The Blade in the Stars (Swiss x Female OC)

9: Terrified

Fenris' POV:

I stirred only slightly, the light of whatever room I was in breaking the darkness in my eyelids. I groaned quietly, shifting slightly where I lay. When I moved, I heard a slight rustle that didn't belong to the bed, beckoning my attention to reality. I open my eyes slowly, blinking the sleep out of them harshly. I was looking up at a tiled ceiling, the room around me dimmer than I thought it had been.

My eyes fell down to my arms, which were uncovered and painfully visible. Below the scars I could vividly remember, there was a large cut splayed across each wrist. They were covered by large, thick bandages. Higher up on one arm, there was a tube filled with red liquid connected to me. A sense of panic filled my throat as I eyed the tube all the way up to where it was connected to a bag of what could only be blood.

I tried to sit up, the panic bubbling at the very surface of my being. I could feel my breath start to hasten, yet no air properly met my lungs. I was just about to start freaking out when a gentle gloved hand touched mine. "Fenris." Instantly, my nerves started to calm down as I heard something that was familiar to me. I turned my head towards Copia, letting myself sink back into the bed. He was sitting in a chair to the left of me, a book placed face down on his thigh. He tried to put on a gentle smile, but the concern laced in his expression was sickeningly obvious.

"Hey Copia," I whispered, my voice coming out distant and fragile. He mouthed a small 'hey', and the silence around me suddenly became terrible to be in. I could faintly remember what happened, specifically the shock and panic I felt during that entire ordeal. I was still quite lightheaded and confused, but it was nowhere near what I had felt as I jogged through those woods.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, taking his hand away from my own. He seemed hesitant, his eyes darting quite literally anywhere but me. I decided just to respond with a shrug, taking a deep breath as I looked around myself. My eyes froze on an occupied chair to my right, tilting my head at the figure. Swiss was sleeping in the chair uncomfortably, his body angled and his head lolled off to the side. I was suddenly wide awake, my gaze scanning him intently. The bruise on his cheek had almost fully faded already, curtesy of that special ghoul healing. To watch the steady rise and fall of his chest was strangely relaxing, soothing my active nerves.

"He hasn't moved since he got here," Copia's voice broke my thoughts, causing me to glance towards him. I furrowed my brow, the blanket suddenly becoming very interesting. Why would he be here? And that brought along another question: how long have I been here? It was clearly the infirmary, which anyone who was of decently sound mind could conclude.

"How long was I-"

"A day, give or take. The nurses thought it'd be best if you got some more time to recover, so they put you under," he answered my question swiftly, as if it was rehearsed. I nodded slowly, returning to mindlessly glancing around the room. There was a window far away in the corner that had no light coming through it. It must've been late at night if Copia had found the time to come. And then again came my next question: why was he here? There was plenty of other things he could have been doing.

"Don't you have something better to be doing? I can imagine Imperator will have your hide if you forget to do something." To my surprise, he only chuckled at that, a relieved sort of amusement in his eyes.

"Erm- yes, well..." He trailed off for a moment, his gaze falling. I tracked his line of sight until it was quite obvious that he was staring at the many mostly healed cuts dotting my wrists. My heart lurched as a sense of realization washed over me: Swiss had seen them. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Copia's voice brought me back instantly, along with a bit of confusion.