Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 1: Promise

Chapter 51 Fate's Cruelty

<Lanshau Inn>

Kallen woke up in Otto's arms, it was the next day.  Otto was breathing softly, his lashes, long and graceful, fluttered with his eyelids. He was dreaming, in deep sleep. The phenomenon was all too interesting to ignore and she rested a while watching their movement. She wanted to lay there all day and watch his cute movements but as she regained her senses she was reminded of the revelation she had the day prior. Her mind became bogged down with decrepit thoughts. She looked at Otto's face once more, his handsome features didn't escape her appreciation but a pressing matter caught her attention. Otto had a fever, his face was tinted red, and his breathing though peaceful was slightly ragged.

Kallen immediately freed herself from Otto's embrace. His body was too tired to protest the sudden absence of his body pillow. Kallen cursed at herself. She should have been more attentive. The weather around the city was warmer than the wilderness they had traveled through. This warmth coupled with the heat from Kallen's body and two thick winter coats allowed Otto to recover quite a bit from hypothermia. This was the reason he was luckily able to bathe in a hot bath without breaking skin or throwing off his body's natural processes. But part of the treatment with hypothermia required warm fluids to enter the body. Otto got the rest his body needed but he needed to drink. Had Otto gotten the care immediately he would have recovered by now. He wouldn't have gotten sick.

Of course, Kallen wasn't well versed in treating hypothermia but she at least knew how to treat a cold, a fever. Otto had gotten sick on many occasions, colds and fevers were nothing to her. She immediately ran out of the room to ring for the servant. Quickly, damp towels, medicine, warm herbal tea, and extra blankets were brought into Otto's room. A servant was on standby outside the suite as Kallen took care of Otto.

She gently flicked Otto's cheek, trying to wake him with no success. He needed the fluids. Kallen sat Otto up against the bed's headboard. She recalled the process Otto had described to feed and hydrate her while she was unconscious.

<Memory>

"Food and water should never be directly fed to an unconscious person. Else they'll choke and die. While you rested I fed you strictly soup. Normally the smell was enough to stimulate your senses to take a few sips at a time. You...you really are a glutton..."

"Hey! You can't bully me like that!" Kallen pouted. Otto's eyes wavered, he seemed caught up in the view. His brilliant smile, shy and nervous stopped her from flicking his forehead.

"Anyways, that's really all I did. Sat you up. Help a cup near your mouth. Patiently, waited for you to finish it."

<Memory End>

She pressed a cup to Otto's lips hoping the same process would occur. Otto didn't go too far into the process but he expressed his fear that she would die from a lack of nutrients and most importantly water. When he checked her body condition daily, he was always surprised to find her perfectly fine. It was as if some outside force was putting her body in a healthy stasis. She hoped whatever protected her then would protect Otto as of this moment.

She waited patiently for a few minutes but Otto showed no signs of sipping the warm water. Stimulus, he needed stimulus but what could possibly stimulate Otto to take a sip. Kallen grabbed a cool wetted towel and patted it against his forehead with her free hand. She tilted her head into his eye and whispered for him to take a few sips. There was no response. Perhaps she should try to rouse him again. She raised her voice that she suppressed. But it didn't work. Stimulus, what could she do to stimulate his response. Otto used food, what could Kallen use? Kallen immediately ordered a set of books to be brought. It was a foolish idea but she was out of options. She read Otto a few short stories and described to him various inventions made by inventors of the past.