The Queen

Chapter 26:

I was standing in a field; with long grass and yellow flowers, blowing in the soft wind. I was wearing a white dress. My wedding dress. I looked around and saw a figure in the distance.
"Hello, America." He smiled and took my hand.
"Hello, Maxon." He kissed me all of the sudden, his lips soft on mine. He pulled away with a pained look on his face.
"America, I have to go. I'm not real; you're just imagining me. Please wake up. I can't go pn living without you. He walked away slowly and I tried to grab his hand, but I couldn't.
"Maxon," I shouted as he disappeared. "I love you!"
"Maxon..." I woke up, bright lights blinding me. My body hurt all over and I couldn't move. I was laying in a bed in the hospital wing of the castle. Well, what looked like the castle. There was debris everywhere and doctors rushing from bed to bed.
"She's awake!" someone shouted, and a whole bunch of people rushed to my bed. Maxon; with bags under his eyes, got there first. His arms and face were covered in light scars; just like mine.
"America, you're awake!" He kissed all over my face; but pulled away and looked concerned. "Are you ok?"
"No." I said, remembering how I got those scars. Tears rolled down my face and Maxon hugged me. The tears got heavier and turned into a full on cry. I sat there in Maxon's arms until Dr. Ashlar had to pry us apart.
"You're probably wondering what happened, Your Highness." Dr. Ashlar said, sitting on a chair beside my bed.
"I thought I was dead." I whispered. Dr. Ashlar nodded.
"You were in a death-like state. You were in a coma for a week."
"A week? What day is it?"
"It's August 9th." Dr. Ashlar confirmed. "Our rescue team got there just before Maxon passed out. Since you were....ah..... first; you went into the coma first, and stayed in it longer." I buried my face in Maxon's chest.
"Maxon, the baby." I said, looking down at my stomach. If this baby was gone, I don't know what I would do.
"That was one of the first things the doctors checked. The baby is fine." I let out a sigh of relief.
"When can I leave here?" I asked Maxon. A doctor overheard me and came over.
"You can go tomorrow." The doctor said. "We want to make sure everything is ok." I nodded and she walked away. Maxon pulled the curtain around my bed. He sat down beside my bed and hugged me. It was just what I needed. The tears came again and I was silently sobbing in Maxon's arms for a while until he pulled away.
"I couldn't bear the thought of losing you." He said. "I'm sorry, America."
"There's nothing to be sorry for." I hugged him again and we sat there. Maxon brought his paperwork to my hospital room and we worked and had tea. Maxon left and I called Silvia.
"How are you, Your Highness?" She asked once she walked in.
"I'm ok. Still shaken up, but ok."
"That's good. What can I help you with?"
"Well, Maxon's birthday is on August 23, so it's not that far away. I want to throw him a surprise party."
"Of course!" Silvia said, smiling. "We'll throw the best surprise party there ever was!" I smiled back and we started to get to work.
"Where will we have it? The ballroom?" Silvia suggested.
"That's what I was thinking." I said, biting the end of my pen.
"How should we decorate it?"
"I don't know. But we need to come up with a diversion to occupy Maxon on his birthday." Silvia nodded and scribbled something on her notepad.
"We could have you do it. It's far away enough that you could say that you want to visit all the provinces. You could go to one on his birthday; it would help with your work and his party."
"You are a genius, Silvia!" I said, smiling. We started organizing the surprise party. We finished the structure of the party and I went to find Maxon. He was up in his study, staring at some paperwork. The scars on his face reminded me of the rebels, and my heart sank a little. Maxon saw it; he got up from his chair and hugged me.
"Thanks." I whispered. He pulled away and smiled.
"No problem. I know exactly how you're feeling." We sat down at the love seat and I grabbed Maxon's hands.
"Maxon, I have an idea." I said. He raised his eyebrows.
"Pray tell."
"I think that we should visit all the provinces. We can see in person how eliminating the castes is working." Maxon smiled.
"That's a great idea! Which province first?" I thought for a minute.
"How about Carolina? It's my old province."
"Sure! I'll get my advisers to organize the flights." Maxon kissed me on the cheek and got up. "I'll be right back." He left and I went to get Silvia.
"He agreed to the province visits. Now, we need to make sure there's one on his birthday. Can you do that?" I asked her when she sat down.
"Of course. I'll talk to the advisers." Silvia said. "You know, I really hope you're ok. The rebels-"
"I'm getting better. I'm still in shock, but getting better." I smiled weakly at her and she patted my shoulder. She got up and left me with my thoughts. I got to work on Maxon's party until he got back.
"It's all set." He said, walking into the office. "We leave in two days." I smiled and hugged him.
"I love you." I whispered after a while.
"I love you too." He whispered back. He ran his finger along the scars on my face. He kissed every single one of them; then moved to the ones on my arms. His lips found their way to mine, and they lingered there for a while.
"I love you. America Schreave, I love you more than any man has loved a woman."
"And I love you more than any woman has loved a man." I said back. We stayed there for a while; then headed down for dinner. Mom, May and Gerad were sitting at the table, eating their food. We walked in and sat down.
"Are you guys ok?" May blurted out after a period of silence. "I'm sorry, it's just that-" she started crying. "Ames, what if you guys died?" I hugged her and her sobbing quieted.
"I don't know." I said. "But we're alive right now, and that's all that matters." Maxon wrapped his arms around me and Mom and Gerad hugged us too.
"Did they hurt you?" May sniffled.
I looked at Maxon, then Mom. "Yes, they did. But we're not in any pain right now." May started crying again and Mom had tears on her face. I started crying too, and I hugged Maxon, my head on his chest. Then little Gerad came over to us and hugged me.
"Don't cry, America. Everything is ok." I smiled at Gerad and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks, Gerad." He smiled at me, then ran away.
"Ew, gross!" He yelled, wiping his cheek. I laughed and looked at Maxon. Our eyes interlocked and I kissed him, right in front of my family. I pulled away and May was back to her usual self.
"That was so romantic!" She squealed. We ate supper, chatting happily and Maxon and I went up to our room. I was really tired, so I got into my nightgown and climbed into bed. Maxon shut the lights off and climbed in beside me. I rolled so I was leaning against Maxon's chest; he put his arms around me and I let my mind drift.
"Goodnight, Maxon."
"Goodnight, America." He replied and held me tighter.

GUYSSSSSS! 4K!!!! Am I overreacting? I tend to do that sometimes. Thanks for sharing this story with your friends and voting and commenting and all that stuff. Did you like the chapter? I hope so. The new goal shall be...... 7K? Yes, 7K. I'm actually curious to know how many of you guys actually read the author's note thingy. If you're reading this, yay you! Thanks again for 4K!
~Em