The Prince and the Ballerina (part 3)

He grabbed me and held my hand while dragging me across the campus making our way to the infirmary, it was rather late and most of the students were in their respective dormitories.

"You could let go of my hand now."

"What?"

" I said, you can let go of my hand now, nobody is here, you don't have to pretend anymore, no one is watching."He lets go of my hand rather unwillingly and as he let go of me, my hand felt cold, hmmm… that's weird. "You can just tell me where the infirmary is and I can go by myself."

"No. I have to accompany you there, if Chase asks about it and they see you going on your own it would create trouble for me. Besides, you need special permission to be out here walking this late in the evening and if you can't present a pass it will reflect badly on the Ballet Company."

"Don't you need a pass as well?"

"No. I am the "pass". I own half of this Academy, you think I would need permission to walk around even at night?"

"Okay. If you say so. . ."

Well that was a mouthful from him, I turn and gesture to him to lead the way. It was a silent short walk towards the infirmary. The lights were off but he simply knocked on the door and said, "Dr. Decker, Its Henry." And the lights came to life and the door opens. An man probably in his 50s opened the door and he greeted Henry with a smile.

"Henry! What brings you here this late in the evening?"

"I have a Company member here who got injured and needs immediate attention Doctor."

"Okay, come in, come in. . . Oh what a lovely young lady you are."

"Good evening Sir, sorry to have intruded on your rest."

"Oh anything for dear Henry's friend. You can take a sit on the chair there and Henry you can sit on the sofa."

"Thank you Dr. Decker."

"Nonsense, Henry. Here have some tea, I just brewed that, it's lavender. Here you go, careful it's still hot."

"Thank you Dr."

"Okay, young lady, where is your injury?"

"Its my ankle Sir, it seems to be a little swollen from the fall I had earlier."

"Let's see. May I take a look?"

"Yes, please."

"It is a little swollen. Does it hurt when I twist your foot like this?"

"Uhm, no Sir."

"How about if I do this?"

"Ahh, just a little Sir. I didn't know that it hurt unti you twisted it just now."

"It's just a small sprain. I'll give you something for the pain and let's put some ice on that and wait for it to calm down on its own. What happened exactly?

I glanced at Henry who was looking at me while drinking his Lavender infused tea and I understood what that look meant. To be perfectly clear I am not afraid of Henry, I am more afraid of him doing something irrational ang ruining things for me at Graceland before I finish my stay here. So, I lied.

"I was reaching for something placed on the top shelf and I was managing to reach for it with my tippy toes when I lost my footing for a brief moment because a sudden loud noise distracted me. I think I fell on the clutter on the floor that's why my ankle is swollen."

"Well, you must be very careful from now on, you're a ballerina after all and your feet are everything to you, isn't that right Henry?"

"Yes Dr. I will try to look out for her more, so she doesn't end up distracted and hurt."

"Very well young man, very well indeed. Young lady put this ice pack on your ankle and let it sit there until the swelling goes down. I recommend that you stay in the next room to avoid putting strain on your ankle when the swelling goes down and completely disappears you can go. There are beds there for patients to use. Is there anyone I can call from your family to tell them what happened and that you will be in the infirmary tonight?"

"Uhm there is no one in particular Dr. I can stay here by myself. I'm an orphan."

"My apologies, Okay, but I will not allow a young lady to stay here alone, there must be someone we can call?"

"I'll stay here with her Dr. I will keep her company until the morning if you will allow me."

"My, my what a gallant young man you've become Henry. Well if Henry will accompany you as a guardian, I have no objections on that. I trust that you two know how to behave well.?"

A sudden blush came over me, when Dr. Decker implied that Henry and I might do something in the other room as I remembered him kissing and hugging me But Henry was quick to dismiss the Dr.'s statement.

"Nonsense Dr. Decker... She and I are not romantically involved in any sense of the word. I am not attracted to her in the least bit."

Hmmm, well if I wasn't his type then why did he do those things to me before? This guy really is perpexling.

"Yes Dr. You needn't worry about me there is nothing romantic between Henry and I. He will take care of me and I am most gracious to him for that."

"My dear, you don't need love to dance romantically on stage but you need love to romantically 'dance'. "

"What do you mean Sir?"

"Well it seems that you still have a lot to learn but that doesn't mean that you need to learn them all at once."

Doctor Decker seems to be speaking in tongues. Whatever he means, I'm sure he means well, he is a doctor after all. Henry and I took our leave to the next room where multiple beds were placed in rows like that in a hospital with thin white sheets separating every bed from each other. With Henry lifting me up in bridal style, he helped me towards one of the beds, he had no choice, Dr. Decker was watching us. Henry's face was delicate as he held me rather very awkwardly . I felt his hand graze the side of my breast and I was startled a bit but I could not protest since Dr. Decker was there. This guy is out of his mind, he even told the doctor that there was nothing romantic between us and that I wasn't his type.

He laid me down by the bed and I put the ice pack on my ankle, I decided to ignore his actions and make sure to let him know and feel that I am unaffected by the way he treats me or at least try hard to pretend that I am unaffected. Am I allowing him to keep harassing me, no! Absolutely not! I just don't want to draw unwanted attention, but I will not give him the satisfaction of getting any reaction from me.

"Okay, I will be in my quarters and get some sleep. When the swelling goes down, put the ice pack by the sink and both of you can go back to your respective rooms. I suggest that Henry accompany you until you reach your room to make sure no accident happens again with your ankle young lady."

"Very well then Sir, if you say so."

Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!. . . Time flew slowly and the ice in the ice pack has now become cold water but it has done the trick and the slight swelling in my ankle was now gone. Henry and I did not talk to each other, not a single word uttered between the silence and the sound of the white cloth swaying in the gentle breeze. But from time to time, I would catch Henry glance at me, I could see him from the corner of my eyes. He sure is a weird fellow.

"Uhm. . . Hey, the swelling is gone now. . . "

He still kept quite but stood up and took the ice pack from my hand accidentally grazing the tips of my fingers, again I was startled, this time by the sudden warmth of his finger tips compared to my cold hand. He walked towards the kitchen sink inside the infirmary and moved towards the storage room and took out a wheel chair. He motioned me to sit on the wheel chair.

"Why?" Was all I could say to him.

"Do you want me to carry you until we reach the girl's dormitories?"

"No, that won't be necessary." I sat down on the wheel chair thinking that this is better than being carried all the way to the dormitory.

Henry pushed the wheel chair along the silent corridors, the whole area seemed hauntingly beautiful, so serene and peaceful yet eerie at the same time. We eventually reached the girl's dormitory and no soul in sight, everyone was probably fast asleep of course Henry and I were sleepy as well. I was even surprised that I heard this guy take a few deep yawns on our way here, I thought it was a cute side of him showing signs that he was human after all. Poor fellow, instead of sleeping and resting after a wonderfully tiring performance earlier he had to take me into the infirmary, wait for me and now wheel me around in a wheel chair to the girl's dormitory. Hmmm… am I getting soft? I just thought about Henry and said poor fellow. . . Hmmm . . .

"Where is your room exactly?"

"Uhmm, the one at the end of this corridor."

"There's only one room at the end of the corridor?"

"Yes, the other rooms in this corridor are for the servants and mine is the only one used for a student. Well, I mean it was originally a servant's room but I was lucky to be given this room instead."

"You talk too much."

Sigh! And he's back to the grouchy Henry from earlier. When we reached my door, he asked for the key and opened it by himself, wheeled me in, in that wheel chair. I stood slowly up, bowed my head at him and thanked him and I asked him to close the door when he leaves because I was going into the bathroom. I went into the bathroom and when I heard the door click and close, I started my night routine; washed my face, relieved myself and brushed my teeth. Took off my clothes and I took a short shower. I was in my bathrobe when I almost screamed seeing as that Henry was still there. He was lying on my bed with the covers over him. He was so tall that his feet reached the end of my bed. I wanted to push him off and yell at him to leave but I remembered how sleepy and tired he must be that he had fallen asleep immediately. Well, what now? Where am I going to sleep, this is a single sized bed and with him sleeping on my bed, there is no room for me. I can't sleep sitting on my study chair that will only give me cramps. I guess it's the floor for me tonight, let me just borrow one pillow from the bed then I could go to sleep as well.

As I was carefully retrieving a pillow for myself, Henry opened his eyes and looked at me sleepily. He then grabbed my arm and pulled me down to him on the bed. He maneuvered around thus putting us in quite an intimate position. He was lying behind me, his chin, he placed on top of my head, his right arm embracing my waist and his left arm is now my arm pillow. This was too much. I had never been embraced by a man like this and I believed that this was reserved for those who were romantically involved with each other and I could clearly recall him saying he was not interested in me one bit. And now he does this, this is just too much but did I fight it? No. I did not. I falling asleep in this crazy man's embrace, am I proud of myself? The answer is also No. There in that small room, I relished the warmth of his embrace, the sound he makes when he takes a breath and exhales and I was closely listening to his heartbeat. It was a beautiful melody that slowly hummed me to sleep. There in that small room, I lost my proud self and found a frightening side of me I did not know I had. Was I this hungry for this kind of closeness all along? Was I lonely all this time? Was I this desperate for some semblance of love and affection that I could only remember my three year old self enjoyed? So this is me? This is the real Christienne Nicollete Lascelles-Miller. What has become of me? What did you do to me Henry Archer?