Scene: Blackwood Imperial Medical Center – Private Royal Briefing Wing
POV: Dr. Harlan Kess
I've delivered bad news before.
To generals who lost limbs. To mothers who lost sons. Even to tyrants who thought power could outlive cancer.
But this?
This was different.
This was Amara Blackwood.
Queen of the Empire. The Iron Consort. The woman whose silence could sink a nation—and whose fury could level one.
I stepped into the briefing chamber. She was already standing by the glass wall, arms crossed, back straight, staring through the reinforced window at his room.
Chris Blackwood.
King.
Now… sleeping like a fallen god.
Machines beeping. Wires crawling over his chest. His face pale, still—too still.
She didn't look at me.
> "Talk."
Her voice was low, unreadable.
I swallowed.
> "We managed to stabilize him. He survived the surgery, your Majesty."
She didn't move. Still watching. Still waiting.
I continued.
> "But… during recovery, his vitals spiked. He went into neuroshock—then flatlined. We revived him, but…"
I paused.
The next words would taste like ash.
> "He's slipped into a coma. Brainwave activity is minimal. Technically alive. But unresponsive. His body is functioning… but his mind is—"
> "Trapped?" she cut in, finally turning.
Her eyes locked with mine. And I swear I forgot how to breathe for a second.
> "Yes, ma'am. That's… one way to put it."
She stepped toward me. Slowly.
> "Can he hear me?"
> "We can't confirm that. Coma patients sometimes register sound, sometimes they don't. But there's no conscious movement. No response to stimulus."
> "When will he wake up?"
I paused again.
> "We don't know. It could be days… or never."
---
Her jaw clenched.
No scream. No tears. No theatrics.
Just silence.
Which was worse.
She stepped past me toward the window again.
> "Leave us," she whispered.
> "Your Majesty—"
> "I said… leave."
I bowed slightly and turned, boots clicking against the marble as I exited.
But just before the door slid shut behind me, I heard her whisper—
Soft.
Frightening.
And fragile.
> "You said you'd never leave me…"
---