Page 22 of Reign
Beatrice tried to sit up, but her body felt so heavy, her legs and arms and especially her eyelids. It was a colossal effort to keep her eyes open. She felt them fluttering shut, sleep wrapping its tendrils around her, as soft as falling backward into a bank of snow.
She forced herself to look up again, and saw that Samantha was still staring at her with a shocked sort of awe. “Thank god,” Sam breathed. “We were so worried, Bee.”
Something was very wrong. Beatrice nearly laughed at herself for that thought: ofcoursesomething was wrong. She was in a hospital.
“Why am…”
“Shhh,” Sam admonished. “You were in an accident, but everything is fine. Now that you’re awake, it’s all going to be fine.”
An accident? Beatrice cast her mind back, but she couldn’t remember anything. Her mind felt spongy and strangely porous, as if her memories were droplets of water, impossible to separate from one another. Images flickered before her: Teddy standing next to her at a party, both of them making polite, empty conversation; her father’s face, lit by the flickering firelight of his office as he said how proud he was of her. But she couldn’t sort the memories into any kind of sense.
“Did I…fall?” The words were muffled under a plastic breathing mask, but Sam must have read the movement of her lips, because she shook her head.
“It was a car accident.”
Beatrice’s chest seized in fear. If it was a car accident, had Connor been driving? Was he hurt? The machines next to her bed beeped more quickly, registering her elevated pulse.
Before she could ask, a sea of people in scrubs and white coats rushed through the door, wielding medical instruments and clipboards, nearly tripping in their haste.
“Your Majesty, I’m Dr.Jacobs. I’ve had the honor of managing your care while you’ve been here at St.Stephen’s,” said a man with glasses and white hair. He began removing the breathing mask over her nose, grinning in a likeable and decidedly unprofessional manner. “I have to say, I’m thrilled to see you awake. Now, please just take it easy while we perform a few basic tests.”
Beatrice nodded, too shaken to point out thatYour Majestywas her father’s honorific, not hers.
The doctors tried to shoo Samantha from the room, but when Sam said she wasn’t going anywhere, they gave up and let her stand to one side. Beatrice’s eyes kept darting curiously to her sister. She was grateful not to be alone, of course, but it wasn’t as if she and Sam were particularly close. She wondered if Sam was here because their parents had insisted upon it. She didn’t look like she’d been out partying, in her leggings and faded vintage T-shirt, but there was something rumpled and stale about her, as if she’d spent the night in a stranger’s bed. Why couldn’t she have packed a bag with a fresh change of clothes? There were showers here in the VIP section of the hospital. But then, Sam had never really acted the part of a princess. Which was why Beatrice had to be princess enough for both of them.
The doctors examined her eyes and her ears, asked her to flex her fingers and toes, fired questions at her likeWhat is your mother’s maiden name?andWhat country is Paris in?Beatrice obediently did as they asked, mind whirling. The sky outsidethe window was a cheerful robin’s-egg blue, the capital’s skyline oddly comforting, its slate and stone roofs dwarfed by the twin domes of Columbia House and, farther, the white stone bulk of the palace.
“Teddy is on his way,” Samantha offered while the doctors were adjusting Beatrice’s IVs. “He’s going to be so mad he missed your waking up! He’s been here practically every moment since you were hurt.”
Beatrice swallowed, hardly listening. “I…was anyone else in the car with me?” The question came out raspy and weak.
Dr.Jacobs winced sympathetically. “Just the Revere Guard who was driving, Your Majesty. I’m sorry to say that he died on impact.”
No no no.“I…was it Connor?”
“I believe his name was Shane Bartlett.”
Beatrice’s relief was so acute, she gasped out loud. Sam shot her a strange look. “What made you ask about Connor?”
Beatrice blinked. “I’m worried about him. Do you know where he is?”
Sam went very still. “Bee,” she said slowly, using the old nickname from when they were children. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Dr.Jacobs cleared his throat. “Please, Your Roy—I, um, Samantha. Don’t press her. We will be conducting a series of mental tests over the coming days—”
“I don’t remember the accident,” Beatrice cut in. “Where was I going, anyway?”
The doctor ignored her question. “It’s perfectly normal not to remember the accident. You suffered extensive damage to both sides of your cerebral cortex. Really, it’s a miracle to see you awake and answering questions so coherently,” he added, and smiled. “Though I have to say, I’m not surprised to see you so recovered. You have a remarkably strong will and determination.”
“Does that mean I can go home?”
He hesitated. “We need to keep you here for observation until we’re fully assured of your recovery. But don’t worry, we’ll have you back out there in no time.”
Beatrice splayed her hands over the hospital blankets. Her nails were filed into perfect half-moons, her cuticles pushed back; she wondered absently whether someone had been giving her manicures while she was unconscious.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
“Jeff will come as soon as he can. And Mom is already on the way,” Sam added. Beatrice started to ask about Dad, but before she could get the words out, Teddy Eaton appeared in the doorway.
