely survived, the fright of his life, a life-altering kiss and a heart to heart with the future Queen of England; Alex was done.
His eyes had been closed a whole of sixty seconds. Sixty whole seconds. One minute. When Gabriella let out the most painful, gut-wrenching scream imaginable. Sighing softly, reaching over for the lamp, Alex felt like he might cry too. He felt raw and exposed. The day had definitely left its mark on him. Scooping up Gabriella from the pack and play, he checked her over.
She was red. Her skin was red, her mouth was slightly swollen. If it was any worse, Alex would have thought it was similar to when June had her very first anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. "Fuck!" He cursed, grabbing his phone as he readjusted Gabriella in his arms. As he readjusted her, he felt her diaper squish, softer than usual. "Fuck!" He cursed again, knowing that feeling as he pulled his faeces covered arm back in an explosion.
Moving her to the bathroom, Gabriella in one hand and his cell in the other, Alex grabbed his used towel from the hamper and laid her down. Quickly finding Henry's contact info and hitting dial, Alex went back to the task of cleaning his daughter up. Then he'd deal with himself.
"Alex?" Henry answered, forgoing his usual greeting. If Alex didn't know any better, he'd swear he'd woken Henry. But Henry was a 'world class insomniac', he rarely slept.
Bea had been listening carefully to her brother and Henry had been confiding in his sister all of the confusing, conflicting feelings he was feeling about Alex. About everything that was going on. About his pure paternal love for Gabriella.
The shrill sound of the phone ringing, had Henry jumping out of his skin. The mirth on Bea's face at her younger brother's reaction had been more than enough entertainment. Henry had verbally contemplated to his sister that Alex might be calling to call his behaviour out, but Bea had slapped his arm. Hard. "He has a sick child, you dolt." She reminded him harshly, before answering the phone for him and thrusting the device into Henry's hands.
"Alex?" Henry answered, forgoing his usual greeting. He tried to make to himself sound like he had been asleep. Henry was well aware he couldn't fool Alex, trying to make him think he was sleeping. Alex knew he was a world class insomniac and rarely slept. He had no idea what his brain was thinking. It was a cop out excuse and Henry knew it. So did Bea, who was laying beside him on the bed.
"Doctor now!" Alex ordered. His voice sounded panicked and scared. Bea immediately jumping into action and calling the palace doctor to the guest apartment.
"Bea's calling now. I'm on my way." He promised Alex. The call wasn't disconnected, Henry couldn't do it. Feeling like he needed to keep Alex on the line. Henry's brain was only a jiffy of a second behind Bea's, but his legs were longer. He was hot-footing it down the labyrinth of hallways to the Guest apartments.
He hadn't even bothered with his slippers or a robe, dressed in nothing but some well worn, blue plaid cotton shorts and a ratty, old Oxford tee with a stretched out neckline. "Hurry." Alex begged in a breathy voice.
Henry hadn't paid any attention to the footsteps behind him, not even worrying if he was in anyone's way. He needed to get to Gabriella and Alex. That was all that mattered. There were voices too. Voices calling his name.
Alex's door was closed, but that didn't stop Henry, he burst into the room. The footsteps and voices that were on his heels in hot pursuit. "Alex!" Henry bellowed. "Gabriella! Alex."
"In here." A muffled voice came out from behind the bathroom door. Henry didn't bother with knocking. His phone was still against his ear with an open phone line to Alex on the other side of the door.
In all honesty, Henry had forgotten he was still on the phone with Alex, yanking open the bathroom door. The sight that greeted him broke his heart.
Alex was still dressed in his sweats he had gone to bed in. Sweats that had belonged to Henry. Gabriella was stripped bare, as Alex was furiously cleaning her up. Her little body screaming with every touch of her skin. Her skin reddened further from screaming and her breathes coming in quick concession, much like Alex's at this point.
"Alex!" Henry rushed in, straight to his side. Henry didn't care anymore. His frustration and confusion melted away, pressing his lips to Alex's so barely and quickly, it barely registered with Alex. "What can I do?"
The sounds of footfalls arriving at the door, had Henry and Alex look up from the crying baby to see Bea and Catherine there. Catherine immediately rushing forward to help. Grabbing the wash cloths from the counter and towels from the rack and running the shower. "Bea, Darling. Go get more towels. Fluffy warm ones. Now!" Her mother ordered and Bea scampered off. She might not 'do babies' but what she had seen; scared her. Once the wash cloths were wet enough, Catherine was wringing them out and making her way down to them on the floor to help. "Henry, darling. Go get Alex some clean sweats."
Wrapping Gabriella's skin in the lukewarm wash cloths, Catherine murmured some reassuring words to Alex. "Breathe, love. Just breathe." She reminded him gently. "We're all here to help and Dr Warner is on her way."
Once she was cleaned up, Catherine left the now cool washcloths on her reddened skin and wrapped her in the warm fluffy towels to keep her warm. "Alex?" Henry tried to get his attention. "Dr Warner is here."
She was a small statured women. Despite the late hour, she was dressed in lilac scrubs, a stethoscope tucked in her leg pocket. Her face void of makeup and jewellery, her dark hair in a bob wrapped back behind a hair net and a surgical scrub hat with a rose motif printed on the cotton. She was warm and personable, nothing like what Alex expected from the palace doctor.
She introduced herself, quickly and thoroughly assessing Gabriella. "This is a drug called zyrtec. It's an anti-histamine and its safe for premature babies, Alex." She reassured him "It's going to help with the allergic reaction." She told him, as she taped the oximeter to Gabriella's foot.
Hurrying herself along, Dr Warner checked her airways, respiration rate, heart rate, before attaching her to a small ECG machine to check her heart. "Well?" Henry asked impatiently.
"I am still checking everything Your Royal Highness. But if it eases your mind at all, I have Dr Marissa Clarke on standby at St Mary's Hospital. She is the head of their Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. She has a background in respiratory and neonatology ." Dr Warner reassured both of them. "Gabriella's airway is clear. There doesn't look to be any swelling inside. She is breathing calmly. She is having some slight tachycardia, but that can be explained by her distress."
Catherine nudged Henry, handing him clean clothes for Alex to change into. She had a mother's instinct that Alex's daughter would be off to hospital. 'Most likely St. Mary's Hospital,' Catherine had thought to herself. Mostly based off her experience at the time that Beatrice had to have her appendix removed in the middle of the night when she was nine years old. That had been where Dr Warner's predecessor had ordered the ambulance to take them. It was the closest hospital with trauma capabilities for children.
"Henry, Darling." Catherine murmured to him softly. "Encourage Alex to go and get changed into some clean sweats, I'll watch over Gabriella. I promise, she's in good hands here."
Henry nodded at his mother. He knew she was right. She usually was. The doctor was still doing her examination of Gabriella. But she had been clicking her tongue and pursing her lips. All signs that he felt in his heart that was the doctor delaying dropping the news that she would be transferring Gabriella to hospital. "Darling?" Henry tried softly. Alex was standing close to Doctor Warner and watching her like a hawk. Looking up at him, Henry gave him a small smile, mostly of thanks. "Want to put some fresh clothes on? Let mum watch Gabriella for a minute."
Alex reluctantly looked hesitant, before Catherine gave him a small nudge and a reassuring smile. "Two minutes, Fox." Alex made him promise.
Henry handed him the sweats, but Alex made no motion to move away from the doctor fussing over his daughter. "Come on darling, let me help you." Henry whispered, gently taking Alex by the arm and leading him into the bedroom. Once Henry had the door closed, he looked at Alex with his bright cerulean eyes and asked him softly. "May I?"
Alex nodded wordlessly, and Henry had lowered the joggers off Alex's hips. Sliding them down his lithe body, naturally suppressing the groan that went with seeing Alex's body uncovered, and up close; the object of his desire. Alex had gone commando under his sweats and Henry had swallowed hard when he was hit in the face with Alex's manhood. He wanted nothing more than to take Alex's cock in his mouth. But this wasn't the time, nor the place.
A guttural, wanton sound escaped Alex's mouth unconsciously when he looked down and saw Henry on his eyes and his cock at Henry's eye level. The look on Henry's face made Alex want to be devoured by the spare heir. Stepping into fresh black joggers, Henry's fingers trailing up his legs as he pulled the fresh joggers on. Henry stopped at his hips, leaving the joggers to sit low on them. His fingers splayed, enjoying the feel of Alex's expansive tanned skin under his own pasty white fingers. He continued his way up, taking the sweatshirt with them. Alex's bare chest now on display with the removal of the sweatshirt, Henry sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. Alex picked up the long sleeved cream coloured Henley Alex had been wearing before bed when he had been talking with Catherine and threw it over his head.
Henry mourned the loss of the sight of Alex's bare naked torso, before he snapped himself out of it and tossed the black sweatshirt at his friend's head and headed out of the bedroom door. Alex was hot on his heels.
The look of pure relief was written on Alex's face when he came face to face with Catherine snuggling a now whimpering Gabriella in her arms. "Alex?" Dr Warner asked, gently. "We are going to have to transfer Gabriella to hospital by ambulance. St Mary's has an excellent reputation and as I told His Royal Highness, my colleague Dr Marissa Clarke is on standby to meet us. She is a world renown paediatrician and neonatologist, I truly believe Gabriella will be t=in the best of hands under Dr Clarke's care."
"Wh.. What's going on?" Alex asked, stammering. When he had gone into the bedroom with Henry to change out of the clothes that was covered in his daughter's excrement, Gabriella's airway had been clear.
"The zyrtec isn't working fast enough. Her airway is still clear, but it's getting worse than it was when I arrived." She admitted. "I would like to get her to the hospital where we have the equipment to support her airways better if we need to."
"I've called the ambulance and they're on their way. Security have been instructed to let them through the gates." Catherine told Alex gently. "Gather what you need, like your mobile phone. I will pack you some essentials and Henry and I will follow with Shaan. Is there anyone I can call? Your mom? Henry told me you have a sister? I could call her."
Alex could barely believe it was happening all over again, before his brain could answer Catherine. Alex looked up at her and the kind doctor. "Are they going to take her from me again?" He all but whimpered and Alex felt Henry's hand slip inside his.
Henry recalled that when Gabriella had been taken by ambulance to the hospital last time, they had forcibly removed his daughter from his arms and forbade him from following her. That had been very traumatising for the father.
"No Darling." Henry murmured in a low voice, looking directly at the doctor, using his most authoritative voice. "No, it's not going to be like last time when they snatched her from your arms and made you wait in the waiting room. I won't let them, Alex."
"Oh God, no!" Doctor Warner cried out, horrified at what the father had experienced last time. "You will be with her, beside her every step of the way. I promise."
"Alex, Henry won't let them keep you from her. I won't let them keep you from her, I promise, love." Catherine reiterated, seeing the anxiety ratchet up on the single father's face.
The thing about Kensington Palace is that there is always paparazzi staked outside. And in one of the worst storms the MET office had ever seen that particular night was no exception. The sight of an ambulance with lights flashing entering the Kensington Palace grounds had them all on high alert. Those that had been smart enough to stay home, were soon alerted to the excitement from their drenched and cold colleagues.
When less than ten minutes later it was leaving the royal compound with lights and sirens going, followed by royal town car; they all scampered off in haste to follow them.
Henry sighed deeply, leaning back against the cool leather of the seat. He closed his eyes, seeing the flash of the various cameras through the tinted windows of the back seat. "Why can't they leave well enough alone?" Henry huffed, to no one in particular. His mum just patting his knee in response.
"I know, darling" Catherine murmured, hugging her son close to him. "Don't you worry about them, I will have Shaan and Rose work up a statement with the press team. They won't be any bother."
Arriving at St Mary's hospital, the paparazzi were at the ambulance bay; waiting to see if they could capture a glimpse of which royal had been brought to the hospital by ambulance. But the hospital staff had been prepared. Shaan had called ahead, and staff had been waiting for their arrival. Holding up large green theatre sheets, blocking the media's view of Alex and Gabriella to protect their privacy.
Once Alex and Gabriella were safely inside the ambulance moved out of the way and the royal town car pulled up and parked. Which allowed Henry and Catherine to exit the vehicle and enter the hospital with their PPOs without the media seeing who was getting out of the vehicle.
Shaan skittered off as soon as they were safely inside the building, in search of a private waiting room for Henry and herself and their PPOs. As Henry and Dr Warner had promised Alex, he had not been separated from Gabriella.
Doctor Marissa Clarke was waiting as promised. She was a woman in her fifties, tall, red hair tied back in a taut bun, softly spoken, but firm and businesslike. She introduced herself to Alex, and Henry, who Alex had latched on to and wasn't letting go of. His own life raft keeping him afloat. Once Marissa had signed an NDA, she was leading them into an assessment room at the back of the emergency department and the future Queen of England was invited by Alex to join them.
Catherine had sent both boys a small grin when she had seen Alex reach for Henry and drag him in for support. Letting him in, just like Catherine had asked of him. She hoped and prayed that this was the beginning of Alex and Henry as a couple.
The doctor completed a quick and thorough examination, even though her colleague had given her a complete handover of the young girl's medical history. "The good news is the antihistamine Dr Warner gave Gabriella is working. The bad news is that it's not working enough. I would like to admit Gabriella into our PICU. The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit here is top notch, one of the best in the United Kingdom, if not the best. She will be in good hands. Gabriella's airways are not constricted yet but are constricting. I'd like to get her set up in a bed as soon as possible and prepare for intubation to keep her trachea open. I see in the notes that she was prescribed penicillin for an ear and throat bacterial infection."
"Yes, she is battling an ear infection." Henry told the doctor, in earnest. "She had seen Dr Sanders earlier in the day and she had prescribed amoxicillin to her."
"A penicillin allergy can be quite common." Dr Marissa made some more notes, before turning to Alex. "I'd like to sedate Gabriella in order to insert a cannula into her arm while she is intubated and give her some IV fluids and IV antibiotics. Not penicillin based. Erythromycin, in IV form first. Every six hours, followed by some oral suspension when airway support has been restored. I am also going to order some steroids to support her airways and some diphenhydramine to combat the reaction." Marissa explained to them. "Alex, I am going to get some consent forms organised for you to sign, if you consent to this treatment plan. Alex?"
Alex felt like his legs were going to give way from under him. He felt Henry's arms around him, pulling him closer and Catherine's supportive hand on her shoulder. All Alex could do was nod. "Alex, darling?" Henry prompted him.
Marissa briefly looked to Henry for consent, but he shook his head no. "Gabriella is Alex's child. I am here for moral support." Henry told the doctor. "You're British, I am sure you would know if I had a child. It would be plastered all over the media like my nephews are."
"You royals have had love children in the past." She mused out loud, her mirth evident on her face.
"Wouldn't Gran love that scandal?" Henry murmured under his breath to his mother. "Alex, love? The doctor is waiting for your consent."
"Ok." Alex let out in a small voice. "After I read and sign the consent forms. I am a lawyer; I don't blindly sign anything."
"Nor would I expect anyone else to," Marissa added warmly. "It is a straight-forward procedure consent form."
Marissa left them to retrieve Alex the form and prepare for the sedation, intubation and cannula insertion. "I need to call June." Alex murmured to Henry. Henry held out his hand for Alex's phone. "Let me, or Mum can call her. That way you don't have to leave Gabriella's side." He replied, seeing the distress on Alex's face at the thought of leaving his daughter's side.
"Let me call her, please." Catherine almost begged. "It will make me feel like I am being helpful. But while I am gone, I need you to do two things for me, Alex. I need you to take a seat and breathe, and I need you to let Henry be there for you. Can you do that for me?"
Alex nodded his consent, and she gave him a smile.
Catherine stepped out into the small hallways and pressed the call button on Alex's mobile to call his sister. She didn't really have a plan on what she would say. But she was relieved Alex had trusted her with this task.
"Alex, now's not a really good time." June answered in lieu of a normal greeting. Looking at her watch, Catherine wondered what the time difference was between London and wherever Alex's sister June lived. "Nora and I are just sitting down to dinner, and we haven't seen one another all week."
"It's not Alex." Catherine said softly and she could hear June's body tense up as she spoke. "My name is Catherine, I am Alex's friend Henry's, mum."
"Oh, Your Royal Highness." June greeted her, remembering that Alex's friend Henry was Prince Henry of Wales and spare heir to the British throne. "Is Alex OK?"
"Please, call me Catherine." She smiled softly, as if June could see her warm smile. "I do not know if you're following our weather from where you are, but there is a dreadful storm raging outside at the moment. Since Alex lives in a low-lying flood area and Gabriella is unwell, Henry convinced them to stay at the palace where it's safe from the storm."
"Catherine, please." June begged her. "Please, tell me that Alex is, OK? Gabriella?"
"Unfortunately, Gabriella has had an allergic reaction to some medication a doctor prescribed for her this evening and our palace doctor has had Gabriella admitted to hospital." Catherine finally managed to get out. She had not expected it to be as hard as to get the words from her mouth as she had expected. "Alex asked me to call you. They're going to sedate and intubate Gabriella before commencing a tough treatment regime to support her airways."
"Which hospital? My wife is looking for flights now." June interrupted her. The realisation that she had just interrupted the future Queen of the UK was not lost on her and right now, she did not care.
Catherine wanted to send a jet; she really did. She felt truly guilty it had happened while Alex and Gabriella were staying in her palace. Even though an allergic reaction was hardly her fault.
"St Mary's hospital in London." Catherine said softly. "There is one more thing. We believe his residence may be under water at this point. Please let us know your flight details and I will send someone to Heathrow to fetch you. You can stay in a guest apartment at the palace."
"Please tell Alex we're coming, and we will not be taking no for an answer." June asked Catherine. "Hug him and tell him we love them both so much and we're on our way."
"I will June." Catherine promised Alex's sister. She could tell by listening to the worry in June's voice, Alex was close with his sister. Just like Henry and Bea were close.
The call disconnected and Catherine took a moment to sag against the nearest wall. That was where Shaan found her. "I have managed to procure a small waiting room outside the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Only Alex is allowed to be there when they do the sedation and intubation." Shaan told her, leading her towards the small waiting room on the second floor.
Henry was already there, with his own PPOs. Waiting. Pacing nervously. Catherine smiled to herself internally at this image. He was pacing himself like a nervous father awaiting news of his child's well-being.
