She looked into his eyes, seeing them widen, and move rapidly. She sighed and said, "You must be so scared right now. You don't have to worry… I'm not going to hurt you… You probably don't understand what's going on or know what happened or what is happening to you so I'll just explain a little… You've been poisoned by the powder of a Jewel Flower. Normally the symptoms wouldn't be this severe but you've consumed a lot of it so you're temporarily paralyzed and you can't speak. You probably don't remember anything either, since that much powder also causes memory loss. Now I have the antidote in this tea that I've made and clearly it's working because you're awake now but unfortunately it's going to take a few days for you to regain your full strength and be able to speak, until then you'll have to keep drinking the tea so you can get better faster…" He thought, 'Call the Palace Guards so they can come and get me and take me to a real doctor. Return me to the Palace so I can get better there.' She looked into his eyes, seeing them still widened, and said, "I know it must be scary for you, especially because you don't know where you are, and I've never seen you around this part of the kingdom… I don't even know who you are. I've never seen you before…" He thought, 'Does she not know I'm the king of Kingdom Aresha (are/sh/ah)? I'm King Grayson… I'm your king! How doesn't she know? Inform the Palace of my whereabouts at once.' She grabbed his hand and said, "I know nothing about you, so I can't inform your family of where you are and you can't tell me who you are, so this must be really difficult and frustrating for you, but I promise you can leave as soon as you get better. Until then you'll have to drink the tea, and you did really well with it last night so it shouldn't be a problem."
She grabbed the teacup, scooping up some of the tea on the spoon, looked at him, and said, "Until you have your full strength back, I'll have to give you small spoonfuls, sorry if it's annoying but I don't want you to choke." He sighed as she fed him some of the tea and he thought, 'This is disgusting.' He spit the tea out and it dribbled down his chin. She looked at him, sighed, and said, "Oh come on, you aren't going to get better if you spit the tea out." She fed him another spoonful and he spit it out again. She sighed, saying, "Oh would you stop that, you're acting like a child. If you want to get better faster then you have to drink the tea, otherwise you're gonna be stuck like this for a month." He thought, 'I'll take my chances, that tea is disgusting,' and tightened his lips as she tried to feed him more. She said, "You know you've already gotten the antidote so either way you're going to get better but the faster we can get you better the faster you can go home and you can't get better faster if you don't drink the tea." He continued to tighten his lips and she said, "You know, nobody knows where you are except me, so that means you'll be stuck with me for an entire month and I know how to bore a person. So I'll just keep talking and talking and talking and talking and you'll just have to sit there, listening to me the entire time. Hmm what should I talk about first? Maybe plants, you know there's over a 1000 plants in the world and I know facts about all of them." He opened his mouth, she nodded at him, saying, "That's what I thought," and fed him some tea as he struggled to drink it.
She continued feeding him, saying, "I know it's nasty but I promise you're going to feel a lot better after."
She fed him the entire glass of tea, smiled, and said, "There now that wasn't so bad was it?" He thought, 'That's easy for you to say when you're not the one drinking it,' and she looked at him, saying, "I wish I knew what you're thinking right now."
She placed the teacup down on the coffee table, saying, "I know, let's play a game called What is The Mysterious Man Thinking. Do you want to play?" He rolled his eyes, thinking, 'Absolutely not, I want silence.' She looked at him, smiled, said, "I'll take that as a yes," and he thought, 'Of course you will.' She said, "Hmmm, what are you thinking right now…. Hmm… I know you must be thinking I'm the best nurse you've ever had. Am I right?" He rolled his eyes and she said, "I'll take that as a yes and I know what you're thinking. I'm really good at this game." He sighed and she said, "But in all seriousness we have to find a way for you to communicate with me until you get better… Hmm… It seems like you can move your eyes okay. Can you blink hard?" He shut his eyes tightly, opened them again, and she swayed, saying, "That's great. We'll do one hard blink for yes and two hard blinks for no, that way we can at least communicate through yes and no questions, alright?" He hard blinked once and she smiled, saying, "Great… You know I can't wait for you to be able to talk so you can formally introduce yourself. I would really like to know your name."
She grabbed the teacup and he thought, 'Of all the people who could've saved me, I had to be saved by the one who knows nothing about her own king.' She looked at him and said, "Since I can ask you yes or no questions now, I would like to know if you're hungry." He thought, 'At least she's thinking about my hunger… I'm starving,' and he tightly closed his eyes, opening them again, looking at her. She smiled, stood up, and said, "Alright, I'll get you something to eat right now."
She walked to the kitchen preparing lunch as he laid there smelling the aroma of her cooking, thinking, 'Whatever she's cooking, it smells delicious… I hope she gets done soon because I'm starving…'
Half an hour rolled by, and she came back into the living room, holding two large bowls in her hands.
As she walked over to Grayson, she said, "I hope you like it… This one is my favorite." He thought, 'Hurry, hurry, before I die of hunger,' and she sat next to him with the bowls still in her hands.
She placed one of the bowls down on the table and he looked at the bowl still in her hands, seeing diced green onion, carrots chopped in cubes, chopped up chicken, and celery also chopped in cubes all sitting in a hot bowl of chicken broth. He felt his mouth start to water, as he smelled the aroma of the soup, thinking, 'It smells delicious, and I'm so hungry. I guess she isn't all that bad, she at least knows how to cook.'
She set the bowl she had in her hands on the table, grabbing the other bowl and he looked down at the bowl, seeing hot clear chicken broth with diced green onions, looked back at her, and squinted his eyes, thinking, 'That's it? I tell you I'm hungry and you make a feast for yourself while you give me the scraps? I'm hungry! I need real food! What am I supposed to do with that? I want the other bowl! I might as well die of hunger cause you aren't feeding me.'
She looked at him, seeing him squinting at her, said, "I don't like the tone in your look," and he thought, 'I don't like the fact that you're making me eat water while you have a delicious meal.' He closed his eyes tightly and opened them, blinking twice, and she said, "Look, normally I would put solid foods in your soup but you can't eat anything solid until you get better or else you're gonna choke."
He continued to squint at her and she said, "I know it's not ideal, but you need to get something in your system other than tea, so please, please eat this." He sighed as he opened her mouth, seeing her smile, and she fed him some of the broth.
He thought, 'Well at least she seasoned the broth, it's actually quite good… Better than I've had in a while.'
She continued to feed him, watching him eat without a problem, saying, "Looks like you like or a lot more than you thought you would."
He continued eating, finishing the entire bowl, and she looked at him, saying, "Well you finished that up, rather quickly. Do you want seconds?" He tightened his eyes and opened them, blinking one time, and she stood up, saying, "Great I'll be right back."
She left to the kitchen, getting more broth, and he thought, 'If she can make clear broth taste that good, her actual cooking must taste amazing… I want to taste her cooking some time…'
She came back into the living room, sitting next to him, holding another hot bowl of broth, and said, "Alright, ready to eat."
He blinked hard one time and she smiled at him as he opened his mouth and she fed him some broth.
He widened his eyes looking at her, spit the broth out, and he thought, 'What happened, why is it disgusting?' She began sheepishly grinning, saying, "Well I guess that didn't work like I thought it would." He squinted at her and thought, 'What are you trying to do? Kill me,' and she said, "You liked the broth so much that I put some of the antidote in it, thinking it would make it taste better but I guess it didn't work."
He narrowed his eyebrows, thinking, 'How could you put that nasty antidote in such a delicious soup? Now a perfectly good soup's ruined.'
She looked at his face, seeing his eyebrows narrowed, screeched while clapping her hands, and said, "Look, you can move your eyebrows! The antidote's working fast. Come on, you have to drink this soup." He tightened his lips, thinking, 'I'm not drinking that nasty stuff…' and she said, "You know the sooner you get better, the sooner you can have a real meal." He rolled his eyes, still tightening his lips, and she sighed, saying, "Please, I really, really want you to get better quickly. Won't you just do this for me?"
He felt his heart begin to flutter, looked at her, and thought, 'Fine, but it's only so I can eat some real food.' He opened his mouth and she smiled, feeding him some of the broth, while he struggled to eat it. She said, "Soon you'll be all better and then you'll be free to go wherever you want." He sighed as he continued to eat the broth, finishing the entire bowl.
He thought, 'There, all done. I hope she's happy, because that was disgusting.' She smiled at him, saying, "Look at you finishing the entire bowl. I'm so happy." He narrowed his eyebrows, squinted his eyes, and thought, 'Don't patronize me…' She looked at him, saying, "Awe get mad if you want but you've just made me a happy woman. You'll surely get better very soon, way sooner than I originally thought."
She went to the kitchen, taking the bowl with her, and he thought, 'Sure she's happy, happy while I'm miserable…'
She came back into the living room, sat on the floor beside the couch, looked at him, and said, "I'm going to give you more of the antidote later, so be ready for it." He squinted his eyes, thinking, 'Of course you are. I bet you're enjoying this.' She said, "Don't be mad, the more antidote you drink the faster you'll get better and then you'll never have to drink the antidote ever again again, so long as you don't eat anymore powder from the Jewel Flower."
He sighed and thought, 'I'm cold, I'm wet and I don't know why, and my back is in pain from this uncomfortable couch… I can't even communicate with her to let her know who I am… I'm stuck drinking disgusting antidote and not a single person from the Palace knows where I am….' She looked into his eyes and said, "Even though you can't say anything, I can tell on your face you're in deep thought… I hope you're not too frustrated but I understand if you are…" She grabbed his hand feeling his body start to shiver and said, "Oh no, I forgot you're in wet clothing… Are you cold?" His eyes widened, and he shut his eyes tightly, opening them again. She said, "Oh I'm so sorry… You were out in the rain for a while and I didn't have anything for you to change in when I brought you home… You must be so cold and uncomfortable… I'll get some more firewood and start a fire, then I'll get you some more blankets for you to feel warm… I know it's not the best case scenario but please bare with me.
She left and began starting a fire in the fireplace and getting blankets for him. As he laid there watching her work he thought, 'She's really going above and beyond for a complete stranger… I should stop giving her such a hard time… After all she is just trying to help me and I'm sure this situation isn't ideal for her as much as it is for me.'
After starting a fire and getting more blankets, Rosalie walked back over to him, and put the blankets she had over him, saying, "I hope this warms you up." She sat on the floor next to him and he thought, 'Thank you, I feel better.'
She looked at him and he closed his eyes tightly, opening them up again, and looked directly into her eyes, as she looked back in his, smiling at him. She grabbed his hand, saying, "You're welcome, now please try to get some sleep." His eyes widened, his heart began fluttering, and he thought, 'She's holding my hand again…'
She looked at his changed expression, looked away from him, and said, "I know I'm a stranger to you, you don't know me from anyone but… If I were you… I would be so scared right now and I would want someone to hold my hand, just to let me know everything's alright…" She looked at him and said, "If you want me to let your hand go, I will but I want you to know that I won't leave your side until I know you're better and I hope you know everything's going to be okay… You'll get better soon."
He stared at her, feeling his cheeks turn red, and thought, 'She cares for a complete stranger… The kindness and love that beams from this woman… I've never seen someone care so much…'
She said, "Oh please, am I making you uncomfortable?" He stared at her, blinking twice, and she smiled, saying, "Alright, I'll hold onto your hand and I hope it makes you feel calmer." He thought, 'In a way it makes me more anxious.'
She rested the back of her head against the couch's arm rest, saying, "You should get some rest and let the antidote work… I'll sit here with you… You don't have to worry about me leaving."
She closed her eyes drifting away into a deep sleep and he thought, 'I know nothing of this woman or where I am, she's a complete stranger, and talks a lot, and yet… I'm glad she's here with me…' He slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep.
2 days later
Rosalie sat on the floor next to Grayson, holding a bowl of clear broth that had the antidote in it, in her hands. She looked at him, scooping up some of the broth, and said, "Come on, there's only a couple of spoonfuls left and then you're done." He thought, 'You have no idea how hard it is to eat this stuff. I can't stomach it anymore! It's to disgusting.' He squinted his eyes, not opening his mouth, and she sighed, saying to him, "Come on please." He continued to keep his mouth closed and she grabbed his hand, saying, "Come on, you've been doing so well these past couple of days, not giving me any problems. We have to completely flush your system out… Soon you'll be all better and you won't have to drink this stuff anymore." He sighed, opened his mouth, and she smiled as she fed him more, having him finish the entire bowl of broth while she held onto his hand.
She said, "There, all done, you did so well. I'm going to go into the kitchen and get you some more broth." She started to pull her hand away and he thought, 'No, I can't stomach anymore,' as he slightly gripped her hand.
She looked at him, feeling his slight grip and seeing him blink twice, and she said, "Relax… I'm not going to give you any antidote in this one. I'm gonna… Wait, you just grabbed my hand. YOU JUST GRABBED MY HAND." She screeched, put the bowl down, and hugged him, as he eyes widened and his cheeks turned red.
She stopped hugging him, looking into his eyes, and asked, "Do you know what this means?" He blinked twice and she swayed, saying, "You're starting to regain your strength. You're almost all better."
His eyes widened and she threw the covers off of him, exposing his feet, put her hand on the top of his foot, and said "Here I'll show you, push against my hand."
He moved his foot up, towards him, slightly pushing against her hand, and she jumped up and down while swaying, saying, "See you're getting better. You're gonna be back to normal in no time." He looked at her, thinking, 'The way she smiles… Her happiness… It's so contagious…'
He smiled softly and she looked at him, seeing a soft smile on his face. She kneeled down on the floor beside him, and said, "Look, you can even make facial expressions now. Do you think you can mouth out words?" He thought, 'I can try,' and opened his mouth and closed it, unable to mouth out words. She smiled, saying, "Not yet I see but you've made some tremendous progress. I'm so happy. This calls for a celebration. I'll get you two bowls of broth without the antidote in it." He smiled softly, blinking twice, and she said, "Awe why not, I thought you'd be happy not to broth without antidote. Do you want me to put the antidote in the broth?" He blinked once, thinking, 'Yes, give me more antidote…'
She smiled at him, saying, "Listen, I think you deserve a break but if you really want the antidote I'll put some in some tea and you can drink it before you eat your broth. Okay?" He blinked once, thinking, 'Deal, I think my taste buds could use a break too…'
She went to the kitchen making a bowl of broth and tea with the antidote in it. After a few minutes she came back into the living room, holding a teacup full of tea and a bowl of broth, both with spoons in them.
She walked over to him, setting the teacup down on the coffee table, and sitting on the floor beside Grayson. She looked at him, saying, "Since you've already had the antidote, I'm thinking we should start off with the broth. How does that sound?" He blinked once, feeling his mouth water and she smiled, saying, "I thought so."
She fed him the broth, giving him the tea after, as he drank everything. She smiled at him, and said, "You're gonna get better in no time… And when you do get better do you think you can grant me one request?" He squinted at her and she said, "It's nothing crazy I promise, it's just a small request…I've been taking care of you for a couple of days now and yet I don't know a thing about you… I don't even know your name so… When you're able to actually speak again and we can hold a conversation… I just want to know your name, that's my one and only request… I want it to be the first thing you tell me so I know what to call you… Do you think you can grant it for me? Because I'm really dying to know what it is." He softly smiled, thinking, 'Of all the things she could've requested, she requests to know my name…' He blinked once, and she smiled at him, saying, "Thank you… Now I'm going to get you that second bowl of broth I promised you."
She stood up and took the bowl into the kitchen. She began making another bowl when she heard a whispering voice in her ear say, "Do not fear, I Am with you.'
She thought, 'What,' and heard a loud banging at her front door.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM
She walked over to the doorway of the kitchen seeing her door begin to move from being beat on.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, CRACK, BOOM
Grayson and Rosalie watched as Rosalie's front door broke and fell on the floor as multiple guards dressed in silver armor and a Barbute helmet entered the house.
Grayson thought, 'Finally I've been found by the guards and can go home,' and one of the guards shouted, "He's here, we found him," and a man dressed in a navy blue suit, white gloves, and black dress shoes entered the house. The man had his black hair done in a quiff hairstyle, had hooded sandy red eyes, had a straight nose, wore circular glasses, and had thick curved eyebrows. He rushed over to Grayson, kneeling by his (Grayson's) side, and said, "Are you alright? Please say something." Grayson groaned, thinking, 'I'm okay, I've been taken care of really well." The man said, "He can't speak and he smells awful and he's soaking wet…" The man pushed his glasses up to his nose, saying, "Take him to the Palace at once and get the Palace Doctor to tend to him immediately." The man looked over towards Rosalie, seeing her standing I'm the doorway to the kitchen, stood up, and said, "He had to have been poisoned and she had to been the one who did it." Grayson's eyes widened, as he groaned, thinking, 'No, no she saved me! No you have it wrong.' Rosalie said, "I did not poison him, I helped him… I would never poison someone." The man shouted, "A likely story. Guards take her to the dungeon, we need to find out what she poisoned him with.' Grayson groaned, thinking, 'NO, SHE HELPED ME, DON'T TAKE HER TO THE DUNGEON.' She looked at Grayson with widened eyes, as the guards walked up to her grabbing her arms. She said, "Please, please don't do this… I did nothing wrong… I was only trying to help him…" The man growled, "Get her out of my sight," and he looked back at Grayson as the guards dragged Rosalie out of the house. Grayson's eyes widened, as he thought, 'NO, STOP, DON'T TAKE HER AWAY.' Grayson started to groan as loud as he could and the man looked at Grayson, saying, "Don't worry Your Majesty, we're going to get you some help. We'll reverse this at once…" The man turned around, looked at the guards, and said, "Grab His Majesty… We need to get him to the doctor." The guards grabbed Grayson and they all left to the castle.