Page 56 of The Prince of New York

SIXTEEN

“Terry is a saint.”

Rather than melt metal,play on the mud run, and visit with Thunder, I accompanied Baby and May to the hospital. Within ten minutes, Dr. Stanton texted me to summon an ambulance, as the little girl had internal injuries she could not address. I texted Melody, relayed Dr. Stanton’s instructions, and ended up getting the same general diagnosis. Melody could handle May in the palace, although she wouldn’t.

The hospital records would support the revoked custody and my adoption of the girls.

As their guardian, I had the choice of following them in my car or riding in the ambulance, and as I was the only person they knew, I opted for the ride. I bet the morning papers would run wild over the situation.

The paparazzi loved selling photographs to rags, and they’d be getting more than a few shots of me carrying and doing my best to comfort a crying Baby while explaining to May why they both needed to see the doctors at the hospital.

Dr. Stanton didn’t play with internal injuries, nor did Melody.

At the hospital, I played the waiting game while sticking close to the triage in case the doctors and nurses overwhelmed the children. In good news for my sanity, Dr. Stanton and Melody did a good job of keeping the kids somewhat calm.

In order to get a better idea of the extent of injuries, the hospital opted to run both girls through their MRI machines, which required sedation. Melody opted to oversee both tests, leaving me with Dr. Stanton.

“How bad is it?”

“Both girls are suffering from hematoma at a minimum, and I suspect multiple organ contusions for Baby. May’s case seems less severe. I suspect she has learned how to best protect herself from assault. Baby’s too young.”

I somehow kept from cursing. “Just give it to me straight. How serious are the injuries?”

“Without care, I would give it a coin flip for Baby to survive through the night. May’s prognosis is significantly better, but Baby needs a great deal of medical care. I would not be surprised if both children are hospitalized for at least three days. Baby will require a transfusion. And no, you’re not her blood type, so you can’t donate. I will be filing the appropriate charges against the parents, so you let me worry about that.”

“Is Baby’s mental acuity where it should be?”

“She’s well ahead of the curve. I noticed when I started the examination. I suspect she’s been watching adult television with her sister explaining the big words and concepts. Melody mentioned that May seemed quite intelligent as well. Neither are suffering from head injuries outside of bruising, and Melody seems to think that the facial bruise was accidental.”

“As accidental as striking a child with such force can be,” I muttered.

“If we can get the organ contusions mended overnight, we can bring them both back from the hospital in the morning, but it depends on Melody—and if her father can handle the work. I suspect he can. The level of injuries won’t take him long to treat, and we have protocols for injuries like this for members of the royal family—even newly adopted members. Melody might be able to handle it, but after her work with Jane, she’s on low reserves. Handling your concussion symptoms was within her range and gave her mending abilities a break.”

I nodded. “Whatever you feel is best for the kids. I’m not at all concerned about the costs.”

“I know you’re not. Their parents, however, will be, because they’re still covered under their insurance—assuming they have it. I overrode the insurance issue on intake. Your insurance policy covers them starting at the time of the signing. And yes, I asked Terry while you were filling out the basic paperwork.”

“Terry is a saint,” I muttered.

“He is. He’s at the palace making certain there won’t be any issues with that. Your insurance company is aware of the girls, and they liked my suggestion that we try to force the parents to pay the piper for their abuse, but in either case, they’ll be cared for. I’d send you back to the palace, but you’d annoy everyone there with your pacing, so we’re going to play the waiting game. I’ll coach you on how to handle children healing from extensive mending work. The visual bruising is just the surface of the problems, especially with Baby. It seems they were trained to not complain when in pain.”

“And they weren’t allowed to see doctors,” I grumbled.

“We won’t be handling their vaccinations until both have recovered, but I did request a blood draw and a check if they have had any immunizations. I doubt it, though. Melody detected that May has survived at least one childhood disease and will require care to overcome the consequences of that.”

If I ran into their parents, I would be tempted to eradicate both from the planet. “At least I’m confident my parents viewed us as more valuable alive than dead.”

Dr. Stanton sighed. “I hate that I’m forced to agree with you. I regret that Melody hadn’t taken Baby for the initial check, though. Her talent for trauma is a great deal more refined than mine. This is not my expertise.”

“You’re a great general physician, though, despite being a specialist. But that does lead me to a curiosity question.”

“You want to know if I could help you with your talent.”

“Not precisely. I was more interested in knowing if itwaspossible to do something like hexapentin restrictions on someone like me. I know Sylvia’s nullification was successful, but she was never skilled or particularly talented.” I sighed at the memory of my sister, the worst of my siblings by far. “But I guess she was truly spoiled, wasn’t she?”

“Had your parents cared a little more about your happiness, they could have accomplished the same goal with you and your sister without leaving you scarred. They just didn’t care about your happiness.”

That I could agree with. “How do I raise two little girls to become better people than Sylvia? I know nothing about raising children. Hell, most of the days, I can barely handle myself.”

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