Loving The Mad King

Going To The Hospital

***

"Zen, where are you going?" asked Odette as soon as she stood up.

"I wanted to take Daniel to the medical center," Zen explained.

"Have you asked someone for help?"

Zen shook his head. "I'll take him on foot."

Odette and Rion looked at each other. They were very touched to hear what Zen wanted to do for his brother.

"Thank God you're okay and I'm sorry about earlier," said Zen, bowing his head regretfully.

"It's okay. You did all that for your brother?" Odette squatted down while holding back the pain in her leg and then checked Daniel's condition.

"Brother, it's cold." Daniel, who was feverish and half-conscious, as he hugged his brother's neck more tightly, and coughed. The child's palm was extremely cold, and his breathing became heavy from time to time.

"We have to hurry! Rion, can you carry him?"

Rion quickly took off his outer shirt, crouched down, and covered Daniel, who had just gotten down from Zen's arms. The thing that Rion did impress Odette.

"Okay, come on!" Odette stood together with Rion, who was now carrying Daniel.

"What about your leg? Can you walk?" Rion asked the woman next to him, to which Odette replied that she was fine. She then asked them to walk as quickly as possible, because Daniel had to be taken to the health center.

Odette, who was holding hands with Zen, endured the pain in her leg and tried to follow in Rion's footsteps. After a while, they finally came out of the alley. Rion's eyes looked around and quickly found a horse-drawn carriage. It was the carriage that Odette had previously ridden.

"Your Majesty." Arlo and three other knights came over, which made Rion stop in his tracks.

"What are you doing here?" Rion asked. "Didn't I tell you not to follow me?" he added.

"We're sorry, Your Majesty, but we couldn't let you go alone without an escort. That's why we followed you secretly, but instead, we lost track of you. We are glad that His Majesty the king is alright." Arlo smirked. Trish had ordered him never to let the king go out alone without an escort.

Hearing Arlo speak, Zen looked up to see the man holding his little brother at that moment. 

"He is … King Arion D. Panther?" He muttered under his breath and stared in disbelief.

"Since you are here, I order you to take care of the five bandits in that alley. I have killed one of them. I want you to thoroughly investigate their case," Rion ordered, not wanting to be refuted. He walked towards the carriage, leaving Arlo and the knights.

Zen got into the carriage first, then Odette. Daniel sat on Odette's lap, while Rion would be the coachman.

Rion pulled the reins of the horse and made the horse go as quickly as possible. Behind him, Odette hugged Daniel tightly, so that the boy's body was warm and not too shaken when the carriage was moving fast.

"Listen, try not to sleep," said Odette, rubbing Daniel's palm. She also told Zen to rub the soles of his brother's feet.

Daniel's breathing became heavier and his eyes slowly closed. 

"Please don't sleep, you have to survive, your brother needs you," said Odette, which made Daniel try hard not to close his eyes.

"Good," Odette smiled gently. "If you don't sleep, how about if I tell you a story? Do you want to hear it?" Odette tried to invite the child to communicate. In this era, there was no IV. If Danie fell unconscious, then things would be even more difficult.

"Sure, don't you want it too, Daniel?" Zen said excitedly or rather pretended to be excited so that his brother was also more enthusiastic. Daniel then answered with a slow nod.

"Okay then, listen..." For a moment, Odette thought about what story she should tell. "Hmm… this is a love triangle between a monkey, a chimpanzee, and a gorilla," she said, suddenly making up stories.

"What is a chimpanzee?" asked Zen with a confused face.

"It's a monkey," answered Odette.

"Then the gorilla?"

"Big monkey."

"So chimpanzees are monkeys, and gorillas are big monkeys? Then is that a story about a monkey, another monkey, and a monkey so big but also called a monkey?" asked Zen, which made Odette flabbergasted and Daniel laughed.

Seeing Daniel laugh, Odette continued her story. The journey to the health center was filled with monkey stories. "Because Mr. Gorilla was very bad, Miss monkey chose Mr. Chimpanzee, who was good. Then they both live happily ever after. The end!"

The moral of the story was that the monkey knew what was good and what was bad for her.

Not long after the story ended, the carriage stopped right in front of the health center building. Daniel was again carried by Rion, while Odette and Zen followed them in. Doctor Jonathan, who saw Odette, immediately approached them.

"Miss Odette, what happened to your leg?" asked Doctor Jonathan, when he saw Odette was walking with a limp.

"I'm fine. Help this kid, he's almost unconscious!"

Doctor Jonathan nodded. "Follow me."

***

Daniel was being treated by Doctor Jonathan. Meanwhile, Rion, Odette, and Zen were waiting outside the room. Rion sat on the chair leaning back, crossing his legs, and holding his arms. Odette sat next to him, hugging Zen from behind.

"Will Daniel be alright?" asked Zen, he felt very worried. 

Odette smiled gently, then said, "Daniel is being treated by the doctor, so don't worry, he will definitely be fine."

Rion secretly glanced at the two people, but his focus was mostly on Odette. At a time like this, the woman looked very motherly, but he immediately stopped looking at the woman. A sudden pain shot through his head.

No! He couldn't relapse there.

"Rion, what's wrong?" Odette, who realized that the man was in pain, immediately asked, but the man didn't answer and instead left.

"Zen, stay here. I'll be right back," said Odette, and rushed after Rion. "Rion, what's wrong, Rion!"

She was limping. The people around heard Odette calling out to Rion to stop, and then stared at the two people.

"I saw the girl with Doctor Alex this morning," said one of them.

"If I'm not mistaken, Doctor Alex is King Rion's personal physician?" said one of the others.

"Yes."

"That girl called the man by the name Rion, is it possible that the man is…" They glanced at each other. "Do you think so?"

"There's no mistaking it, that gray hair! He is indeed His Majesty the King!" said someone standing in the corner quite loudly. It made the people, who previously didn't pay much attention, turn around, and they stared at Rion and Odette.

"Rion, wait." Odette quickened her pace, but she stopped when the pain in her leg returned. Hearing Odette cry in pain, Rion immediately turned around and held Odette's body, which was about to fall. Rion pointed to a doctor standing not far from him. 

"Check her," he said as the doctor approached him. The doctor nodded and asked Rion to follow him.

"Rion, I'm fine," said Odette, but Rion didn't want to listen to her. 

The man immediately picked her up and walked after the doctor. The two of them became the center of attention of everyone that was present. They all wondered if the man who was carrying Odette was really the king or not. If that was true, then what they saw would be a trending topic in that place for one week.

The king, who was said to have suffered from deep depression after the queen's death, and mourned the queen for years, finally found a new love.