The entire Force had turned white when Allura fell grasping her chest.
�ALLURA!� Keith yelled as he ran to keep her from falling too hard on the stage. He didn�t care who heard him refer to her in a manner that he only had when they were alone on Arus.
�SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR NOW!� Lance yelled at the nearest person available. Romelle nearly pushed people over to get to her cousin kneeling by her side opposite from Keith.
�Someone stop him, NOW!� Hunk bellowed to thunderous proportions. The normally gentle man was now a force to be feared. Even more frightening was going to be the combination of all five men, each one loved the fallen princess in their own way but none more so than the man who was now fighting back tears.
�Allura, come on Allura wake up,� Keith called to Allura. �Please Allura wake up for me, just let me see those blue eyes.�
�Keith the doctor will be here any second now just keep talking to her she�ll be fine.� Lance tried to reassure his best friend. �Come on Princess hang in there.� Lance said under his breath.
�Move out of the way Dr. Bailey is here,� an anonymous voice announced but to Keith it was just part of a noise that belonged to an outside world. The only inhabitants in his little world were Keith and his princess; the other world contained everyone else in the universe.
�Come on Keith Dr. Bailey is here you�ve got to give him some room.� Lance said but Keith didn�t move. �Keith you have to give the doctor some room.� Lance placed his hand on Keith�s shoulder shaking it mildly. While Lance was still prodding Keith, Romelle took her cue to make room for the doctor who was still pushing through the crowd.
�Lance I�m not going anywhere.� Keith slowly started to come around, �I�m staying right here. I should have stopped this before it happened.�
�Keith it is not your fault. There is no way that you could have possibly known that this would happen.
�But that�s the ironic thing Lance, I should have expected what I shouldn�t have known would happen.� Keith stated blindly.
�But Keith, that is impossible.� Lance protested seeing in something in Keith that he had never seen before, the heart that everyone saw as a sculpture of ice, was breaking. Little by little, Keith�s heart slowly crumbled into thousands of slivers. Meanwhile the young man who once held the blaster had collapsed among the crowd.
Dr. Bailey temporarily dressed Princess Allura wound before moving her onto a gurney to move her to the med wing.
�Captain we have to move her if we do not she will not make it through the night,� Dr. Bailey informed Keith, who still in his trance, nodded blindly. He moved along with the medical crew away from the ballroom. While Hunk and Pidge stayed behind to calm the crowd: Keith, Lance, Sven, and Romelle all followed the medical team to the med wing once they reached the surgical unit they gathered into the waiting area. Keith however detoured into a room that no one was near, after a few minutes; the world finally came crashing in around him.
CRASH! �What in the world was that?� Romelle turned to both Lance and Sven referring to the loud noise that they just heard.
�I don�t know Romelle.� Sven responded.
�I don�t know either, but I�m gonna find out.� Lance lied knowing what the source was, darting around the corner. Lance kept running to where he believed the crash came from, corner after corner Lance finally came across a scene that froze him in his tracks�there stood Keith facing away from a wall looking at his fist. Red streams flowed from his fingers down his fist.
�Lance, go back to Romelle and Sven.�
�Keith what happened?�
�What do you think happened, Lance?� Keith turned around to reveal the true cold anger in his eyes. This is something that even Lance had not seen before in Keith and it frightened him on the inside.
�All I know is that there is a hole in the wall that maintenance will not be happy about filling and your hand is covered in blood, now let�s get you to Dr. Bailey.�
�The doctor has too much to worry about than me, he needs to concentrate on Allura. The last thing I need right now is to worry about Coran and Nanny�� Keith�s face went as white as a ghost when he thought about Princess Allura�s royal advisor and governess. �I have to contact Coran and Nanny.�
�I�ll do it Keith after we get you and your hand to the doc.�
�No Lance I�ll do it, I am the one in charge of security. I need to be the one to notify them both.�
�Then I�ll be there with you.�
�No Lance, I appreciate the offer but I don�t want anyone to be there when I talk to Coran and Nanny.�
�Ok Keith but let�s get you to at least see one of the doctors that they have around here.� Lance faked a smile.
Keith followed behind Lance holding his hand trying to keep the pain level out of his mind, but rather focusing on the impending conversation back to Arus. Slowly Keith and Lance made their way back to where Sven and Romelle were waiting.
�Oh Keith, what happened?� Romelle rushed to Keith�s side followed quickly by Sven.
�Its ok Romelle, its just a scratch.� Keith reassured her.
�Keith it looks more than just a scratch, you need to have a doctor look at that.�
�I intend to, Sven.� Keith said with a half smile.
�And that is where we are off to now before that hand starts to get worse.� Lance threw in dragging Keith off further down the hall until they ran into a nurse who was looking over some reports.
�Nurse I need you to look at Captain Kogane�s hand, I think he may have bruised a bone in it earlier this evening.�
�Certainly Commander McClain, I�ll be more than happy to. This way Captain.� Keith followed the nurse in to the next examining room. �I will see if Dr. Montgomery is available, someone will be with you shortly.�
�Good evening Captain, my name is Dr. Montgomery, I will be looking at your hand this evening.� Several minutes passed and Keith�s mind dwelled on Allura and wondering how she was. Something about this evening did not seem right only two people hated Arus that much, Zarkon, who was serving in a rehabilitation program as well as a prison sentence. However, there was also Lotor, the crowned prince of Planet Doom, this was definitely his style, but why? After running several tests and X-rays, the doctor returned to Keith�s room disturbing his train of thought.
�Well Captain I don�t know what you were doing this evening, but you were certainly very lucky. The only thing I see besides some obvious swelling and some cuts is just that you bruised a couple of bones.�
�Thank you Dr. Montgomery.�
�I�ll have the nurse come in and clean your cuts and bandage your hand, then you will be free to go.�
�Thank you again Dr. Montgomery.� As the doctor turned to leave, Keith looked up to her and asked. �Oh Doctor, just one question.�
�Yes Captain?�
�I was wondering if you could check in with Dr. Bailey to see how is Princess Allura.�
�I will see what I can do Captain.� Dr. Montgomery smiled at Keith and then turned to the waiting nurse and nodded to go ahead to treat Keith�s wounds. She left the room and proceeded down the hall when Dr. Bailey was exiting the operating room.
�Dr. Bailey how is Princess Allura?� Dr. Montgomery asked.
�She�ll be fine, but there are some things that I need to discuss with Captain Kogane.�
�He should be finishing up getting his injury dressed, afterwards I�ll have both Captain Kogane and Commander McClain meet you in the waiting room.�
�Thank you Doctor.� Dr. Montgomery returned to the examining room where Keith and Lance were.
�Captain, Commander, once the nurse is finished up you may return to the waiting room with Princess Romelle and Ambassador.�
�Yes Doctor,� Both Keith and Lance said at the same time.
�I wonder what is keeping them.� Romelle sighed. �They need to make sure that Keith is all right.� �Hey guys have you heard anything?� Hunk asked rounding the corner. �Where�s Keith and Lance?� Pidge asked. �No word from the doctor, yet� Sven answered. �And we�re right here� Lance said as Romelle prepared to answer Pidge�s question. Everyone sat down in the various seats in the room. �Hey Keith what happened to your hand?� Hunk asked. �I had a little run in with something.� Everyone suddenly stopped talking when the doctor walked in somberly. �Dr. Bailey how is Princess Allura?� Keith jumped up and asked. �Princess Allura is sleeping and she will be fine.� �May I go see her?� �Yes Captain, but only one at a time.� Keith looked at the others. �Go ahead Keith.� Romelle ushered, followed by nods from Sven and the rest of the Voltron Force. Keith ran out the door and rounded the corner where they were just bringing the young princess out of the operating room. He followed the doctor and nurses until they reached the infirmary room where Allura would recover from the laser blast wound to the chest. They locked down the bed and set up the various instruments that would monitor Allura. One by one they filed out of the room, passing Keith as they exited. �Ok Captain you can go and see her now.� Keith nodded his thanks and went in. Once he did, the site before him robbed him of any thought he had. Before him was his princess, but now she was different this time she was pale and fragile looking almost like the porcelain dolls he used to give his younger sister. Once the initial shock wore off Keith sat down beside Allura�s bed and took her hand. �Allura I�m sorry, this is my fault I should have expected this to happen. I should have been better prepared. I promise this to you I will bring whoever is behind this to justice. I will not allow this to ever happen again. I�m so sorry that I let this happen to you.� Keith sat with her throughout the night.
With the dawning of a new morning, things were starting to look up but Keith still had to make a call that he was reluctant to make� the call home, the call to Arus. Keith was determined to stay by her side until she woke and even then, he was reluctant. Keith never left Allura�s side but he had actually fallen asleep at her side. Occasionally he would wake when she stirred in her sleep, which Dr. Bailey reassured him was a good sign. �Mmmmmmmm�� Allura moaned in her sleep but this time Keith did not wake. This time Allura was actually starting to wake up. Slowly she batted her eyes open reaching her hand to her pounding head. Keith woke up by Allura�s slowly sitting up. �ALLURA!� Keith yelled. �DOCTOR�DOCTOR BAILEY!� Quickly Dr. Bailey came running into the room pushing aside the Romelle, Sven, and the rest of the Voltron Force. �Ah it seems that our sleeping beauty has awoken,� Dr. Bailey checked Allura�s vitals. �Well Captain, it seems that our princess here will make a complete recovery, I do however want her to stay here for a couple of days to regain her strength.� �Thank you doctor,� Keith smiled and shook the doctor�s hand. �Thank you doctor, but do you have anything for this massive headache?� Allura rubbed her head. �I�ll send the nurse in with something to help ease the pain. Until then lie back and get some rest.� �Thank you again Dr. Bailey.� Allura smiled. �Thank you Dr.� Keith repeated. �Allura I need to take care of something for a moment I�ll be back in a couple of minutes. I�ll send in Romelle for you while I�m out if you�d like.� �That would be great,� Allura yawned as Keith left her side leaving the room. �Romelle, would you mind doing me a favor?� �No Keith not at all, what can I do for you?� �Would you mind sitting in with Allura while I take care of something?� �Sure Keith I would love to.�
**A few minutes later in another section of Galaxy Garrison**
�Private I need a secure line to Castle of Lions on Planet Arus. Can you patch it into my office?�
�Yes Captain.� A few minutes later, the young private came on the screen in Keith�s office.
�Captain, Princess Allura�s royal advisor is on the line for you.�
�Thank you private.� Keith changed the channel
�Captain Keith what a pleasant surprise, how may I help you this morning?� Coran greeted.
�Good morning Coran,� Keith greeted nervously. �Well I�m going to be honest with you, as you were aware we have recently had festivities celebrating the anniversary of the fall of Lotor and Zarkon. As her royal highness was delivering a speech to everyone there was an unfortunate event. One of the visitors pulled a blaster and hit Princess Allura in the chest.�
�I see Captain.� Coran stated turning a ghostly shade of white.
�We do have the person in custody and once we knew that the princess would be fine we will begin the interrogation of the suspect. We will keep you informed as our investigation progresses.�
�Thank you Captain Kogane, I trust that you will expedite the judicial process and see to it that our princess returns home safely. �Is there anything else that I can aid you with?�
�It would be great if you could keep this from Nanny, at least for a little while.�
�I will see what I can do Captain.�
�Thank you Coran�
�Thank you Captain.� He replied, his color slowly returning.
�As soon as I find anything else I will let you know as soon as possible.�
�Thank you again Captain, until later Coran out.� Coran terminated the connection. Keith slouched over in his chair letting out a loud sigh of relief. Coran was calm the entire conversation, a little too calm and this bothered Keith but this was something that would have to wait.
To Be Continued.........
Disclaimer:The following characters listed do not belong to me they belong to World Events Productions, they are protected by all copyrights laws. The names borrowed include: Tsuyoshi "Hunk" Garret, Darrell "Pidge" Stoker, Sven Holgersson, Keith A. Kogane, Princess Allura, Coran, and Nanny, these names were based on those used in the comic and the Voltron Defender of the Universe series. The author claims no association with nor endorsement from World Events Productions or any of their affiliates. Any other characters belong to the author.