?

Gabrielle hardly had a chance to react before Lena began to drop. Her quick reflexes were the only thing that stopped the princess from hitting the cold hard hospital room floor. The tall Italian woman was forced to her knees as she shifted her weight to support the princess. Shit. What in the hell was going on? Lena wasn't the kind of person to pass out.

Much like her father, Lena hardly ever suffered health issues and was rarely deflated in the presence of pressure. No matter how intense it was. To the point that it was the monsters hiding in the corners that always feared Lena, not the other way around.

"Oopsie. That certainly doesn't look very good now, does it?" Dino's comment earned him Julian's hand roughly shoved over his face. The calloused skin stung against his already cracked lips.

"Is she okay?" Julian dared not let Dino go even though he wanted to be beside Lena. He knew, however, that the moment he took a hand off the other, Dino would be gone in a second.

"Yeah. I think so. Her breathing is normal." Gabrielle was no doctor but did her best to give her friend a quick once over for a sign of anything wrong. Before they called the doctor, she needed to check for injuries or evident causes. The tall Italian woman's heart pounded as her hands worked quickly to undo the other's jacket.

"I think that she's just sick. Has she been eating?" She stole a glance in Julian's direction. Based on how thin Lena's skin was, Gabrielle was sure she already knew the answer. When was the princess ever good at eating? Never if her memory served her correctly. Unless there was something sweet on hand. "What do you think?" Julian's response sharp came out harsher than intended. Considering the circumstance, it wasn't unexpected. What was the right thing to do? Let Dino go? Lena was family, while the other was… nothing more than a fly on the wall with limited time before his lease on life would end.

Fuck! There was no option between the two of them.

"You even think about doing anything stupid, and I will make sure you regret it ten times more than you can imagine. Is that understood?" Dino only raised one eyebrow but otherwise remained stiffly against the hall. His sixth sense told him not to enrage Zane's younger, agitated sibling. If memory served correctly, hadn't Julian been docile, more reasonable of the two Scarlet siblings? Or at least that impression had led to him approaching Julian first.

"I don't think there is any reason for me to go anywhere any time soon. Things are just starting to get more interesting." Dino's words came out under his breath, but it would've been a mistake to think that Julian had missed one mention of them.

He could never get enough of chaos. Dino wasn't known for maintaining common sense in most situations. The only time it came in handy for him was when it came to self-preservation, such as at the current moment when it helped him push back the strong desire to rub his hands together in unbridled glee.

"I think it would be best if we considered calling the doctor," Gabrielle concluded after checking Lena over and not finding any apparent reason for concern. Aside from the fact that one touch indicated exactly how little Lena weighed. The princess was small enough as it was; she couldn't afford to keep up such lousy lifestyle habits.

"You think that they're more qualified to handle this there?" The hesitation in Julian's voice rang out. Gabrielle didn't share the same opinion. If they couldn't take proper care of his brother, what would they be able to do for Lena if it turned out to be serious? As effortlessly as lifting a pillow, the tall Italian scooped Lena up and stood in one fluid movement. "I think, for safety's sake, we don't have the time to be standing around and debating that." Julian could do as she wished. Gabrielle had already made up her mind on the best course of action at hand. They needed someone with a better-trained eye. She was well prepared to hurt people, but that didn't mean she equally understood how to mend them or identify problems.

Gabrielle stormed out of the room without waiting to see if either of the men behind her would follow.

"We need a doctor!" The sharp demand startled the nurse at the front desk. She almost dropped her phone as Gabrielle snapped again when she didn't think the other had heard her correctly.

"Whatever you're doing can wait. Couldn't they go any faster? My friend needs a doctor, and I need you to take care of that immediately." The tall Italian woman stomped her foot, careful not to jostle Lena as her impatience grew.

Wide-eyed, the nurse could only nod as she pressed the buzzer on her side of the desk. The alert went out to tell whoever was available or not that an emergency needed to be dealt with.

Still, it wasn't fast enough for Gabrielle; even a pair of doctors and a nurse came rushing down the hall.

Gabrielle didn't want to leave her friend's side but knew there was no choice once the medical staff started crowding around her and giving directives.

"Put your friend down here. Can you tell us what happened? Did she hit her head when she fell?" Gabrielle didn't even have a chance to put Lena down on the gurney as the questions kept coming.

"I don't know what happened. She was fine one minute and ended up passing out the next. Isn't that your job to find out? I only stopped her from falling so she didn't hit her head." The doctor was caught off guard by her comment, her tone drawing a shocked expression of the demanding man in white. Were they not used to being talked in such a manner? The shock wore off, however, when the nurses indicated it was time to go. The doctor ended up getting left behind when Gabrielle roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt with one hand. Pulling them nose to nose, she fixed the man with a level glare. action

"I highly suggest you quickly figure out what is wrong with her. I expect you to look everything over from top to bottom, inside and out, got it?" The unspoken warning of what would happen if the doctor didn't do his job well shone in the tall Italian woman's eyes.