Hospital Runs

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"Hello?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?!"

"Good day to you, too, Charlie."

"To HELL with a good day! Why didn't you tell me that you were supposed to be engaged with the Prince of Scotland?!"

Ah, so that was the source of her fury.

I shrugged my shoulders, even though she couldn't possibly see it. "It might or might not have slipped my mind. My bad."

"My bad? MY BAD, YOU SAY?! Really, Francine?!"

I didn't know why but I felt a certain feeling of euphoria when I heard her talking like a rebellious teenager who always had the habit of getting exactly what they want. Every little matter ticked them off. I was glad that she adapted that character well because if I was in her shoes at that very moment, I would've reacted the same way.

So, yes. Like the commoners said,

You nailed it!

Now it was my turn to nail the performance.

I tried my best to sound exasperated. "Charlie. It's Charlie! For godforsaken sake, how many times do I need to tell you that! GOD!"

There was silence.

And then followed the laughter.

"You sure are learning how to live every moment, Charlie ."

I smirked. "Oh, yeah. I am."

"How is Nicole doing? Is she alright?"

I smiled. "She's perfect," I paused, before adding "Although, she gets distracted quickly by hot guys."

Laughter echoed in my ears. "That is Nicole. You have to deal with that mess on your own."

"I intend to."

"Anyways, I gotta leave. My father wanted me to spend some quality time with that cold-hearted devil."

I laughed. She had just met him and already he had a nickname. Cold-hearted devil. I really wished to see how these two acted in front of each other. Sometimes, a felt a pang of guilt for placing Charlie in my shoes and not giving away this major detail - engagement to Prince of Scotland. But, now that everything's happened, we couldn't push the restart button. The only minute this game would end, if we managed to get to the finish line.

That is around in...how many months now?

Ten?

No, eleven.

Definitely, eleven.

I faked enthusiasm. "Have fun!"

She snickered. "Oh, I intend to, Robinson. He has no idea what hit him in the disguise of a princess."

---

"You ready yet, princess?!"

"I am coming. I am coming, just give me a second!"

I quickly draped a scaf around my neck as I rushed out of my room. Nicole was tapping her foot on the ground impatiently while furiously typin gon her cell phone. I grabbed my home keys from the table.

"You coming?"

---

"Remind me again why we are here?"

"I need to fulfill my promise that I made to Charlie, hence we are here in the hospital."

Nicole frowned but then followed me anyways. Knowing how close Nicole and Charlie were, I supposed she had to come here often, either alone or with Charlie. Hospitals in the city were quite different from what I saw back in my kingdom. Although, we used the same modern technology as them - it was the interior that was different.

Here, it was more white.

Too white - if you asked me.

While back home, the hospital walls were coloured to not make patients feel uncomfortable about walking in here. Honestly, hospitals were scary!

There were bodies kept in somewhere- like a drawer- sorry, for not knowing the term, but you do get the point. Father used to say that the souls of these bodies used to come out and party at midnight or visit their loved ones in the graveyard.

I know it sounds silly, but brother and I believed it back then.

"Charlie! Nicole!"

Nicole's frown changed to a smile when a nurse sauntered towards us. I stared at her in confusion for a second. Did Charlie and Nicole visit that often for a usual nurse to know their names? That nurse didn't seem to notice my confusion as her entire attention was focused on Nicole.

"-Charlie?"

Huh?

"Sorry?"

Nicole rolled her eyes and I realized what I had just done.

The nurse smirked, "Have you been teaching yourself manners, Charlie?"

"Uh...yes..um.."

Nicole's smile widened as she punched me in the gut and took over the conversation. I gave her a glare but she effortlessly ignored it.

"Yes, nurse Sophie. You know, we're actually trying to minimize the colourful words that come out of her mouth because of our boss." She shook her head and stage-whispered. "He hates it when she curses."

Nurse Sophie laughed.

"What I was saying was, are you planning on paying the bills? The pile is huge now."

"Yes, that is exactly why I am here, Nurse Sophie."

Nurse Sophie stared at me in astonishment. I remembered Charlie telling me once that the people who knew her weren't used to her 'not cursing'. She would curse every now and then and this was like a second-nature to her. She once mentioned on phone that she was called a tomboy because of her attire and behaviour. So, I had to nail the character.

And I was failing.

Nurse Sophie laughed. "Anyways, good luck with the practice, Charlie. You honestly sound way more nice when you're not cursing."

She walked away, still laughing at our antics.

"I cannot believe she bought what you said."

Nicole did a hair-flip. "You should know I've trained myself in this field for several years. I'm practically an expert."

I bowed down to her.

"We get it, miss Nicole."

"So if you're done, shall we leave?"

I got up.

"Let's finish what we're here for."

---

"Ah...we're done for the day!" Nicole exclaimed, stretching her arms above her head as we walked out of the hospital. "I really hate hospital visitations."

"Don't you visit here everyday?"

"That's why I hate it ; but then again, I got used to it."

"Why didn't you let me pay the full bill? You know that I could have done that, right?"

She slumped on the driver seat of the car, wearing her seatbelt. "It is because people would doubt you, princess. You're not a princess now, you're an ordinary person working in an ordinary kitchen in the most ordinary restaurant in the world. You cannot have that much cash in your bank account for God's sakes!"

She started the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

"Okay..? Couldn't you just have said a chef? It would have costed less energy."

She sent me a glare and decided not to reply to my question, rather-

"And please don't act so formal! You're gonna get yourself caught. You hear me? CAUGHT! C-A-U-G-H-T!"

I raised my eyebrow smirking. "I do remember the spelling of caught, Nicole. You don't have to tell me that."

"Call me Nic! Charlie calls me Nic! For godforsaken sake--Oh god! I sound like Charlie now!"

I laughed, staring at the window. In just a few days, Nicole and I had become friends. I wouldn't say 'best friends' because to award her that title would be way to early now. At least, we enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes, she used to forget that I was Francine and treated me exactly the way she treated Charlie and other times, she'd forget I was Charlie now and would call me 'Princess'. Luckily, the latter didn't happen in front of an audience.

After around twenty-five minutes, I saw Nicole pass by my apartment.

"Hey, Nic?" I used her nickname to which a smile crept on her lips.

"Uh-huh?"

"You just crossed my apartment."

"Uh-huh."

"NICOLE!"

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

"The apartment!"

"We're not going home!"

I stared at her while her entire focus was on the road. I knew she knew that I was staring at her and waiting for an explanation. Right now, she vaguely reminded me of brother. He never told me what he was planning and would drop the bomb at the most unexpected time. Before he would do something or he had an evil plan in his head, a mischievous smile would creep on his lips.

Nicole's lips curved into a smile - I didn't know if it was a mischievous one or a normal one but what I did know was that she had something in her mind.

"Where are we going, Nicole?"

She smirked.

"You will love the place. I assure you, princess."