Shadows: A Six of Crows Fan fic

Chapter Fifteen: Kaz

Kaz held his fist over the door ready to knock when the sound of her sobbing stopped him mid-air. He let his fist drop down to his side and instead leaned his forehead lightly on the polished door, closing his eyes. Once again, he was stuck standing outside a closed-door as Inej cried. Too much of a coward to bring himself to knock. She would probably tell him to go away but he could at least knock. At least let her know in some small way that he was standing here, waiting for her, agonizing over her. After all he'd put them through, after all the courage she showed, and the strength everyone around him had... and he couldn't even knock on the door of someone he would kill for.

It didn't matter, he thought. Inej clearly wanted nothing to do with him. He'd screwed everything up and he should respect the fact that she'd slammed the door shut in his face. He should step away from the door and go find something to busy himself with. He knew that Inej had told him to stay out of it but maybe there was still a chance that there was still a possible plan to get them all out of this. He should leave.

But he didn't want to leave her like this. Crying in a room alone.

Squaring his shoulders, Kaz turned on his heels and headed towards the stairs that led below deck, trying to hide his heavy limp as best he could. He wished for his cane as he walked but unfortunately, it had yet to be returned to him. If it wasn't soon, he had an inkling that heads would start rolling. Leaning on the railing as he climbed down the stairs, he paused for a minute to get his bearings of the lower deck. He had memorized the schematics of the ship the second he'd decided to get it for Inej, but his head was still slightly foggy from the lump the bastards had used his own cane to make. Remembering the path, Kaz continued his walk towards the infirmary door and looked in on the scene before him.

Jesper was frantically pacing back and forth along the back wall never taking his eye off the boy the scene surrounded. Pim and Anika, sitting rather close on a bench along the sidewall, both had bandages on their wounds and they were intently watching the medic as he flew about the room collecting supplies. At the center of it all, Wylan laid on a raised bed built into the middle of the floor. No longer curled up like a ball in a dimly lit room, his injuries looked so much worse. Blood could be found head to toe either leaking out of a wound or staining a part of his clothes. With his shirt off, the wound in his abdomen, poorly covered by now sodden towels, looked like one of the worst he'd seen. Place wise. Living in the barrel for most his life, Kaz had come to see a number of wounds. Having had a number inflicted upon himself, and needing to know how best to take down a man, he had become quite knowledgeable in the body's anatomy. Knowing the wound had come from behind, with the center of the wound being so close to the center of his stomach, it would be hard to believe that the blade missed his spine. To add to it, Wylan wasn't moving.

A sense of dread and guilt-filled inside of him but Kaz stamped it out as quickly as the feelings rose. He had other business to address.

"Jesper," Kaz said, his voice a trained perfection of emotionlessness.

Jesper looked up, panicked, from his intense staring and pacing, but as soon as he saw it was Kaz he continued his previous actions.

Kaz rolled his eyes and stood taller, "Jesper, now."

Jesper stopped moving again and his eyes darkened, narrowing to slits. Suddenly he was in movement again, this time crossing the room towards Kaz. Instead of stopping in front of him, Jesper pushed Kaz hard enough in the shoulder to walk past him and spin him around in the process. "What?" he said coldly.

Kaz stared in silence, surprised at the outward show of aggression. He shouldn't have been really, but he still thought... he didn't know what he thought anymore. Clearing his throat, he channeled the authority he'd always fought so hard to have, "I need you to go upstairs and talk to Inej."