How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Original Chapter Twenty-Eight: Road to Recovery

~Chapter Twenty-Eight: Road to Recovery~

"Idiot," I rasp, my voice sounding like it has not been used in months. Exactly how long was I out?

Since the shape by the door is so blurry – my eyes have yet to adjust to the light after being closed for as long as they have – I cannot tell if the figure reacts to my voice. And for a horrifying second, I am worried that Nero did not hear me. After that second passes, though, it becomes apparent that Nero is not moving towards the door. In fact, when I squint at him, I can see that he appears to be completely frozen.

"Didn't know fire demons could freeze people," I mumble, because my sense of humor apparently survived, too. However, regret comes fast when my words are followed by a painful coughing fit.

Just as I am starting to get the coughing under control, hands close around one of mine and I look over at Nero, who is far less blurry up close. Though, that does not last for long. Demons don't cry...except when they do.

Nero's head is ducked, making it hard for me to read his expression, but when he brings my grey hand up to his face, I detect a little wetness against my skin. For a long moment, he just holds my hand in his, seemingly content to keep the contact. It aggravates the knife wound in that shoulder, but there is not a single part of me that wants to pull my hand back.

Eventually, though, he does let go, but not before he presses a kiss to the palm of my hand and leans forward to do the same to my forehead. Only then does he gently place my hand back on the bed, and even then, he does not really break contact. Instead, he leaves his hands resting gently over my arm. "You died," is the first thing he says. "Twice. Once after you were shot and then again, not long after surgery."

Well, that's a great way to ruin a nice moment.

Before I can actually tell him that, he continues, "Never do that to me again. Please."

The words are hard to force out due to the state of my throat, but some things need to be said. "Never leave me alone again and I'll consider it," I croak. Realistically, I know that I will spend a lot of time alone in the future, and that is probably a good thing, as being around someone all the time might lead to a relationship's equivalent of cabin fever. However, I never want him to leave me behind again, or vice versa.

Something bad always seems to happen when we are separated.

He seems to be thinking the same thing, because he readily agrees. "Deal."

As we fall into silence, I take a moment to really look at him now that my vision has finished adjusting. There are dark circles under his eyes, and his hair and clothes are unkempt. His skin is paler than I remember, almost sickly. He looks kind of like a...zombie.

"Did you catch Cyra's influenza?" I ask, and though I have to clear my voice after, it is obvious that my voice is starting to return to normal. Still, I would likely feel better after drinking something, which is why I look pointedly at the glass of water on the small table beside the bed.

Nero, seeing where I am looking, picks up the glass and helps prop me up while holding the glass to my lips so I can drink it without spilling all over myself. "If I did, the doctors would never have let me visit you," he answers, setting the water back down once a quarter of it is gone.

While I am relieved to hear that he is not sick, that does not explain why he looks like the walking dead. And since he does not seem like he is going to tell me why, I am just going to have to assume he has not been sleeping well. It upsets me to think that he might have lost sleep because I was in a coma, but it could also have been because of something that happened in the prison. If he is having nightmares like I was, I will definitely be talking to him about it later.