Alix bit her lip to avoid crying out in pain as the sharp needle dug into the tender skin of her calf. She hadn’t realized the cut was deep enough to need stitches. She knew that shallow wounds could sometimes bleed more than deep ones, but obviously that wasn’t the case this time. She still had so much to learn.

To distract herself from the pain, she looked around the clean, modern hospital room, taking mental notes about what her life might look like one day. The smells of antiseptic and blood did not bother her as they did others. It made her think of all the good that was beneath the pain.

Her room had the most up-to-date equipment, very different than what she’d see in the refugee camps. She tried to sneak a look at her chart, but the intern stitching her up held her in place with one hand as she concentrated on finishing her work.

“You’ll probably have a scar,” she said sadly. “It’ll fade with time. You can see a plastic surgeon before you leave who can tell you when they’d be able to fix it.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Alix said, not caring one bit about the mark it would leave. She wasn’t that kind of noble.

No, she was the kind who drank too much and got hurt at parties with the royal siblings, she thought bitterly. This wasn’t what she wanted for herself at all. Even though she had to admit that she’d been having a good time before the accident.

The doctor came in, interrupting her thoughts. He was young, probably only his first year on the job.

“How are you feeling?” he said amiably, as if he was talking about the weather and not the fifteen stitches in her leg.

“Not the best,” she said. “Probably dehydrated from drinking. I thought I’d have an IV by now, especially with the amount of blood I lost.”

He looked impressed.

“You’re thinking of a career in medicine?” he said, pushing the button to call a nurse.

She nodded.

“I was pre-med in New York. I just found out that I got into the Refugee Medical Alliance internship program. It’s a program that—”

“Focuses on medical relief in refugee camps and areas of displacement,” he finished the tagline for her, smiling. He started to help the nurse who’d just arrived with the IV. “I know. I did two years myself before going to medical school at Oxford.”

Alix beamed, eager to hear more about his time in the program. She blurted out question after question, barely taking a breath in her excitement.

“It was the most life changing experience I’ve ever had,” he said after he’d patiently answered all her questions, confirming that the program was everything that she’d hoped it would be. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It made me who I am today.”

“But you came back to Prynesse to work?” she inquired. “You didn’t want to go somewhere else?”

“This is still home,” he said with a shrug, and turned to greet Alix’s parents as they walked in.

“She’s a genius this one,” he said, smiling. “She’ll do great next year.”

Alix panicked and turned white.

“Of course she will,” said her father with a proud chuckle. “She’ll be best in her class.”

The doctor looked at Alix quizzically, but thankfully said nothing else before excusing himself to give the family some privacy.

Her mother went to the window and pulled down the shade against the rising sun. She felt guilty for having woken them for such a small thing, and told them as much.

“Nonsense,” said her mother, climbing into her hospital bed to stroke her hair tenderly. Her father perched himself in a chair next to the bed on the other side. It felt good to be surrounded by her parents.

“I’m sorry that you’re hurt, but it’s nice to be able to come and see you right away after an accident, instead of having to call the school nurse eight times a day for updates,” said her father, referring to the handful of times she’d been sick or gotten hurt at boarding school.

“It was hard to be away from you, whenever you were ill,” her mother said. “The trip is so long, you would have been better by the time we got there.”

Alix nodded, remembering the constant phone calls in those situations. They annoyed her at the time, but looking back, she saw how much they had been worried about her.

“It’s wonderful to have you home,” her mother sighed happily, hugging her close.

“You don’t miss New York, though?” she asked them, directing the question more toward her mother. The question had been on her mind for months—years, really. Now that they were all together, it felt like the right time to talk about it. “That’s not home to you?”

“Oh, not after all these years,” her mother said, without a hint of sadness. “My years on the stage there were wonderful, but I was happy to give all of that up for the life required of someone married to a Prynesse count.”

Alix didn’t want to doubt her mother’s words, but it was so different than how she felt. Her mother saw the skeptical look on her daughter’s face and laughed.

“I know that must sound ridiculous to you, you’re so young,” she smiled at Alix’s father, who looked at them both with tenderness and love. “Your father was happy to arrange his own duties so that we could be in New York while you were young. Then it was time to come here. It wasn’t so much a sacrifice for either of us, but more of a…” she looked to her husband.

“Compromise,” he finished her thought with a chuckle. “When you love someone, supporting her dream doesn’t really feel like sacrifice. Because the other option is to live without her, and that would be so much worse.”

Alix wanted to ask if they loved her enough to support a dream that only offered one option—to live without her—but decided she wasn’t ready to tell them yet.

“Well, I’m glad we’re all here together now, and all you had to sacrifice tonight was sleep,” Alix said, bringing the conversation to a close by cuddling into her mother’s arms. Her parents smiled at her, assuring her they’d give up much more than a few hours of sleep to make sure that she’d be okay.

As they left, Alix realized that she’d only just started to get to know them, as an adult, and here she was, ready to leave them again. She wanted to be sure to spend as much time as possible with them this summer before breaking their hearts.