winds of change ~ wolverine

eleven

It was a long night of Bailey insisting on trying to get the poison out faster and me having to force her to give her heart a break. When she got most of the function back in her arms, just moving her hand off her chest wasn't enough and I had to sit watching her to make sure she didn't start it up again when she was supposed to be having a rest. 

In part, I understood her eagerness. She just wanted to have control of her body again. Didn't make it any less frustrating trying to make sure she didn't accidentally kill herself while she was at it.

Eventually though, she'd fully worn herself out and when I told her to relax and sleep the rest of the effects off, she was out like a light within minutes. I set up my post in the chair beside the window, keeping a watchful eye on the street outside. I couldn't be too careful, not with Mystique's eye on Bailey now. I doubted she'd try again so soon after tonight's failed attempt, and not when she knew Bailey had an X-Man at her back, but I knew sleep wouldn't come if I tried, so I stood guard instead.

When I finally looked away from the window and glanced over to Bailey's sleeping form well into the night, I saw that she'd pulled herself to the side of the bed to make space for me to sleep. I smiled a little at the effort. When she'd passed out, her upper body had regained most of its strength, but her legs were still pretty much dead weight. In her exhaustion, she'd only been able to pull her top half to the side of the bed and now lay diagonally over the mattress with the blanket strewn messily at her feet.

I shook my head, sighing quietly and stepping away from my watch toward the bed. I gently pulled the cover over her shoulders, frowning at the ripped sleeve of her red shirt. I clenched my jaw, thinking of what could have happened if I hadn't been there when Mystique tried to take her.

Bailey might not want someone watching over her, hell, I wouldn't either, but there was no way I was leaving her on her own after tonight. She would just have to get used to it.

BAILEY'S POV

The light streaming in through the slits in the curtains was what eventually pulled me out of my deep sleep. I hadn't expected to rest so soundly last night after what happened, but trying to rush the paralytic out of my body had taken a lot out of me, and I fell asleep to Logan standing guard a few feet away by the window.

I remember wanting to tell him to give it a rest and sleep as well, but knew even in my exhausted state that he would have just shrugged it off. When I opened my eyes, I found that he was still in his place, in the chair by the window, brows frowned as he watched the world outside. "Did you not sleep at all?" I said after a monstrous yawn, my voice a rasp.

Logan looked over to me and shook his head slightly. "How do you feel?" He said instead.

I winced as I struggled to sit myself up. I could move, but I felt horribly sluggish, like half of my muscle mass was still jelly. Almost as soon as I lifted my head from the pillow, my entire skull started pounding, a nasty reminder that Mystique had dropped me like a sack of potatoes on concrete last night. I shot a hand up to cradle my aching temple and smiled through the pain. "Like roadkill." I finally answered. "Logan you must be exhausted, have you really not moved from there all night?" I pressed, feeling bad that instead of being in the cushy mansion in Westchester, he was here losing sleep watching over me.

Logan smiled small. "I'm fine, Bailey. Worry more about yourself." He redirected again, and I only took note of it because it was my signature move as well. I didn't comment on it and instead shrugged off the blanket, struggling to swing my numb legs over the side of the bed.

I took a deep breath to ready myself and tried to stand. Before I could even think about taking a step, my legs buckled at the knees and Logan shot up to catch me at the arms, sitting me back down on the bed. "Would you take it easy?" He huffed with thinly veiled concern. "This stuff usually takes days to fully wear off, don't rush yourself."