Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 35 | Return

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In the hospital wing, after curfew

Healing was going to take time, but it was time I didn't think I was going to have anymore. It was the night of when we returned home from the expedition; as Armin had insisted, I had been taken straight to the hospital wing with Eren. He sat with me for a little while as I was tended to and had my wounds redressed, as they waited for his wounds to heal enough to send him back to his cell. The mission was a total failure, and because of that, the Military Police would most likely demand custody of Eren, so for the moment, I wanted to make the most of the time I had left with him. As curfew fell, they had to take him away, so after a long hug with both him and Mikasa, I was left alone. Armin had been forced to leave a few hours ago, being summoned to Erwin's office. We exchanged a knowing look, and I figured that it would be about the Female titan.

I knew the future would be unavoidable, and that soon I would have to face the truth - that someone I had loved had betrayed me, and betrayed humanity. But for now, I wanted to spend a night ignoring that truth. Maybe that was selfish, but just for tonight, I wanted to be selfish.

My bed was right next to the window, and as the night went on, I found myself staring out of it, watching as the moon travelled high in to the sky, occasionally blotted out by clouds. It was very lonely, and I found myself wishing bitterly that I was with someone else, however the room was empty. I was the only one with injuries of this caliber to survive. Everyone one who had gotten involved with the Female titan was unrecoverable, except for me.

She kept me alive. She could've killed me in an instant, but chose not to. No, I don't want to think about this right now.

I instead chose to concentrate on what the nurse had told me. I had a few broken ribs, which would take a few months to heal, but I should be alright to continue moving around within a week or so. I knew I'd have to be up and going sooner if I were to be of any use to the Survey Corp, however as long as I avoided anything extremely strenuous, I should be okay. The only way you can move forward in this world is to be strong and push past your limits. Honestly, the most inconvenient thing for me at this time, now that the pain had settled, was that my hair was a mess; full of bark, dirt, and horribly tangled. The bits of wood were poking into my head and no matter what I did, I couldn't get them out by just by myself.

"I think my hair will kill me before my injuries will." I had joked to Eren, and he rolled his eyes while Armin gave a thoughtful hum. Mikasa had simply nodded, providing me much needed validation; she got it.

Aside from my hair causing me pain, I also had a an absolute shit ton of bruising, all down my stomach, hips and legs. My bruising had only just subsided from Trost, and now it was back. My hands were nearly healed, not scarring just yet; just leaving a mottled red mess of healed skin that would one day turn into properly healed scars.

Damn, I need to stop getting grabbed by titans.

I sank back in to my mattress, and took advantage of the silence to finally get some rest. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. This was nice, if you stopped thinking about what was occurring outside the room. Even if I couldn't fall asleep, it was still nice to shut my eyes and rest, as well as I could, not that my hair was allowing me to get comfortable.

A few minutes had passed, when I heard the door softly creak open, however I didn't feel like seeing who it was.

It's probably the nurse.

I heard soft, padding footsteps walking towards me, finally stopping by my bedside, and the chair next to my bed was adjusted slightly, the wooden legs scraping quietly as if the person was trying their best to be quiet. I also heard a small wooden click, however I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. The hand that was resting my side was taken by shaky, warm hands, however it was left in place by my side. It was this that caused me to finally take a peak into the darkness, and I saw none other than Armin watching the rise and fall of my chest carefully. His gaze was somber and fixed, not shifting as the wind buffeted against my window or shook the wooden foundations outside; he was utterly focused on my every breath, as if he was scared it would stop if he wasn't keeping watch.