Sick: [Bertholdt x Reader]
You woke up with a major headache pounding onto your skull and groaned. You clenched your fists onto your bed sheets as you waited for the explosions in your head to subside. “_____, are you okay?” Mikasa asked you as she wrapped her signature red scarf around her neck. She looked down at you with concern.
“Yeah…” You replied groggily as the pain finally started to ease. “Just a headache.” She stared at you for a little longer and decided to let it go.
Your throat felt awfully dry and your skin felt somewhat warm. It felt as though you were radiating heat. You found yourself drenched in sweat. Despite feeling unwell, you pushed yourself out of bed anyways.
Today, the Survey Corps were heading out to the outer walls once again and you definitely couldn’t call in for a sick day leave. You didn’t want to anyways. So you washed up and got into your uniform. “_____, you look pale. Are you really okay?” Krista asked you.
“I’m fine, Krista.” You put on your most convincing smile. “I just needed more sleep.” She was about to say some more but Ymir came to your aid and pulled her away, telling her to pay more attention to her not you instead. You smiled at them as they walked away. Just go out with each other already…
After your squad leaders had given you another reminder as to what you were supposed to do, your team head onto the stables to get your horses. You smiled weakly at your horse and he whined back at you. You pulled onto his rein, trying to hoist yourself up to his back.
But as you did so, the world begun to spin and things were blur for a minute. You were starting to have cold sweat again. You felt all the energy drain from your body and as your legs gave way and grips slipped from the rein. Before you were able to hit the ground, you felt someone catch you.
“_____!” You heard Bertholdt’s voice. He gently pushed you back to your feet and you started to regain your vision. He looked down at you with pure concern. “Are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah.” You lied, fixing your uniform. “I just slipped, is all.” You looked up to the tall dark haired and fairly handsome male. He was almost as tall as your horse! “Thanks.”
“Are you really sure? You look… pale.”
“Mmm Hmm, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” You pulled onto the rein again and tried to hoist yourself up. This time, Bertholdt carried you up by your waist and you landed perfectly on the seat. “Thanks.” Color was slowly returning to your face thanks to the blush that was spreading.
“You’re welcome.” He smiled at you. What a cute smile… “Take care.” You nodded your thanks to him once again and he left to get his horse. You mentally scolded yourself for being such a loser. Sighing, you kicked the side of your horse and you both started to move forward.
Your headache and feverish skin was back. You gritted your teeth and told yourself to focus. “____! Stop slacking!” Your squad leader yelled from the front. You were rather behind of your team, who had no idea that you were sick. You kicked your horse’s side, ordering him to gallop faster.
“Keep your shit together, ____! We’re outside the walls, it’s not a game! You can die any minute.” Your squad leader scolded through the wind that blew against your faces.
“Sorry, sir.” You apologized through your dry lips. Shit, you thought, I’ve dragged down the team.
“____,” You turned to your side and found Bertholdt next to you, his face full of concern. “Are you really alright?”
“Yes.” You were starting to get irritated. You didn’t want to seem weak and to slow down the whole operation. “I’m perfectly fine, Bertholdt.”
Bertholdt looked hurt for a minute and continued to face forward. You felt bad and wanted to apologize but something else caught your attention. You felt vibrations on the ground. You snapped your head to the side.
Titans.
“_____! Fire a round!” Your squad leader yelled. You nodded at his command and took out the smoke gun. You tried to put the bullet into the gun but your vision started to blur again. Damn it! You cursed in your mind as the bullet slipped from your fingers and dropped to the ground. “_____! What the hell are you doing?!”
You were about to put in the second bullet when you heard a loud bang ringing in your ears. You turned to your side and found out that Bertholdt had already fired it. You mumbled your apologizes to your squad leader, who gave you another good scolding.
“Thanks.” You said to Bertholdt who nodded in return with a smile. You didn’t want him to see you blush so you turned away.
Bertholdt felt somewhat hurt by _____ today. It was like he had done something to anger her. He was only trying to help but she seemed to not like him helping her. Did she hate him?
He shook his head and told himself to focus on the road. He would try to apologize to her later; hopefully she wouldn’t be mad at him anymore.
Their team slowly approach a rather dense area surrounded by tall pine trees. Bertholdt and his team mates looked at each other nervously, not sure about what was going on. ____ gave him a rather scared look, like she had a bad feeling as to what was going to happen. The loud voice of their squad leader whipped their heads back to the front.
“We’re pulling over and switching to the 3D Maneuver Gear up ahead.” He said. The cadets exchanged confused looks but said nothing. After all the yelling they received from the past, they learnt that they should just do what they were told and not ask anything about it even though it sounded ridiculous.
After another 50 yards, they got of their horses and switched to their 3D Maneuver Gears. At the corner of Bertholdt’s eyes, he watched _____ cautiously as she tried to shake her headache off, but of course he didn’t know it was a headache. He was about to say something when she pulled the trigger and zipped up to the tall trees.
He sighed. She’s mad at me… He thought as he shot his cable to the thick trunk of the tree. He mentally scolded himself for doing whatever he did to make you mad even though he couldn’t come up with anything. He thought he should give her some space; she probably didn’t want to see him now. So, he swung himself to a close by tree to keep an eye on her.
Soon, Titans begun to gather around the bottom of the trees, trying to climb their way up. Bertholdt swallowed his saliva nervously as he watched them clawing onto the tree trunks, failing to climb up to them. He glanced over to _____, who wasn’t looking so well and leaning onto the tree trunk with a strained and pale face. He wanted to swing his way there but before he could, he was interrupted once again.
“WE NEED BACK UP DEEPER INSIDE THE FOREST!” A panting cadet called as he landed on the tree branch next to the squad leader. The squad leader nodded and commanded everyone to go deeper into the forest.
Everyone pulled the trigger to the 3D Maneuver Gear and swung deeper into the forest with their blades by their sides. Bertholdt kept an eye on _____, who seemed to be slower today. He shot his cable to get closer to her to make sure she was alright.
_____’s condition was starting to worsen. Her headache was just over the top and she was sweating heaps despite shivering. Her lips were pale, so was her skin and her mouth was dry. Her vision was starting to blur as she felt the uncomfortable heat rise within her. Damn it, of all times now! I just have to be so sick now! She cursed herself.
She used the energy she had left to pull onto the trigger and shot her cable towards a trunk nearby. She was about to shoot the other cable to another tree but was interrupted by an Aberrant Titan mid-air.
She couldn’t remember much. The only thing she remembered before blacking out was Bertholdt yelling her name as the Titan’s arm swung and pushed her while she was swinging mid-air. She was violently thrown back and flew across a few trees, going through a few branches before crashing into Bertholdt’s arms, which caught her and landed on a tree trunk.
“_____! Hoover!” Your squad leader yelled, looking back in anger. He shot his cable backwards and swung to the Titan. With the help of a few other cadets, he managed to slice the Titan’s neck, splashing the trees around them with the Titan’s steaming blood.
Bertholdt examined _____’s injured body with anxious eyes. She was unconscious and was in a deathly shade of pale. She had a few gashes but nothing fatally serious. Her breathings were shallow and uneven. He immediately felt her forehead. She was burning up real bad!
Their squad landed on a tree nearby. “Cadet Hoover! How is she?” The squad leader asked and he landed on the tree branch.
“Nothing fatal, sir. But she’s out cold.” He reported; slight relief in his voice. All this time, she was sick and yet she tried so hard to act tough and disregard her illness. He frowned to himself. Why didn’t I notice it sooner?
“Hoover! Grandles (Random cadet name)! You bring her to base camp while the rest we’re going to continue with our command.” The squad leader order after a few seconds of thinking. The whole team nodded in agreement. “Make sure you notify me once she wakes up.” Bertholdt nodded and everyone left with the squad leader.
“Let’s go,” Bertholdt carried _____ into his arms.
When you woke up, you were inside a wooden carriage behind a couple of horses. You pushed the green Survey Corps cloak from you and elbowed yourself up, but pain shocked your entire body and you had to lie back down.
“_____! You’re awake!” You turned to your side and found Bertholdt smiling down at you.
“Bertholdt…” You mumbled his name. You looked down at yourself and realized that you were bruised and bandaged.
“You hit a few trees.” He explained. “And you broke your arm and sprained your shoulder.” Wow, that sounds fun. “You had a terrible fever.”
You looked away guiltily. You must have burdened everyone and you hated yourself for it. “I’m sorry… I let the team down…”
“You should be.” Bertholdt said which make your whip your head towards him. Who says that?! You glared at him as a smile spread across his face. “You should tell us if you’re sick next time. You worry us too much.”
“What…?” You blushed. “Don’t… Don’t you blame me for dragging down the team?”
“Well… Squad Leader Weilder is going to lecture you but I’m just glad you’re not mad at me.” He smiled.
“What? I can never be mad at a gentle giant like you!” You blurted out and covered your mouth when you realized what you said.
“Gentle giant…” Bertholdt blushed. “_____, tell me if you’re sick. Promise me that. I want to take care of you when you’re sick.”
Just when you’re about to say something, your squad leader caught up and appear next to you on his horse. “Cadet _____!”
“Y-Yes, sir!” You sat up immediately and pain shot throughout your body.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.” You turned to Bertholdt for help but he had already left to move up front. He wants to take care of me, my ass.
Special dedication to Drus56 for being such a sweetheart. (Not forgetting you as well, dear reader!)
A/N: I’m so sorry this turned out late and weird. I really have no idea how to end this.And I know it’s no excuse but I have been busy with the last days of schools due to *prom*. And I don’t think I will be updating for a while because I have internet issues plus I’m going to be in the UK for 3 weeks. I would try to type my stories on mobile but there’s no guarantee. I’m so sorry! Anyways thank you guys for reading this and voting! 2.1k Reads and 100+ votes! Wow! I love you guys!