Lloyd was taking the attack really hard.
After he disappeared to speak to his uncle, I stared at the ceiling with a stunned expression.
'Yeah, it is.' The words he spoke turned and twisted in my head, rang in my ears, forced me to think of nothing else. His voice sounded so broken, so defeated.
Fuck. He looked like a kicked puppy.
It was agonising when Lloyd was like this. Whenever he was down, it was like the world stopped turning. The sky darkened, colours dulled, everything just felt heavy and suffocating.
Lloyd's sadness brought upon the end of days.
But what I really hated was the fact that he was blaming himself again for something that wasn't his fault. We talked about it only yesterday!
So, after having been tucked in by my despondent boyfriend and left on my own, I tried to come up with a perfect counter-point to stomp Lloyd's guilt into the dust.
Unfortunately, I underestimated the potency of the tea. By the time he returned for bed, I was well into slumber and there was no chance of waking me for hours.
I would have to wait for the next day.
Monday, I woke up late into the morning and without Lloyd, so I couldn't even give him a morning pep-talk. One which would've involved a lot of kisses.
The day was spent in a bedridden drowsy haze, barely able to lift my arm to scratch my head without passing out again. So I guess, even if he had stayed, I would've been useless anyway.
At least the first time I had the tea, I was only injured in one place. This attack had me sore and wounded all over, so my body was working overtime - which meant I was asleep for about ninety-five percent of the day.
It was boring and dull but at least I had Kashu and Naomi for company. Kashu was more than happy to doze the day away, snuggled between me and my best friend. When I was awake for longer than five seconds at a time, Naomi would keep me entertained by catching me up to date with the latest gossip. Courtesy of Ambrose, of course.
He always was good at knowing things he probably wasn't supposed to.
"Ah, sweet, you're awake again!" Naomi said with a grin, shuffling closer and leaning over my napping buddy, Kashu. "Check this out! Stan twitter rated the ninja's best gis. Guess which one's the fan favourite?"
"Mmm," I hummed languidly, shutting my eyes as I thought. "'nything sleeveless."
"Yep!" Naomi snickered, showing me the screen. "So predictable, yet so correct."
I grinned tiredly, shuffling my stiff limbs under the blankets as I turned more towards her.
"H'many photos of Cole in that gi do you have?" I asked in a teasing remark. Naomi raised a brow.
"How many photos of Lloyd do you have in that gi?" she countered expertly, and I chuckled tiredly.
"Touché," I nodded respectfully, heavy eyelids drooping.
"Sweet dreams," she said as I slipped right back under before I could reply.
The sun had shifted dramatically by the time I next peeled open my eyes. I must've been asleep for a couple of hours. Naomi was still with me, which meant that Lloyd was still training or on patrol or hunting down gang members or whatever he and the team were doing.
I hoped he was okay.
Kashu had left. Off to do dog things, I guessed. It made me frown sadly.
"This tea sucks," I groaned into the pillow, dragging my eyes open. Naomi giggled, placing a bookmark in the novel of mine she'd been reading.
"You love it," she corrected with a knowing smile. "If it weren't for that tea, you wouldn't be half as healed as you are now. The gash on your forehead's completely gone. Faded and everything."
I raised my fingertips to the skin of my forehead. There was no injury, only unbroken skin. I sighed through my nose.
"The tea's okay," I relented moodily. Naomi beamed.
It was dark by the time I next woke. Naomi was gone, probably headed home or was spending time with Cole. I'd have to thank her for looking out for me the next time I saw her.
I was just about to let myself float back into slumber when the door to the bedroom opened and my attention was snagged.
Lloyd limped inside, making no move to conceal the grimace on his face. He stopped at his closet and began unbuckling his gi, dropping the belts to the side and slipping the soiled robe into the hamper. My heart crashed into my throat and released a choking whimper when he pulled his undershirt off, revealing a gargantuan purple bruise the spanned across the planes of his back.
