24 He Had One, She Had Two

As Emma quickly thought of what to do, James came to see where the scream had come from.

"What happened?" He asked as he approached Emma, not noticing Lily.

It took him a few seconds to realize that Lily was on the floor, unconsciously lying there for who knows how long.

Emma was panicking.

"We have to bring her to the clinic!" She exclaimed as she flailed her arms.

James nodded, rolling up his sleeves before gently picking Lily up.

As they headed out the library, Emma noticed Professor Celine out of the corner of her eye. So she hadn't left after all, she had just moved sections.

She nudged James on the shoulder.

"There's Professor Celine. Shouldn't we ask her for help?" Emma asked, knowing her professor would have some way to help.

James nodded.

"You're right. She is a professor, after all," he said as he turned, now carrying Lily to the unexpecting professor.

Professor Celine seemed shocked when the two students came to her with the unconscious body of another student.

"What on earth are you doing?" She asked in a state of shock and disbelief.

Emma panted, taking multiple breaths. She had ran all the way there, and considering how massive the library was, it was an incredibly difficult task.

James was no different either. He was quite muscular in form, but carrying Lily was no easy task.

"Professor! It's Lily! She...she...we found her unconscious in the library!" Emma exclaimed, trying her best not to break down in front of her professor.

Her eyes widened.

"Oh my! Follow me! This way! We have to get her to the ZALE clinic immediately!" She said as she gestured to the doors.

It took a matter of minutes for the four of them to reach the clinic. An hour later, Lily was checked in the ZALE clinic. She laid on the bed, still and quiet, as James and Professor Celine spoke. The nurse had gone to alert the Dean about this, while Emma sat by her bedside, holding her best friend's hand as she tried her best not to seem vulnerable.

If she had asked someone else, Lily wouldn't be unconscious. She had gotten them into trouble. She had gotten Lily and her the punishment. If anything, it was her fault.

"L-lily, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," Emma said as she sniffled.

Worst part was, if Lily had been awake, she wouldn't have blamed Emma. She would've probably said something about how she was too careless, and how Emma had nothing to do with this and shouldn't feel guilty.

Emma's eyes shined with tears as she looked at her best friend in this state.

James squeezed her shoulder as he took a seat next to her.

Unlike most, he had never had to experience anything like this, so his attempt at comforting Emma was...adequate at best.

"I've talked to Professor Celine, and by default, Lily will have to take a toxicology test, and get blood drawn. If my guesses are right, Lily was most likely poisoned," he stated as his eyes stared into hers.

Emma's eyes widened.

"Poisoned?!" She asked, rage and disbelief filling her.

He nodded.

"Poisoned," he said as he looked at the unconscious girl.

"Dean Fleur will arrive at any minute, from what Professor Celine said. She also mentioned that the area Lily was found in was cut off. Think of it as a crime scene. We could go and investigate it tomorrow if you'd like," James suggested, still not fully knowing how to comfort his devastated friend.

Emma wiped a tear, before nodding. She knew crying wouldn't solve anything, nor would it awake Lily. She needed to find out what caused this as soon as possible, and first, they needed to check the crime scene for any evidence.

"Yeah, okay. There has to be some evidence left there," Emma managed, fighting back a sob.

James looked at Emma, his face trying to figure out how she was feeling at the moment. He no doubt felt that Emma was more than just a friend, but he had never felt this way.

"Emma, I-I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

Emma looked up at those stormy grey eyes of his.

"It isn't your fault. If we should be blaming anyone, it should be me. I have this gut feeling that I was the target, and Lily simply took the hit for me. This is all MY fault," she said as placed her head in her hands.

James had never been the emotional sort, heck, he had a reputation for being cold. It was just something about Emma that made him feel different.

In any other cases, he couldn't have cared less, but this was a different case.

"Emma…" he trailed off, knowing one way to help.

He moved closer to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

This action was unexpected, to say the least, but Emma was grateful for him.

From her first impression of a cocky, spoilt prince, James had turned to a caring, charming guy. Emma was falling. And she was falling fast.

She placed her head on his shoulder, tears finally pouring down, as all her emotions came flooding out. Her emotions about suddenly becoming a royal, her emotions about coming to a completely different environment with different types of people for the next few months, her unclear feelings toward the man she was in an embrace with, and last but not least, her emotions about her best friend and her somewhat comatose state.

While James was completely sure about his feelings for the girl he embraced, she wasn't so sure about hers.

For him, he had one, and one only. For her, she had two. Two of those men being princes from two different kingdoms, and that itself would pose a problem in the nearby future.

Who those two men were, on the other hand, were none other than Prince Michael of Zenovia, and Prince James of Amaris.