The Queen

Chapter 34:

"MAxon, wake up!" I yelled, shaking my sleeping husband awake. He jumped in surprise and fell off the bed, bumping his head on the night table on the way down.

"Ow." he moaned, rubbing his head.

I rushed to his side, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Are you ok?" I asked, trying to suppress a laugh. He looked funny, flipping around like that, and I almost couldn't keep my laughter in.

"I'm fine." he said, rubbing his sore spot.

"Sorry." I said, still trying to stifle my laughter. He shook his head at me and smiled, and I kissed his head.

"What's on the agenda for today?" Maxon asked, getting up and going through his suitcase to find clothes for the day.

"Visiting kids in the morning, then we're speaking at the event center." I said, going through my suitcase too. I picked out a dress and laid it out on the bed, and walked over to Maxon. I put my chin on his shoulder and looked at what he was doing.

"Which suit?" He asked, gesturing to the two suits he had on the bed.

"That one." I said, pointing to the one on the left. It was dark blue with a black tie.

Maxon looked over his shoulder and gave me a kiss. "Thank you." he said, smiling.i made my way back to my suitcase and changed out of my pyjamas and into my dress, did my hair and makeup, and waited for Maxon.

"Done." he said. I put my arm in his, and we walked out of our room. There was a guard waiting in the hallway to escort us to the car, and we walked out the door with him and into the vehicle.

The driver of the car was a tall man with salt and pepper hair. He was quite talkative, unlike the various others who drove us places. They usually just drove and let Maxon and I converse, or sometimes kiss.

"So, Your Majesties," the driver began, as the car started rolling, "How's the baby doing?" I looked over at Maxon and he nodded, understanding that I didn't want to do the talking.

"Very good." he replied, absentmindedly putting a hand on my stomach. "We're going to have a beautiful little prince or princess in eight months." he smiled proudly and kissed me lightly on the cheek. I smiled back, and the driver must have seen us.

"You two really love eachother, huh." he commented, half to us and half to himself.

"Yes, yes we do." I said, mostly to Maxon, but a little to the driver.

We talked here and there throughout the rest of the ride, and when we got there, we budded the driver, whose name was Dylan, goodbye. We walked into the revolving doors of the hospital, and the man at the desk smiled and bowed his head.

"Your Highnesses," he said, standing up from his chair. "follow me." He walked up flights of stairs and down halls until we got to a big room. There was a desk in the very middle, where a short lady was sitting there quite contently, with a big smile on her face.

"Good morning, Your Majesties." she chirped, shuffling through papers on her desk. "The kids are right down that wing." She pointed to a hallway that came from the other side of the room. The man that brought us to the pediatric floor, and the smiling lady looked back to her computer screen.

Maxon and I walked to the hall and knocked on the first door we saw. I nudged the door open, and there was a girl that looked to be about 15 in the bed, looking at us.

"Hi." I said casually.

The girl looked at me with empty eyes. "Hi." she replied, unenthusiastically.  Maxon looked at me, his eyebrows raised, and I gave him a shrug.

"What's your name?" Maxon asked the girl. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was in the background, along with whirrs and beeps from other machines.

"Alice." she said, almost bored. I took a little glance at Maxon, and he nodded. I began talking.

"Are you ok?" I asked, coming to sit beside Alice.

"No."

"What happened?" Maxon asked, coming to sit beside me.

Alice shook her head and sighed. "Cancer. It ruined my life. I can't leave the hospital for very long periods of time, so I basically live here. It's the most boring thing in the world; it doesn't even feel like I'm living anymore." I nodded, understanding her, and she continued talking. "I lie in this bed every day except for weekends. And even then, I lie on the couch or in my bed at home. My one wish is to start living life again. To not be sick, to see my friends at school, to start preparing for my drivers' test. But I can't. And that's killing me more than cancer is."

A tear ran down my cheek and I wiped it away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you can't go to school. That you can't take your drivers' test, that you can't do some of the things most teenagers do. But you can adapt. That's what humans are best at: adapting. Make good out of an unfavourable situation. Forget about the bad things and look to the good things. Because you can take anything life throws at you. You're a strong girl, and you can handle even the toughest situation. So lift your head and live in the moment. If we can adapt, then when you look at it, life isn't half bad."

"Thank you." Alice said, a small smile on her face. Maxon and I both smiled back, and we headed for the door. I let out a sigh as it closed, and Maxon stepped close to me, smiling sweetly.

"That was amazing. You really helped her, America." He gave me the slightest whisper of a kiss, but it still left me like all the others did. My legs were numb and I was on cloud nine.

"I learned it all with you." I said, smiling. "We've been through so much together, and it's changed me."

"In a good way?" he asked.

"In a good way."