Lunar Moon

Chapter 4: And hey, If Your Wings Are Broken

(A/N) Title from Stand by You by Rachel Platten

Everything hurts. My head is pounding, my back is on fire, my legs feel like they have weights holding them down, and my chest is tight.

I hear soft voices to my right. Tubbo and Quackity.

"Will she be ok?" My brother practically sobs.

"Purpled healed her as best he could. All we can do is hope now," Big Q replies somberly.

"Mm fine, no need to hope," I mumble with a pained voice (to a gasp from Tubbo and a "She's alive!" from Big Q). I was most definitely not fine.

It was like Purpled read my mind (has he been here the whole time? Why didn't I hear him talking?) as he speaks up.

"You are not fine. You are quite far from fine actually. You have several broken ribs, a severe concussion, and bruising all along the back of your body. One rib was puncturing your lung, the bones in your left leg were very nearly shattered, and you almost bled out before I got to you. It's a miracle you're alive, actually."

"Way to make me feel better Purp," I groan, and he lets out a quiet laugh.

Purpled, or Grayson, is my best friend, and has been for years, ever since Tubbo and I escaped Schlatt. We connected instantly. He was another avian to lose his wings, though his had been an accident when he was little and fell out of the sky, needing to have them amputated.

"It's not supposed to make you feel better. It's supposed to make you stay in bed," Purpled laughs lightly.

"Not gonna happen, and we all know it," I grin at them, finally mustering the energy to push my eyes open. I'm in the med bay of Quackity's place, Aethon Casino.

"Well I can unfortunately confirm that at least. You have a job now," Tubbo says, grinning at me. It takes a minute for his words to register.

"YOU MEAN I ACTUALLY GOT THE JOB?!"

I yell, a huge smile on my face as Tubbo nods.

"You start Monday," he tells me. It's Friday. I have three days to recover from falling nine stories out of a burning building. I stare at him, before turning to Purpled.

"You have some work to do mister," I tell the healer vigilante, and he groans, but there is a smile on his face.

I smile, before remembering something.

"How's the kid doing? Did he get hurt in the fall?" I ask, concerned.

"He's fine, you shielded him from most of the damage, he's just a bit bruised," Purpled answers me, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"His name is Andrew. I- you should probably see him. He's pretty shaken up right now. And- and sad," he added

"Sad?" I questioned.

"His single mother didn't make it out of the building. She was on the top floors. Dead when you got there. The police and social services haven't been able to find any other family for him." Oh. Oh. The poor kid.

I am going to visit him as Moon when I can, I think. Just do he knows he's not alone, that I'm always here for him.

Poor kid deserves someone to love him. If Tubbo and I weren't in such a horrible financial situation, I would adopt him myself.

"Ok, can you bring Andrew here?" I ask. Q nods, and leaves to get him.

I take my mask from Purpled, who holds it out to me, and slip it over my nose and mouth. My throat is still a bit sore from all the smoke, but at least I'm not uncontrollably coughing anymore.

He returns after a moment with the toddler, and I hold my arms out to take Andrew from Big Q, hiding my wince as he's set in my arms.

"Hey buddy. How're you doing?" I ask gently. He looks up at me with big watery eyes before burying his face in my chest.

I rub circles on his back gently as I lay down with him curled up in my arms. I close my eyes to hold back the tears that threaten to spill on behalf of this orphaned toddler.

He doesn't deserve to have lost any family he has already at this point in life. He probably will hardly remember them when he's grown up. I hug him tighter, and he snuggles into me.

We fall asleep like that after a while, me hugging him and him curled up to me, clinging to each other in our sleep.