[ota] I can't see the stars for the sun.

[heartafterheart]

Ceiro felt the first pains when he tried to relieve himself. And try though he might, nothing seemed to relieve that gut twisting, soul shattering pain. It honestly had come to the point that he'd excused himself from the office, making the excuse that he was seeing Mr. Browning off as he was finally returning home (with the assistance of the

Comments

You do not see this tag. Shh. I'm totally writing a paper.

[heartpursuit]

"Your Majesty." It was funny, Abby thought, how in these moments she was able to push past shock and horror and just be professional, and she laid a cool hand on the King of Hearts' brow. It probably helped that, unlike with the Two who had burst into the infirmary and babbled out something about King Ceiro and collapse that she barely knew the man; she'd only been here two weeks.

But she knew Johnny was very fond of him, and that was something, even after as many years as they'd spent doing their own things. She smiled slightly down at him. "I'm going to turn you on your side," she said gently, brushing back his hair. "And you're going to take a moment to catch your breath, and then we're going to get you to the infirmary."

I saw nothing

[heartafterheart]

He rolled with Abby's hands, gritting his teeth as his eyes squeezed shut. In truth, a part of him wished that no one was there, trying to help him (watching him, more to point). But he rolled, and he let the worst of the pain slip away as he slowly opened his eyes to look at the woman leaning over him.

"I...do hope you forgive...my statement," he managed to get out softly. "Please...they...they do not need to see this."

Excellent.

[heartpursuit]

"...I'll have the hall cleared," Abby said after a moment, but her features were already settling into a firm expression. Kings, they were a new thing, but recalcitrant patients, men especially who didn't want people to see them weak and in pain? That she'd seen any time she did an urgent care rotation. "But I must examine you, my lord. You understand that. You wouldn't allow one of your own people to go unexamined in this state."

[heartafterheart]

He nodded, vaguely as he tried to take a deeper breath. He wasn't going to protest her examination, but frankly he just didn't want it to be done there.

"Please....help me to my feet." She could very well wait the few moments it took them to get inside and down the hall, could she not?

[heartpursuit]

"Of course," she said easily, and she shifted her hands to get a better grip before slowly starting to rise, steadying him as he first sat up and then struggled to his feet. "Just down the hall," she murmured.

Her thoughts, already, were on possible causes for this collapse. Ceiro had seemed frail when they first met, which was strange for a man his age. Cancer was a possibility, of course, but not the only one.

[heartafterheart]

He had not always been so frail, though some might have accused him of such. He had earlier that year, after all, been in fine shape. His arms, even now, still held that definition though most of the strength was gone from them. He let her get him to his feet though, and even help support him as he moved down the hallway and toward the infirmary.

Once in the seclusion of the exam room, he sagged into a chair, the exam table too far away from him to gather the strength to get to it.

"Dr. Cataldo, I am afraid," he paused, wincing at a wave of pain that came over him for a moment. "cannot...ran a few test. But I was...informed not but a few days ago- he was involved in a collision off deck."

Meaning he and his findings were, and would remain a mystery to the King.

[heartpursuit]

Abby nodded, and flicked her eyes at the Ten who'd helped Ceiro into the infirmary. She should tell him to leave, and she opened her mouth to gently tell him that the King required privacy for his examination, when he spoke up before she could.

"I think," Jordan said, "that you should look into lead poisoning." He didn't quite meet the King's eyes as he spoke. "Hadyn was in Zurich, where Dr. Cataldo's accident was, and that's what his tests indicate. I have it on this flash drive, here."

[heartafterheart]

Ceiro blinked at that, lifting his head to watch Jordan impassively for a long moment. "Hadyn....?" He asked almost dumbly. He'd known the boy was off Deck for some time but...

"Perhaps...." He wanted to say that perhaps Hadyn had best come explain that, but he let it trail off, shaking his head. The boy, for all his faults, was working on his challenge and had suffered enough lose in his life. Not that Ceiro expected him to be concerned with the King's health- but watching someone suffer had a profound effect, regardless of how close one was emotionally to them. At least, it seemed so to him.

"Perhaps you would like to speak to him," he said instead to Abby.

[heartpursuit]

The words lead poisoning had had Abby freezing in shock - and then cataloging the possible treatments. If it was so far as to cause collapse - the King would almost certainly need to go somewhere for treatment.

"Where...?" she began.

"He should be in the theatre at this hour, practicing," Jordan said in an even voice. "In the east wing."

[heartafterheart]

'it would...be best to speak with him there," Ceiro said after a moment, before turning to look at Jordan.

"And perhaps you....and I might discuss....how he discovered this....?" Because Hadyn being near the same city, and finding the man's research was not precisely something that someone stumbled upon. "Jordan?"

[heartsthespades]

Jordan was silent for a moment, after Abby had uncertainly disappeared down the hall, but it was less because he didn't know what to say and more because he wasn't certain how to explain himself without giving everything away, and it was too soon for that, especially if he intended to get a confession from his mother. "Dr. Cataldo had been gone already for a lot longer than was usual for him," he began, "and Hadyn had had a...rather personal upset. I thought having something to look into would be a good distraction when he was outside.

"Dr. Catlado's accident was not caused by drunk driving, as the Swiss police are claiming," he said quietly. "They were paid off, my lord. And you are very sick, but it's because someone is doing this to you."

[heartafterheart]

"Very forward thinking...of you." Though Ceiro frowned a bit. He would not punish Jordan for it (how could he, really), but it left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. Why, after all, would someone do this to him?

"....Why?" He asked after a moment, realizing that asking himself quietly did not actually solve his problems.

[heartsthespades]

Jordan was silent for a moment. He knew why, of course. It was all part of the plan that he'd heard like a bedtime story ever since they'd come here, sort of a consolation for the way he never really fit - they'd make a Suit where he did.

"You're very much loved, my lord," he finally said, "but even men who are loved can have enemies. I don't know who," he added. Not for certain. "I have a suspicion, but no proof. Not yet."

[heartafterheart]

"T-Tell me, then.....what you know." Because if anyone deserved to know this, he thought, it was himself. Not Judith, nor anyone else. But he alone needed to know why someone wanted to end his life.

[heartsthespades]

Jordan nodded. "The test results Dr. Cataldo had with him indicated lead poisoning," she said, falling into a business-like tone. It was easier, somehow. "He did die in a car accident, but his car had been tampered with. The brake lines," he added evenly. "There was no alcohol in his system, so there was no reason for the police to claim it was a drunk driving accident unless someone made it worth their while."

And this was the difficult part. "You told me that you knew I wanted to be King, but that's not strictly true," he said. "I've been raised to be King. And I know that you began to get ill after my mother suggested that I should challenge Blythe for Ten. I know she has the connections to...do this. And she's always wanted both Hadyn and I to rule the Hearts." To make them closer to the Suit they'd left. "I just don't have any proof."

[heartafterheart]

"Your mother?" He seemed almost stunned by the news, but yet knew....he shouldn't have been. Frowning, he slowly managed to push himself to his feet, closing his eyes slowly. "Without...proof, nothing can be done."

And yet could he really ask her son to look into it? He couldn't decide, right then, if it was really...wise.

But perhaps he would tell Athena. Not Judith, though. She might act too rashly. And death would not be the outcome he'd want as part of Laureline's punishment, but he felt he knew right where Judith's mind would go.

"This....must be treated delicately. Who...knows?"