"Oh, stars!" Iko said, clapping. "When Thorne sees you, it'll be amazing!
I stare at her, aghast.
"I mean, when he gets his sight back," she mends. "Those eye drops should work, right?"
"I hope so," I sigh.
"Okay, I'm done! Let's get you to the bathroom mirror," she says, spinning me toward the door.
She quickly leads me to the bathroom, practically bouncing down the hall.
When I look in the mirror, my jaw drops. Iko was able to work wonders with this t-shirt. She cut the sleeves short, bringing attention to my thin arms and bony shoulders. She cut the bottom of the shirt at an angle, starting at the middle of my thigh and ending just past my knee. What would have been the bottom hem of the shirt is now wrapped around my waist, cinching tight at my middle.
"Iko..." I try to finish but the words don't come.
Iko stops bouncing. "Do you not like it?" I turn to face her. She looks disappointed.
"No, no, no. I love it, Iko! Thank you!"
Her face immediately brightens again, and the bouncing resumes.
***
When we get back to the cockpit, it's silent.
Thorne tries to break the silence. "Aces, if someone doesn't start talking, I may lose my mind. I'm already blind, don't make me feel deaf, too."
"Well," says Cinder, "Kai and I have been talking, but every plan has something wrong with it. Nothing's working right."
"Well, we can't stay up here forever," Jacin points out. "We need to start thinking."
"Shall I put together a to-do list?" Iko asks.
Jacin narrows his eyes at Iko. "Is it not already obvious what we need to do?"
"Hey," Cinder stands up, "I get that these aren't the best of circumstances, but-"
"But what?" Jacin stands up, and walks toward Cinder. "We need a plan, soon."
"I know, I know!" Cinder collapses back into her seat. She makes a noise that is somewhere between a groan and a scream, with her head in her hands. "Do you not think that I get that? I fully grasp that this is bad. I get it, okay?"
Kai reluctantly puts his hand on Cinder's shoulder. "Look, we are all trying here," he says to Jacin. "We will figure something out, but we can't do so if we kill each other in the process."
The conversation dies there. It's quiet for a long time before Thorne speaks up.
"Cress," he says. My head snaps toward him. "Could you come with me for a few minutes?"
I immediately walk over to him to help him out the door.
As we step over the door's threshold, Thorne brushes his lips by my ear. "I needed to get away."
A chill rushes down my spine.
"Wh-where do you want to go?" I stutter.
"Anywhere but here, lead the way."
He presses his hand on the small of my back, ushering me forward. My face flames and I force my legs to move.
Without realizing it, I walk with him to my room.
We both sit on the bottom bunk of the bed that sits against the wall, Thorne hitting his head on the top bunk in the process. He lets out a small laugh. I make sure to put space between us.
"We all just make the perfect team, don't we?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah," I try to say in a joking voice, but I can't. It comes out stiff and nervous.
"Are you okay?"
"Pft, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Again I try at nonchalance, again I fail.
"Come here," he says, extending his arm towards me. I inch closer to him until I rest my head on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around my waist. "I figured all of this was overwhelming you," he whispers.
"Yeah, a little," I admit.
To my surprise, he lightly kisses the top of my head. Heat spreads quickly through me.
"Eh," he starts, "we'll figure it out. It'll be fine."
Thorne rests his cheek on the top of my head. I snuggle in closer to him, and he tightens his grip on my waist. I feel secure and dizzy at the same time.
"New clothes?" he asks, startling me.
"Yeah, Iko helped me with it."
"Can't wait to see it," he says, and I swear I can hear a smirk in his voice.
*****
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I hope you guys know that I got an incredible case of Cresswell feels while writing this. Eep!