As soon as they went through the door, the scent of disinfectant told her they’d entered the medical wing.
The portable ultrasound had confirmed appendicitis before leaving the Queen Mother’s home. By the time they saw Frederick, he was ready for surgery.
Elise hung back, letting his mum spend a moment with him before he was taken to the surgery suite.
The doctor talked quietly with them, making both of them laugh. Elise could make out most of the words, but clearly the conversation involved things she knew nothing about.
“Elise?”
She looked up to see her mother-in-law had moved to the side, giving her space to move to Frederick’s side. Giving them all a small smile, she took the spot offered and sat on the edge of Frederick’s bed.
“Hey.” He held up his hand, an IV tube coming out of the back of it, to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“How are you feeling?” She hadn’t talked to him since his doctor arrived a couple of hours earlier.
“I’m on medications, so that helps. They’ll be putting me to sleep in a few minutes.” He did look a bit more out of it than he had earlier, but like he wasn’t in as much pain.
“I’m glad.” She took his hand in hers, being careful not to tug on the IV.
“I’ll see you soon.” He pulled lightly on her hand and kissed the back of it.
“See you soon.”
Elise moved to the back corner of the room to give the staff enough space to maneuver Frederick’s bed out of the room and toward the surgery suite.
“There’s a room we can wait in.” The Queen Mother stood near the door of the now empty room. “Come on.”
Following her out of the room that didn’t look much different than any other hospital room, Elise blew out a breath. He would be all right. It was just an appendectomy. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions were done a year. The mortality rate had to be vanishingly small.
“He’s going to be fine,” the Queen Mother reassured her again.
“I know.” The waiting room was significantly more comfortable than any she’d ever seen for families of patients having surgery. She could take a nap on that couch.
“This isn’t exactly the honeymoon you had planned. It won’t be as scenic as the yacht, but the Monarch’s Suite will be familiar at least.”
Could this be an opening? Would Frederick be annoyed if she brought it up with his mum?
“What’s wrong?”
Elise shook herself out of the reverie. “I haven’t seen Frederick’s suite. Is there something that makes it stand out as the Monarch’s Suite? What makes it different? Better security?”
The other woman shook her head. “Not particularly. As far as I know, it’s been the Monarch’s Suite since the palace was completed.” She frowned. “Is Frederick not happy with it?”
Elise needed to answer carefully. “A couple of things he said made me think he might prefer to have a choice of where he wants to live.”
The Queen Mother remained quiet for a moment. “Is it because he moved in so quickly after his father passed?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Elise suspected that might be part of it, but she truly wasn’t certain.
“Was it even redecorated?” The Queen Mother seemed to be talking to herself more than Elise. “I had other things on my mind and have no idea.” She looked back at Elise. “Is there anything else I should know?”
Once again, Elise hesitated.
“There is, but you’re not sure you should tell me.”
Elise gave a nod. “He mentioned something to me once that I think he should talk to you about, but he only mentioned it that once, and we haven’t talked about it again.” She couldn’t be the one to tell her mother-in-law that her husband missed gettinghugs from his mum. “When he’s feeling better, I’ll talk to him. It’s nothing you should be concerned about though.”
She suspected his mum wouldn’t feel that way exactly.
