The Elusive Prince

Chapter 26: You Can Lean Me

Merideth

Everything was fuzzy and heavy as I open my eyes to see the bright lights and white ceiling. I couldn't seem to comprehend what the heck was happening but one thing was certain, I was lying in the hospital. But wasn't I in school?

Looking around, I noticed the line of beds and white curtains separating the beds. Ahh, I must be in the infirmary at the moment.

I tried sitting up but my body said no so I just slumped back into bed. I seem to notice that there was nobody here. Well, there is the sun now, I realized as I glance at the window beside the bed. I guess they're in class right now.

Though the question is, what the heck happened that I ended up in the infirmary? I was fine when I went out of the hospital, they even did a full body check up before I left and they said I was healthy and ready to go, so that means it wasn't health related. I wasn't feeling any headaches or any sort of pain, besides annoyance, yesterday. Then how did I end up here?

I just laid there, trying to come up with ideas as to how I got here, all the while coming to a dead end, when I recognized the uniform of the school nurse come to sight. She was carrying a clipboard and was flipping over it before glancing back at me and I saw her eyes widen a bit. I gave her a tentative smile before she shook her head and headed outside again. Well that was weird, but I guess she was going to call the doctor.

A few minutes later and I saw the same nurse come in but with the doctor in tow. The Doctor in duty at the moment was Doctor Bliant who was also our Biology teacher. He came in wearing a white lab coat with the stethoscope slung on his neck and was talking the nurse who was currently writing away on the same clipboard from earlier.

Doctor Bliant came into view and he greeted me with a smile before instructing the nurse, whose name was Apple based on the pin on her chest pocket, to write something.

"Hello Your Highness, I'm glad you're finally awake. You gave us all quite a scare." he said while checking for my heartbeat and after confirming that it was fine he nodded at the nurse who came into me and put a thermometer in my mouth to check my temperature. It beeped a few seconds later and the nurse looked at it and nodded before writing it on the clipboard which I assume is my record.

"Hmm, heart rate seems fine. Your fever has subsided during the day too. Are you feeling any pain? Headache?" he said before handing me a glass of water which I happily took.

"Hmm no." I replied a few seconds later and he nodded again before shuffling to the side. He handed me a sliced apple.

"That's good. I thought you were going to take more time to wake up but you seem fine now." he said before checking the IV in my arm. At this point I was confused as to what was happening so I decided to ask.

"Ummm...if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? I can't seem to remember how I got here." I asked and he just gave me a glance before the nurse was furiously writing again. "Hmmm, she doesn't remember huh? Must be from fatigue or she wasn't even conscious. Even if they said she had her eyes open." he mumbled to himself and I couldn't hear him at all so I just waited for him to finish. When he did, he was looking up to me again.

"Well, if you want some details regarding how you got here, as far as I was informed, you had a very bad nightmare which lasted for quite some time. Then it seems as if you slipped out of consciousness and fell into deep sleep. I say, it was because of exhaustion and stress. It was quite a scare when you didn't wake up sooner but seeing as you were running a high fever last night, it was understandable." he said before looking at the nurse then back to me. I was currently frozen in my bed, trying to comprehend what he said. Did he just say that I had a nightmare so bad I passed out?

"Did they tell you perhaps about my nightmare?" I asked because I was genuinely curious. I mean I used to have bad nightmares but not bad enough to warrant me to spend the night in the infirmary. What the heck happened?

"Hmmm...they did. But I think you would like to hear it from your friends instead. Also it's almost time for class to end so they will be here shortly. " he said which left me dumbfounded. Just how long was I out?!

"Also I suggest you eat something Your Highness. It will help you get your energy back." he said before the table attached to the bed was set up in my lap and then suddenly there was a pack of food in front of me, courtesy of the nurse who gave me a small smile. Where she got the pack was boggling me but still, it was food and I was hungry so it doesn't really matter where she got it from.

"Then I'll leave you to it Your Highness, I'll be back later after your friends come visit." he said before bowing a little and he and the nurse were gone to leave me alone with the plateful of food.

Them leaving also left me alone with my thoughts, thoughts that were full of questions and confusion. What exactly happened? How bad was it? Was Hailey the one to fine me? Then I remembered how Hailey must've felt. Oh my goodness Hailey. Is she okay? She must've worried so much. Just when she was just starting to get over the self-blame from the attack, here I was in the infirmary bed a day later, passed out for lord knows how long. Before I could think anymore, the door was thrust open to reveal Cassian. What the heck is he doing here?

He must've not noticed me awake because he headed to the nurses desk which was currently empty and looked at it for a few moments before sighing. He was about to head to the door but not before casting a glance at me and when he met my eyes, his dual colored eyes widened in surprise before he was stumbling into my bed, with a very surprised look.

"You're awake..."he whispered gently which made me freeze a little. I was expecting maybe an excited scream or tone, maybe some gasps but he just said it very gently as if he couldn't believe it but was still relatively happy about the fact at the same time.

"Yeah I just got up. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be in class? Wait what time is it?" I asked as I begin to sit up. Noticing my struggle, he hurriedly went beside me to help me sit up. I thanked him as he dragged a chair beside the bed.

"Well, it's 3:30 PM right now. As for the reason why I am here, I was supposed to get the nurse to disinfect my wound. Though it seems as if she's not here. Would you happen to know where she is?" he asked while looking around. I couldn't help but let out a small smile at his confused face, with his scrunched up nose and double colored eyes scanning the whole room in search of the nurse. 

"She just got out with the doctor. I'm surprised you didn't bump into her." I said while beginning to eat the pack of food offered to me earlier. Cassian gave me small look before he let out a small laugh that made me look up to him in surprise because what's so funny?

"Okay okay I was kidding with you. I actually bumped into the nurse going into here and she told me you were awake already and that I could stay with you until they finish with your results and to check up on one of the students that got into a fight in the senior building." he said with a small laugh and I couldn't help but punch him in the arm gently because he got me and I laughed with him.

"Well I'm glad that you got to laugh. You gave us quite a scare Merideth." he said the last part gently and almost inaudible but I still heard it. Okay now I was really curious about what went down last night. They were all skirting through this topic as if it's on thin ice, as if I might break if I knew. Well basing on the fact of how shocked they all looked when I woke up it probably would. 

"Well, you gotta tell me what happened now. The doctor was trying to avoid telling me and I've been kept in the dark about what happened. Can you tell me?" I asked gently and he hesitated a bit before letting out a long sigh.

"I don't really know what happened Merideth because I wasn't there. But what I do know is that you had a very bad nightmare, so bad that you couldn't snap out of it even when Hailey was screaming at you. We only knew what happened early in the morning when we found the girls all looking so downcast and with gloomy faces. Then they told us what happened." he said and I remained emotionless in the bed, trying to soak the information in. "I suggest you ask Hailey later when she gets here. After all she was the one to see you first when it happened." he added with a sigh and noticing my reaction, or the lack thereof, reached out tentatively for my hand and squeezed it which made me look at him and meet his concerned eyes.

"You know, I have nightmares too." he began without looking at me but still squeezing my hand as he rubbed small circles with his thumb on the back of my hand. "It got so bad that I would wake up crying and finding my bed in disarray. I used to worry my Mother a lot." he still didn't look at me but continued with his story.

"I used to hide the fact that I had nightmares from my family and trying to not think about it, thinking that it would go away but it didn't." he said and this time he looked at me. There was confusion swimming in my eyes. Why was he telling me with this?

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked and his thumb stopped drawing small circles in my skin and he looked at me with firm eyes that I couldn't help but feel like I was safe.

"I'm trying to tell you this because I don't want you to hide this. I know you think it's a weakness to let other people know and you might think even more so now that people saw you like this. I know you are strong but I know you pretend to be strong sometimes, even when you're hurting deep inside. You don't c***k easily and I know it's because of your status and role in both the class and the whole kingdom." he said suddenly and I couldn't help but feel stunned because how the heck did he know my deep seated insecurities? Not even Hailey knows how I feel deep inside and she's my aide and he just here saying it in front of me out of nowhere? I always try to keep a strong facade even in the face of danger but in reality I'm scared too and I'm surprised he noticed, or maybe it was because he was the same?

"What I'm trying to say is, you don't need to hide or pretend so much Merideth. I know it's necessary but I just want you to know that there are a lot of people who will care for you and got your back even if you show emotions. Showing emotions doesn't make you weak Merideth nor does it make people wan't to treat you like glass because you're not. You're stronger than most but that doesn't mean you can't feel pain or scared Merideth. I know you don't like to lean on other people for help but just know that you can lean on me." at his last statement I didn't notice the tears streaming down my face not until he looked at me startled before I could feel his fingers brush the tears away from my face flustered but still gentle.

"Hey don't cry please don't cry. Did I say something wrong?" he was flustered as I let out small sobs as he wiped the tears that was still pouring down my face. I couldn't help but reach out for him to pull him down for a hug which I think took him by surprise because he stiffened in the embrace for a moment before softening and wrapping his hands around me.

I continued to sob while tightening my hold on him, IV be damned. I didn't even know why I was crying, it just came like a dam bursting. Maybe it was from his words, maybe it was from him unearthing my insecurities, maybe it was from the pain, maybe it was because of the comfort he was trying to give me, or it may be because of my nightmare. I don't really know what the reason is but at the moment it just felt right. I never cried in front of anyone except when Hailey accidentally walked into me once, but never did I cry voluntarily in front of anyone ever since I was 13 until today. Crying in front of Cassian however just felt right.

At first he just held me but then it quickly evolved into him drawing mindless patterns on my back as he try to calm me down but at the same comforting me. We stayed like that for a few minutes before I finally calmed down and sat up while wiping lost tears spilling out of my eyes. Cassian didn't say anything, thankfully, but he stood up to grab a tissue from one of the stands and handing them to me. I gave him a small smile before blowing my nose on it gently.

Not crying for a while now made me forgot how awful crying is. My nose was probably red that it could even rival Rudolph himself, my eyes hurt and was probably swollen, tear stains trailing on my face and the headache starting to form. Cassian seems to notice my scowling because he poured me a glass of water before handing it to me. I drank it before he sat down on the chair beside me again and we just stayed in comfortable silence as I try to collect myself after that breakdown.

"Do you feel better now?" he said gently and I just nodded before giving him a small smile. "I--thank you Cassian. I didn't know crying like that would make me feel a little bit better although my face probably looks like s**t now." I joked which made him laugh a little.

"Hey it happens to the best of us. What matters is you let it out. Bottling these emotions are bad so just try to keep in mind what I told you okay? I will be here when you need someone to be with you in these moments so you can lean on me okay?" he said and I gave him a small smile which he reciprocated with the same smile.

"Oh here you are Your Highness, I hope you didn't wait long." the sudden appearance of the nurse interrupted the comfortable silence that settled in the room. She was oblivious to this however as she approached the bed only to stop when she saw my swollen eyes and she gaped.

"You Majesty what happened? Did something happen while I was away?" she began fussing frantically over me which made me and Cassian share a knowing smile at the sight of the flustered nurse.

"Umm nothing, just had a talk. I'm going to be okay soon." I assured her and she let out a relieved sigh before looking at Cassian who was sitting beside my bed.

"Okay Your Highness let's get that wound checked." she said before shuffling into her table to get the disinfectants. Cassian and I continued to hide our laugh at the actions of the nurse. She came back a minute later with the disinfectant and first aid box as she approached Cassian who didn't leave the bed. She started unwrapping the gauze on the wound before throwing it to the trash bin beside the bed and started dabbing the wound. Cassian flinched a little which made me grab his hand that was set in the bed absentmindedly and gave it a small squeeze for encouragement.

He gave me a look, clearly not expecting the contact but I just gave him a small smile before closing my eyes to let it rest for a moment. I couldn't see what his expression was but I can guess it was good because he squeezed my hand back with the same force while the nurse continued to tend to his wounds.