Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 55: Aftermath

Brunnhilde shrugged. "You take that up with him. I was just told to let you know," she answered. "Start freshening up, and I'll make sure you have breakfast sent up to you."

"I'm not hungry," Anja protested weakly.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday," Brunnhilde countered. "You need to eat something. Even if it's just something small."

As much as Anja didn't want to admit it, she was right. Not eating wasn't going to solve any of her problems; if anything it was just going to make them worse. Her stomach had been churning for days now as it was and all the grief wasn't making it feel any better. At some point, she'd have to bring it up to a nurse or something, but for now she was more than content with blaming it on the great stress from the last week.

"Just make sure it's something light," Anja replied nonchalantly. "Crackers or something."

Brunnhilde raised an eyebrow. "Your stomach is still acting up?"

Anja shrugged. "Stress," she offered.

Brunnhilde snorted. "I think it's something more than that at this point. You should probably see someone about that. Make sure it's not an illness or something."

"It's on my to-do list," Anja said sheepishly.

"Uh huh," Brunnhilde retorted. "Go take a bath and I'll see you in a bit."

Before Anja could protest, Brunnhilde turned and left her room, shutting the door behind her. She was alone once again, and that fact alone made her sigh. She supposed she needed to get up and wash up, preparing herself to face the Asgardian public. With a huff, she got out of bed, letting the cloak fall off her shoulders and pool near the bed's edge. She shuffled slowly to the bathroom, her joints and muscles still aching from all the exertion from the battle.

She turned on the tub's faucet, making the water as hot as she could stand it. While the water filled the tub, she undressed, her nightgown pooling onto the floor a few feet away from the tub. Once the tub had finished filling several minutes later, she turned off the faucet. Anja stepped in, sinking slowly into the water, letting the warmth engulf her. She wasn't used to a tub this deep; back home her tub was just a standard one, certainly not deep enough to properly soak her entire body. She tried her best to relax, resting her head against the edge of the tub. Even if she didn't want to admit it, the heat from the water did feel nice and even the sorest parts of her body were already starting to feel better. It wasn't going to cure her sadness, but it would at least make her physically hurt less.

Anja closed her eyes, feeling her eyes swell with tears once again. She wasn't sure how she had tears left to cry at this point. Her cheeks were tight from the dried tears on her face, and her head pounded from the constant sobbing and lack of sleep- let alone whatever blows she had taken to the head yesterday. Somehow she was going to have to push all that aside to help Thor address the remaining Asgardians. That in itself was still a mystery to her. Surely Brunnhilde would've been a better candidate to assist him with that, since she was a Valkyrie afterall. Anja had no official titles, and she didn't think she had anything to say that could help the Asgardians in this time of great crisis.

After all, she couldn't even help herself.

She sighed, sinking lower in the tub, getting her hair wet. She probably didn't need to wash it again, since the nurses had helped clean her up last night, but perhaps freshening up would help her feel more like herself again. In all honesty, she was skeptical, but at this point she didn't know what else to do. Once her hair was sufficiently wet, she sat up and reached for the shampoo, pouring a small amount into her palm before working into a thick lather throughout her hair. The nurses had carefully removed all the braids Loki had put in her hair a few nights ago, so most of her hair was down once more- the exception being a single braid they had put in for her near the front of her head. She avoided this braid, afraid if she washed it now it would come undone, and that was the last thing she wanted.