𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

40 ♔♕ 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲

𝟸𝟸𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟸.
𝚂𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢'𝚜 𝙷𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕, 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗.
𝟶𝟿.𝟶𝟺 𝚙𝚖.

She looked so small.

Almost like a doll.

Laid there underneath copious tubes and wires and bandages. So still. Bella was never still. She was always moving. Always smiling. Always a ball of energy.

Yet she was just laid there, unmoving.

William watched through glassy eyes as his father lowered himself into the seat next to her bed. Reaching a shaky hand out, he gently took Bella's, only daring to move it just enough so that he could hold it, the wires and tubes stopping him from doing any more.

"What happened for it to be this bad?"

Harry's voice took William right back to being a teenager. To the darkness that he had worked so hard to overcome.

"We believe the horse landed on top of her," the doctor was speaking but William wasn't really listening, "and then when it got up, kicked her in the head and stood on her leg."

He must have left after that, the doctor. The door shut but William was still too focused on his little sister to really notice.

He couldn't move. He couldn't make himself move. But he also couldn't take his eyes off his baby sister. His sister who he had vowed to protect. Who was now lying in front of him, completely unrecognisable from the person he had spoken to just yesterday.

She had joked with him about their tour. Informed him in her classic way that she was going to come round for Sunday dinner at the weekend. Asked after Kate. And the dog. Of course she asked after Lupo, she probably only put Kate first to be polite. Told him she was thinking of getting her own with Alex but she hadn't yet broached the idea with him considering the fact they didn't actually live together.

Oh god.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Alex.

Had anybody spoken to Alex?

♔♕

𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚑.
𝟶𝟿.𝟸𝟸 𝚙𝚖.

He couldn't breathe.

Whatever he tried, Alex just could not breathe.

They were on a train now. Somewhere between Inverness and Edinburgh, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

One look between him and Rose after the broadcast and the two of them were running down the steps of Dunrobin, their father behind them waving the car keys.

He'd driven them to the station, breaking multiple laws along the way. Not that it mattered in the end, the next train to Nairn wasn't for an hour anyway.

From Nairn they'd caught a taxi, paying them double to break even more laws in order to make sure they'd get to Inverness in time for the next train to Edinburgh.