Of Heart & Duty ⚜ Ch. 4

Sabrina sneezed for what felt like the thousandth time. "Ugh, why did I agree to go sailing with you?" she asked miserably.

Ginevra chuckled. "It's our fault for not cancelling. We thought the light rain wouldn't affect much of anything."

"My cough is saying we were all fools." The princess started coughing again, and her friend reached for a glass of water.

"Here, you should be drinking more," she insisted gently.

Sabrina scrunched up her nose. "But it tastes so terrible."

Ginevra rolled her eyes. "Oh just drink it, you big baby."

She took a sip and handed the glass back with a shiver.

"Good girl." Putting down the glass, she sat back in the chair and sighed. "At least you have tomorrow to recover without having to worry about classes."

The princess sniffed. "Yes. I don't know if I should go back on Monday though."

"Play it by ear. Listen, I've got some studying to do. Will you be okay here with Nurse Kirra?"

She nodded and waved a tired hand. "Sure. Go. Thank you Gin."

"Take it easy, Sabrina. And drink your water," she added as she stood.

"Nooo..." She watched her friend go, the screens around the infirmary bed allowing her to see the silhouettes. Nurse Kirra led her out, then came back to see the princess.

"There's someone else here to see you," the woman said, poking her head around the screen.

"Oh?" She waited to see Zahir come around the corner, holding a bouquet of flowers. "Zahir," she smiled, "these are lovely. Thank you."

He smiled and stepped up to the end of the bed. "How's the invalid?"

She sniffed. "Feeling a smidge invalid. I'll be fine in a few days. But until th- achoo!" Nurse Kirra was putting the flowers into a vase and hardly looked up as she passed the princess a tissue. "Thank you."

Zahir chuckled at her pathetic state and put a hand on her leg through the blanket. "Well then, I'll come back until you're better. Get some rest, Sabrina."

Knowing it was all of about five o'clock, she said, "Goodnight."

He grinned before stepping out, followed by the nurse.

Sabrina laid her head back and sniffed again, watching the rain trail down the windows until she falling asleep. She awoke some time later to see someone walking away from the bed.

Despite her stuffy nose, she smelled something delicious, and looked over to see a bowl of soup on the bedside table. It smelled so good that she had to have some. The warmth soothed her sore throat and made her sleepy once again. Once she was finished, she fell back asleep.

She was slowly woken up by the rising sun, filling the infirmary with light. A short time later, Nurse Kirra looked in and brought over a tray.

"Good morning, Princess. It looks like you slept well."

"I did, thank you." She took one of her medicines off the tray and grimaced at the taste.

"Cervantes was here for a while last night. You were asleep but he wanted to check on you."

Her eyes widened. "He came to see me?" She suddenly felt rather embarrassed for having been irresponsible. Although he might not have known why she was sick. Looking over at the table, she saw the flowers and the now empty bowl. It was an interesting contrast between the two men who'd brought them, she thought.