Royal Recovery

BY AMI MEITSU

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A/N: A continuation to The Love of a Father, about Invidia's recovery in the hospital

The clock read two AM, and despite that, Invidia still lay awake in bed. She stared at the ceiling and then carefully rolled over so she would not irritate her injured arm. She sighed and started thinking, 'I hate this. I can't sleep here! I miss sleeping in my bed, in my room…and more importantly I miss Father. It's so creepy staying here, I feel like someone is just going to come in and stick me with something! Or kidnap me just because I'm injured…' She then stopped, closed her eyes, and started talking to herself in her mind. 'No! Stop it! That is not going to happen! You're just paranoid…'

She opened her eyes again, rolled onto her back and continued to stare at the ceiling for a long time before she finally went back to sleep…And then she was awakened at six AM by her doctor, Dr. Baisley, who checked up on her every morning, early in the morning.

"Alright Princess, get up," he said.

Invidia threw one of her stuffed animals at him; it was the brown bear Shamura brought in from Dyre.

"Don't be like that, get up."

"No!" She snapped. "All you're going to do is poke at me, and irritate me! So go away!"

"Alright…I guess I have to get you up myself…" He took her blanket, and said, "You have until the count of five."

Invidia ignored him and he started tickling her.

"No! Stop it!" Invidia hit him with her free arm, she hated being tickled and he knew it too, it was hard for him to see it since she normally laughed, but for her it was part of the curse of being ticklish.

"If I stop will you be good?"

"Alright! Alright! I'll be good!"

He stopped and she carefully sat up to be looked at. He then carefully took and un-bandaged her arm while she looked away.

"You know," She said. "You're the only doctor who can get away with tickling me like that."

"You trust me, that's why. And it's not like I'm trying to hurt you, but this might sting a little," he said as he picked up some solution and sprayed it onto her arm.

Invidia cringed but still allowed him to do it. She figured out that it was best if she just did what the doctors and nurses told her to do so she could be discharged faster.

After giving the solution a minute so settle he carefully rubbed it onto her arm and re-bandaged her. "There, that'll be fine for now, but Nila's going to come in later to put the normal solution on it, alright?"

Invidia nodded to him with a saddened look on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong? I've never seen you so down."

"I hate it here, I miss my room and my bed, I miss my bath and more importantly…I miss my Father. I don't like that he can't be with me all the time now…" Invidia admitted with a sigh.

"It'll get better soon." Dr. Baisley reassured. "And before you know it you'll be out of here." He handed back her blanket. "But for now get some rest, it is early."

"Right." Invidia took the blanket with her free arm and carefully laid down as he left and turned off the light. She looked at the ceiling, just as she had the night before, and sighed.

She was later awakened by someone calling her, not knowing how she fell asleep in the first place or who was with her. She opened her eyes and looked up at Shamura.

"Morning Mistress, I got your breakfast," Shamura said.

"Oh, thanks…but I thought Father said he'd bring it," Invidia said in a disappointed tone.

"Something came up, so I filled out your order card and got it for you."

"Thanks," Invidia said again, she gave Shamura a quick smile and carefully sat up.

"Now, they won't let you have a lot of sweets so I couldn't get you as much kren as you'd like, and I couldn't get a hold of a smoothie for you either so you'll have to deal with apple juice."

"That's fine, what'd you get me anyway?"

"Two waffles, some eggs, fruits salad, and of course the apple juice, but I also got you some tea and sweetened it just the way you like it."

Invidia smiled at her again after she put the tray down. Then, after looking it over she slowly began to eat.

Shamura sat on the bed and looked at her. "By the way, you need to get cleaned up. You've been here three days without a decent shower, so after breakfast I'm giving you one, no protests."

Invidia dropped her fork, which hit the waffle plate with a loud 'clink.' "What?! No! You cannot come in the shower with me!"

"What choice do I have? You can't move your left arm. And it's hard to wash up without bending it. So I'm helping you, no questions asked."

"But you can't! You'll see me! And bath time is supposed to be my time!"

"I see you every night, Mistress," Shamura said.

"But not fully…and…never mind, just…no! I am not letting you give me a shower."

"Yes you are, your Father said so, and you know very well he doesn't want to do it. I'm here to save him from having to give his fully grown daughter a shower. So you're going, and I won't hear any more about this, got it?!" Shamura snapped.

Invidia gulped, Shamura never snapped at her, so she figured that she meant business. "Fine," she agreed.

"Good, now hurry and eat before your food gets cold."

Invidia nodded and continued eating. When she finished Shamura took the tray off the bed and Invidia got up.

"Hold on a minute, I have some things to set up," Shamura said. "But while I'm doing that you can put this on." She handed Invidia a small white box.

Invidia took it with her free arm and went into the bathroom, but what she found shocked her. 'She can't be serious! I mean it helps but it's way too revealing, and I know she's a woman too but…' Invidia sighed, it was no use talking to herself, and Shamura didn't care anyway, she just wanted to get done…

Invidia sighed again and then carefully (and slowly) took off her pajamas and put the other outfit on, Shamura came in as she was finishing, and helped her with it due to Invidia's restricted movement.

"What do you look so upset for? It's cute…"

"You know why I'm mad…" Invidia said as she stood in front of a full-length dressing mirror that she had Zordar put on the wall.

"Well you do need this," Shamura said as she stood behind her.

"But do I have to wear this?!" Invidia whined as she pulled at the strap of the black bikini she now wore.

"I don't see a problem; I think it looks cute…Now turn around."

Invidia turned to her, noticing that she wore a similar swimsuit in blue. "Well I don't like it…"

"That doesn't matter now, you need this," Shamura said as she undid the pin in her hair. After she put it down she turned on the shower and tested the water, then she turned to Invidia and said, "Alright, get in."

"Fine…" Invidia muttered as she forced herself to get into the shower. Shamura followed and worked on carefully washing her all over, and then washing, rinsing and conditioning her hair before bringing her out. Shamura wrapped her in a towel and had her sit on her knees as she dried her hair.

"I guess that wasn't too bad…" Invidia said. "But it took awhile."

"It would've been quicker if you'd have stopped slapping my hands away from you."

"I didn't like you touching me…" Invidia admitted.

"Well I'm sorry, but I had to wash you all over," Shamura said as she pulled the towel off Invidia's head. "Now, take off your swimsuit and get dressed. I brought you some regular clothes this time, and I think you'll like your outfit."

Invidia shook her head. "Not in front of you."

"You have to; I mean you certainly can't slip your arm into a shirt by yourself."

Invidia gave a look off to the side and then slowly and carefully stood up and turned her back to Shamura as she began to strip, Shamura then helped her, keeping her eyes closed as much as possible to give Invidia some privacy. After she finished she left to get dressed herself, leaving Invidia to examine herself in the mirror.

'Even though I hated taking a shower together I do like feeling clean…I should probably brush my teeth too.' Invidia thought before she actually looked up into the mirror to see what she was wearing. She smiled when she saw that Shamura had gotten her black Daddy's Little Princess shirt with a black skirt to match. She looked at her feet, and didn't worry about shoes since she was stuck in her room, when she looked back up Shamura came in with a hairbrush and grabbed her pin.

"Come out and get on your bed, I'll do your hair for you."

Invidia nodded and followed Shamura out into the room. Both women sat on the bed and Shamura began to carefully brush Invidia's hair and put the pin back in, she finished just as Nila, Invidia's nurse, came in. When she did, Shamura went back into the bathroom to clean up.

"Princess, I'm sorry I'm late…I got busy and…" Nila apologized.

"It's fine, I don't want that stuff on me anyway, it just burns," Invidia told her.

"Yes, but it protects your cuts from scarring and infection. But this is that last of this one."

"Why? I've only been using it for three days."

"Dr. Baisley wants to try a stronger one with a different formula," Nila said as she sat on the bed in front of Invidia. "Now sit still and hold your arm out."

Invidia did so and Nila un-bandaged her arm and then took some of the cream she had and rubbed it onto Invidia's injuries.

Invidia cringed and gasped at the pain it caused.

"Stop it," Nila said. "You should be used to it by now." She then re-bandaged her arm with a clean bandage and lifted Invidia's chin with her finger.

"And don't look so down. You'll be out soon, alright? And remember if you ever need anything just tell me…"

"Right, thanks."

Nila nodded to her and left, shortly after she did Shamura followed, leaving Invidia alone with a book until Zordar came to see her mid-afternoon.

"There you are!" She said. "You didn't bring me breakfast this morning!"

"I'm sorry Princess, something came up and then I had meetings with…well that doesn't matter…"

"Desslok?" She asked while giving him a sad look.

"Don't give me that look," Zordar sat on the bed with her. "You know I'm busy and while you're here Desslok's helping me with some important business."

"What business? I wasn't informed of anything new!"

"Well, you see…I didn't want to tell you because I don't want to stress you out while you're recovering, right now you need rest, not information."

"What's going on?!"

"Nothing major, we're just working on the plans for a treaty with…"

"Treaty plans?!" Invidia cut him off. "We're working on treaty plans and I'm not supposed to know?! Father you know I'm a huge help with diplomatic relations!"

"But you need to stay here, they still have to run a couple tests to make sure you're healing right, and Nila says you have to get a blood test too…"

"No! I don't want any more tests! I want to go back to my room!" Invidia whined.

"Sorry Princess…" Zordar kissed her head. "I know you hate this but I got you something…"

"Hm?"

He left for a minute and came back with a few things in hand. "I know you're bored, so here's your laptop, another book and I even found you a new pajama set." He put down the computer and books first, then a dark purple, satin-like top and bottom set. The short-sleeved top had a white, fancy-lettered 'I' on the left side.

"It's beautiful, thanks…"

"But to compensate you have to get rid of something that doesn't fit anymore, you don't need more clothes in your closet."

Invidia nodded as Zordar looked her over.

"So do you like the outfit I picked out for you today?"

"You picked this out?"

Zordar nodded. "I just gave it to Shamura so she could give you a shower. And you look tired; did you get any sleep least night?"

"Not really…I'm not comfortable staying here, I miss my bed," Invidia said.

"That's not all of it," Zordar said. "I can tell by your face, something else is wrong."

Invidia sighed, she couldn't lie to her father… "Well, other than my bed I miss having you right down the hallway, where I can find you if I need to and sometimes I feel worried that some doctor is just going to come in and kill me or something…"

"They won't do that. Even if they don't like you a doctor wouldn't kill their patient, unless they were a psycho or something. But besides that, you should lie down and get some rest, I'll come back later…"

"Alright," Invidia agreed, then she carefully laid down and allowed Zordar to cover her with her blanket.

"See you later, Princess," He said, then he kissed her head and left.

Invidia woke up an hour later feeling much better than she had before. She stretched, yawned and then took out her laptop to work on ideas for the so-called 'treaty' her father had mentioned, she was so focused she didn't noticed when Nila came in.

"Invidia?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"There's no record for your dinner order, did you get a card this morning?"

"No, Shamura's bringing me dinner. She said she would make me something so I told Dr. Baisley not to send one up. He is giving me one for tomorrow's breakfast though, which Father says he'll get for me."

"If they deliver it right to the room why is your father getting it?"

"Same reason he was supposed to this morning, so he can visit with me and make sure I'm okay…stuff like that. But, he didn't come today because of Desslok…"

"Desslok? That Gamilon?"

"Yes, he went to a meeting with him," Invidia scoffed.

"What's so wrong with him?" Nila asked. "I saw him once and he didn't look so bad."

"Father loves him more than me, or that's how he makes it seem! He's trying to make Father hate me, which hurts…I don't want him to not love me anymore! Especially now…"

"I don't think he could ever stop loving you, just give it time, he'll realize who his real child is in time."

"I am not a child!" Invidia snapped.

"Well, technically you are Zordar's child, no matter how old you are."

"Whatever." Invidia huffed, then continued working until Shamura came in two hours or so later with dinner.

"Mistress, I'm back," Shamura said as she came in with a tray, over her shoulder was the container she had used to keep the food warm. "I set up the tray in the cafeteria so it would be ready for you to eat right away."

"What did you bring me?" Invidia asked.

"One of your favorites…" Shamura said as she put the tray down.

"Primavera, cheesecake with kren, iced tea, and you even made bread…"

Shamura nodded. "I made some of my homemade cheese bread, just for you."

"Come here…" Invidia said, and when she did Invidia hugged her. "Thank you…" she said.

"No problem, just eat…"

She did, and afterwards Shamura helped in washing up a bit, brushing her teeth and changing into a black nightgown for bed.

"I'll stay with you for awhile after you go to sleep," Shamura said as she cleaned up. While she did Nila came in with a container and more bandages in hand.

"Aright, Princess here's that new solution I told you about," she said.

Invidia groaned, the last thing she needed was more medicine, the only thing it did was burn her arm, even though Nila and Dr. Baisley said it prevented infection and scarring.

"Don't give me that! I told you about his, now give me your arm," Nila sat in the bed and Invidia held her arm out to her as it was once again un-bandaged, treated and re-bandaged.

"It stings!" Invidia snapped.

"That'll go away soon, just like the last one."

Invidia just huffed as Nila collected everything and left, then she leaned back and started to read until she felt tired and went to bed. She carefully laid down and Shamura covered her with the blankets and then her own before settling down into a chair for awhile.

Shamura watched her for awhile and smiled. 'Zordar says she has trouble sleeping but…she looks comfortable, is it really that bad?'

What Shamura didn't know was that she normally woke up late at night not being able to sleep, but this night was different, Invidia found herself in the midst of a really weird dream, It felt like something was burning, but she didn't know what…She soon woke up and found that the pain was real, lying flat on her back Invidia forced herself to open her eyes a bit. She quickly looked around before realizing it was her arm that was burning.

'It…it has to be that new solution, why else would I be in this much pain I…I…' Invidia stopped thinking and, with her good arm, reached over and pressed the call button on her nightstand, Nila showed up a minute later.

"Princess…what's wrong?" she asked.

"My arm…it burns…"

Nila looked in her eyes and realized it had to be more than the normal sting she whined about. "Hold on," She said, then she left and returned a minute later with something in her hand. She immediately turned on the light, sat Invidia up and un-bandaged her arm.

Invidia refused to watch what she was doing and turned her head the other way as Nila looked her over and muttered.

"It's red…you must've had some kind of reaction to it…" She then took what she had in her hand and rubbed it onto Invidia's arm.

Invidia gave a soft whimper.

"I know it hurts, but this'll counteract it and stop the burning, just bear with me," Nila said as she re-bandaged her arm, then she asked, "is there anything else I can get you?"

"Father…" Invidia muttered with tears in her eyes.

"Alright, I'll give him a call."Nila left, and even though it was three AM in the morning she called Zordar, and waited.

In his room Zordar was awakened by the ringing of the phone, it took him a minute before he realized what it had to be. 'It's too late for anyone to call…and if it was an emergency there'd be alarms…the only other…' He stopped. 'Invidia! Is something wrong?!' He picked it up and Nila explained everything.

"She was asking for you," Nila finished.

"Hold on, I'll be there," With that he hung up, took a few minutes to get straightened up and left to see Invidia. When he came she was leaning over the bed reaching for something.

"Aw, did you drop your blankie?" Zordar teased as he picked it up and draped it over her.

"Father?" she asked.

"Nila told me what happened, are you feeling a little better now?"

Invidia nodded, and laid back down, then she moved over on her side.

"I'm sorry all of this is happening to you," He sat on the bed and rubbed her back. "But it'll be over soon, just get some rest." Zordar kissed her head and then sat down to watch her. The next morning he left early to get her breakfast as she was awakened by Dr. Baisley and a second doctor.

"Invidia, get up," he said.

Invidia whimpered and moved over.

He rolled his eyes and shook her until she woke up, then he pulled her up. "Now, I know you're not going to like this, but you have to get a blood test done, so he's going to take your blood and…"

"No!" Invidia snapped.

"Yes, it has to be done to make sure you're okay, It'll be quick I promise."

"Fine…" Invidia said, she held out her good arm and looked away as the other man looked for her vein, but, he missed. "Ow!" Invidia glared at him.

He said nothing and tried (And missed) again.

"Stop it!" Invidia pulled her arm away and he grabbed her.

"Stay still!" He ordered.

"No!" Invidia said as she began to cry. She hated being handled like this, not to mention the sting from where the needle hit.

Zordar was coming down the hall with her breakfast tray when he heard her crying. 'Princess?' He thought, then, he came in and slammed the tray down on the counter as soon as he saw her. He looked at the doctor who had her arm and tapped him on the shoulder.

The doctor turned and without a word Zordar punched him in the face. Hard. "How dare you make my daughter cry!? What did you do to her?!"

"He was trying to take her blood," Dr. Baisley explained.

"But she decided to pull away and not cooperate," The other doctor said as he got up.

"Well you did miss her vein twice, and then tried to force her into holding her arm out."

"I don't care! Leave! She has enough to deal with without you making her cry!!" Zordar snapped.

The doctor left and Dr. Baisley went over to the counter area, unlocked a drawer, pulled out another needle and went over to Invidia. "Let me try," he said.

She nodded, and because she trusted him, held her arm out.

He felt it and stuck the needle directly in the vein where it was supposed to be, it hurt…but Invidia dealt with it.

"There, it's done. No more blood tests…I promise," Dr. Baisley promised.

Invidia nodded and Zordar hugged her, then he gave her breakfast and stayed with her until he had to go to another meeting, then Shamura came in and gave her another shower, in which Invidia actually cooperated.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't fight…" Shamura said as she brushed her hair.

"I figured it was better to be seen naked by you and be clean then be dirty," Invidia said.

"Good choice," Shamura hugged her, and then got up to clean the bathroom and Nila came in to treat Invidia's arm again. And after she left, Shamura did too, for awhile. She came back with lunch and a note.

"It says that there's a reception at the end of the week for the treaty…" Invidia said, then she looked at Shamura and asked, "Do you think I'll be discharged by then?"

"You should be, Dr. Baisley said you were doing fine and that if your blood test comes back alright you'll be discharged tomorrow."

"Thanks goodness!" Invidia sighed, then she began to eat, and afterwards Shamura took her out to a special sealed courtyard.

"I didn't know they had a place like his…" Invidia said.

"Your father had it built just for the hospital, said that if he was here he'd like fresh air once in awhile."

'Father said that?' Invidia thought. She asked him about it later that night and he said the same thing.

"I just thought that it was a good way to make people feel better, I mean you always felt better when you got to relax on missions, especially if you were out in the fresh air," he said, then he kissed her head as she leaned against him.

She fell asleep that way and Zordar stayed with her, only to be woken up early the next morning by Dr. Baisley, who said that Invidia was fine and could go home and gave him some of the solution for her arm. Zordar thanked him, got up, collected Invidia's things and then gently picked her up.

"You're going to carry her?"

"Yes," Zordar said, then he carried her out and soon back up to her room.

Invidia woke up hours later, feeling better than she ever had in her hospital bed, then she sat up and realized where she was. 'I'm back…'She thought. 'I'm back! And as soon as Shamura comes in I'm taking a bath!' She did so, and Shamura treated her arm afterwards, then she was finally able to go to her first meeting within a week and then the reception at the end of the week. The only problem she had was although her bandage on her arm was smaller and most of it was healed, so she could bend it better, it still showed…and she didn't want to wear a long-sleeved dress…

She thought about it in the bath, as Zordar came in.

"Father!" Invidia snapped. "Get out! I'm trying to take my bath!"

"I just came to tell you I have something for you after you get out, so don't get dressed right away," he said.

Invidia nodded and met him in the bedroom in her bathrobe later.

"I found this in your closet, I bought it for you last year, but the event I bought it for never happened, it'll cover up your injury but still look good on you." He left and she put it on, shocked at what she saw in the mirror. Her Father had given her a long black dress that hung off her shoulder at the right, but had a long sleeve on the left side.

"I love it…" She said to herself as Zordar came back in. She hugged him. "Thank you Father! I know it must've taken forever to find!"

"You're welcome…" He said as he hugged her, then he escorted her to the reception. She grabbed hold of his arm and smiled, happy to be back in her element…

Artwork: “Vision in Black” © 2010 By AMI MEITSU