Yrene✨’s Reviews > Royal Scandal > Status Update

My heart is pounding so hard that my chest hurts, and the edges of my vision slowly turn black from sheer terror. But as I lie perfectly still, my muscles taut while I wait for the next shot, I notice a dark red smear on the shoulder of Kit's tan coat. Maybe it's denial, or maybe just adrenaline, but for a split second, I can't wrap my head around what I'm looking at.
When it hits me, however, all the air leaves my lungs, and the world seems to lurch sideways.

"Kit "His name is barely a breath, though it's enough to grab his attention. He follows my gaze, his brow furrowed, but his confusion turns to wild-eyed fear as he hastily shifts his weight off me.
He's still hovering, barely an inch above me as his hair falls into my eyes, and he slides his hand between us to undo the buttons of my coat.

What are you— I mouth, but he's pushing my lapel away from my chest, and then I see it. A scarlet stain blooming in the cream of my sweater, just below my shoulder.

It's not his blood. It's mine.

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My parents exchange a look I don't understand. "We'll talk about it more when you're feeling better," says my mom, squeezing my hand again. "Why don't you rest?"

I know I should. My eyelids are growing heavy, and it won't be long before whatever the doctors are pumping through my system wins. But I take a deep breath, or at least as deep as I can manage right now, and I glance at the door.

"Can I see Kit first?" I have the vague sense that I could ask for the world right now, and my father would move heaven and earth to give it to me.

Sure enough, almost as soon as Alexander steps out into the hall, Kit appears in the doorway. His sweater and coat are gone, and he wears a white T-shirt instead, with gauze wrapped around his right bicep. But even though he's clearly washed away the worst of the carnage, I can see a few smeared drops of blood on his neck, now dried to a sickening brown.

He says nothing as he crosses the room to my bedside, and my mother slips away as Kit carefully embraces me.

His wet cheek presses against mine, and his shoulders shake as he cradles me, his breath coming in soft gasps.

I've never seen him really cry before, not like this. He's always so damn calm and stoic, taking everything life throws at us in stride, as if he can absorb any hit no matter how hard. But this is his breaking point, and I clumsily rub his back with my good hand, wishing I knew how to make any of this better.

"Are you okay?" I say, and he nods.
"How do you feel?" he says hoarsely. "Do you need anything?"
"Not anymore." The stubble on his jaw is scratchy against my skin, and I nuzzle his cheek. Kit's shoulders shake a little harder at that, and as I hold him, rage burns within me.

Rage at the gunman for doing this to us, rage at the terror and pain Kit and my parents must have felt, but especially rage at myself, irrational as it may be, for letting this happen in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Ev," he whispers at last, his voice thick with guilt and grief. "I should've—I should've done more. I should've protected you."
"My memory's a little fuzzy," I say, "but I'm pretty sure you stepped in front of a bullet for me." I touch the edge of the gauze.
"Several bullets, possibly."

He clears his throat, and his fingertips brush against the pulse point of my neck like he's trying to reassure himself I'm really still here.
"I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Live a long and happy life with Rosie," I say, and he lets out a choked laugh that sounds more like a sob.

"You have no idea how important you are to me, do you?" he says, burying his nose in my hair and breathing in my scent-which can't be terribly attractive right now, all things considered. But he doesn't seem to care.

"Almost as important as you are to me?" I guess, and he manages another halting laugh.
Finally he pulls away, just enough to gaze at me, and for a split second, I think he's going to say it. But as he brushes a stringy piece of hair from my eyes with aching tenderness, I decide he won't. Not because he wouldn't mean it, but because he doesn't have to for me to know.