Saving Him

The Ever-Persistent Keith

     The med rooms were bustling. The paladins had finally awoken, and that called for celebration. You could feel the love emanating from each room, spreading throughout the Garrison.
     Coran and Romelle stayed with Allura, recapping everything she had missed. She was raring to go already, ready to plan, to fight, to win- but there was no way in hell either of them would let her go. She sat frustratedly, although content with the attention she was receiving. She fought hard to hide her smile.
     Hunk's mother had not stopped crying since he opened his eyes. She was so proud of her boy, and the man he had become. His father laughed silently at his wife's antics and tried to pull stories from Hunk whenever she had stopped rambling to him. Sometime during this, the door had flung open. Shay stood breathless in the doorway. Hunk's eyes filled with love and adoration, and his parents gave each other knowing glances.
     Lance barely had a second to breathe. One moment he was resting peacefully with his mother at his side, and the next, his nieces and nephews had climbed onto his bed, his sisters were ruffling his hair, and his aunts and uncles spoke over each other, fighting to be the first to get his attention. All he could do was laugh. His love for his family grew every day he was away from them. Now he could finally relax, knowing they were all safe, happy, and healthy.
    Pidge's room had been the quietest. The Holts never really expressed their love verbally. They were a tight-knit family because they expressed themselves through actions. Sam sat with a cup of coffee by his daughter's bed. Her mother raked her fingers through her hair. Matt stood directly across from the bed, smiling down at his little sister. He was damn proud of her.
    Her eyes expressed pure exhaustion, although she had been out for days. She was clearly drained.
    "Katie, rest. You're safe now, baby. There's no reason to force yourself to be awake," Her mother whispered softly.
    Pidge looked as if she were going to argue, but the weariness won over. Her head lulled into her mother's touch, and soon her breathing leveled out.
    Watching his mother and father begin a hushed, quite serious-sounding, conversation, Matt slipped out into the hallway. As he walked by the rooms he made sure to listen closely to the laughter. The love. The unbridled joy. And he smiled brighter with every giggle. They were all still kids after all.
    But as he progressed down the hallway, there was quiet. There was no laughter. There was no joy. Only heavy silence. The air around him thickened. That couldn't be right. Where was it? He had only passed three rooms, not including the one he walked out of.
    It was killing him. He would hate to ruin a moment between a paladin and their family, but this quiet was different than a mutual silence. It pained him to be intrusive, but he let his curiosity get the best of him.
    The door seemed to stand taller than all the others. It was intimidating, almost as much as the air that swirled around him. Matt took a moment to look at the nameplate by the door, and the weight on his shoulders lessened greatly. Keith.
    Shiro had probably been there earlier, and Kolivan had to have been there at one point too. Although he'd never admit it, he clearly cared for the kid.
    Matt smiled, shaking his head. Of course. That made perfect sense. Kolivan and Shiro held important roles around the Garrison and had probably been called out. They'd be back.
    Still, Keith was his friend. He wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to see him, especially if he was sitting there all alone. He turned the knob of the door and stepped into the room.
    Involuntarily, Matt gasped. The room smelled so strongly sterile. There was not a hint of anything else in the room. There were no chairs strewn about. No jackets lying on tables. No used coffee cups. No flowers. Nothing. The trash can was still empty. The countertops were pristine, aside from the thin layer of dust settling upon them.
    Most startlingly of all, Keith remained tucked under the sheets perfectly. Meaning, he hadn't woken up. And if Matt had decided to keep walking, no one would've known. Not one person had been to visit Keith. He layed here alone. He had been here alone for days.
    The pit that had formed in his stomach climbed its way up to his chest. The number of emotions coursing through his veins were suffocating. He was angry. Angry with Shiro, angry with Kolivan, angry with himself. He was despondent. The air was thick for a reason. He had to fight the tears that tried to fall. He couldn't cry, not yet, because most of all, he was terrified. Terrified that there was a reason Keith wasn't waking. Terrified that Keith could be dead, and no one knew.
    He cautiously approached the bed. His trembling hand reached out and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. He moved his fingers around every once in a while, trying to find something. He never was good at this. His breathing began to pick up as he moved his hand one last time. His whole body was shaking, he couldn't deal with the loss of another friend.
His knees nearly buckled when he found not only a pulse but a strong one at that. Keith had been the closest to the explosion, as he pilots the Black Lion. Since the other paladins had been awake for at least a day now, he should be coming-to soon.
Matt reached behind him and pulled a chair up to the edge of Keith's bed. He let his head hang and exhaled. Keith was okay. Keith was going to be okay. Peeking up at him through his bangs, he noted how peaceful he looked. Keith was never relaxed. He always held a hardened expression, hiding his thoughts and feelings from everyone around him. It was good to see him this way.
Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back and ran a weary hand through his hair. He tried to think of who else was close to Keith. Who else should have been there? Keith's mother was never located. He'd been searching for her the entire time they were in space. It was heart-wrenching, watching him lose hope. His father was dead, Shiro had told him that. Died in an accident at work, leaving Keith orphaned. He had no siblings. No living relatives of note. He was pretty sure he had seen Keith with a different teacher on various occasions. He'd have to ask around about that. But apart from that, all he had were the paladins, Shiro, and Kolivan. The paladins were clearly incapacitated, so they were out of the question. But there was absolutely zero chance that Shiro and Kolivan had been working nonstop for the last week. They had the opportunity to visit. They just didn't.
Matt was pissed. He wanted to hit something, preferably Shiro. Shiro was the closest thing to a father Keith had. He almost died. And Shiro couldn't even spare him a visit. In his anger, he failed to notice the stirring of the boy in front of him.
"Shi...ro?" Keith murmured.
Matt's attention snapped forward, staring directly into his eyes. Keith's eyes wandered around the room, before locking back onto Matt.
"He hasn't been here, huh?" Keith huffed, pushing himself up into a sitting position.
"Huh? How'd you know?" Matt questioned, still stuck on the fact that he's awake.
"I can tell by your face. Too solemn."
"What? Is it really?
"You can't tell?" He paused for a moment, almost bracing himself, before speaking again, "Has anyone been here?"
Matt froze. He wanted to cry, not for himself, but for Keith.
"You know what, don't- don't answer that. Please," If Matt hadn't been listening so closely, he would have missed the slight helplessness in his voice.
Keith swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and pressed his feet on the ground, testing his weight.
"Woah, woah, woah, what do you think you're doing?" Matt managed to spit out.
"Getting up?" Keith answered, clearly confused.
"Um, hello? You almost died? You should be resting!"
"I've done nothing but rest for god knows how long. I'm rested. Besides, I need to know what's been going on. The world doesn't stop because I did."
"All of the other paladins are still in their rooms. You've earned a break, Keith. Take it."
"Thanks, but," Keith pushed himself up off the bed, putting his arms out to the side slightly to keep his balance, "I need to get going. Tell Pidge I said hi."
Matt stared blankly at the Black Paladin as he walked to the door.
"Wait," Keith turned around to face him, "thank you, really. You didn't have to come to see me."
Matt, unable to muster much else, smiled at the boy, "The pleasure's mine."
Keith gave him a half-smile in return, before turning around and continuing out the door.

All Matt could focus on was the sadness in his eyes.