Royally F**cked

XXIV: Vīgintī quattuor

Lavinia was carried for all of five minutes before she was hefted into an old dingy looking house. The sign outside of it had long since faded, simply leaving the word 'Dr' to miserably stare at. Was it trustworthy, probably not. Did Lavinia have much choice? Probably not either.

Reinair brought her through a small forgotten looking reception room and out to a more open surgery. It smelt strongly of rubbing alcohol, her nose stung in response and she had to bite back a painful sneeze.

The men in front of her had brought Delvin to a separate room, it made her antsy, she wanted to get up and find him. But the doctor gently placed her face first onto a bed. "Look, this is going to hurt. Once its over, you can do whatever the hell you want. I just want to be sure you won't go dying of some infection," He said gruffly.

Lavinia couldn't see what he was doing, but by the sounds of ruffling and the loud creeks of cupboards opening she could only guess he was getting out first aid supplies.

"Firstly, I need to remove any of the loose clothing around your back. Burns cause inflammation and we don't need any more of it to get stuck in your skin," Reinair explained, with a tut. Lavinia felt it in her chest, now the shock was going. A wave of exhaustion and the tightening of skin across the lengths of her spine. It was agonising. She pressed her forehead into the pillow below her harshly, biting tongue to stop crying out as Reinair slowly moved her.

There was the sound of scissors and a slight breeze against her lower back. Normally she flinched, batted the man away to protect her own modesty. But she was far too lost in the pain to really notice.

"Now, this part is going to hurt a bit but after that you shouldn't be able to feel anything okay," Reinair continued, there were more shuffling noises before she could feel the presence of the doctors besides her. "I'm just going to inject your back with some serious ananestic alright. Normally I'd just knock you out, but right now we don't have much time for luxury."

The intense jabbing, a sharp point diving underneath the skin of her burns almost made her scream. Instead a loud, primal grunt left her mouth, hissed between her teeth.

"Let's give it a few minutes, just need to make sure it's doing its job,"

Slowly, painfully slowly, her back began to numb. It tingled and her brain felt deliciously cloudy. It was muffled now, the pain and so so much easier to deal with. Lavinia closed her eyes, and let her head collapse into the hard pillow with a sigh.

"Can you feel this at all?" Reinair called out, she paused for a moment feeling out for any new sensation. There was nothing but a blessed numbness. She voiced this but it came out slightly muffled.

"Okay, good to know," He drawled in response, normally she'd rear back at how sarcastic the older man sounded but she let it slide. Not that she had much choice in the matter. Reinair looked the type to take no shit from anyone. And she was hardly in a position to refute anything. Lavinia's eyes drifted shut, her mouth parted just slightly, a hazy fog of exhaustion clouding her mind.

And that was that. She was out.

"Calm down!" A panicked voice shouted, breathy and heaved almost as if the person had been running. "Calm down or get out of here!". It was a distinctly male voice, rough at the edges like coal. A vague sense of familiarity spurred her to open her eyes. Blinking back at the harsh lights, Lavinia winced. She tried to move, shift on the soft surface she found herself on but her body bit back in protest.

Right, she'd been caught in an explosion. And so had Delvin, a rabid cur of worry flooded her mind. Was he okay? Had he been caught up in it? Where was he?

"Tell me then, if you don't want your surgery to blow into a thousand different pieces, you'll tell me where she is!" The new voice soothed her instinctively, smooth and deep, crashing across her chest like a tidal wave. There he was. Her lips raised, splitting her face in a grin. A crackle in the air set the hair on the back of the neck upright.

"Delvin?" She whispered into the air, with the vague hope that somehow he'd hear her. A pause permeated the house she was in before there was a cacophony of noise. Like a burst of fireworks he was there, the door thrown open, he knelt down besides the bed. Crystal eyes blown wide, his mouth twisted downwards.

"Lavinia," He uttered, her name spoken like a reverent prayer on his lips. "Lavinia,". For a moment the air between them was so thick, she could barely breathe. Delvin was ruffled, his sharp white hair thrown around in a mess on top of his head. The cloak he had been wearing at the festival was long since lost, and the clothes underneath were in no better condition.

A knuckle came to gently stroke her check, and in a brief moment of weakness she leaned into it. "Are you okay? No that's a stupid question, of course you're not okay," Delvin rambleded, uncharacteristically fumbling over every word. Shakily, Lavinia placed a hand over his wandering fingers, bringing them gently down to her chest.

"Delvin, I'm okay." She reassured, squeezing down on his palm. Twisting his fingers so their hands could intertwine, he squeezed back. "We're okay," Lavinia emphasised, and he nodded in return, using his spare hand to brush the hair from her forehead.

"Excuse me," Reinair huffed, standing with his arms folded on the opposite side of the room. His sudden appearance made her jerk backwards, but Delvin refused to relinquish his grip on her hand. Leaving her awkwardly hung between the Prince and the edge of the bed. "Could you give my patient some space? She's still recovering."

Delvin's eye's narrowed down on the Doctor before reluctantly moving back. Though he didnt move very far, and his hand was still attached to her own. Reinair looked between the two of them, rolling his eyes as though he was just a disappointed parent. Looking pointedly at the Prince, he stepped forwards pausing at the other side of the bed.

"How are you feeling? I bandaged up most of your back, but you won't be able to move properly for at least a few days," He asked, peering down at her as though he could see through her body straight to her wounds. Lavinia paused for a second, searching through her body for the pain. But there was nothing.

"I, i feel better than i thought," She admitted, blinking at him. There was a distinct absence of anything, her back still felt as though it was numbed and not brutally burnt as it had been. Reinairs lips downturned, brows furrowed. "I guess you're just a really good doctor?" Lavinia stated, but it came out as more of a question than a statement.

"I am. But I'm no miracle worker," Reinair gruffed, looking up at the ceiling and then back down again, shifting awkwardly on his feet. Delvin straightened up immediately, eyes determined as he drew up to his full height in response. It was like he could sense the change of atmosphere akin to a predator sensing out of his prey.

"What is it then?" Delvin demanded, and the space around his seemed to alight with his crackling presence. Demanding and dangerous. But Reinair refused to submit, in fact he barely reacted at all, his stoney gaze fully focused on Lavinia.

"You're not related to Linette Armertris are you?" 

Authors Note: 

Hi guys! Im really sorry for the late update. I kinda had a huge hiatus from writing because i got exhausted, i came into a really big writers block and just couldn't really do it anymore, hopefully this ends soon. But im not making any promises at the moment. 

Ill try get everyone up to date! I really cant thank you enough for your patience! 

I hope all you guys are well and good <3

Lots of love, 

Sam.E