The Chronicles

Awakening

Kai awoke with a jolt. A jolt of pain. His body hurt more than he'd ever experienced in his entire life. More than when he had lost his mother. More than when he had lost his father. Losing Cinder would have ultimately killed him. 

Then, he remembered. Running towards her, hearing a gunshot. He opened his eyes, looking for her desperately.

He was surrounded by medical supplies. He found Cinder in the window of his room, yelling at the nurses and throwing bed pans and medical supplies on the ground and at the wall. He felt relief for a second, before being blinded by pain again.

"Your majesty?"

He heard a distorted voice, it sounded like he was underwater.

"Your majesty?"

"Get. Cinder." It was all he could croak out before screaming in pain.

Cinder heard the scream and ran into the room, she pushed the doctors away and was at his side in an instant.

"Kai?"

Cinder watched him grimace in pain. Her body rattled with his screams, and she began to feel like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. She hated seeing him in pain. Hated it more than Pearl, Adri, and Levanna combined.

She screamed at the doctors, "Put him back on the pain meds NOW." The doctors did wat they were told and Cinder watched as her husband's eyes go from full of intense pain to relaxed and lifeless.

"Your Majesty?" One of the doctors asked, "The Emporer has lost too much of the vital limb due to infection, he will need a cyborg attachment to regain full use of it.

"Do it." It was all she could say. She hugged his hand tightly, not knowing what to do, she prayed Kai would be alright with this.

The doctors grabbed Kai's bed, they were taking him to the operation room. Cinder walked with him until she was told to stop, she stood with her mouth agape at what the surgeon told her.

"Your highness, I'm afraid that I have to stop you here, no family allowed into the OR."

She asked him a simple question, "I'm sorry but, would you like to lose your job?"

"N-no your highness."

"Then get out of my way."

Immediately the surgeon stepped out of Cinder's way and she ran down the hallway to catch up with her unconscious husband and walked into the scrub room.

She had to spend extra time to scrub her metal hand, and they had to bring in special gloves with more durability for the hand, opposite the flesh one on her right.

Yet, she still got in, and she sat next to her husband, fingers laced into his the entire surgery.

~~~~~~

Kai woke up a second time with a grunt. This time, he was not in as much pain as before, but he felt... different. He couldn't feel his leg, but he felt like it had an unnecessary amount of weight to it. He looked to his side and saw Cinder, asleep in a chair. His hand locked in hers. He moaned and was thankful to see her lift her head up. When she saw him, her eyes widened and she sighed, what sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Hey." he croaked

"Hi," she said back, with an equal amount of grogginess in her tone, which was also accompanied with hysteria.

"What happened?

"Stars Kai," she slumped, "you were shot."

"What?" He started to get up, only to be held back by the IV in his arm.

"Hey hey hey," Cinder tried to stop him.

He pushed forward, ignoring his wife and the pain he was in. Suddenly hot, he threw off the thick blankets citizens brought for him during his time in rehabilitation. Then, he saw it. Cinder gasped in disbelief.  Although he was shocked at seeing his new titanium-plated cybernetic leg, he loved it. He had always looked up to Cinder, and now, with his new leg, he was more like her than ever before.

"Did you have a say in this?" he asked his wife.

"Y-yes," she said with a sorrowful look in her eyes, "They said it was the only way to save the limb and-"

He cut her off, "I love it, and I love you."

"Y-you're n-not mad?" She asked, surprise in her tone.

He shook his head, and the smile that every girl in the commonwealth once admired appeared on his face. With that, Cinder smiled and captured his lips, laying down on the small hospital bed next to him.

"I love you too."