Comfort Me

Comfort Me Chapter 5

The first thing she noticed was the pain, the latent ache in every single inch of her body. It wasn't unbearable, it was just there, making itself known, reminding her of whatever injury she had sustained this time.

An involuntary gasp of pain left her lips as she tried to swallow, suddenly struggling for breath. Her throat felt scratched and sore, and Rao, it hurt so bad.

"Easy."

A warm hand touched her chest, just above her heart, silently willing her to quiet down.

"Take slow, deep breaths. You're safe. I know it hurts, but you're safe now."

She recognized that soothing voice, but her mind decided to use whatever energy it had left to follow the voice's instructions, instead of trying to figure out whom it belonged to.

"You're doing great, Kara," the low voice said, the warm hand now drawing soothing circles on her aching chest.

"Lena..." she breathed hoarsely.

The hand faltered for a second.

"It's not Lena," the voice said. "Can you open your eyes?"

The hand touching her chest moved to her face, gently cleaning around her eyes. Was she crying?

"Kara, can you open your eyes?" the voice asked again, the tone always soft, never demanding.

Her breathing still labored, she tried to comply, but it felt like her eyelids weighed tons, too heavy to open. She tried again and, ever so slowly, bloodshot blue eyes cracked open, trying to take on her surroundings, but everything looked hazy.

Her lips parted slightly, and she licked them, realizing she was thirsty.

"Here," the voice came again and this time she followed the sound and was able to recognize her sister standing very close to her.

"Alex..."

"Don't talk." Alex smiled at her and touched her lips with something cold. "Suck this. Slowly, so you won't strain your throat and choke."

It was ice. Alex was giving her ice and she obeyed, grateful, the cold liquid somehow soothing her sore throat. She didn't want to hurt anymore, she was already aching all over.

She closed her eyes again, too tired to keep them open. She felt Alex's fingers cleaning another tear.

"Hurts..." she whispered brokenly, her mind fogging again.

She would soon slip to blissful, painless darkness and she craved it.

"I know..." Alex's voice broke slightly. "Be strong for a while longer, sis. I can't give you any pain meds for another hour."

A ghost of a kiss brushed her forehead.

"You're the bravest person I ever met and I'm so proud of you."

She wanted to say she didn't feel brave, that all she felt was pain, but darkness claimed her, and she welcomed it, even as she felt her lips move in a failed attempt to talk.

##

Kara was curled up on her couch, all snuggled in her favorite blanket, just her nose and eyes visible, staring unseeing. The apartment was quiet, no music was playing in the background and the TV was off. Usually, she always had something on. She enjoyed the soft background sound. It made her feel less lonely, almost like she always had someone around, but now... Now she couldn't find comfort in any of that.

Her eyes were red and watery from unshed tears, the lump in her throat threatening to overwhelm her at any moment. It had been a rough month. She was exhausted from fighting and rescuing almost non-stop, and she'd drained her powers so often in such a short period, it was taking her longer to recover each time. Every time her powers were blown, she became injured, one way or another, sometimes severely, and this last time... She had almost lost her life. It had been too close. Her fingers pinched her eyes, trying to stop the scattered memories that kept assaulting her ever since she was strong enough to stay awake for more than just a few minutes.