But Not...A Bad One

Aftermath

(Kieran's POV)

The explosion was loud. Heat and smoke enveloped around me, making the already dark wet sky orange and hazy. With great effort, I pulled myself up from the ashen filled ground, stumbling, scraping my palms and knees on the gravel. It took me a second to realize my injuries, feeling as though my legs could give out from under the weight of my battered body. My ears were ringing from the loud blast, knocking me back into my senses, though vision blurring. Then I remembered. I frantically looked around me, trying to find the set of bright amber colored eyes that I could have sworn were following right behind me. Coughing from the smoke, I yelled out, panicked.

"LAUREN!?....LAUR-" I choked as I noticed crimson locks splayed out on the ground, a body laying on their side, close towards the site of the explosion.

My feet moved on their own, adrenaline coursing through my body. I did not want to think the worst, but as I came closer to where Lauren lay, no indication of life was visible.

"No no no no no no no," Lauren had to be okay, I thought. The stubbornness this girl had was a perfect rival to my own hard headedness. She couldn't be gone. Not because of me, who brought her into this mess in the first place. She is a fighter.

Even more hurried, I reached her limp body, carefully rolling her on her back. She was badly scraped on her right side and had many scraps on her arms, visible through the torn sleeves caused by the incident. Blood was dripping down the side of her face from a gash on her forehead. I couldn't help but think this was all my fault. I should have waited for her instead of running off, thinking she would be right behind me. I held my breath in anticipation, checking her pulse. My own heart beat was frantic, afraid of confirming my assumption that she was gon-

"No." I cannot think like that..."Lauren? Lauren, can you hear me?" I called out to her. No response, but to my relief, I felt a pulse, faint, but a sign of life nonetheless.

An explosion of fire combusted and knocked me down. Without much thought, I let the adrenaline in my body take control, and scooped up Lauren in my arms and made a run towards safety. I was in pain from my own injuries and having trouble breathing because of the smoke polluting the air, but I was desperate to get Lauren to safety so I could properly tend to her wounds.

As I ran the best I could, Lauren still hadn't awoken. I kept stealing glances down at her deceivingly serene expression, hoping to see her amber eyes staring back at me. At this point, even a glare or complaint from her because I was carrying her would be welcome. As if on autopilot, my body took us towards my cave. It was the closest safe location I could think of. I knew Lauren needed medical attention as soon as possible, so her house or my apartment would have been too far, and out of the question, considering their circumstances. The adrenaline was also starting to wear off, and the aches and pain were multiplying by the second. Fatigued from carrying both mine and Lauren's dead weight was taking a toll.

Once I crossed into the woods that would lead to the cave, I had to lean against a tree trunk so that I could catch my breath. Lauren had still not woken, but she seemed to be breathing more audibly now, and a crease was indented on her forehead, a frown line between her eyebrows. She must be feeling pain, I thought. With the intake of a painful breath, I hoisted Lauren closer to my body to stabilize us both, and continued on towards the cave.

Reaching the entrance, I quickened my steps towards the cot to the far end of the cave, and gently laid Lauren down. I started towards the fire to warm the cave up. Collecting all the medical material on my way I had on hand, I started the grueling process of assessing the injuries and mending every area I could help. An hour had passed after I finished the last stitch on the bullet wound that Lauren had sustained during the shoot out. I had to strip her torn and burnt jacket, shirt and pants that were beyond repair. I had changed her into some of my spare pants and a shirt, letting the material engulf her body. After wrapping her up in blankets, I felt okay to leave her side to tend to my own injuries.

Around the middle of mending her injuries, I had to take some painkillers and a glass of whisky to numb the pain temporarily. I barely had the energy to tend to myself, but I knew that not cleaning up could cause a serious infection. After finishing, I changed as well, and pulled up a chair next to the cot, finally able to rest my eyes.

Flashes of fire combusting startled me awake, confused I looked towards the bed in front of me, and everything came back. The beating, the factory, the explosion... Lauren. I followed my gaze up to Lauren's face, and startled back. Hazy amber colored eyes stared up at the ceiling in confusion. She was awake.

"Detective! Hey," I scooted the chair closer, reaching out to lay my hand near her shoulder. She slowly met my gaze, recognition crossing her eyes.

"... Ki-Kieran..?" Lauren coughed, cutting herself off.

"Yes, darling. Do you remember what happened?" I gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.

"Mm...th-the factor-" Lauren coughed again, this time a little more aggressively.

"Alright, alright. Let's just focus on resting now. We are at the cave, safe for now. This is still the same day by the way, so you haven't missed much. You just need to rest for now," I moved to get Lauren some water, but her cool hand grasped at my hand on her shoulder.

"...S-stay...please..."she pleaded, barely able to squeeze my hand.

"I'm not going anywhere Lauren. I was just going to get you some-"

"Ki-Kieran...stay..."she interrupted, weakly trying to pull me onto the bed.

Panicked, I tried again to reason with her, but her pleading eyes made me stop before I could utter another protest. She wasn't the same Lauren I was used to with witty comebacks, and the stubbornness of a bull. No, this was a different side, a frightened, lost expression clear as day on her face. I couldn't refuse.

Throwing caution to the wind, I gently laid myself behind Lauren, careful not to jost her too much given the small size of this cot. Almost immediately, she scooted herself until her back made contact with my chest. Heart thumping out of my chest, I hesitantly reached around her small frame and enveloped her in my arms, to which she snuggled into more. As if there wasn't already any space left between us. All I knew was that I was tired myself, with injuries that also needed to heal, and if Lauren wanted me to be this close to her so she could rest peacefully, then I'd be damned if I tried to get in the way of that.

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(Lauren's POV)

The smell of dew, and the sound of soft pattering water had taken over my senses. I relished in the thought that for once, I didn't dream about anything last night. Eyes still closed, I tried to stretch my sore muscles, when I met resistance at my waist, and a groggy groan at my ear. Startled, I opened my eyes, the cave ceiling being the only view. I felt an arm tighten at my waist, a soft sigh dusting my cheeks. Slowly turning my head to the source, rosy pink lips, so close I could have-

"No!" I violently shook my head, causing some pain, and waking the sleeping man beside me.

"Darling...what's going on? Oh!" Immediately, Kieran retracted his arm, and sat up in bed, his back towards me. I couldn't tell if it was because of the lighting of the cave or what, but I could have sworn I saw the tip of his ears turn crimson.

"Sorry, last night you, well...you asked me to...you know...Um are you hungry?" Kieran quickly changed the subject, making to get out of bed.

"Wait, Kieran. I remember now...thank you...for staying...for everything really," I gave a small smile, Kieran turned towards me, returning the smile.

"What are partners for, right Detective?" he smirked, finally moving to the small kitchenette in the corner of the cave that I hadn't noticed before.

I stared after Kieran in wonder. He was hobbling a little, but didn't seem to be in pain. Though I knew better than that. I made to get out of bed, but my body and head ached with every movement made. This was going to be hell, I thought, slowly making way towards Kieran. I observed as he started making two sandwiches, having already started heating some water for coffee over the fire pit. A match made in hell...but not a bad one, I thought as Kieran glanced up at me, azure eyes sparked with a tender gaze. Not a bad one...