The Princess (34 page)

“Shelby?” her mother spoke softly.

“Mother?”

“I’m right here.”

“Where’s Nicky?”

“He’s right down the hall.”

Shelby focused on her mother.

“Tell me he’s not dead—please, Mother, just tell me he’s all right.”

“He’s fine. The doctor just wants him to rest until you wake up.”

Shelby tried to swallow, and Erica helped her with an ice chip. Shelby nodded her thanks before her eyes flew back to her mother.

“The baby!”

Daria quickly shook her head no and then watched Shelby’s eyes go to the window. Although not crying, she lay very still for a time, staring unseeingly across the room. Neither of the older women knew what to say to her. As they sat together waiting, Daria had shared some of the past events with Erica. For this reason the older women allowed the quiet to continue.

“Mother,” Shelby spoke at last, her eyes still distant.

“Yes, dear.”

“May I get up and go see Nicky? Please.”

“No, love. You’ve lost too much blood.”

“He’s aching to see you, Shelby,” Erica put in. “Rafe and your father are with him, but he only has to stay in bed until you’re ready to see him.”

“I couldn’t wait that long,” said a voice from the door.

Shelby’s eyes flew to the prince, scanning his person as best she could to see if he was all right. As he came forward, the mothers slipped from the room. Shelby didn’t even wait for the door to close before she began to speak.

“I’ve done something awful, Nicky, just awful.”

Nikolai came close, pulling up a chair to sit down. He was still weak and shaken.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked.

Shelby nodded, thinking he was too nice.

“You deserve better than me for a wife, Nicky. I’ve just realized it.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth, Red. And no matter what you say to me, I’ll still feel that way.”

Shelby licked her lips. “I’ve sinned against you, Nicky. I don’t know if I can ever make it right.” She paused, but Nikolai did not interrupt. “I was pregnant and didn’t tell you,” she said softly, making her eyes meet his. “I’m sorry. I never let you share in our baby, and now he’s gone.”

Nikolai smoothed the hair from her forehead, careful not to bump the gash over her left eyebrow.

“Is there a reason you couldn’t tell me?”

“There is, Nick, but it’s nothing but an excuse.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Shelby’s eyes went to the ceiling again. “If it had just been us, Nick, I would have told you, but I wasn’t willing to share our baby with Yvette. You still keep her picture in your closet, and one night you called for her.” The princess looked at the prince, her eyes
flooded with tears. “I’ve had to share you, Nicky, but I wasn’t going to share our baby.”

“Oh, Red,” he whispered, “I’m sorry. So very, very sorry.”

“You’re sorry? No, Nicky, I—”

But Nikolai would not let her continue. He put his fingers over her mouth.

“I put Yvette’s picture away a few weeks ago, but obviously not soon enough. And I do think of her, but she’s not filling my dreams as it must have seemed.”

Shelby shook her head. “I told you that was just an excuse. I’ve sinned against you, Nicky,” she cried now. “Don’t you see how wrong I was?”

Nikolai stood and bent over so he could take her in his arms. He moved ever so carefully, the position awkward, but he had to hold her as she cried.

“We’ve both made mistakes,” he said in her ear. “I’m sorry, and I know you are, but we survived the accident, Red. God is giving us another chance.”

Nikolai backed off a bit to look into her eyes.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Shelby sniffed as she nodded.

“I don’t deserve to be forgiven by you.”

“That’s not true,” Nikolai responded with deep conviction. “I’ve sinned against you as well. We need to learn from this, not let it tear us apart.”

Shelby sobbed then. His forgiveness had seemed so unreachable. She had been disoriented when she first woke, but stark reality had not been long in coming.

Please help me,
her heart cried out silently to God as she tried to hold Nikolai with bruised arms and hands.
Nicky’s knowing about the baby would not have stopped the accident tonight, but at least I would have been blameless. He’s so willing to give me a second chance. Help me not to take that away from us with my selfishness,
fear, and pride.
Shelby could not go on. She wanted to cry and pray some more and hold onto Nikolai forever, but everything was fading.

“I can’t stay awake,” she just managed before her eyes closed and her arms went limp.

“It’s all right,” Nikolai told her. He was spent as well. Moving carefully, he withdrew his arms and sat back down. He reached over and brushed the damp hair and tears from her face.

“It’s all right, Red,” he repeated, knowing she could not hear him. “And as soon as you’re ready to hear it, I’ll tell you just how all right it’s going to be.”

“There’s someone here to see you, Prince Nikolai,” the nurse said quietly the next morning. Nikolai had just showered and finished his breakfast. “He says his name is Peter Owens.”

Nikolai nodded. “Please tell him to come in.”

Peter entered the hospital room moments later, his eyes huge and wary. That he was nervous about being back in this place was clear. It was also clear that seeing the strong, able prince of Pendaran in a hospital bed was not something that put him at ease.

“Hello, Peter.”

“Hello.”

“Come in and sit down,” Nikolai said as he slowly swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “Who brought you to the hospital?”

“Toby. He came over while I was getting ready for school, and Pam,” Peter continued, referring to his oldest sister, “said I could come.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Peter reached up to brush his too-long hair from his brow and continued to study the prince.

“Where is Toby?”

“He went to see the princess. He said she got hurt pretty bad.”

“A truck hit the car” was all Nikolai said. He didn’t want to go into details with this little boy.

“Did she almost die?”

“Well, she lost a lot of blood. And she’ll be very weak for a while.”

Peter nodded, his eyes dropping to his shoes.

“I need to tell you, Peter, that I would have been very sad if my wife had died, but Shelby believes as I do, that Christ died for her sins, so I know she would have been with Him.”

“You mean in heaven?”

“Yes. Like we’ve talked about before.”

“I was gonna ask you about that sometime,” Peter said, his eyes on his shoes. “Not today, but sometime.”

“Ask me what?”

He gestured with his hands, looking a little embarrassed. “You know, that stuff I didn’t want to believe before, about God’s Son and all that.”

Nikolai tipped his head as he thought. “It’s interesting that you should ask me about it here. After I understood my need to be saved, I prayed with my grandfather in a hospital room like this one. I was just a little younger than you are right now.”

Peter licked his lips. “What did you say to God?”

“I told Him I believed that His Son died for my sins. I told Him I needed to be saved. And then I asked Him to come inside of me to live. God will do that, by the way—place His Spirit right inside of us when we accept His gift of salvation. And that’s what He did for me, because He could see into my heart and knew that I believed that only His Son could save me.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to say that to God,” the child admitted.

“I’m glad you’re thinking it over, Peter,” the prince surprised him by saying. “It’s a big commitment. Not something to be taken lightly, if you know what I mean.”

“I figured as much. My sister was surprised when I tried to tell her, so I knew it must be pretty big.”

“Did she make you feel that you couldn’t?”

“No. She just didn’t understand why I needed to.”

Nikolai smiled. “Well, you can understand how she feels, can’t you, Peter?”

Peter’s brow lowered in confusion.

“The last time we talked, you pretty much said that it was a foolish thing to believe.”

“I guess I did, but I’ve been thinking more.”

“What have you been thinking?”

“That it would be nice to have Someone to talk to—like you said before—even when I’m alone or when I’m scared.”

“It is nice, Peter—very nice. I love knowing God loves me and will never leave me. God doesn’t make life perfect for those who trust in Him, but He does promise to always be with us.”

The interest moved out of Peter’s eyes, or was it panic that replaced the yearning?

“What do you think it is, Peter, that stops you from wanting Christ to save you and live inside of you?”

“I don’t know,” Peter said distantly, and again Nikolai felt the door had closed. “I need to go see Princess Shelby,” Nikolai’s visitor added.

“All right. I’ll come with you. But before we go, Peter, remember one thing: You can always talk to me about this, and you can always go to Toby.”

Peter nodded and even smiled a little before they left the room and started down the hall.

“Thank you for the flowers, Toby.”

“You’re welcome,” Toby said sincerely, but his eyes were sad. “Rafe told me about the baby, Shelby. I’m sorry.”

Shelby took a deep breath. “Thank you, Toby. I’ll admit that for a little while there I thought you had picked the wrong princess, but I’m doing better now.”

Toby took her hand. “I’m glad to hear it, Shelby, because there wasn’t anyone else more perfect for the job.”

“You’re too kind.”

Toby smiled. “Is that what you call it? I call the whole business a rescue from God alone.”

“Who needed to be rescued?” Shelby asked, her brow lowered in puzzlement. Before the king’s closest friend could answer, they were joined by Peter and Nikolai.

“Hello, Peter.” Shelby smiled at the boy but saw the shock on his face. For the first time she wondered what she looked like. “How are you?” she tried again, telling herself not to worry about her appearance.

“All right,” he answered, but his voice was unusually subdued.

“I’m fine,” Shelby felt the need to tell him. “I got bumped and bruised,” she added, searching for the right words. “But I’m going home in just a few days.”

Peter nodded but still didn’t appear to be pleased. The adults filled in a little on the conversation, but Toby wasn’t long in seeing that Peter needed to leave. They said their goodbyes about ten minutes later, leaving the prince and princess alone.

“Was he that nervous with you, Nick?” Shelby asked.

“Right as he walked in, yes, but then we had a pretty good talk. I think he wanted to come in here because I was asking him things that he didn’t know how to answer. He gave something away for the first time, something about his sister. I think that might be some of what’s going on right now.”

“Maybe I should visit her sometime.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“By the way, do I look horrendous?”

“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say horrendous, but you’re a mess.”

Shelby’s mouth opened on his bluntness, and Nikolai smiled at her.

“Maybe you had better get me a mirror.”

Nikolai shrugged. “I’ll just tell you—you have a gash over your left brow, and your eyes are so black you look like a racoon.”

Shelby stared at him in disbelief and then saw the teasing glint in his eye. “You obviously studied tact in school, Nick. You should be teaching classes.”

Nikolai got a good laugh over her response while Shelby continued to study him.

“I think I’ll take that mirror anyway, if you don’t mind.”

It took some doing, but Nikolai came up with a hand mirror.

“I do look like a racoon,” Shelby agreed, studying her reflection with chagrin. “I didn’t believe you.” She looked again at the glass. “I don’t know if my pride can take this. Maybe I won’t have any more visitors.”

“Actually, your visitors are limited anyway.”

“Oh, how come?”

“Doctor’s orders. He’s not overly worried about you, but he’s not taking any chances either. I know of several people who have been turned away.”

Shelby nodded. She had worked in a hospital long enough to know the ropes. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Just a little sore.”

“Are you going home today?”

Nikolai drew close before he answered. “Yes. It’s not fair to take a bed and the staff’s time when all the X-rays and tests have come back fine.”

Shelby sighed. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

Nikolai leaned to kiss her. “I am too. Did you eat something yet?”

“No. I wasn’t too hungry.”

“How about now?”

“I could go for a Fairy Cake,” Shelby said.

He surprised her by saying, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Shelby was still smiling when he left but was surprised when he didn’t return. Indeed, her next visitor was Brice.

“Brice!”

“Hey, Red.”

“Who called you?”

“Fa. I would have been here earlier, but I got word that you had a certain craving.”

Shelby blinked at him and then laughed when a box of Fairy Cakes came from under his shirt. Just moments later Shelby had stuffed one into her mouth and was asking for milk. Brice managed to produce that as well, and Shelby’s mouth was full again by the time the doctor walked in. Dr. Finley was a man she’d known for years. He felt free to tease her.