The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 22 - Agony

Levi

After offloading Pastor Nick to be dealt with later, Levi had returned to Ehrmich to wait for Anya. Assuming she made it back, of course. He had prowled around like a caged animal for much of the day in spite of his leg injury, only pausing to sit and drink copious amounts of black tea whenever someone was brave enough to offer it to him. Sometime in the early evening, just as thick, ominous rainclouds had been gathering to cast the city into an even deeper gloom, Hange had arrived, unconscious, in the back of a wagon with the other wounded Scouts that had remained behind on the wall. She was badly battered and scalded, but Levi knew that she'd recover, and he now sat outside the room she'd been taken to, waiting for the doctors to finish treating her. The fact that Anya had not come back with her terrified him, and he focused, at the very least, on maintaining a calm façade and not chewing off the head of anyone who dared to speak to him. When the door opened and the doctors left Hange's room, he rocketed from his chair and strode in, relieved to see that she was awake. Any pretence of stoicism fell away immediately; he knew that she could see through his bullshit almost as well as Anya could.
"Hange. Where is she?" he asked by way of greeting.
If she was bothered by how blunt he'd been, she didn't show it. No, instead she seemed...guilty, somehow, and he tensed.
"We thought we'd lost her again," she admitted, "but Erwin rode out alone before setting off to retrieve Eren. He found her."
"Alive?" he asked, his mouth dry as bone.
"Yes, but badly injured."
He sat down sharply in the nearest chair and rested his elbows on his thighs. However, his relief did not last for long. He looked up at Hange, dumbstruck.
"Don't tell me that she went with him, despite the state she's in?"
Hange shifted awkwardly.
"She insisted."
Burning frustration merged with a new wave of worry and despair and for a moment, he struggled to find the words.
"Does she want to die? What the fuck was she thinking?"
"She wanted to help Erwin and the others, Levi. To fulfil her duty as a Scout. As a Captain, no less," Hange replied, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "She told me to tell you that she loves you, by the way."
He gasped, before trying to calm himself. The fact that she had asked Hange to give him that message...could it have been that in that moment, she hadn't expected to return? He listened intently as Hange filled him in on everything that had happened. It was somehow even worse than he'd imagined. He decided to stay with her whilst he waited for the other Scouts to return, not wanting to be around other people now more so than ever.
"We heard that Miche, Nanaba and the others didn't make it," he said quietly, staring down at the worn floorboards.
"Yeah," Hange replied, her face full of sorrow. "Miche had been a Scout for longer than both of us. It's strange to think he won't be around now, sniffing everyone and everything."
"He was like a giant, damn dog, with that nose of his."
They fell into a subdued silence, and he realised that Hange was so exhausted that she'd passed out. He carefully removed her glasses and placed them on the bedside table, before going over to sit in his chair again. An hour or so passed, and just as he was lighting a candle to give the near pitch-black room some light, he heard a large commotion outside. He flicked his gaze to Hange, who was still sound asleep, and left as quietly as possible. He did his best to ignore the sickening, near-agonising churning of his gut as he made his way to the large, rain-slicked street that lead from Ehrmich's inner gate. There was quite a crowd, despite the late hour, and he forced his way through before stopping abruptly when he saw Nightmare at the front of the procession. The huge, ebony stallion was dutifully carrying an unconscious Anya and a barely-conscious Erwin. Levi realised that his friend had lost his right arm just below the shoulder, and with it, a profuse amount of blood. His skin was the colour of ash, and he was covered in scrapes and bruises, yet he clung to Anya and the reins with his remaining arm as though his very life depended on it. Anya herself almost appeared to be dead, and for a moment, Levi swayed on the spot. She had been burnt a fierce, blistering scarlet, and her hair had come loose from its ribbon, obscuring much of her face as she sat slumped in the saddle. She was soaked in dark gore, and one of her shoulders jutted out at a grotesque, unnatural angle. As the last of Erwin's strength faded, the pair began falling to the ground. Levi ran forward and grabbed Anya, gently lowering her to the damp paving stones while a few others rushed to help Erwin.
"Hey! I need a doctor here now!" Levi yelled.
He moved his head to Anya's chest, shutting his eyes as he listened for a heartbeat, borderline frantic. The moment he heard one, albeit faintly, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, moving a strand of hair from her face.
"You've got some explaining to do, stupid girl."
A medical team soon appeared and carefully secured her onto a stretcher, their expressions grave. He knew that he should stay behind to help the others that had made it back, but he couldn't bear to leave her. He crouched next to where Erwin was sprawled on another stretcher and gently slapped the side of his face, but there was no response at all. His friend had completely lost consciousness almost as soon as he'd seen Anya safely into Ehrmich, and he now appeared to be barely breathing. Levi swallowed hard, trying to dispel the lump in his throat. He scanned the stump where Erwin's arm should have been and realised that the tourniquet secured there was none other than Anya's hair ribbon.
"You'd better wake up soon, you big idiot," he said, shaking his head. "I've got one hell of a bone to pick with you."
He got up and followed on behind the doctors as they transported Anya inside and into the room that they'd allocated her. They began with a thorough examination, and from the looks on their faces, Levi knew that things truly weren't good. They hurriedly began to administer treatment, and he flinched when they cracked her shoulder back into place, before watching carefully as they cleaned and bandaged her wounds. In total, the doctors worked on her for almost an hour. When they eventually finished and made to leave the room, Levi grabbed one by the arm from where he stood leaning against the wall.
"How is she?" he asked.
"She had a dislocated shoulder which we managed to move back into place with no resistance, though it's going to be sore for quite a few days. Her skin is badly scalded and will require frequent application of aloe gel to help with the healing – there's a pot beside her bed, but if you apply it yourself, make sure your hands are clean first."
Levi raised an eyebrow, but did not interrupt.
"She's also got several bruised ribs; they may even be fractured, in which case she's extremely lucky that she didn't puncture a lung, though we'll need to monitor her breathing to make sure. The old wound on her leg has reopened as well, but the most worrying thing of all is the concussion and the fact that she hasn't woken up yet. We'll be back in a couple of hours to check on her."
Levi hung his head.
"Thank you," he said, letting the man's arm go and quietly shutting the door after him. He braced himself, then turned back to go over to Anya. She sported a large bandage around her head, her skin was crimson, and her entire upper torso above her ribcage was wrapped with yet more bandages. She looked so fragile in that moment that he was afraid to even breathe around her, but he forced himself to go and sit in the chair next to her bed. He instinctively reached for her hand but pulled back when he saw one of her red-raw fingers in a tiny splint.
"It's been a while since I've seen you this bad," he murmured. "Maybe you went through worse on your own, though." He covered his eyes with a hand. "I should've been there. Damn this injury; just look at the shit you've gone through, and here's me with a sprained ankle and a shitty leg, babysitting a Priest." He sighed, looking up again. "Why didn't you just come back to me like you were supposed to?"
He remained by her side all night long, fighting off sleep for as long as he could to watch over her.

***

Levi started awake the next day when someone knocked at the door. From the pattern of the knocks alone, he knew precisely who it was. Beside him, Anya was still out cold.
"Come in," he said wearily.
Hange opened the door and stopped dead, her hand still on the doorknob, when she saw Anya.
"Anya..." she said, seemingly unable to take her eyes off her friend.
"Don't just stand there gawping," he said.
Although still clearly injured, Hange already looked a lot better than she had the previous night, and she now wore simple pyjamas and a large dressing gown, her short hair loose and dishevelled around her face. She shut the door and walked over to the bed, so Levi stood up to give her his chair. She collapsed into it gratefully, and he stretched before going to stand over by the window, crossing his arms.
"I knew you should've come back with me," Hange murmured. "Though, judging by Erwin's injuries, he's lucky you were so stubborn."
"You've seen him?"
She glanced at him, and the look in her eyes struck dread into his heart. He slowly unfolded his arms, bracing himself.
"Yes, but...he's in a coma."
"What? A coma?"
"I heard that almost as soon as they got back last night, he fell from the horse and slipped into unconsciousness. He's been like it ever since."
"He did; I was there. Shit... Hange, is he going to live?"
"They don't know yet. He's lost a lot of blood."
He suddenly felt sick once again, and he almost regretted letting Hange have his seat as the world swam in front of him. He grit his teeth and forced himself to pull it together, before shaking his head, utterly unable to stop looking at Anya.
"What do you think happened out there?" Hange asked.
"You haven't had a report off of one of the others yet?"
"No. I haven't been up long myself."
"I think that they probably ended up saving each other. At least...for the time being."
Hange softened her gaze, and he wondered if he looked as shit as he felt.
"You need to go and eat something and get some proper sleep."
"I'm not leaving her."
He knew that she was right, but he was loath to let Anya wake up alone.
"You can't stay here the entire time."
"Try me," he said. "How are you doing?"
"Me? Positively wonderful, compared to the others," she said, forcing a dark laugh.
He studied Anya. He was shattered, and he knew that at the very least, he needed to drink something.
"Will you stay with her?"
"Of course I will."
"Come and find me if she wakes up. And Hange... Thank you."
He reluctantly made for the door, though before he allowed himself to rest, he went to visit Erwin. Losing one of them would break his heart. Losing both...would destroy him.