Cousin Nik

"Good morning, Miss Molly," chirped the young nurse as she set down a tray of food and smiled at her patient. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better than yesterday," the Queen replied with a yawn as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and returned the smile.

"Oh Nik, dear! I knew I could count on you. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not sure this food is fit for anyone, let alone royalty!"

She giggled and reached out a hand to give the adorable, chubby boy a place to land. Her eyes went wide upon noticing the tiny being he held in one arm. She didn’t recognize this little one… she knew all of her children off by heart. She smiled brightly and brought her face a little closer.

"Better than yesterday," the Queen replied with a yawn as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and returned the smile.

She’s been in the hospital for about two weeks now. The first few days were rough, and she was on a pretty steady stream of painkillers, but she was doing better by the day. She was lucky. Her medical records were still in the system and she was marked down as a human, meaning the hospital staff treated her as an equal. Nons and Anons weren’t allowed in this hospital, as horrible as it was. Thank goodness she never bothered to change her status to ‘alien’.

"Expecting any visitors today," asked the nurse as she poured a cup of water.

The Queen smiled sadly and shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to contact my parents yet. I’m not sure if anyone knows I’m even here.”

"Tch, aw, I’m sorry to hear that, sug. Is there anyone you’d like us to contact for you?"

"Oh, I don’t want to be a bother. Besides, I don’t want to scare anyone."

"Well… hrm." The nurse picked up a clipboard and flipped through the pages for a moment. "You’re gonna be here for a while yet, hon. Someone should know you’re here so they don’t think you died or something. Crazy out there, you know. We don’t need your family thinking you got bumped off by an Anon."

The Queen thought it over, then nodded. “Yes, that’s true. Alright. May I have a pen and paper so I can give you the number of one of my niblings?”

The nurse grinned and gave her a funny look. “Niblings? Well, sure. Here, borrow my clipboard.”

The Queen accepted the clipboard and pen from the nice lady and quickly jotted down a phone number. She double-checked it for accuracy, then handed it back and smiled. “Thank you. I hope it’s not too much trouble.”

"Oh, not at all! I’ll get this to the lady at the front desk, and hopefully your, ah, nibblers will come and see ya! Take it easy and enjoy your breakfast."