Cold as Ice

Chapter Eleven

Season One, Episode 15: Yes Men

Things between Ward and I felt different after the night he had spent in my room. It wasn't a bad kind of different, the dynamic between us had simply changed. I found myself around him more often, and vice-versa, he would come to my bunk frequently to talk to me, I could feel him staring at me from across rooms, and we weren't quite as guarded around each other.

After everything that had happened, I wasn't sure what was going to happen between Ward and I. I had told him about my childhood, growing up at Saint Agnes, and nearly slipped up about the darker parts of my past. I knew that he had burning questions about it, yet he still didn't question what had happened to me that was so bad that I couldn't speak to him about it. His willingness to drop the subject surprised me slightly, but it brought me relief to know I didn't have to divulge the information until I was ready.

I shook the thoughts from my head as I looked over to Skye, who was still laying on the hospital bed after several days of rest. There hadn't been a single day since she was saved that I hadn't spent hours by her side, telling her everything that had happened with the team after she had been shot. Admittedly it was difficult to see her lying there, clearly still in pain and filled with exhaustion, but I was just happy that she was still alive.

"Earth to Melanie," Skye spoke, causing me to shake the thoughts from my head as I looked to her with my brows raised. "Do you think Jemma will be mad if I get up to stretch my legs? My ass has gone numb from sitting here for so long."

A small chuckle came from my mouth as I shook my head. "I wouldn't chance it, you know how she is."

"I'm going to do it anyway." She rolled her eyes at me, clearly thinking that she would be able to get away with getting out of the bed without Jemma having something to say about it.

"Why'd you ask if you weren't going to listen to what I had to say?" I questioned sarcastically, watching as she moved the blankets to the side and went to stand up.

Before she could even stabilize herself on her feet, Jemma rounded the corner, tapping on the window. "No! What did I say?"

"Damn it. Every time." Skye muttered, causing a grin to rise on my face.

"What did I tell you." I gave her a small shrug before smiling at Jemma as she entered the room.

"You're supposed to be keeping an eye on her while you're down here, making sure she doesn't leave the bed," Jemma spoke to me, her eyes narrowed slightly but I could tell that she wasn't that angry about it, more irritated that Skye wasn't listening to her orders.

"I can't exactly tackle her onto the bed whenever she tries to get up, besides, as if Skye would listen to anything I say."

"I'm right here, guys," Skye commented, rolling her eyes at the two of us before she turned her attention to Jemma. "It's like you have a sensor for whenever my butt lifts off the bed."

"Back in it." Jemma gestured to the bed that Skye was leaning against.

"I just want to stretch my legs."

"Now." The scientist spoke more forcefully this time.

"Look! There's color in my cheeks." Skye patted her cheeks before Jemma began to assist her back into the bed. "Breathing without feeling like my whole body's on fire. I'm good."

"Good is not the appropriate word to describe your state." The scientist lifted the blankets and put them back over Skye's legs. "You've been shot twice, had your stomach perforated, and a breathing tube shoved down your throat. Better is the more accurate word."