Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

The ride back to the hospital was tense. For the first half of it, Cas told Jacob to fill him in on everything that had happened at the penitentiary that he didn’t know about. He wanted to know what the interrogators had asked Iris about, what methods they had used to question her, and why she had ended up in the hospital after they’d been through with her. He was partially relieved to find out that the soldiers hadn’t done anything to her physically aside from dragging her around to different cells and rooms. He’d seen them get rough with some of their other prisoners in the past and had been worried that one of them might have become violent with her. Fortunately, from what Jacob knew, they had only tortured her psychologically and had done nothing that would leave a physical mark.

Still, he was sickened to know that they had resorted to using Aproveset on her the same day she’d been brought in. Usually the interrogators went through a series of other, less sadistic methods of questioning before they were given clearance to try the truth serum. Either the soldiers had questioned her multiple times in the same day or they had skipped a few steps and gone straight for the most effective resource at their disposal. Part of him was tempted to order that all of the men who had been involved be fired from their jobs, but he knew it would have been an overreaction. Even if he tried, his father would override the command. For now, he would just have to be content with the knowledge that whoever had been in charge of the heinous interrogation was going to be facing the consequences he deserved.

For the second half of the ride, Cas and Jacob lapsed into uncomfortable silence. The prince kept his gaze fixed on the window in front of him, concerned about Iris now that he’d been made aware that she’d had a seizure in response to the drug she’d been given. The doctors at the hospital had most likely made sure that her condition stabilized after she’d been brought in, but he doubted they had run any tests to make sure there hadn’t been any permanent damage to her body. He intended to tell them to make sure she was going to be okay, regardless of how expensive the examinations and scans might be to find out.

For his part, Jacob drove without speaking, reflecting instead on everything that had just happened. He’d thought he had been making the right decision by waiting to tell the prince about what had happened to the rebel girl, but now he was beginning to wonder if he’d made a mistake. His gut certainly told him that he had. As the head of the royal family’s security force, he reported to King Atlas first and foremost, and he knew that the monarch would have preferred him to keep the heir uninvolved. However, Atlas had never earned his respect the same way Caspian had. He was surprised to find that he felt guilty for keeping the secret from the prince, as if the son’s authority outweighed his father’s. It was strange, but when the two royals stood in opposition to one another, he cared more about holding onto Caspian’s approval than he did Atlas’s.

When they arrived at the hospital, Cas instructed the guard to pull his car around to the front and drop him off before he parked in the garage. Reluctantly, Jacob complied, and the prince climbed out, leaving the paper bag on the passenger seat and walking back into the building empty-handed. As soon as he stepped inside, heads turned automatically in his direction, and the receptionist casted him a quizzical look, not expecting to see him back so soon. He was even dressed in the white clothes he’d been lent during his discharge.

“Your Highness, did you need something?” she asked bemusedly.

Cas glanced at the people around him and strode over to the counter, doing his best to mask the way he was still favoring his left leg. “Yes,” he replied in a low voice, trying not to speak loudly enough that anyone else would overhear. “I’m looking for another patient here. Iris Nox-Fleuret. Which room is she in?”

The receptionist nodded and checked the computer monitor in front of her. “Third floor, room 311,” she told him, taking out a guest pass from the drawer at her desk and offering it to him.

“Thanks,” he said curtly, taking the pass with his good hand and slipping it around his neck. Not bothering to wait for Jacob, he headed for the elevator and rode it up to the third level. As he made his way down the corridor, following the signs and placards in search of the proper room, he felt anticipation build inside of him. He didn’t know what to expect, but he knew he was eager to see Iris again. Trying to focus on his excitement rather than his nervousness about the condition he was going to find her in, he knocked on the door to room 311 and stepped inside.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

He's fine! Just needed a vaccine :)

This one was also fun to write. Cas is learning to stand up for himself more

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

As soon as he recognized Jacob’s tall figure exit the pharmacy, Caspian narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t believe the guard had gone behind his back and allowed the soldiers to torture Iris after he’d told him that she wasn’t an enemy. Since Jacob had obviously known it was her who was in the hospital, the prince was certain he’d also been involved in her interrogation as well as the methods that had been employed to question her. He wondered if his father had told the guard not to say anything to him. Though he hoped not, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the king was behind this mess too. Just thinking about the possibility, he curled his good hand into a fist, frustrated that they didn’t trust him enough to take his word or even keep him in the loop.

The car door opened, and Jacob slipped inside, picking up his cell phone and settling down in the driver’s seat. Not looking at the prince’s face yet, he hadn’t caught the vexed look in his eye. “I bought you a bag of trail mix,” he said, handing off the paper bag the contained the prescriptions and snack. “Just in case you wanted to try stomaching something solid—”

“Why didn’t you tell me Iris was in the hospital?” Cas interrupted coldly, causing the guard to tense in surprise. Jacob looked up at him with confusion etched into his features, and the prince explained, “Warden Walker called while you were inside. He mistook me for you and told me everything.” He paused, waiting to see if the guard would reply, but he didn’t, so he continued in a slightly raised voice, “What the hell, Jacob? You let them use Aproveset on her? When I told you not to let them kill her, I also meant don’t let them torture her. Now look what happened! An innocent girl has been hospitalized because the soldiers were too harsh on her.”

Jacob groaned inwardly. He’d been planning to tell Caspian about Iris on his own time, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. The Warden just had to call during the ten minutes he’d been in the pharmacy, didn’t he? Nevertheless, he felt like he’d made the right decision when it came to handling the prisoner. She wasn’t cooperating with the interrogators, so they’d needed to use excessive force to convince her to tell them vital details about the Scourge. No one could have foreseen that the truth serum would cause her to have a seizure.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, I was only following protocol,” he defended himself, hoping the prince wouldn’t overreact and jail him for a night for speaking out. “You’re too close to the situation, and the standard procedure is to question her without outside interference. We couldn’t properly vet her if you were standing there with a biased opinion. It was more efficient to run the interrogation yesterday to determine if she’s dangerous or not.”

“I’m not biased,” Cas retorted. “I spent the entire week getting to know her. Every minute of every day. I think my opinion of her is reliable enough for you to have trusted me.”

“A week isn’t a very long time,” Jacob pointed out with a frown. “I was just trying to make sure that you and your father are safe. The Scourge has already come too close to dismantling the monarchy once. I can’t risk letting that happen again.”

“You’re wasting your efforts on the wrong person,” Cas growled. “Iris isn’t an enemy.” He turned his head toward the window on his side of the vehicle, leaving the paper bag untouched in his lap. “Turn back for the hospital. I want to see her now.”

Jacob shifted his weight, “I think it would be best if you go to the palace first—”

“I’m not in the mood to discuss this,” Cas cut him off with a hostile sideways glance. “I made up my mind, Jacob. Take me back to the hospital. That’s an order.”

The guard hesitated briefly before he gave a reluctant nod. “…Yes, Your Highness.” Backing the car out of the parking space, he drove back toward the highway, silently taken aback by the prince’s demanding attitude. As long as he’d known Caspian, he hadn’t ever seen the young royal take charge of anything the way he did now. There was a new authoritativeness to his voice that had replaced the insecurity and uncertainty that had colored his behavior before. He just hoped the change wasn’t for the worse, since the prince had been among rebels for an entire week.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yep xD Also I just got home from taking my dog for his routine vet appointment, so I'll get started on a reply in a few!

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Aaand Cas is thoroughly pissed, haha. That was a fun one to write

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“We should stop at the pharmacy on our way back,” Cas suggested as he fiddled with the radio that Jacob had turned on. Knowing that the guard had only done so to give him a chance to find a station he liked—Jacob wasn’t much of a fan of music—he played with the signal until he found something that sounded good. It had been a while since the last time he’d been able to just sit back and enjoy a song, so he appreciated that the head of the security team had remembered his fondness for it and set up the car for him to listen on their way back. Settling on an alternative station, he leaned back in his seat, “I have a couple prescriptions that need to be picked up.”

If his main goal had been to get home, he wouldn’t have cared when the medications were picked up and probably would have just sent one of the maids to get it for him after they arrived. However, knowing that he would be leaving almost immediately to go to the penitentiary, he wanted to have the prescriptions on hand, just in case he needed relief while he was with Iris. He didn’t want his visit to be cut short because his pain flared up, after all.

Jacob glanced at him sideways as he drove. “I can send someone else to run that errand after we get back,” he proposed, apparently thinking of the same option that Cas had been. “Wouldn’t you prefer to have someone from the palace go out discreetly rather than expose yourself to the public again? Or are you in pain now?” He furrowed his brows, his eyes sweeping over the prince as if he could tell if he was suffering just by looking at him.

“I’m fine right now,” Cas shook his head. Deciding that now was a good time to let the guard in on his plans, he went on, “I want to visit the penitentiary after I wash up and change clothes, so I’d prefer to get the prescriptions now. That way I can have them with me right away instead of waiting for someone else to make the trip to the pharmacy first.”

Jacob studied him with a frown. He had a feeling he already knew why the prince was in such a rush to pay a visit to their newest prisoner, but he asked anyway, “Why do you feel the need to go so soon? It might be better if you get some rest at the palace first and then leave later.”

“I just… don’t want to leave Iris alone any longer than I already have,” he replied quietly. “I don’t care what the law says. She doesn’t deserve to be locked up just because she was part of the Scourge once before. She isn’t with them anymore, and she saved my life multiple times… It’s my turn to stand up for her.” Of course, there was also the little detail that he was in love with her, but he kept that to himself. Anything he said to Jacob would be reported back to his father, since the guard was so close to the king. If Atlas found out he’d fallen for a rebel, he’d probably execute her on the spot and have him admitted to a mental ward.

Jacob thought about it for a moment then sighed, “If that’s what you want, Your Highness. Are you sure you want to go into a pharmacy though? There will be other people around.” He was well aware that the prince wouldn’t find the prisoner he was looking for at the penitentiary, but he still hadn’t come up with a way to break the news to him that she was at the hospital. Deciding to mull that over for the rest of the drive to the palace, he didn’t say anything for now.

“I’ll just wait in the car while you get the stuff,” Cas shrugged.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Jacob said hesitantly. After the prince had been abducted once, the thought of leaving him alone, unsupervised in a public parking lot left a bad taste in his mouth. “I can’t leave you by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” Cas rolled his eyes. Ethan and his cronies were the ones who’d taken him before, and he was certain they weren’t in the capital again. Bolstering his argument, he added, “This car has tinted windows. Just turn off the engine and lock the doors. If it makes you feel better, leave a phone in here, so I can call for help if I happen to need it.”

Jacob considered the idea. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but Caspian was insistent on stopping by the pharmacy before they reached the palace, and the highway exit to get there was coming up fast. With no time to come up with a better alternative, he exhaled again and turned onto the ramp. “Fine. Just this once.”

Pulling around to the plaza with the closest pharmacy, he parked a few spaces back from the building and got out, leaving his cell phone on the driver’s seat for the prince to use if there was an emergency. Cas watched him head toward the entrance and leaned his seat back in a more comfortably reclined position. Unfortunately, the stereo had to be turned off with the rest of the vehicle, so he entertained himself by watching the other people who passed in and out of the building. Seeing other high borns again felt a little surreal but also pleasantly familiar, since their presence was another reminder that he was home. The capital may have had its faults, but it was all he knew, so he felt at ease there. It was hard for him to remember why he’d even considered leaving for good when he was surrounded by familiar sights and sensations. He just hoped he could get Iris out of prison, so she could be there with him.

Suddenly, he was drawn from his thoughts by a faint buzzing, and he glanced down at the phone Jacob had left on his seat. The name that glowed on the screen was Warden Walker. Drumming his fingers on his leg, he watched it continue to ring for a few more seconds and then picked up the device. Had the incoming call been from anyone else, he wouldn’t have snooped, but he was desperate to hear news about Iris, and who better to ask than the man who ran the penitentiary? He tapped the button to accept the call and brought the phone to his ear, “Hello?”

Curry, thank god, the warden sighed. I need someone to tell me what the hell happened yesterday. I was gone for three fucking hours and the whole place has fallen into the crapper! All Matt will tell me is that Iris Nox-Fleuret responded poorly to the Aproveset and needed to be given the antidote prematurely. I was hoping you could tell me why she’s in the goddamn hospital! Why is she taking up a bed there when we already got everything out of her that we needed? The little bitch is just going to be executed anyway.

Cas stared at the windshield with wide eyes, dumbstruck as he tried to process everything he’d just heard. He couldn’t believe it. Iris wasn’t at the prison; she’d been hospitalized. He was also horrified to find out that the soldiers had already interrogated her with their truth serum. He’d witnessed other interrogations in which the drug had been used, and although he’d never experienced it for himself, he’d felt sick watching the prisoners scream and weep and beg for death’s sweet release from the torturous chemicals. Imagining Iris going through the same thing made him lightheaded.

Curry? Are you there?

Cas startled as he realized Walker was still waiting for him to say something. In the next moment, his flurried confusion was replaced with white hot anger. Iris didn’t deserve any of this. He was furious that the soldiers had tortured her while he’d been unable to stop them; that they had overwhelmed her to the point that she’d been sent to the hospital; and that Jacob had kept it all a secret from him. It was the most betrayed he’d felt since the night he’d been abducted.

“Curry isn’t here,” he snapped. “This is Caspian Maydestone, and Iris is at the hospital because I gave the order to keep her alive. In fact, I also gave the order to treat her like a guest, not a prisoner, but it sounds like that part got lost in translation.”

P-Prince Caspian? Warden Walker squawked, sounding tongue-tied at the revelation that he was speaking to the crown’s heir.

Cas didn’t give him time to recover, “Whoever thought it was a good idea to use Aproveset on my guest had better be fired immediately. Don’t bother checking in on Iris at the hospital either. As of right now, I’m taking full custody of her to make sure she’s treated with the respect she deserves.” With that, he hung up the call, tossing the call phone back down on the driver’s seat and fixing his gaze on the pharmacy door as he waited for Jacob to return. When the guard got back, he was going to have some explaining to do.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

No worries! I did the same thing xD I got some food from the pantry, but it's just been sitting untouched on the table.

Also, feel free to control Harry if you want to. He's more easygoing than Jacob and has a friendly sense of humor, but he still takes his job seriously.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Minutes passed as Jacob sat by the door in Iris’s room. He chewed idly on the inside of his lip, watching the screen of his phone in anticipation for his replacement. It would take the next guard fifteen minutes to travel from the palace to the hospital, plus another five or so for him to get through reception and up to the third floor of the building. Based on the time displayed on the top corner of the device, it had been about eighteen minutes since he’d started counting. He should be here any second.

At the sound of Iris’s voice, he glanced up at her and frowned. Her request was unexpected. He’d thought that she would have wanted Caspian to know what had happened to her, so he might be encouraged to rescue her from the penitentiary. Instead, it sounded like she didn’t want him to find out at all. She was either incredibly outward focused or had another reason why she was trying to keep the interrogation a secret. Either way, he had already planned on withholding the information from the prince for now, so he wouldn’t become distraught. As long as Atlas refused to permit her release, even the crown’s heir couldn’t do anything to veto the order, so it would just upset him to know that her life had been put at risk. For his sake, it was best to delay the news until something could be done about it.

He parted his lips to reply and then turned his head toward the door as the handle rattled and someone else stepped inside. “Oh good,” Jacob stood up from his seat, relieved to see that his replacement guard, Harry Calhoun, had arrived. “You’ll be able to stay for most of the day, right? I don’t want to give Matthew any chances to pull a fast one on me.”

“Yeah, Gary’s handling security at the palace just fine on his own,” the new guard shrugged and took the chair his boss had just abandoned.

“That’s one less thing for me to worry about then,” Jacob sighed and took a step toward the door. However, instead of leaving right away, he glanced over his shoulder at Iris. “I can’t make any promises, but I’m not planning to tell him if I don’t have to,” he said in belated response to her question before he strode out and closed the door behind him.

Meanwhile, at the exit, Cas drummed his fingers restlessly against his leg as he waited for Jacob to show up. There were a few other people in the reception area, all of whom were staring at him openly and whispering amongst themselves. He could have sworn he even saw a couple of them pull out their phones and discreetly take photos of him. Not wanting to be in the spotlight when he was wheelchair-bound, injured and hadn’t showered in a few days, he ducked his head with chagrin, hoping the guard would hurry up so he could get away from all the prying eyes.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Jacob came walking down the hallway and deposited his visitor’s pass with the receptionist. Once they were cleared to leave, he joined the prince and the doctor as they exited the building and headed toward the adjacent parking garage.

“I haven’t even been back for forty-eight hours, and I’m already being hounded by wannabe paparazzis,” Cas exhaled in exasperation, noticing yet another bystander point in his direction as they approached the other building.

“We’ll be back at the palace soon enough,” Jacob assured him, casting a hard stare at the same bystander until she scurried away. “You can stay out of the public eye as long as you need to as you finish recovering.”

“Right,” the prince murmured. He was still plotting to visit the penitentiary as soon as possible, but with the doctor accompanying them to Jacob’s car, he decided not to bring that up until he was alone with his bodyguard.

Fortunately, Jacob had parked on the ground level, so Cas insisted that he was capable of walking on his own when they reached the edge of the garage, and the doctor let him go, taking the wheelchair back to the hospital with him when he left. Cas’s leg still pained him when he put pressure on it, so his gait was marred with a limp, but he was able to get to the vehicle without leaning on his guard for support. He opened the passenger-side door and bowed his head to climb inside the low-riding car, letting out a sigh as he sat down and stretched his leg in front of him, “I wish I could drive. It’s been too long.”

“Next time,” Jacob promised, turning on the ignition and backing out of his spot. He drove the vehicle out to the road and turned on the radio as he began the trip back to the palace with his prince.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I'm thinking I'll have Cas figure out about Iris during the car ride ^^
Jacob could answer an incoming call on his car's built-in speakerphone and realize too late that it was coming from someone asking about what happened to Iris.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

For a while, the room was enveloped in silence that Jacob appreciated. His mind wandered to all the other things he needed to be doing while he was sitting in the hospital with a woman who was supposed to be his prisoner. He had always been something of a workaholic, putting his profession in front of every other part of his life, and even when he was resting, he was thinking about tasks that needed to be done. It had been several years since he’d even taken a day off, but he preferred it that way. Being successful was the key to his contentedness in life, so he wouldn’t have traded his overtime for all the vacation or money in the world.

Even now, though he wasn’t actively doing anything, he was on the job. By passively watching Iris, he was preserving his authority over her as his responsibility. Everything he did had a purpose, which was why he had achieved so much even though he was still in his early thirties. There was no one else on the security team who could match his drive, and he prided himself on being the hardest working man on the force. So, sitting quietly with no one else but the rebel girl for company, he ruminated on the palace, the penitentiary, and even the fires he would have to put out as word got around that the prince had returned alive.

Focused on his meditative planning, he didn’t look up until Iris’s quiet voice caught his attention. At her question, he frowned. She sounded genuinely concerned about how Caspian was doing, but one inquiry wasn’t enough to convince him that her feelings were real. “He’s fine,” he responded curtly, keeping an invisible distance from her. However, as he reflected on the situation a bit more, he admitted to himself that there wasn’t much of a reason to be secretive. Everyone in Aspiria was soon going to find out that the prince was recovering, so it didn’t matter if one woman was a little ahead of the curve.

With a sigh, he added, “All of his major wounds were treated yesterday, so he’s going back to the palace today to finish recovering at home.” Deciding that was enough information, he dropped his gaze back to the screen of his phone in wait for his replacement to arrive.

Two floors up, Caspian had finished his breakfast and was getting restless as he waited for the doctor to get back to replace his splint with a cast. About five minutes went by before there was a knock on the door, and the man stepped in with the silicon material in one hand and an empty wheelchair that he was pushing with the other. “How are you feeling, Your Highness?” he asked as he stepped over to the sink to sanitize his hands.

“Really good,” he replied honestly. “I haven’t felt much pain at all today.”

“Very good,” the doctor nodded sagely. “That will change once we take you off the IV, but I prescribed an oral form of the same medicines that you ought to continue taking every twelve hours for the next three days. They’ll help manage the discomfort and they’ll lessen the chances that all of those open wounds will scar.”

Cas glanced down at the bandages around his arm, “So they’ll all heal up completely?”

“The minor ones should, yes,” the physician replied as he dried his hands and stepped over to the bed. “The laceration in your arm and the gunshot in your leg will most likely need cosmetic surgery to remove the scarring later on though.”

“Huh,” Cas grunted contemplatively and then shook his head. “That’s fine. I don’t need it.”

“Are you sure, Your Highness?” the doctor raised his brows. “It’s a standard procedure for someone of your status.”

“It’s okay,” he insisted, absentmindedly touching the bandages around his leg. “What I went through was hard, but I don’t ever want to forget it. That means not covering up the evidence that it happened. I’ll just keep whatever scars I get from these injuries.”

The doctor studied him with interest and then bowed. “If that’s what you want, Your Highness.” As he spoke, Cas could see a hint of a smile on his lips.

The IV was removed from his hand, and the prince turned on the bed so his legs hung over the edge while the doctor fixed the new cast on his wrist. In times past, plaster was used to set broken bones, but Aspirian scientists had come up with a more lightweight version created with silicon. The clear material wasn’t as thick or heavy, so it was easily hidden underneath clothes and less inconvenient to wear. The physician had Cas test it to make sure it wouldn’t slide around on his arm and then gave his approval that he was free to go.

For a moment, the prince got his hopes up that his release meant that his father had forgotten about forcing him to meet with a psychiatrist—or even that the king had changed his mind altogether—but his good mood was dampened when the doctor added one more thing before he left him alone to change out of his hospital gown. “By the way,” he said, stopping in the doorway. “Dr. Foster was unable to see you today, so she’ll be making a house call at the palace tomorrow sometime before noon.”

“Oh,” he frowned, his shoulders falling slightly at the news. As the doctor stepped out and closed the door behind him, Cas sighed and pulled off his gown, tossing it in a bin at the edge of the room and putting on a pair of white, elastic-waisted shorts and a matching t-shirt that a nurse had brought by for him to wear after he was discharged. There was also a pair of generic sandals to go with the ensemble.

It was somewhat difficult for him to dress himself when he only had one good hand and leg, but he managed to do it without asking for help. Once he was decent, he knocked once on the door and sat down in the wheelchair as the doctor stepped back in to bring him down to reception. He felt like he could have walked there by himself, but it was standard procedure for patients to sit in a wheelchair when they were leaving the hospital, so he let the other man roll him to the elevator and down to the exit, where they waited for Jacob, who was supposed to be the one to drive him home.