A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1)(96)

“Portia?”

Portia jumped up in her seat and rushed toward the bed. She wore hospital standard protective clothing for the ICU, including gloves, but she gripped Ledi’s hand in hers and smiled through her tears.

“Only you would come all the way to Africa and catch some strange disease. I told you to stop using that antibacterial gel every time you got on the train. You lowered your immunity.”

“What are you doing here?” Ledi asked, again wondering if she was dreaming. Had she really been mad at Portia? That feeling was gone. There was only happiness and a feeling like her chest would burst at the sight of her. “How did you even get here? Oh wait, I guess it’s easy for rich people to just charter a plane.”

Portia shook her head. “I’m a trust fund baby, but private jets aren’t included in my particular tax bracket package. Thabiso flew me out after giving me a heart attack by telling me you were unconscious in the hospital. You’ve been knocked out for two days.”

“What?” Ledi tried to throw her legs over the bed and her head started to spin. “I need to see him. No, I need to see Dr. Bata.”

Portia stood and gently pushed her back down. “You need to rest. They didn’t know when you were going to wake up. Or if you were going to.” Portia exhaled a stuttering sigh. “I spent that whole trip terrified that you were going to die hating me. Ugh, that sounds selfish. It is selfish. But if you hate me, too . . .”

She shook her head. “I wanted to apologize. I was wrong and I should have admitted it from the beginning. You were so into Jamal, and I fucked up by not warning you of my suspicion before the gala. But part of me wanted it to be him, so you’d get mad and he’d go away. I guess I kind of maybe got scared that he was going to show you that you don’t need me. And I wasn’t exactly wrong because who needs a friend like me?”

Portia was miserable, and even if she had messed up, the pain on her face was too much to bear. Ledi had thought no one cared for her, but Portia cared possibly too much. Ledi realized a problem with her Velcro theory: Velcro was a temporary attachment. Portia, who always tried to help Ledi and would surely hide a body for her, if not do the actual killing, was a Krazy Glue kind of friend. They were stuck with one another by a bond that had been shaken but remained intact. Now they would have to decide how they used that bond.

“I need a friend like you,” Ledi said, giving Portia a weak hug because it was all she could manage. “I don’t hate you, but things can’t be how they were before.”

Portia shut her eyes but that didn’t stop the tears from streaking down. She nodded.

Ledi sighed. “I’m going to work on not being a pushover. You have to work on not pushing.” She paused. “And on not drinking so much. And on wanting as much for yourself as you want for other people.”

Ledi had always been afraid to throw down an ultimatum. It wasn’t what a health care professional would do, but as Ledi the human, she had to put herself first. She wasn’t above leveraging hospital bed guilt, it seemed.

“Well, I had to reschedule my therapist appointment to come here,” Portia said grouchily, wiping her tears away. “I’m working on things.

“Besides, I can’t show up in the middle of the night at a palace, drunkenly banging on the door. This is like having the ultimate doorman,” Portia said. “I guess you can give up the ramen life now, huh?”

“Never,” Ledi said, leaning back against her pillow. “But I’ll consider upgrading to the classy brand.”

The door to the room opened and Thabiso and Dr. Bata walked in, deep in conversation. She saw the exact moment he realized she was awake, the way relief and pain comingled on his face. He rushed to her bed and hugged her, probably breaking whatever protocol was in place, but making her feel a million times better.

“Goddess, I was so worried,” he said on a shaky exhale. He looked haggard; she had never seen his beard and hair disheveled, dark circles under his eyes. He was a mess.

“Why were you worried? Shanti is waiting in the wings if anything should happen to me,” she said. Just because he was a mess didn’t mean she couldn’t tease him. He released her to see if she was being serious and she just smiled.

“Ah, you really are better,” he said happily. He was working the cartoon prince eyes hard-core, and if Ledi had just a bit more strength she would have grabbed him. “You know I had nothing to do with that. Besides, Shanti is long gone. As are my mother’s favorite shoes.”

“Good,” Ledi said, not sorry in the slightest for either.

“Do I even want to know?” Portia asked diplomatically instead of hissing at Thabiso. She was improving already.

“Naledi, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to say that your recovery is fairly shocking,” Dr. Bata said while scanning her chart. “None of the other patients are out of the woods, but here you are up and making conversation. And your rash is gone, as well.”

Thabiso’s brow furrowed. “So she wasn’t sick with the Prince’s plague?”

Ledi nudged him, and he shrugged. “What? That’s what everyone is calling it.”

“I’m glad to be better, but I have no idea why,” Ledi said. “We don’t even know how the illness spreads.”

Dr. Bata put the chart down and stared at Ledi. “What did you do after you left the clinic? None of the people who were there have fallen ill, so it’s unlikely you caught it from that group.”