Chenn sat beside Nari’s bed, watching the tubes feed liquid into her veins. She’d been here for a week. Slowly color was returning to her, but she still wasn’t gaining weight. That wasn’t a shock though. She wouldn’t do that until she actually started eating again.
Her eyelids fluttered. Chenn sat bolt upright. He watched in anticipation and elation as her eyes opened.
"You're awake!" He kept his voice low so that he wouldn't disturb anyone, but adrenaline and excitement rushed through his veins. She'd been out so long that he'd thought she wouldn't wake up.
The thought that he might never see her beautiful green eyes open again was awful.
Her green eyes focused on him slowly, and she smiled. “Chenn?”
“Yeah. I’m here, Nari. It’s okay. I’m here.” He whispered.
“What happened? I was… Was I sick? I remember being beaten and cut up by Amory and the warden. They wanted information, but I didn’t give it. After that, though, everything went fuzzy. Like I was dying or like I wasn’t there. There was a bright light, and then I was out.” She sat up a bit, slowly and stiffly because she still ached everywhere.
“That… That was me, Nari. I got you out. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what was happening to you. I forced the warden to let me see you because I wanted to talk to you. I just told him Amory had sent me to see if you were ready to talk. I didn’t know they’d done that to you.” He looked away, his hands shaking slightly.
“How bad was it?” She whispered, her throat feeling scratchy.
“Bad. They hadn’t fed you anything, or given you anything to drink in a week. Do you remember how you survived?” His voice trembled, and he looked like he might cry.
“Water. I haven’t had any of that in my mouth for what seems like ages. I had nasty, sludgy stuff from stagnant pools. I couldn’t always find it either. It was so dark. So dark.” She murmured weakly. “I thought I’d never see light again. I just wanted to die.”
“I could tell. You didn’t even…” His voice caught.
Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I didn’t what, Chenn?” Talking was exhausting her, and she lay back down on the pillows, whimpering in pain despite her efforts to conceal it.
“You’re in pain. Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.” Chenn wanted to keep her awake and talking so bad. She was awake for the first time in a week and lucid for the first time in close to two. All he wanted was to keep talking to her, to keep listening to her voice even if it was weak.
But she was tired, and he knew he shouldn’t exhaust her.
“No. First tell me what I didn’t do or know.” She insisted.
“You didn’t even recognize me.” He whispered.
She reached out with a weak, bony arm, and stroked his cheek with her emaciated fingers. “Oh, Chenn. I’m so sorry.” She started crying.
“Don’t be. You… It wasn’t your fault. You were just really sick.” He wiped away the tears slipping down his own cheeks. “Don’t be upset, Nari. Please. I don’t want you to cry.”
“I can’t help it.” She gasped. “I got so bad I didn’t even remember the one person who’s come to mean the most to me. I’m so sick I can hardly move, and I failed in my mission to save Earth. I can’t tell Andrew that I failed, and he doesn’t know where I am. It’s been three months since I came here and now...” She had exhausted herself.
Her arm dropped, and the tears rolled down her cheeks, fat and hot. Her head hurt again, and the dozens of cuts on her body ached and burned.
Chenn sat on the bed next to her, and gently pulled her into his arms. She didn’t protest, but he felt her shudder just a tiny bit as her injuries pained her. “If I’m hurting you, I’ll let you be.” His voice broke, but he managed to whisper, "And if you hate me for what happened and you don't want to see me again, I understand. I'll leave. But I'll be waiting nearby in case you still want me." He shivered. "I will never leave you to face trouble alone again. I did that once, and you almost died. Never again." He murmured.
"I could never hate you, Chenn. You just did what you thought was right. I don't blame you." She whispered. The tubes in her arm were obviously bothering her. She tried to take them off with a weak hand.
Chenn pulled her hands into his own warm ones. “Don’t do that. Doctor Batson hasn’t said you can have them removed. You’re still too weak.”
She buried her face in his shirt, still crying. “I hate this place. It’s a prison, and I’m stuck here in this bed with tubes and needles in my arms…” her voice cracked from lack of water.
A cup of it stood beside the bed, and Chenn picked it up, helping her to drink some of it. She tried to take large gulps of it, relieved to feel the liquid rolling down her throat for the first time in weeks.
“Small sips, Nari. You’ll make yourself sick.” Chenn rubbed her back gently, careful not to disturb bandages or hit any of the cuts on her back.
Tears continued to roll down her face, but she took smaller sips of the water, and pushed away a moment later.
“No more.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
He set the cup down on the nightstand again. Gently he rocked her back and forth, careful not to disturb the tubes in her arms.
The moans of the dying and other wounded filled their ears, as Nari wept brokenly.
He knew she’d been injured mentally too now. And why had he ever assumed she wouldn’t be? After all, she’d spend a week starving down in utter darkness. That would be enough to threaten anyone’s sanity.
Was Nari still sane?
Chenn thought so.
She seemed sane enough, but she was definitely broken.
“Chenn, I want to leave this place. Please.”
“You can’t leave the infirmary, Nari. You’re too weak and sick.” Chenn whispered.
“No, I want to leave it all. I want to run away from the war. I don’t want to be anywhere near any of it. It’s awful.” She croaked, her voice nearly soundless.
“I’m sorry, Nari. I can’t free you. I... I wish I could. You don't know how much I want to do that. But I can't.” His eyes filled with tears, as he held her against himself, and rocked her back and forth. His tears dripped off his long, slightly hawkish nose and into Nari’s hair.
Mary found them that way three minutes later when she came in to check up on Nari.
“Chenn!” She scolded. “Shame on you! That girl ought to be lying down in the bed, tucked in, and certainly not crying. What did you do to her?”
“Nothing. She woke up, and she wanted to know what happened. She wouldn’t lay back down till I told her, and then she started crying. I just wanted to comfort her.” His tears tasted salty on his lips as he told Mary about it.
Mary nodded. “Well, she needs to be put back in bed. You can hold her hand, but that’s it. No more getting of bed for you, Miss Eaton.”
Nari smiled weakly through her tears. “Aye, aye, Captain Batson, ma’am.”
Mary gave no response aside from a small smile.
Chenn eased Nari gently back onto the bed, and then stood up. Nari lay back down on the pillows, still holding to Chenn’s hand. He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry. I'll be right here or out in the waiting room whenever you want me. Or someone can come get me.” He looked at Mary. "If she wants me, you send someone to get me. No exceptions. I don't care if I'm asleep. Wake me up."
She nodded.
Nari smiled at him again, no longer crying. “Thanks.” She whispered.
“No problem.” Chenn gave her hand another gentle squeeze.
Mary pulled the covers back up over Nari, shaking her head as she did so. “Too much activity, Miss Eaton, and you’ll rip open those injuries again. Later, I’d like to know what happened to cause this much damage to you.”
“I’ll tell you now.” Nari responded.
Mary started to protest that she was too weak, and needed her sleep, but Nari shook her head.
Her voice gained a little strength, bringing it to a loud whisper. “No. I want to tell you now. There isn't much to tell, really. They beat me and tortured me, hoping to get information, and then threw me down the steps into the prison. Didn’t even bother to put me in a cell. I was already in an awful condition….” Nari trailed off.
Mary frowned. “Of all the inhuman, indecent things to do!”
“They wanted information badly, but they didn’t get it, so they saw no further use for me.” Nari murmured.
Mary shook her head irritably. “Well, that’s enough for now. You’re obviously tired. So close your eyes and go to sleep.” She turned to Chenn. “Chenn, don’t you dare wake her up. Let her sleep. She needs it.”
Chenn nodded. “I won’t wake her up.”
Mary took a few minutes to adjust the tubes running into Nari’s arms, and she looked over the equipment. Satisfied everything was in order, she left to check on other patients.
Nari’s eyelids dropped, and she didn’t fight it. Obviously, she was tired. But before she slept, she managed a soft, “Chenn? Don’t leave me, please. I’m afraid to go to sleep.”
“Why?” Chenn whispered, already certain it was because of the time she'd spent in the dungeon but wanting to know for sure.
But she was already sleeping, her chest rising and falling softly as she breathed in and out gently, peacefully.