Uranium ➵ The Old Guard

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The halls were quiet. They pressed in, squeezing and releasing Aleandra's airways. In and out she went, her mind light and fuzzy and somehow lost back in the cot. She missed it already, she missed lying down and being comfortable.

"You alright?" Nathaniel had been walking with her to make sure she didn't die by accident. The last time she had died it had been an accident, death was rarely planned on.

"Yeah yeah, I'm good." She groaned once stepping again, her hip moving at a weird angle to accommodate the rest of her body weight. Nathaniel's arms immediately snaked around her midsection and she leaned back on him.

"It's just..." she began after a few seconds of recovery, "everything is sore, like the day after an intense training but more."

"That makes sense," he supplied. Aleandra briefly thought about rolling her eyes and making a sarcastic comment but her quad muscle spasmed and she collapsed further into Nathaniel.

"I told you weren't ready yet," he said picking her up. Her leg continued to shake and her head lolled onto his shoulder. "Let's get you back to your room."

It had been like this for two days. She couldn't exactly say she was surprised about her slow recovery but she was annoyed that she had to rely on Nathaniel for most things. A nurse helped her with changing and bathing. Anita was kind and didn't dance around the point of her job, she was straight and simple.

Kenny had visited her once and not done much. He struck a nerve in Aleandra and she didn't know why, oh wait yes she did. He was barely ever focused on the important things like her body healing. He was so entitled to just take her like that.

Nathaniel laid her gently down on her bed and she groaned as her body moved from its comfortable position. He smiled lightly and sat in the chair next to her bed. He had been ordered never to leave her side unless she was changing or bathing, in which case Anita would be watching over her. Aleandra wasn't quite sure if it was Kenny making sure she's alright or keeping an eye on her.

"Do you want to play cards?" Nathaniel asked. Aleandra thanked God up above that it had been Nathaniel assigned to her and not Kenny's other goon, Sacha. She didn't feel productive though.

"I just want to get better," she whined into her pillow.

"You will," he assured her. "I'll be here to help you through it." He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder and gently caressed it. She tried to shake him off but groaned when a sharp pain shot through her side.

"You can use your words y'know?" he teased, pulling back.

"Just go play solitaire over there," she responded exhausted. Nathaniel chuckled and complied with her request and setting up the cards on the nightstand.

-

"Did you catch anything?" Joe asked Booker. Booker rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out of them and sat up.

"She's being cared for now," he said. "She's not alone but she's more alone than she'll ever be."

"You're always one for the dramatic," Andy remarked taking a gulp of Vodka to keep warm.

"He's been reading more poetry than normal," Joe said, earning him a shove from Booker.

"That isn't the issue now though," Nicky said changing the subject. "She's healing slower on the first time than any of us did."

"She got blown up Nicky, what do you expect?" Joe said. "All we got was a little stab through some of our vital organs not all of them."

"Joe, I don't think you're seeing it from my perspective right now," Nicky interjected. "She didn't die but she's still alive when she obviously shouldn't be, we're having dreams about her, but she's healing like a regular human, one who isn't immortal."

"But we know she's immortal because we're having dreams of her," Andy said. 

"Maybe we should go back to town and regroup," Joe suggested.

"If you're suggesting we leave her, you're on your own."

"Boss, we can't find her, alright," Booker said. "We all have questions and want her to be safe, but we can't just waltz around calling for her. We'll find her, figure out what's going on, and go from there."

"Alright let's go then." Andy screwed the lid back on the bottle and stiffed it in her bag, motioning for the rest of her group to follow her to the town.