Aurora
All the elders were already gathered in front of the King's room when Ethan and I arrived. Without wasting a second, Ethan opened the door for me to walk in along with two representative elders and family members.
With confidence in the cure, I went forward and began a checkup on Ethan's father as everywhere was dead silent, I knew everyone had their eyes pinned on me with bated breath.
I checked his heart rate and vitals. I gasped as my eyes widened in surprise at what I found, it was almost unbelievable.
“What is it, Aurora? What is the outcome?” Ethan asked, his eyes burning with curiosity.
I turned to look at everyone present in the eyes and paused a bit for the news I was about to announce.
“The cure- The cure, it...it works! It is effective!” I said our of surprise and my face broke out in a smile. I was aware the cure would work, I was certain but, I was still surprised it did. My months of research paid off.
That was the only news they needed to hear as they broke out in jubilation. I felt proud to see them so happy, even though Arne was the main source of their happiness, I was still a big part to discover it.
“You did it, Aurora, you did it. I am so proud of you." Ethan's face was wide with excitement, he reached out to hold me but curled palms and kept them to his side when he remembered that we weren't alone in the room.
I chuckled and smiled genuinely, “Yes, we did it. You pack is now safe, congratulations." I stretched my hand for a handshake while Holding his gaze that was boring into mine. He shook my hand, letting it linger more than necessary, the burning gaze in his eyes equalled mine.
“Auror… uhm… Doctor Rory…” The voice of the queen interrupted and we quickly separated, I turned to look at the woman, her face was wet with tears which I presumed were tears of joy and her eyes held a mistake of sadness, happiness and regret?...when she looked at me.
“I just wanted to say thank you for saving my husband from death, thank you for saving this pack from an epidemic. I haven't been treating you nicely but yet you were willing to help the pack. Thank you." Her words was nothing short of genuine. I was surprised, I never knew the queen had it her.
My smile widened and I took her hand before saying, “A doctor's duty is to save lives no matter what. I was just doing my duty.”
The queen nodded and asked, “So how long will it take before he wakes up from his coma?”
I glanced at the unconscious man on the bed trying to make a rough estimate of when he would wake up, he seemed to be sleeping so peacefully.
This cure surprised me, even after diluting it repeatedly to reduce it's effectiveness, it still worked wonders. It's effects were still lightening fast, the King was almost at full recovery and the main part that remained was him waking up from his coma. That's how strong the cure was.
With the second dose I gave him this morning, he should be coming out of coma in a few hours or so.
As if he heard my thoughts, Ethan's father suddenly began coughing and I quickly rushed to his side along with his family.
“Oh dearest, you are up!” The queen exclaimed joyfully with a tearful face, even Hadria was crying happily.
“Help me sit him up,” I said to Ethan and he nodded before raising his father up so that he was sitting and resting his back on the head rest.
I handed him a glass of water which he drank mouthfuls like someone who was very parched. I watched as the former king tried to make sense of his surroundings and how the Queen, Hadria and Ethan were almost swallowing him and my heart swelled with pride.
I smiled. To think Ethan's family could be this nice to me, I finally understood why he wanted us to discover a cure first before announcing our relationship. Everyone was grateful to me and I had successfully won most of their hearts. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Hopefully, the opposition we'll receive when the announcement is made will be drastically reduced. I felt relieved, there was hope of a future with Ethan.
"How long before I go back to coma again?" The king asked trying to adjust himself on the bed.
Ethan chuckled, "You wouldn't. Because Aurora here has found the cure to the plague. You will regain your strength fully within some days."
His eyes widened as he turned to me. "Really? You found the cure?" I pursed my lips and nodded. "The gods be praised. Thank you very much child. You are a blessing to us."
“You don't have to thank me, your Majesty, I was just doing my job. You should get enough rest now while we sort out the other sick patients, everyone must be eagerly waiting for me." I replied as I stood up and took my time.
“Yes, yes of course. You have a long day ahead of you. You should get going." The king nodded in agreement.
"I'll be going with you," Ethan said and came to stand by me, "today is going to be a very busy day and you need all the help you can get.”
I glanced at Ethan who gave me the look of “I don't plan on letting you out of my sight anyways.” and I smiled, nodded and turned to leave with him.
As soon as we stepped out of the room, we were crowded by so many people even Sam was amidst the crowd. They were all begging for some treatment their relatives and loved ones in desperation. They almost swarmed around me but one fierce growl from Ethan had them fall quiet and stepped back.
With everyone quiet, I raised my voice to address the crowd, “Everyone please be calm and observe orderliness, I have enough drugs to go round so don't worry, your relatives will be fine. There's no need to make this place rowdy, treatment will commence in the hospital so let's all head there so I can attend to everyone.”
With my words, the crowd began dispersing quickly, all heading to the hospital. I sighed deeply at the work ahead but was pleased regardless that people lives were going to be saved.
I couldn't but wonder what would happen if they knew it was Arne's blood that was the main constituent of the cure. There would have be pandemonium and my son's life would have been greatly threatened. No, no one, absolutely no one must know about it. Even Ethan who was his own father. I was willing to take the truth to the grave, my son is my life.
After the crowd dispersed, only Ethan, Sam and Hadria were left. I nodded at them and said, “Let’s go meet the patients."