Page 3 of A Valiant Prince

“I’ll come to get you as soon as I know something,” she says. “And, hold on, I’ll get you a shirt.” I look down and realize I must have dropped my shirt when I picked Anna up. I’m in jeans and shoes and that’s it. A moment later, she returns and hands me a scrubs top. I put it on and thank her. She nods and scurries off toward the emergency room. There’s some blood on my jeans, and I rub at it in a vain attempt to make it go away.

Minutes tick by like hours. I sit, tapping my foot. I don’t even have my phone on me. I left it in my room when the explosion happened. Pete is going to kill me. When he realized Anna wasn’t in the room, he lost his shit. And quite frankly, I don’t blame the guy.

The door to the room flies open and wild-eyed Pete is at the door.

“Where is she?” he asks.

“In the ER,” I answer.

“Damn it, Logan. You and I are going to have words,” he says loudly and then lowers his voice, “But not here.”

A moment later, Chris and Auggie come in with Mia, Cain, and Nico.

“They brought our fathers here,” Chris says to me.

I nod. “Your aunt?” I ask.

Chris shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says.

The room is utterly silent as everyone sits, paces, and sits again. Mia offers to get everyone coffee, but Chris stops her from leaving.

“No one is going anywhere,” he commands.

“Chris…I mean, Your Highness…I…” She trails off and looks at him as her lip quivers. Chris pulls her into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I…we need to be careful, Mia. I know you’re trying to help, but please let others take care of that stuff,” he says to her.

“OK,” she says quietly, her voice muffled against Chris’s chest.

They have just separated when the door to the waiting room opens and a young doctor walks in.

“Your Highnesses, I’m Dr. Vanker. Your father, the king, is fine. We are treating him for smoke inhalation. We should probably check everyone here as well. King Edvard sustained some injuries but they are not severe. He has a broken arm and injured foot, and a nasty bump on his head. We’ll be keeping him overnight as a precaution. Your sister sustained a severe concussion but her arm wasn’t broken. There’s some tissue damage, so we’ll keep it immobilized for a few days while she recovers. We are also keeping her overnight. Princess Lara was just brought in a few minutes ago. She suffered considerable internal injuries and smoke inhalation. She’s up in surgery right now. She coded on her way here. We have some of the best doctors in the country working on her, but I wanted you to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Her husband should be joining you shortly. I gave him some scrubs to change into,” the doctor says.

“Thank you for the updates, Dr. Vanker,” Chris says, extending his hand. The doctor accepts it.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” he asks, looking around. “And can I please check each of you to make sure you don’t need oxygen?” Everyone nods and Dr. Vanker calls in a nurse who begins treating us, essentially turning the room into a triage clinic. She takes blood pressures and treats minor cuts, while Dr. Vanker listens to our lungs.

“Logan, it would be good to get you some oxygen. Of everyone here, I think you suffered the worst smoke inhalation,” Dr. Vanker suggests. I nod and follow him out and down a hall.

He opens a curtain and pats one of those emergency room beds. “Have a seat, and I’ll get a nurse to set you up with some oxygen,” he says. Before leaving, he turns. “I hope you don’t mind a suitemate.” He winks and pulls back a curtain to reveal Anna.

I leap off the bed and run to her. She looks at me and gives me a weak smile.

“Well, if it isn’t my knight in shining armor,” she whispers in a raspy voice and coughs.

“Easy there, tiger. You inhaled a lot of smoke, Anna. How’s the arm?” I ask her as I look down to see she’s wearing a brace on her arm.

“It’s alright. My head hurts more than my arm,” she admits.

“Why are you back here?” she asks.

“The doctor suggested I get some oxygen since I inhaled a bit of smoke,” I say. “Nothing to worry about,” I add quickly.

“Everyone else?” she asks.

I sit down on the edge of her bed. “Our dads are fine, just some minor injuries. Your aunt is in surgery. She had fairly severe injuries,” I say. I see her eyes immediately fill with tears.

“I’m sorry,” I say to her as I wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

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