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With all the drama gone and Wilhelm and Simon finally being in a good place, they decided that Wilhelm would spend the weekend in Bjärkstad at Simon’s house. In addition to that, Simon’s mother had been invited to a friend’s wedding and wouldn’t be home before late at night which meant that they had the entire house to themselves. It was a perfect opportunity to get frisky without having to worry about anyone hearing or walking in.
The couple had been looking forward to this weekend for the entire week, which was why when Wilhelm that morning had woken up with some lingering nausea, he didn’t want it to interfere with anything and ignored it. However, about an hour ago it had started to become particularly bad, and a nasty stomachache had started accompanying the nausea.
The two boys were playing a new video game, but Wilhelm could barely focus on anything, and in the end, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He excused himself to the bathroom where he promptly threw up what little food, he had managed to get down earlier that day. He was happy that Simon’s room was far away from the bathroom and the noise of the game hopefully deafened out the sound of vomiting. When he was done, he went to the sink and rinsed out his mouth to get the puke taste and smell away, he then took some toothpaste and swirled it around his mouth to further mask the smell.
The puking had helped a bit with the nausea but not nearly as much as he has hoped. And the pain has only become stronger. He was in a dilemma. He didn’t want Simon to see him sick, but he also didn’t want to be at the school surrounded by people. And he certainly didn’t want to sit hours in a car to get back home to the palace.
When he got back into Simon’s room, he took the game console out of his hands and put it on the table, he then hooked his arm around him and urged him to lay down on the bed.
Simon smiled and nuzzled into Wilhelm; they lay like that for a few minutes just cuddling. If Wilhelm was honest, he just really wanted a quick nap. Simon however, had other plans, he started kissing Wilhelm’s neck, initializing something more.
“Is there any way we can maybe just cuddle tonight?” He asked, stopping Simon. “I’m not really feeling it today” he continued when Simon gave him a suspicious glare.
“Of course. We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to” Simon reassured, though still sounding suspicious.
Wilhelm started to panic a bit “I-I’m just really tired, maybe we could put on a movie or something” Wilhelm rambled, trying to ignore how bad the pain in his stomach had gotten.
“Sure,” Simon said. He noticed how pale Wilhelm was. “Are you okay though?” he asked.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine” Wilhelm lied.
Simon put a hand on Wilhelm’s forehead and opened his mouth slightly shocked and concerned. “Wille! You’re burning up, are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to call someone?”
“No- no. I’m fine. Really. At home I would just have to suffer alone, at least you’re here with me” Even though Wilhelm wouldn’t normally want Simon to see him like this, he had already seen him on drugs, nothing could be more embarrassing than how he acted during that time. And to be honest, he was feeling too bad to even care about how he looked right now, and he didn’t want to be alone.
“Okaay” Simon replied doubtfully. “But if you get worse, I’m gonna call someone”
“Fine” Wilhelm agreed and nuzzled into Simon’s embrace again, he wondered if it was even possible for him to feel any worse.
They started watching Captain America: Civil War, the next movie in their quest to watch all Marvel movies. Wilhelm felt like someone was twisting a knife into his stomach and he had to concentrate deeply not to let out any groans or whines. He ended up just laying with his eyes closed and taking deep breaths. Sometimes weak sounds would escape from him despite his effort, causing Simon to gently rub his arm. He didn’t even notice when the movie ended, he did however notice when Simon crawled out of bed, crouched down beside him, and started swiping his hair away from his sweaty face.
“Wille” Simon said softly yet with authority “You really don’t look good. I think we should get this looked at, at the hospital”
This immediately peaked Wilhelm’s interest. “No… no hospital” I muttered but then pulled his legs up in foster position and groaned.
Simon bit his lower lip. He stood up and walked back and forth, thinking for a minute “Wilhelm… I’m going to give you two options. I can either call someone from the royal court or I can call an ambulance. But you’re going to the hospital to get checked out” He then said, trying his best to keep calm for Wilhelm’s sake.
Wilhelm sighed and without answering, took his phone from beside him and called Jan-Olof who was on speed dial then passed the phone to Simon, who stood with the phone baffled for a second, not knowing what to say. Then the man on the phone spoke “This is Jan-Olof, what can I do for you, your highness”
“Yes, uhm hello Jan-Olof, this is Simon, uhm S-Simon Eriksson” Simon greeted and walked outside the room, leaving the door open so he could still hear Wilhelm if something was up.
“Hello, Mr. Eriksson, is something wrong with the crown prince,” Jan-Olof asked with a slight nervousness in his voice. Of course, he would know right away something was wrong, why else would Simon be talking from Wilhelm’s phone?
“Uhm yes, Wilhelm is sick, like really sick I think he needs to go to the hospital as soon as possible but he refuses to let me call an ambulance” Simon hated how awkward and scared he sounded.
“I see,” Jan-Olof said calmly “where are you now? And can a get a phone number I can contact you on?”
Simon then gives Jan-Olof his address and phone number. He’s already slightly calmer now that he is not alone with everything.
“Alright Mr. Eriksson, what’s going to happen now is that I will make some calls” there is a slight pause “But you should expect an ambulance to arrive shortly. You may call again if the crown prince is being difficult with the paramedics” Jan-Olof explains, he was speaking from experience, he knew all too well how Wilhelm could be when he was forced to do something he didn’t want.
“Okay thank you so much” Simon thanked before the phone hung up and he went back into the room where Wilhelm was still laying on the bed, eyes squinted closed and taking deep breaths. Simon sat down beside him. “You’ll be alright soon Wille, I think Jan-Olof called an ambulance for you, they’ll be here before you know and then they’ll make you feel much better” he tried to comfort.
Wilhelm managed to let out an “okay” between breaths, he was fighting hard to not be sick all over Simon’s bed, but he felt too weak to move to the bathroom.
It felt like an eternity for both of them before the ambulance wheeled beside Simon’s house and two paramedics knocked on the door. Then everything became a bit chaotic, and Simon tried to stay away and give the paramedics place to work while they took Wilhelm’s vitals and asked him some questions. They start to examine Wilhelm’s stomach, they put slight pressure on a particular spot which causes Wilhelm to almost scream out in pain. The paramedics then give each other an affirmative look. The woman paramedic starts to pack up the equipment they used to examine Wilhelm while the male paramedic helped Wilhelm up on the stretcher.
“Can I come with you in the ambulance?” Simon asks slowly when he realizes that they’re about to take Wilhelm away. Suddenly this all becomes very real for him, it’s no longer just Wilhelm feeling bad on his bed. This is serious. He’s going to the hospital. In an ambulance.
“Yes,” Wilhelm answered before any of the paramedics could say anything while giving them a pleading yet demanding glare.
“Yes of course” a paramedic answered reluctantly. Simon wasn’t sure if this was protocol or just because Wilhelm is the crown prince, but he wasn’t going to ask. When they got to the ambulance, Simon is seated on a jumpseat at the end of the ambulance. If he reached, he could just hold Wilhelm’s ankle. He wasn’t actually sure if it provided any comfort for Wilhelm, but the physical contact was his way of showing that he was there.
As soon as the ambulance starts moving Wilhelm groaned. “I’m gonna be sick” he alerted.
“It’s okay,” the Paramedic said and hurried to sit up the stretcher more and handed Wilhelm a plastic bag with a hard plastic ring around the opening. He barely made it in time before Wilhelm started heaving. Simon cringed and squeezed his ankle more. Wilhelm gagged and reached but only a few mouthfuls of vomit and spit came out.
“Do you think you’re done?” The paramedic asked when the reaching slowed down.
“Don’t know” Wilhelm answered defeated with a whine. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
“Well. let’s get some painkillers in you, huh?” The paramedic said while opening an IV packet.
“Yes please,” Wilhelm said relieved.
“Alright, you’re going to feel a small pinch on the back of your hand aaaand- all done. Very good job your highness” Normally, Wilhelm didn’t like needles or any type of medical procedures but at this moment he would do anything to make the pain go away even a little bit.
The paramedic started slowly injecting the painkillers through the IV and just a few seconds later, Wilhelm could start to feel the pain dull”
“Do you feel it starting to work?”
“mhm… Simon, I think you’ve just been replaced as my favorite person” He said relaxed. It still hurt like hell, but the pain subsided from what Wilhelm would have rated 9.5 to a 6, so it was a huge difference. Both Simon and the paramedic chuckled a bit at the joke.
“Alright your highness, let’s just take a look at what’s going on inside your stomach.” The paramedic started fiddling with what looked like a computer and found a tube with some blue gel. “This is an ultrasound; you might have seen one before?”
“Like… what they use on pregnant women?” Wilhelm reluctant.
“Yeah exactly.” The paramedic confirmed. “Now, this might be a bit cold” He warned as he squirted some of the blue gel onto the lower right part of Wilhelm’s stomach. He then started guiding the ultrasound wand around, while looking at the screen. Even with the painkillers in his system, the slight pressure of the wand hurt like hell and Wilhelm just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible.
“Right, that is one inflamed appendix if I ever saw one” The paramedic informed and started packing the ultrasound stuff away again. “When we get to the hospital everything might be a bit chaotic so I’m going to go over what’s going to happen, so you know what to expect. Your friend here-”
“Boyfriend.” Wilhelm corrected without a care in the world. Painkillers clearly making him a bit loopy. Simon could feel his face blush as he has never heard Wilhelm mention him as his boyfriend before.
“Of course,” The paramedic smiled “Your boyfriend here will be shown to a waiting room when we arrive. The doctors there might do a few more tests on you but I can imagine they’re going to get you into surgery quickly”
Wilhelm frowned and widened his eyes “Su-surgery” he stuttered.
“I’m afraid so.” The paramedic returned a sympathetic frown. “I know it can be a bit scary, but you know what? I promise you that when you wake up from surgery, you’re going to feel a thousand times better”
Wilhelm just sighed. He didn’t want surgery, but he would give anything to just get this pain and nausea out of his body.
They arrive at the hospital just a few minutes later. Simon manages to grab Wilhelm’s hand and give it a quick squeeze before he gets wheeled off into a room and a nurse shows Simon into another room with some chairs and other people waiting and looking anxious and bored. He takes a minute sitting with his elbows on his knees and face in his hands, just processing everything that had happened. He can’t help but see Wilhelm’s pained expression and groans in front of him and feel guilty. He knew it was bad. If he had put his foot down and called for help sooner, he might have spared Wilhelm from some of the intense pain before the ambulance arrived.
After a while, he takes his phone from his pocket and sees several missed calls from an unknown number whom he assumed to be Jan-Olof. He doesn’t hesitate to call the number.
It was indeed Jan-Olof who answers the phone. Simon proceeds to inform about the appendicitis and that Wilhelm was probably about to undergo surgery. Jan-Olof mentions to Simon that Malin has just arrived at the hospital. She was not right beside Wilhelm at all times anymore, she was always close by in case of an emergency. He also informs that the queen and duke have been informed and will be there as soon as possible, though it might be a few hours.
Simon felt sick just sitting in the waiting room. Sick. Tired. Worried. Stressed. Useless. He could bear thinking that right now Wilhelm, the love of his life, his Wille, was laying on the operating table about the be cut into his stomach. Malin eventually came to the waiting room and sat beside him. They didn’t talk much except for a “He’s going to be okay” and “He’s in the best hands” From Malin when he saw how nervous Simon looked.
After a nearly unbearable hour and a half of waiting, a doctor finally approached them. “The Crown Prince’s surgery went great. There were no complications, and we expect a full recovery. He’s still sleeping but you can see him now. She said and gestured for them to follow her. “He might be a bit groggy from the anesthesia for a little while, but he should come around shortly” She continued to inform them while she guided them to an area of the hospital which was clearly not open to the public.
She showed them to a room, it had a window and was bigger than a normal hospital room, though still small. However, what caught Simon’s eye was Wilhelm sleeping in a hospital bed in the middle. It was a bit of a scary sight, he had an oxygen cannula in his nostrils and an IV hooked up to fluids. On his index finger was an oximeter and further up on his arm was a cuff measuring his blood pressure. He seemed so at peace sleeping there compared to last time Simon saw him, but he couldn’t shake the nauseating feeling he got when he realized how pale he was. Simon went in and sat on the side of Willes bed and started stroking his arm softly.
After 10-15 minutes of Simon just sitting and admiring his sleeping recovering boyfriend, Wilhelm let out a weak moan and peeped open his eyes. He immediately get eye contact with Simon.
“Hi” Simon greets softly like he was speaking to a scared child and smiled.
“Hi” Wille replied in that deep raspy voice you only hear after a deep sleep
Wilhelm was looking around tired and disorientated and Simon could feel that he wasn’t quite there yet, so he gave him a few more minutes to wake up without saying anything but still stroking his arm and smiling softly.
“Am I dead?” Wilhelm then finally asks.
Simon chuckled “no Wille you just-“
“No, wait wait” Wilhelm interrupts almost excited “Am I dead? Because there’s an angel in front of me” He continued with a cheesy smile, looking at Simon.
“Wille!!!” Simon exclaimed embarrassed and chuckled again, Wilhelm was always very affectionate, but this was blunt even for him. Even Marlin who was standing by the door of the room smiled at the comment.
“Are you feeling better?” Simon asks more seriously but still softly.
Wilhelm thought for a while as if he wasn’t really sure how he was feeling and what he had felt before. His eyes looked tired and disorientated. “I’m thirsty” he then stated.
“I’ll go fetch a nurse,” Marlin says and walks out the door, leaving Simon and Wilhelm alone in the room.
The door had barely closed before Wilhelm reached out and cupped Simon’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” He said mesmerized gazing deeply into Simon’s brown eyes. He stated pulling Simon closer in for a kiss, but Simon stopped him by holding his hands and kissing him on the forehead instead.
“If you ever scare me like that again I am actually going to kill you,” he said teased relieved. He was starting to calm down, realizing that Wilhelm was actually going to be just fine.
“I’m sorry” Wilhelm mumbled, already seeming way more sober than when he had just woken up.
“You’re better now, that’s all that matters” Simon comforted with a smile and wiped a strand of hair away from Wilhelm’s face.
Malin comes back and a nurse comes soon after with a cup of water and a cup of juice, both with straws “just drink a little at a time” she coached. Wilhelm takes just three sips of the water before deciding that that was enough. The nurse then proceeds to take off some of the monitoring equipment now that Wilhelm has woken up. “How’s the pain, your highness?” She asks while working.
“mmh..” Wilhelm considers “about a three maybe” He answers honestly. It didn’t hurt hurt anymore, but he definitely still felt sore, especially when he moved or tightened his stomach muscles.
“Alright, let’s up your pain medication a little bit then” She smiles and fiddles with the IV, then leaves shortly afterward.
“My Mama and P-“
“They’re on their way, they’ll be here soon. You should try and get some more rest” Malin interrupts Wilhelm.
Wilhelm looks at Simon with his sick, drunken, pleading puppy eyes “Will you hold me?
Simon’s heart skips a beat, there was no way he could say no to that. “O-of course”. He awkwardly crawls into the hospital bed, careful not to yank on any tubes or justle patient too much. He puts his arm around Wilhelm and Wilhelm rests his head on Simon’s shoulder and for just a moment everything feels right. They don’t say anything and the prince drifts back into sleep in a matter of seconds. It doesn’t take long for Simon to follow.
Simon wakes up to the sound of high heels and faint talking, then he sees Wilhelm’s parents, the Queen and the Duke, walking into the room. He is immediately wide awake and freaks out slightly. Wilhelm is still sleeping in his arms. Ludvig gives a fond smile but neither of them mentions anything about their comprising position.
“The doctor told us that his appendix could have ruptured at any point” Kristina then spoke “So we want to thank you for calling when you did. It saved him from major complications”, she continued while Simon awkwardly tried to crawl out from under Wilhelm without waking him up. He knew that all the Queen saw when she looked at him was his son with his hand down Simon’s underwear, and he really wanted to get on their good side.
Simon was almost out of the bed when his mission failed, and Wilhelm peeped his eyes open again. The first person he saw what Kristina “Mama” he pleaded in a weak husky voice.
Kristina put down her bag at the foot of the bed and hurried over beside Wilhelm. She carefully gave him a light hug and kissed his cheek. “Hi, honey. I’m so happy to see that you’re okay” she burst with a relived smile “I’m sorry we couldn’t be here sooner” she then apologized.
“It’s okay. Simon was here” Wilhelm smiled slightly looking at Simon, he didn’t mean to throw any shade at his parents, but Kristina’s smile still turned into an apologetic one.
“And thank god for that” She added, hiding her guilt.
“How are you feeling, son?” His father asked as he took a seat beside the queen.
“I’m alright” Wilhelm answered honestly “A bit sore maybe but nothing like before”
Simon, who was now standing near the wall to give the Queen and Duke space to fuss over their son, started fiddling with his jacket which got the attention of Wilhelm, who looked over alarmed “y-you’re leaving?” He asked anxiously, eyebrows furrowing.
Simon didn’t want to leave Wilhelm, but he could feel that he wasn’t really wanted there. “I think your parents would like some private time with you” He assured calmly. Neither Kristina nor Ludvig objected, and Simon was sure that they wanted him to go home.
“No. I don’t wanna be here without you” Wilhelm protested looking frantic between his parents and breathing faster “he can stay right?” he asked but basically demanded. “beca-“
“Of course, Honey. He can stay” Kristina reassured and put a hand on Wilhelm’s shoulder to calm him down. She knew that sending Simon home right now wouldn’t do anyone any good. “We are going to order some food soon, you must be starving if you haven’t eaten yet. Why don’t you at least stay and eat with us” She proposed.
“Yeah. Yeah, I would like that. Thank you” Simon smiled and put down his jacket. He knew deep down that the Queen was just trying her best. And neither of Wilhelm’s parents seemed to be actively against their relationship. Maybe getting to spend some time with Wilhelm and his family wouldn’t be as bad as he had feared.