The Bridge Between Life and Death (Levihan)

12) survive for me

Levi POV:

Out of all the time I've been around, never once have I ran through these corridors that fast, not even when we got ambushed. I got stares from a few of the cadets but I didn't stop. Once I got to the door of the infirmary, I took a deep breath and entered. it was empty apart from Hange, we had no casualties at the moment. She laid, her arms outstretched as if she were waiting for something or someone. I walk over and sit in the stool next to her and hold her hand, its cold but I still feel a pulse, Erwin said she will wake up and I trust his judgement. I use my spare hand and take her glasses off her face and fold them at the side. I scrape a touch at her forehead as I move and its really warm, anyone would think she just had a fever. What is she going to tell Erwin? No. What are WE going to tell Erwin? Im not letting her go through this by herself, no matter what.

I lean forward and kiss her forehead tenderly. I notice they hardly even cleaned her up, she still has a little bit of dried blood at the side of her mouth and in it. there isn't anything I can do about inside her mouth, I can only see it through her slightly parted mouth. I grab a tissue from her bed and run it under the tap, then wipe where it is. I then place a cloth under the cold water, wring it out and place it gently on her forehead. I then sit back down, stroking her hair, looking at her serene face. I understand she is resting but I wish she would just wake up, this isn't Hange. Calm isn't Hange. Resting isn't Hange.

I get really mad at myself for how I thought she might be avoiding me. I never thought once she might be in danger, I was so selfish. I silently kick myself for it, still not breaking contact with her. I notice my vision blur up a bit and I realise tears have welled up in my usually emotionless eyes. I blink and a single one trickles down my sharp cheekbones. And then another. Another. Another. Before I know it I'm really crying.

"H-Hange." I say, still crying, struggling to find the breath between "Don't leave m-m-me like ev-everyone else"

I don't notice when she woke up, but she has and she squeezes my hand with all the strength she has, which currently isn't a lot.

"I won't leave, I promise"

"H-Hange" I stutter as I collapse into her, she slowly moves my head on her chest.

"Listen Levi" she whispers "My heartbeat, Im still here"

I listen, its relaxing, the soft rise and fall, the little 'badum, badum' repeating over and over.

"I need" she whispers, breathlessly "I need sleep"

"Yes you do Four eyes"

"Stay?"

"Of course, I love you"

"I love you too" She whispers, more like breaths out, and closes her eyes to sleep again. I close my eyes too. I don't plan on falling asleep but at some point, I lose myself to the beatings of her chest.

Armin POV:

"Come on guys, we need to visit Hange, she is like a mother to us. We will just leave her a card for her to wakeup to, that's it." I say

The rest of them nod in agreement.

"Okay, lets do this card then" I say, pulling out a piece of paper from my draw. I do the best I can with a homemade card and then we pass it around, all writing in it.

"Right come on then" Says Jean "She deserves this, she always gets us out of shit with the Captain"

"I know right" Sasha says "I hope she's okay"

"Well whatever it is, its not normal, that's for sure." Eren says "It wasn't any old cough I'm telling you"

"I wonder how the Captain is" Mikasa says "Him and Hange are very close"