Kyran's POV
King Harrow walks through the door fifteen minutes after leaving with the royal Physician Maxwell following behind. "Please help him," Ezran begs. I look over at the young prince feeling bad for him. I know the type of worry he is experiencing for his brother because I have felt it in the past. Maxwell walks over to Callum and places a gentle hand on his forehead.
"His fever is exceedingly high and will need to be brought down quickly. You have done the right thing by putting a cold compress on his forehead and under his arms in order to bring his fever down, but it is not dropping like it should be." Maxwell states putting on latex gloves. I faintly hear Harrow tell the servant outside to get more cold water and rags. I look back over at Callum and sigh. "Can you please wait with Ezran outside King Harrow; I would like to give the young prince some privacy during the exam." Maxwell instructs. Harrow nods leading Ezran outside as I walk over to him.
"I will stay with Callum your majesty." I say.
"Thank you Kyran. Watch over him." Harrow responds as I nod. Once King Harrow and Prince Ezran are in the hall, I close the door and walk back over to Prince Callum and Dr. Maxwell.
"Help me undress him." Maxwell orders. I help him sit Callum up and allow him to lean his head on my shoulder when I see a puddle of blood soaked up by the pillow where Callum's head once was. I franticly look over to Maxwell as my hand that was on the back of Callum's head is covered with blood. Maxwell moved the hair away from where the blood is coming from. "Hold him still while I stitch up the back of his head to stop the bleeding." Maxwell states. I watch as he grabs gauze, a needle, and thread from his bag before returning back over the bed where I am seated with Callum in my arms. Maxwell takes a cloth out of the bucket of cold water and begins cleaning the blood off of the back of Callum's head causing Callum to flinch.
"It's ok Callum," I whisper into his hair. After he finished cleaning the majority of the blood around the wound, Maxwell grabbed the needle and thread. Sitting on the bed in front of me Maxwell begins sewing the wound on the back on Callum's head shut.
"He most likely has a concussion and a fractured skull." Maxwell comments making me frown. We lift Callum's shirt over his head and lay him back down so Maxwell can continue examining Callum. My eyes widen as I see all the bruises littering Callum's torso and the large wound oozing blood traveling from his right hip to his navel with messy stitches. The wound on his torso has black veins surrounding it.
"Dark magic." I mumble looking at Callum's condition with tear filled eyes. His wrists are rubbed raw and bloody with bruises surrounding them.
"Who could do this to a child?" Maxwell asks.
"Someone truly evil." I respond in a whisper. Maxwell begins cleaning and restitching the wound closed on Callum's abdomen before looking over to his other hip. Callum's left hip had a large dark bruise painting it as well as swelling around it. As Maxwell places a gentle gloved hand on Callum's hip, Callum's eyes shoot open as he lets out a gasp. Tears begin falling down his face and it is obvious to anyone around that he is in excruciating pain.
"Kyran, I need you to calm him down so I can take a look at his hip without alerting the people outside." Maxwell instructs. I set behind Callum's head placing it in my lap and brushing his hair out of his face to calm him down. He looks up at me with tear filled eyes while hyperventilating. It is easy to tell he is having a panic attack.
"It's alright Callum, I'm here, no one can hurt you." I whisper to him. Grabbing the cold rag from the bucket of water next to me I place it on Callum's forehead to try and ground him while also giving him the comfort of not feeling like he is burning alive. Callum looks up at me as tears slowly fall down his face. His breathing has evened out some as I continue brushing his bangs out of his face whispering comforting words to him. I look up at Maxwell and nod signaling Callum is calm enough for him to continue examining him. "Dr. Maxwell is going to help you feel better, aright Callum." I say. Callum nods looking up at me with teary eyes. Maxwell places a hand on Callum's hip and begins feeling around causing Callum to scream forcing me to cover his mouth, so Harrow will not come rushing in with Ezran. "It's ok Callum." I comfort wiping the tears falling down his cheeks.
"His hip is badly broken; I will have to surgically fix it." Maxwell comments gently grabbing Callum's hand to bandage his wrist.
"Please don't tell," Callum begs, "He will hurt Ez."
"Who?" I ask. Callum shakes his head signaling he feels he had said too much. Maxwell moves up Callum's head and places his gloved hand on Callum's shoulder.
"Try not to talk too much you have bruising to your throat." Maxwell instructs. Callum blinks before rolling to his side and puking blood onto the floor making my eyes widen. Once we clean up the floor and finish bandaging Callum's wrists, ankles, and the wound on his torso we move him to Ezran's bed so we can change his bloody sheets and get King Harrow. After the sheets are changed, I pick Callum up and place him in his bed. Maxwell grabs a syringe and fills it with a clear liquid.
"What is that?" I question moving in front of Callum.
"It is a sedative, so I can talk to the King, and move him to the infirmary to see how bad the damage to his hip is. When I felt around, I concluded that I will most likely have to operate. I would also like to give Prince Callum medication to bring his fever down along with something to settle his stomach enough to where he is not throwing up blood every five minutes." Maxwell explains. I nod moving out of the way. Maxwell injects the sedative into the crook of Callum's elbow before walking to the door to let King Harrow back inside. "I think it is best that Prince Ezran remans outside for a moment." Maxwell whispers to King Harrow. I watch as King Harrow tells a servant to wait with Ezran for a moment as he comes inside and closes the door.
I look over at Maxwell with a look asking him if he is going to tell Harrow. Maxwell responds with a look that says I don't know because doctor/patient confidentiality is a very important law in Katolis, and the only thing that can override those laws is the command of the King. Considering this is his son we will have to tell him everything we know. Harrow walks over to Callum spotting the bruising around his neck. He lifts the blanket sees the damage done to the rest of his son's body."What happened?" Harrow bids brushing his hand against Callum's face before he looks at the two of us with a dark look.
"Your majesty. We do not know what happened to your son, but whatever it was he is very ill." Maxwell responds.
"What is his condition, Maxwell?" he questions.
"Well, Prince Callum has a skull fracture to the back of his head along with an abrasion that had to be stitched. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw and were bleeding with bruises around them signifying a struggle. There are also bruises littering his stomach, ribs, and back around his spine. Prince Callum also has a deep cut to his abdomen that spans from his navel to his right hip that also had to be stitched shut. The wound has black veins surrounding it signifying dark magic was at play. During the exam Prince Callum did throw up blood making me want to further examine him. Lastly, there is a large bruise spanning across his left hip. Upon further inspection, I have concluded that his left hip is badly broken and will need to be operated on." Maxwell explains. Hearing all the injuries out loud makes tears fill my eyes. I promised Queen Sarai that I would protect him, but it seems I have failed doing the one job I was instructed to carry out so many years ago by King Avizandum. King Harrow's eyes darkened at hearing the physical damage done to Callum.
"How did this happen?" Harrow inquires pacing back and forth. He walks to the door and finds a guard, "Get me Lord Viren." he demands. Twenty minutes pass and the guard walks in with Viren following behind. "Dismissed," Harrow tells the guard as he closes the door. Viren looks at Harrow with a confused look.
"Do you need something?" Viren asks crossing his arms.
"Did you hurt Callum?" Harrow shouts angrily, "DID YOU?!"
"Of course not." Viren responds acting shocked.
"Then what happened to him. It is obvious there was dark magic at play here and it is obvious Callum put up a struggle, so tell me Viren what happened?" Harrow interrogates.
"Callum and I ran into a dark mage today. They were searching for him because of what he is. Callum and I got separated and the dark mage took him. By the time I found him the spell had already been done. I don't know exactly what the spell does, but I can tell you it is not good. I promise you I would never hurt him. You are my friend Harrow; I would never harm your son." Viren explains. He may be a good liar but there is no way in hell I believe him and from the look in Harrow's eyes he does not believe him either.
"We will wait for Callum to wake up, then I will ask for his side of the story." Harrow says. Viren nods and walks out of the room.
"Your majesty can I transfer Prince Callum to the infirmary? The longer I wait to operate the longer it will take for him to recover." Maxwell sighs.
"Of course." Harrow responds. I walk over to Callum, wrap him up in a blanket, pick him up bridal style, and follow Maxwell to the infirmary. When we reach the infirmary, I set Callum on one of the exam tables before standing at the head.
"What now?" I ask looking at Dr. Maxwell
"Now I see how bad the damage to his hip is and decide what I am going to do." Maxwell responds. I nod as Maxwell continues to examine Callum's hip. "From what I can feel, Prince Callum will need a procedure called hip pining. It is where I surgically place pins, screws, or plates into Prince Callum's left hip, so the bones can be held together and heal properly." he explains. I nod again looking down at Callum's peaceful face knowing he is going to have a long road ahead of him.
"When do you plan on preforming this operation?" I inquire.
"As soon as I get King Harrow's approval." Dr. Maxwell answers before asking someone to get King Harrow. King Harrow walks in ten minutes later with a look of worry.
"Will he be ok." he asks walking over to Callum and placing a hand on his forehead.
"He should be fine your majesty, but Prince Callum has a long road to recovery ahead of him." Maxwell replies. "I actually called you here to discuss how to treat Prince Callum's broken hip." he begins.
"Please do tell." Harrow bids looking up at Maxwell.
"It's a surgical procedure called hip pinning." Maxwell continues.
"What is it." Harrow questions.
"Hip pinning is a procedure where I surgically place pins, screws, or plats into Prince Callum's hip allowing the bones to heal properly." Maxwell finishes. King Harrow nods and turns around.
"Do whatever it takes to help him get better." Harrow says.
"I will do my best." Dr. Maxwell responds.
