During the night, Fernando could not sleep a wink, feeling emotionally uncomfortable and experiencing mental pain and unbearable anguish. In the morning, he got out of bed, all broken up. He went to his desk and, with a distracted look, ran through the schedule of classes for the day:
French speech
Cartography
Latin speech
Star science
Knightly lessons: sword and lance techniques on a moving target
Dance techniques
He went to the mirror and stared at his reflection – a pale, frowning face with puffy eyelids and red eyes. “I have to pull myself together,” Fernando thought. “It’s a hard day, but I'm not used to giving up. I have to endure and not show anyone my weakness.”
The classes took Fernando's mind off the painful thoughts. But during the second to last lesson, Fernando felt a great physical weakness and slight dizziness. However, he decided to ignore it. Putting on his knight's armor, he got on his favorite horse, took a wooden spear, and galloped toward the moving target. Ten paces from the target, Fernando felt very dizzy. His eyes grew dim, the spear fell out of his hands, and he collapsed to the ground.
Fernando woke up in his room. The doctor was sitting on a chair by his bed to his left and was touching his elbow. On his right was the maid, waving a fan in his face. At his feet stood Philippa, and the rest of Fernando's cousins stood at the door.
“Oh, you are awake, Your Highness,” the doctor exclaimed. “I can see your face, which is already quite pink, is quite focused. Tell me, Your Highness, is anything troubling you? Do you feel dizzy or have pain anywhere in your joints?”
“No,” Fernando answered, trying to get out of bed.
“Oh, take your time, Your Highness. Let me examine you first.” He took Fernando's hands, gently lifted them, moved them to the side, and bent them at the elbows while gazing intently into his pupils. “Splendid! I can see from your eyes that your hands are not feeling any pain. Now gently bend your knees, Your Highness. Do you feel any pain at all? Now extend your legs and lift them. Splendid! Your bones are intact! Now sit down and turn your head. Do you feel dizzy?”
“A little,” Fernando answered.
“That's not good. Do you feel pain in your spine?”
“A little,” Fernando replied.
“And in the shoulder joints? Make circular motions with your arms at your bent elbows.”
“My shoulders don't hurt,” Fernando replied.
“Now, carefully get up from the bed. The servants will hold you up. Try to walk around the room and let me know if you feel pain in other places, such as your ribs, legs, etc.”
“No, it doesn't hurt anywhere else,” Fernando replied.
“Very well,” said the doctor. “You are fortunate, Your Highness, that you fell from your horse like that. Forgive me, Your Highness. I meant the fall might have been more unfortunate and could have had worse consequences. You will need rest today, and I will probably examine you again tomorrow to see if your condition has improved.
“I will prepare an herbal infusion for you to drink immediately after meals, three times a day, one tablespoon at a time. Now, Your Highness, drink this medicine,” said the doctor, pouring the liquid from the bottle into a glass of water. “This root tincture relieves the excitement of fright and will help you recover.”
“I wasn't afraid when I fell, doctor,” Fernando replied.
