Olivia Sparks

"Brother," Oliver called out, snapping the prince out of his trance. His brows furrowed in worry when he saw Maxen looking confused. 

There was that one time he saw the same expression cross Maxen's face and he never saw it again until now. 

"Maxen." Oliver snapped his finger in front of her brother's face. It was loud enough to get Maxen's attention.

"I'll wait for her outside." Maxen gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he forced the lump down in his throat. "She should be here any minute now."

"You can wait for her inside too. You can't stand in the hallway. You'll be attracting unnecessary attention to this room," Oliver spoke in an urgent yet hushed tone, looking to his left and right—checking the hallways. 

Although they were on the VIP floor, he didn't want to take chances of people seeing Maxen in the hospital and connecting the dots to Olivia's hospitalization. 

The last thing he wanted was to subject her sister to another round of harsh gossiping behind her back and flushing the hard work she did in establishing her business in the country down the drain.

Caving into Oliver's pleas, Maxen's foot just crossed the threshold when he heard the screeching sound of wheels rolling towards their direction.

His heart pounded painfully in his c.h.e.s.t as he watched his wife lay on the hospital bed, looking pale as a ghost and unconscious. Deep inside, he was blaming himself for what had happened to Olivia.

If only he was more attentive and if only he took care of her better, none of it would have happened and Olivia wouldn't be suffering at that moment.

He closed his eyes for a brief second to compose himself. He told himself that he shouldn't let his emotions rule over him and that he needed to show his wife that she could depend on him.

He remembered how heartbroken she was over her cat Petra. How much more when the heaviness of the incident would weigh down on her as she recuperates from their loss?

Inside the Royal Suite, which is the one and only VVIP suite in the hospital, the room was silent as the nurses transferred Olivia to a more comfortable bed which looked more like a luxury bed than a hospital bed.

As the name implies, it was made for a royal as the room itself didn't come close to a hospital suite, almost akin to a five-star hotel's presidential suite. 

Once Olivia was transferred to her bed, the nurse checked her vitals and drips one last time before excusing herself to call the doctor in charge of the patient's case.

Queen Isla sat in the chair beside Olivia's bed, while Maxen and King Alistair stood behind her. Meanwhile, Oliver and Henry opted to seat on the curved couch by the floor to ceiling window, their shadows cast a faint shade of grey on Olivia's sleeping form.

Knock. Knock.

The creek of the door sliding open snapped the visitors' heads towards its direction.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Aila Zhang, Olivia's primary care physician. I was notified of her admission to the emergency room so I rushed here as soon as I heard about the news. I'm here to check her status." She regarded everyone in the room, smiling faintly at Maxen.

"Thank you so much, Aila. I hope your father's enjoying his retirement," Queen Isla spoke, grasping Dr. Aila Zhang's hands. "Would you mind explaining to us what happened? This is a shock to all of us."

Dr. Aila Zhang patted Queen Isla's hands in comfort. "So, Olivia said she has an IUD in place, but when the resident checked it earlier she didn't find one. There have been cases of IUDs falling out unnoticed happening. That's why the resident did an intrav.a.g.i.n.a.l ultrasound just to check if the IUD got stuck inside, or if it was dislodged but instead, what she found out was actually an incomplete miscarriage. Meaning, Olivia's uterus was not emptied properly which caused her infection and fever."

Feeling all the eyes staring at her as if waiting for her to clarify further, she carefully slowly explained the situation. "Normally, the first trimester is the trickiest part of pregnancy. A lot of things can happen in those 12 weeks like the embryo's incomplete implantation or a chromosomal abnormality. In short, it's more on the chemical side of why miscarriages happen."

"She's been under a lot of stress lately. Can it be the reason?" Maxen asked, rolling his tongue over his teeth.

"There's no study to back up that claim, so, I will rule that out as a possible cause." Dr. Aila Zhang answered confidently, pacifying Maxen. 

As a psychiatrist, she couldn't help but notice Maxen's microexpression, so she gave them the answer that wouldn't start a war. If her math was right, it wasn't long ago when they consulted her over Olivia's recurring nightmares, and it might have caused her more anxiety than normal.

Queen Isla nodded her head as she listened, raising her hand to ask a question.

"Yes, Queen Isla?"

"What about her chances of getting pregnant again? It's not that I wanted her to get pregnant right away but everything had side effects." Queen Isla prattled.

"Well," Dr. Aila Zhang trailed off, eyeing Olivia. "She has to nurse her health back to normal first. Then we can make a series of tests on her. Oh, she's up." 

Olivia's eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes. Everything was pitch black. Her eyes squinted adjusting to the brightness of the room.

Earlier, she felt exhausted after the short procedure they did on her that she fell asleep on the way to the VIP level of the hospital. So she checked her wristwatch and sighed. What felt like a full sleep was actually a thirty-minute nap.

"Water please," she requested, her raspy voice was evidence of her parched throat. On instinct, her eyes were drawn into Maxen, her gaze followed his back as he rushed out of the room.

Beside her, she felt a warm hand clasping hers. It made her glance up, mirroring the smile of Queen Isla when her eyes landed on the familiar sprightly face.

"Take it easy, darling," Queen Isla fretted when Olivia peeled herself off the bed.

Everyone in the room stepped forward, except Henry Lin, to help her get up as if she was some fragile flower that needed some tender handling.

"Relax. I'm okay. See? I think the medications are working." Olivia forced a smile. Sending daggers on Henry's position, Olivia seethed, "You're here. Thank you. I thought you'd be celebrating somewhere." She raised a brow on him. The last person she wanted to see right now was her father and everyone in the room felt her animosity including Henry Lin himself.

"Just making sure you're properly taken cared of like I did all these years—providing a roof over your head, and all other privileges you had growing up."

Olivia looked up on the recessed ceiling. She scrunched her nose. She did not like how he made it seem as if she owed him those privileges when it was his responsibility to take care of his child. "You took care of Imman Han as well? Do I owe that to you too?"

Slamming his hand on the coffee table beside the couch, Henry Lin then sprang up off his seat. He surveyed the room, his fists turned knuckle-white at the sheer force that he held in. "Come see me in my office when you're in a better state."

He just passed by Olivia's bed when he halted his steps, looking at King Alistair's direction. "I want to hear their engagement announcement before word gets out about your son knocking up my daughter." 

Glowering at Olivia, Henry Lin condemned his daughter, "You never cease to disappoint me, Olivia." He then turned on his heel and headed out to the door.

To everyone's surprise, Olivia grabbed the innocent vase on the bedside table, launching it towards Henry Lin's direction, breaking in impact on his broad back.

��The feeling is mutual, you asshole!" Olivia yelled, her c.h.e.s.t heaving heavily at the intensity of her anger.

The sound of the door sliding open served as the bystanders' reprieve from the drama that unfolded. 

"Maxen," Olivia's lips quivered seeing her husband rush in with a bottle of water in hand.

"I'm here. I'm here," he crooned, twisting the water bottle's lid to uncap it. He slightly bowed on Henry's way, skipping the scattered shards of vase and puddle of water on the floor.

The door slammed as Henry exited.

"You're getting better with your aim, baby," Maxen fawned at Olivia, brushing the sticking hair on the side of her face.

"Really?" She beamed. "Figures. I only learn from the best." Husband and wife sealed their conversation with a deep kiss.

"I'll get someone to clean the mess," Dr. Aila Zhang offered. It was actually an excuse to get out of the room as fast as possible. One more second inside and her brain would explode from doing a psychiatric evaluation on each person in the room.

The tension in the atmosphere subdued with Henry Lin finally out of the picture. King Alistair, Queen Isla, and Oliver were silent the entire time.

They watched Maxen who was perched on the edge of the bed, give drink to Olivia who was hanging onto the hem of his suit jacket for her dear life.