Alix made her way to the kitchen, thinking of how different Duncan seemed tonight. He was so relaxed and comfortable here in his sister’s apartment. He opened up in a way that she hadn’t expected. She didn’t want him to get so serious with her, but he seemed to need someone to open up to. Why he had chosen her remained a mystery. Or maybe it was something he did with all the girls as part of his wooing technique. Either way, it had certainly gotten her thinking about how gentle he might be in other areas…

Distracted by her thoughts of Duncan and where the night might lead, she didn’t see the puddle of wine on the kitchen floor. Her heel went coasting through it, throwing her off balance. She grabbed for something, anything, to stop her fall, and came up with only empty bottles of wine on the counter. They crashed to the floor as she fell on top of them. The pain in her hands and legs was sharp and sudden as the broken glass cut into her. She cried out, more from shock at first, and then screamed as the adrenaline of the fall passed and the true pain began.

The dozen people at the party all came rushing into the kitchen at the first cry. The room was large, but it soon got crowded and hot. Duncan pushed his way through everyone to squat down next to her, careful not to touch any of the glass or get anything on his pants.

“Are you okay?” his eyes were full of concern. He didn’t try to touch or move her. Nervous energy radiated off of him. He was waiting for her, his sister—anyone, really—to tell him what to do. The others voiced a similar question, inquiring how they could help.

“I’m fine,” she said, though it wasn’t really true. “I need a washcloth to start cleaning myself up.”

Duncan stood, and made his way past her toward the cabinets, crunching the glass.

“No, go around!” Alix cried, the pain suddenly biting into her as she shifted her weight from one hand to the other.

He stopped in place and looked around, unsure what to do. Alix could feel her frustration mounting. Everyone was staring at her, the pain was starting to become unbearable, and she didn’t want to be crying in front of people. Especially these people, who, besides the royal siblings and Stella, she didn’t really know. She turned her tear-filled eyes to her best friend in a silent plea, and Stella bent to help pull her up from under her arms. Helena began shooing the rest of the guests out of the kitchen. Then she helped Stella lead Alix over to a counter stool. Duncan was still standing in the middle of the glass, looking for someone to tell him what to do.

“Go get a broom to clean it up,” his sister hissed at him, annoyed, as well, by his inaction.

He returned a moment later with the bartender, who began cleaning and apologizing profusely for the accident.

“You should see a doctor,” Duncan said, as Stella came over with a wet washcloth, tweezers, and some ice. There was a jagged cut on Alix’s leg that was bleeding quite a bit. She tried to hold a cloth to it to stop the bleeding, but it soaked through in a few seconds. She took off the thin belt she had on and tightened it around her leg to at least slow the bleeding a bit. Duncan was probably right, but she didn’t want to admit it. She was embarrassed he’d seen her cry, and annoyed he hadn’t thought to remove the spectators from the room.

“I’m fine,” she repeated. “Just go with the others, I don’t need your help.”

He stared at her for a moment, and then stalked off, almost pouting. Was he seriously mad at her? She realized the ridiculousness of being mad at him for not knowing how she felt with just a glance, the way Stella could, but she was in too much pain to be very logical at the moment.

“He never liked blood,” said Helena, trying to explain her brother’s clumsy reaction. The air was thick with its metallic scent, mixed with the cleaning products the bartender was using to clean the floor.

Alix said nothing, but felt her attitude shift a tiny bit toward sympathy. Not everyone was cut out for the life of a doctor. He had opened up so much to her tonight, yet she hadn’t shared much of herself, and didn’t plan on it. She told herself that since she was only after fun, it didn’t matter. As long as he knew what to do in bed, why did it matter if he was useless when she was in tears or in pain? After all, she didn’t plan on crying or bleeding in front of him again.

A buzz from the door had Helena running. Alix was left with Stella, who concentrated on picking out the small bits of glass from her best friend’s hand.

“Hey, it’s fine Stella,” she said, trying to hide her grimace with each piece of glass she removed. “Go back to Anton.”

“No, it’s all right. He won’t even notice that I’m gone,” she said with a sad smile. “I need to make sure you’re okay.”

Helena walked back in with a paramedic clutching a medical bag.

“Duncan called them,” she said by way of explanation.

Alix’s softened feelings toward Duncan hardened again. Not knowing how to handle a crying woman was one thing, but she’d explicitly said she didn’t need a doctor. It didn’t matter if he was right; what mattered was that he hadn’t listened to her. This was why men were so frustrating. Her father thought that he knew best and signed her up for university here without even asking her. Now Duncan, who couldn’t even handle a little blood, thought that he knew better than a future doctor what to do in an emergency.

As if on cue, Duncan appeared at the door to the kitchen, looking hopeful, waiting to be told he had helped.

“I’m fine!” she cried for the third time, trying to stand up before quickly sitting back down as the makeshift tourniquet fell off and her leg began to bleed profusely again.

“Please, Lady Alix, let’s get you down to the ambulance,” said the paramedic.

A second paramedic was arriving with a stretcher.

She allowed herself to be helped onto it, not meeting Duncan’s gaze. It was childish and cruel, she knew, not to thank him for doing something helpful, but she was in too much pain to really care.

As the other guests buzzed around, murmuring about the whole thing.

“The press will have a field day with his,” someone said.

“We could have driven her. Why did he call the paramedics?” a different voice commented angrily.

As Alix left, she got the feeling that she wasn’t the only one who was upset with Duncan at the moment.