Cornered

East 3

Levi could see she had come to her senses so he released her. She let her arms fall limply to her sides as she knelt on the ground stunned. She had done that to Bertholt? Levi walked over to the stream lifting the cloth she had dropped earlier and dunking it to get it freshly wet. He returned to her and lifted one of her hands to set it in. Then he walked over to Bertholt examining his head for injuries. At his touch Bertholt groaned and weakly swatted at Levi's hand. Levi persisted and eventually found where Mikasa had struck him. A bruise was already forming on his right temple; a good solid hit then. His eyes fluttered a bit then snapped open, his lungs pulling in air.

Instantly Bertholt grimaced. His ribs felt like they'd been hit by a tree, his head throbbed with the pulse of his heart. He struggled to release his breath feeling lances of pain throughout his body. Even his right shoulder was still sending pins and needles down his arm. He coughed and wished he hadn't. Coughing felt worse than breathing. He started to roll to the left and Levi helped him. Bertholt pulled his knees up trying to cushion his ribs, as he breathed in more slowly. It still hurt, but he made himself do it while his head spun. He didn't know if he could get up and he didn't really want to try. He was sure it would be agony with his ribs.

"Wha," he choked and tried not to cough before he started again. "What happened?"

"A misunderstanding," Levi answered looking over to Mikasa. Her back was to them as she dabbed at Eren's forehead, but Bertholt could see the defeated slope to her shoulders. Curiously he glanced at Levi, but the captain didn't say anything. Instead he retrieved some bandaging and began wrapping it around Bertholt's head, being as gentle as he could but making sure the wrap was tight enough. Bertholt winced occasionally as the zings of pain registered but he didn't complain. Once Levi was done he did feel a little better. He wished he could remember what had happened to him and why he'd been lying on the ground with all these bruises.

Levi let them all rest for a while before ordering them to get up and mount. Bertholt just managed to make it to his feet, but he swayed as his head spun faster. He staggered over to one of the willows and braced himself against the trunk. He blinked slowly trying to allow the dizziness to pass. It lessened some but didn't leave completely. He walked carefully over to his horse his shins protesting every step of the way. He slowly untied his horse and it waited patiently beside him. He let it drink some trying to ready himself to mount. He just managed to get his foot up and into the stirrup. Taking a steadying breath he jumped pulling himself into the saddle, his ribs screaming in pain. He groaned forcing himself to keep moving until he was situated. He kept himself from swaying once he was there but it was difficult as his head swam and his ribs ached. His mount grazed patiently beneath him which he was grateful for.

"Are you all right?" Levi asked. It was less of a question of concern and more of a question from a superior officer ensuring his troops were fit. Bertholt nodded and lead his horse closer to Eren. He knew he would be useless in a fight so they would probably give him Eren again. Sure enough Mikasa and Levi worked to get Eren off the ground and Bertholt was hesitant to help because of his ribs. When he saw how much trouble they were having however he knew he would need to help. Bertholt did his best to prepare himself but he still grimaced as he leaned over and hoisted Eren onto his horse. His vision blurred and he held still with his eyes closed until it cleared. He could feel that Eren's fever had indeed gone down which was a relief. His vision cleared to show that Levi and Mikasa were similarly mounting.

"We'll have to ride hard to make up the time we lost here. Follow me." Levi started out at a trot until they were back on the road then kicked his horse into a gallop. Bertholt fought his body's desire to pass out as his ribs screamed in pain. He gritted his teeth and did his best to bear it. He just had to make it to camp. He was so focused on ignoring the pain he almost didn't realize they'd made it. He had been staring at Captain Levi's back and been surprised when he stopped. Looking around though he realized they were at the camp. Levi ordered several of the Survey Corps members to come over and help lower Eren from the horse. Bertholt sat on his horse and just breathed. It was several moments before he realized Levi was standing beside his stirrup staring at him.