by Renna Peak
Elle
I’m not used to being on this side of the hospital.
The small waiting room is full—all of Leo’s brothers, Victoria, and a handful of the Montovian Royal Guard fill every seat in here. All four of the survivors were in need of some sort of medical attention. Even my brother.
I didn’t get a chance to see or speak to Leo or Owen before they were rushed into the depths of the hospital. But Andrew told me they were both alive. I still can’t describe the weight that was lifted from me when he said those words.
The only explanation for any of this was that Leo wanted to go and get Owen for our wedding. On the one hand, I can’t believe how thoughtful he was by doing that for me. But on the other, I’m not sure I can forgive him for being so reckless—or for leaving Matthew and me without telling me where he was going.
I should go back there and demand to help. I shouldn’t interfere, even if I do have a medical license that’s valid in Montovia. I just wish we weren’t in this small town up in the mountains—I’d feel a lot better about everything if we were at the large hospital in the capital.
I glance around, my eyes filling with tears as the emotions I’ve been trying so desperately to keep under control these past few days finally catch up with me. My gaze falls on Victoria, who gives me a small smile, nodding at me with a silent vote of encouragement. Her hands are twined with Andrew’s—he looks like he’s holding onto her for dear life.
It’s all too much. The love of my life might be bleeding to death behind those walls, and I’m stuck out here doing nothing to help him.
I stand, walking over to the desk where a receptionist sits.
She glances up at me with a smile and says something to me that I don’t quite understand. Penelope has been trying to get me to learn French and German—part of my “princess lessons”—but my mind is too jumbled to even make out which language she’s speaking. She might have even been speaking English, for all I’m aware.
“My hus…my fiancé. Prince Leopold. And my brother, Owen Parker. I need a status update immediately.” I glance at her nametag. “Please, Marie.”
She gives me a small nod and picks up the phone beside her, saying something into it after pressing a few buttons. After a few moments, she sets the phone down again. “I don’t have any information for you. As soon as there is any news, someone will be out to share it with the families.”
“Okay.” I wonder how many times that’s happened to patients of mine—how many times their families have been waiting in the emergency room for news. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so helpless in my life. If I ever go back into practice, I’ll remember this feeling. I’m sure that the staff is working hard to save the lives of the people in the accident, but surely they can spare someone to come and give us updates on what’s going on back there.
I take a step back from the desk and plow right into Andrew.
He catches me by the shoulders, turning me to him. “We need to let them do their work.”
“I know. I…” I have to press my lips together to keep the tears from flowing. “I just…I need to know.”
He nods. “We all want to know.” He motions toward the seat he was occupying a moment ago. “Sit with Victoria.” He gives me a little nudge in that direction.
I do as he says, walking across the small room to sit next to his fiancée.
Victoria immediately takes my hand, clutching it in hers, much as she was just doing with Andrew. She says nothing, but she doesn’t need to. What can you say to a person in a situation like this? You can’t tell them it’s going to be all right—it damn well isn’t, and we all know it.
We sit like that for what seems like hours. I watch Andrew pace the length of the waiting room, his hands behind his back. He looks lost in thought—I know he’s as worried about his brother as I am.
This is taking too long. If nothing was wrong, they would have been out by now. But similarly, if one of them had died, they also would have been out to tell us. It’s hard, but I know I have to trust that everyone back there is still alive.
After what seems like forever, a nurse finally opens the door. She looks around at the crowd in the room for a moment before she makes her announcement. “I can take two people with me—the families of Owen and Matthias, please.”
Andrew looks over at me before extending a hand.
I feel like I’m moving in slow motion, but I stand and walk over to him, letting him take my hand in his.
He gives it a slight squeeze as we’re led into the emergency room.
The nurse leads us through a hallway, and soon we’re standing in front of a curtain-covered bay. She turns to us with a smile. “Owen and Matthias will need to stay overnight for observation, but they may have visitors a few at a time.”
Andrew frowns. “And what about the others?” His voice is choked with emotion. “Is there news about Prince Leopold?”
“I’m afraid not. Both he and the young woman required immediate surgery, and they are still working.”
The knot in my chest seems to grow exponentially. Andrew must sense it because his grip on my hand tightens.
“Very well,” he says. “Thank you for the update.”
She nods before she turns to open the curtain.
My brother is lying on the bed with his hands propped behind his head, and Matthias is on the bed next to him.
Owen grins at me. “Hey, Sis. I heard you finally popped out the little monkey. Can’t wait to see him.”
“I…” I blink at him a few times. They must have given him some pain medication or something. “What—”
“What the hell happened?” Andrew interrupts. “What were you doing in a helicopter in a blizzard?” His gaze darts between the two men before falling on Owen. “You, I would expect such reckless behavior from.” He turns to look at Matthias. “But you… Is the reason we pay you not precisely to keep Leopold out of trouble?”
“Andrew…” I grasp his forearm with my other hand—he’s clenching my hand so hard it hurts. “Now isn’t really the time—”
“The hell it isn’t.” He doesn’t even look at me. “What were you thinking?”
Matthias looks like he might cry. “It is entirely my fault, Your Highness. I should have stopped the nonsense before it started. I knew it wouldn’t be safe.” His eyes shine with tears. “But it was so important to His Highness to return home in time for the wedding…”
Something about the emotions in his voice must make Andrew rethink his interrogation. He nods a few times, glancing again between Owen and Matthias. “I suppose…I suppose I can understand that.”
“Are you all right?” I look over at my brother. “Were you injured?”
“Nah. I’ve just got a gnarly headache.” He rubs at the side of his head. “Said I got a concussion, but they gave me some sweet meds—”
“Okay.” I interrupt, not really wanting to hear about how my brother is high on the morphine they probably gave him. I turn my gaze to the man in the other bed. “Matthias?”
“Also on a slight concussion, Dr. Parker.” He sniffles a few times, looking down at his hands. “His Highness was not so fortunate.”
“Do you know…?” I suck in a sharp breath. I know I shouldn’t be asking them for information—I should wait for the hospital staff. But I’m desperate. No one will tell me anything. The only thing I’ve been able to find out was that Leo injured his arm—and that the woman flying them was much more severely injured.
Matthias shakes his head. “He lost a great deal of blood. We…that is to say that I had to tie a tourniquet around his arm to try to stop the bleeding. But perhaps I did not tie it tightly enough…” He shakes his head a few times before he covers his face with his hands. “I don’t think I can forgive myself…”
I drop Andrew’s hand and walk over to sit on the edge of Matthias’s bed. I place a hand on his shoulder. “This wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have stopped Leo. I know you know that.”
He nods into
his hands but doesn’t uncover his face.
“I’m sure they’re doing everything they can. I’m sure…” I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m not sure of anything. The only thing I can think is that if he lost too much blood, he could die. And he was out in the wilderness for God knows how long. And he could get an infection. Or they might have to amputate. Or…
I shake my head trying to get the negative thoughts to stop. I have to have hope. I can’t start believing now that Leo might not make it.
The rustling of the curtain behind us startles us all. A moment later, a man wearing a white coat peers in, frowning at me, then at Andrew.
“Excuse me. But I need to speak with the family of Prince Leopold immediately. There’s been a…complication.”
Leopold
This was a terrible idea. But I’ve spent my whole life having terrible ideas, and everything has turned out so far. Why stop now?
If all goes to hell, at least I can blame it on the medication. Whatever they gave me, it’s really bloody strong, but they assured me that it wouldn’t affect my memory. I don’t want to forget this.
When the door opens, I sit up a little better in the bed. My arm protests and my head spins a little, but I don’t want to be lying down for this. It’s frustrating enough that I have to be in this bed at all, but the physician told me I was absolutely not allowed to get up yet.
The physician comes into the room, followed closely by Elle and Andrew. Elle comes right to my bedside, grabbing my good hand and bringing it up to her lips, squeezing my fingers tightly.
“Thank God you’re awake,” she says. “I thought…” She turns back to the physician, the relief on her face giving way to concern. “You said there was some sort of complication?”
“Er, yes,” says the physician, rather awkwardly. This sort of thing isn’t normally part of his job. “Perhaps His Highness should explain it.”
Elle turns back to me, frowning in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“That’s exactly what I’d like to know,” Andrew agrees from the opposite side of the bed.
“I’d prefer to wait until everyone else is here,” I say calmly.
As if on cue, there’s a knock at the door. A nurse comes into the room, pushing Matthias in a wheelchair. Another has a wheelchair bearing Owen. Behind them come William, Nicholas, and Victoria.
“What the hell is going on?” Andrew demands. Elle continues to look both confused and concerned, and I tighten my grip on her fingers.
“Andrew, if you’d be so kind, would you pick up that tablet?” I say, indicating the electronic device on the table next to my hospital bed. “And switch it back on, please?”
Andrew doesn’t look pleased to be ordered around, but he does as I request. When he hits the button to wake the tablet from sleep mode, the screen comes to life, showing the same videophone stream that I had up only a few minutes before everyone entered the room. On the other end, my mother sits in the center of the screen, Matthew in her arms.
“Hello, Mother,” I say. “Everyone’s here now.”
“Everyone’s here, too,” she says, repositioning my son in her arms so that he can see the screen. He’s too young to understand what he’s looking at, but that doesn’t stop my mother from saying, “Look, Matthew! It’s your mommy.”
Elle’s grip on my hand nearly breaks my fingers. She leans toward the tablet.
“Hey, little one,” she says, tears filling her eyes. “Mommy’s here.”
Matthew stirs at the sound of her voice, making a soft cooing sound. Elle turns her face toward me. “I still don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I’m here, too!” comes another familiar voice from the screen. Sophia leans into frame, waving at us. “And Father.” She pulls him into view, and he nods at us before retreating again. My father has never been one for sappy, emotional scenes.
“But they aren’t the only ones,” I say.
My mother shifts to the side, making room for Robert, our palace officiate, to sit beside her.
I look up at the love of my life. “I know this isn’t how or where we planned to do this, but it looks like I won’t be home for our wedding after all, no matter how much money I offer this place to let me check out early. So I thought I’d bring the wedding to us.”
Elle looks at me in shock.
“Everyone we love is here,” I say. “And I don’t want to put this off another day. Or even another hour. So what do you say? Will you marry me? Right now?”
It takes a full minute for her to speak, and when she does, her words are barely audible.
“Of course,” she whispers. “Yes, of course.”
She leans down, hugging me, and I do my best to return the gesture with my one good arm. I kiss her deeply, grateful beyond words for this. When I was in that cave, thinking we were all going to die, all I could think about was Elle and Matthew. I would have traded anything for the chance to see them again, to keep them safe beside me always.
“Save some of that for the honeymoon!” calls William.
Elle pulls away, blushing, and I brush a stray tear from her cheek before she straightens again. I look around the room. It’s crowded in here, even though I have the largest room in the entire hospital, but that just makes the happiness and joy within these walls feel even more overwhelming. This might not be the wedding we imagined, but I wouldn’t choose anything else.
“Are you ready?” I ask Elle, lacing my fingers through hers.
She nods enthusiastically. “Yes.”
We turn toward the screen, ready to be united for the rest of our lives.
Victoria
Victoria
The next few weeks fly by. The woman Leo hired to fly them back to Montovia survived—Andrew tried to bribe her to keep the story from the tabloids, but he must not have offered her enough money. It isn’t even a week after she’s released from the hospital that a tell-all story is released in one of the main competitors of the magazine I once worked for.
But the story only seemed to fuel the interest in our double wedding. None of the public knows that we had all already married—and I’m not sure anyone in Montovia would have cared, either. Because of the delay of the nuptials, an even bigger party was planned for the rescheduled big day. And if anyone knows how to party, it’s the people of Montovia.
It was a beautiful ceremony. Leo and Elle took their vows first, almost as though it was their own wedding. Then we started over again, and Andrew and I had our own ceremony. The reception afterward went on into the next morning—I wasn’t sure it would ever end, but it was wonderful all the same.
Our honeymoon in the Maldives was a dream. I’ve never felt closer to Andrew, and I can’t imagine not feeling like this for the rest of my life.
I’m shuffling some papers on my desk. Now that I’m an official princess, I’ve been given my own space in the palace—I’m still not sure what it is I’m supposed to be doing, but I’m doing a hell of a job pretending to be busy. I just can’t deny that I have an itch to go back to work—even if it’s only on occasion. I have no doubt that if I emailed my old editor, Celebrity Spark would be happy to give me some special assignments. I’m just not sure how Andrew will handle it if that’s the direction I decide to go.
There’s a single knock on my door, and it opens a second later. Andrew smiles over at me.
I can’t help but grin back. “Long time, no see, stranger.”
He walks over to me, lifting me out of the chair and into his arms. “It’s been too long.”
“Mm. Six hours? It has been too long.”
He chuckles, kissing my neck before he pulls back, gazing into my eyes. “Let’s not ever wait this long again.”
I laugh. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
He smiles. “I’m not sure I remember. But maybe you can show me.” He glances down at my desk. “Here.”
My body comes alive at his words—he makes me feel the same way now as the first time I danced wit
h him last year.
I sweep the papers off my desk and arch a brow. “I think that can be arranged.”
I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. Even if it isn’t perfect—even if I never get to have a child—I know we’ll make our own happy ending.
My life is truly a fairy tale.
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