Claire

Recovering

"Hey. Glad to see you're awake."

I looked to the side and frowned. "I've been awake for hours, Soul." He frowned at that. "Why didn't you wake me up?" I shrugged. "Maybe because you've been here with me for three days." I replied sourly. Soul shook his head and stood, stretching.

Without knowing whether or not I could walk, I threw the blankets to the side and managed to get my legs over the side of the bed. Soul's back was to me, so I could at least try to stand. I put one foot on the ground, then the other without falling. Though my knees were tembling a bit, I decided to try and walk.

By my first step, I fell to my knees, shivering. The random cold flashes were normal, apparently, from the poison, but it was wearing off. "Claire!" Soul was by my side in an instant. "What are you thinking?" I groaned as Soul helped me back to the bed. "That I'm tired of laying in bed all day..." I pressed the blankets around me tight, not leaving one open space for the air to flow through the fabric. "My first mission is in two days! I need to be able to walk to get there." soul nodded. "And you'll get there! But you kinda have to rest to get stronger."

I groaned and shivered once more before warmth flooded over me. "I haven't showered in forever..." I mumbled, looking at the bathroom to my right. I'd been told that, after I was strong enough to stand and walk, I'd be able to go into the bathroom and shower. I wanted that so desperately right now. "Well, unless you want me to stand there holding your arm the entire time you shower -- which I'm not gonna do -- you're not taking a shower." I scowled at him, giving him a look of pure disgust.

Stein walked into the room. "Alright. How're you feeling today, Ms. Monroe?" I rolled my eyes discreetly. "Fine, actually." Which was true. Besides the shivering, I didn't feel bad at all. "Still shivering?" He asked, getting a clipboard from the counter. "Just a little bit." He nodded once and turned back around. "Alright. Let me see you try to stand." Soul opened his mouth to protest, but I glared at him, and he shut his mouth.

Again, I pushed away the blankets and put my feet on the ground. With very little effort, I stood. Stein gave a small smile and wrote things down on the clipboard. "Alright, walk for me, if you can." He said. I closed my eyes and took a breath before putting one foot in front of me and starting to walk.

I took a few steps before I grew too weak to move, and collapsed. Soul was by my side and caught me and helped me sit down. "Well, bad news is I'm keeping you for another night and day. Good news is, by what I just saw, you should be good to move around and leave by tomorrow. I'd advise, once you get your strength back, to continue to excercise walking. Soon enough, you'll be back on your own; won't need help." I nodded and Stein sighed. "I'll check on you during lunch. Until then, Ms. Monroe."

Soul watched as he left and shook his head. "I'm glad the only bad news is that he'll be keeping you for another day..." He muttered. My curiosity got to me as I looked at him. "Soul?" He hummed a reply, looking down at me. "How... Why do you care about me so much?" Soul looked taken back. "What kind of question is that?" He growled. I gave a tiny flinch, almost unnoticable, and looked at the ground. "Sorry for asking." I told him, my voice cold and regretful. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Claire, I just... Don't have a very good answer for that question yet. It's really hard to explain why I care so much." I nodded. "Don't worry about it."

It got quiet for a minute, and then I stood. "Whoa! What're you doing?" Soul questioned me. "Walking." I answered. "I feel strong enough." I took a few more steps, walking to the window on the wall to my right. Soul was by side, looking ready to catch me if I fell. I made it half way to the window before I started feeling light-headed. I grabbed Soul's arm and he wrapped his other arm around my shoulders. "Okay. That's enough for now."

Soul turned me around and smiled when he saw Maka in the door. "Hey. Shouldn't you be in class?" He asked kindly, helping me to the bed. She didn't answer. "Is she okay?" Her question was ground out very obviously, and though I wanted to make a smart-ass reply, I just put my hand to my forehead. "Erm... What's up, Maka?" Soul still had a hand on my shoulder as if to steady me. "Oh, nothing," She started sarcastically. "Just walked in on you two hugging. No big deal." I turned to Maka slowly. "I'm just light-headed, Maka. I'm fine." I smiled very sarcastically. "Thanks for worrying." As I turned back around, I saw Soul looked very upset. More like he was about to pounce on Maka.

With a scowl, Soul turned to me. "Need some water?" I nodded once and he gave me a plastic cup after he filled it with water. "I need to talk to you, Maka." He walked out of the room, gripping Maka's wrist and practically dragging her out of the room. He shut the door behind them. From in here, their voices sounded like muffled whispers. But I doubted he was whispering to Maka.

After a while, Soul came back in the room red-faced. "Everything okay, Soul?" I set my empty cup down on the side table. He nodded and sat down. "Yeah. Want some breakfast?" I smiled kindly. "Sure."

***

I woke not remembering when I'd fallen asleep. Soul was standing by the window, facing me. He was leaning against the sill, his arms crossed over his chest. "Hey." He gave his toothy smile, and I smiled back. "When did I fall asleep?" I questioned with a yawn, stretching. "After we ate breakfast. You've only been asleep for like an hour. So you didn't really miss anything." I nodded.

With a quick glance around the room, I noted that everything was normal. I'd done this every time I'd woken up in this room in case something had changed while I was asleep; it was a bored habit. "I've got a question for you. I've been wondering about it since you first got in here."  I turned to face him. "Go ahead." He looked hesitant to ask, as if my answer scared him.

"Why did you save me?"

Now I see why my answer would scare him. I tensed, searching for a plausible answer. Instinct wouldn't work. Being friends wouldn't work either, because we weren't until now. Could I pull the "your Miester needs you" card? I don't think so. After a moment of complete silence, I came up with an answer;

"I saved you, because I felt you would've done the same for me." I paused, looking down at the hospital sheets. "And you did."

I didn't have to look at Soul to know his reaction. I did, however, use my peripherial vision and noticed that he looked generally shocked. He didn't say anything for a while, and I felt like that answer may not have been the best one. "But why did you feel that way? How did you know I would've saved you, if the cards were flipped?" I looked up at him then. He looked very defensive, as if I were trying to tell him who he was.

This wasn't a very easy subject. Why did I save him? Would I have carried him here, if the cards were flipped? Well, obviously, if I saved his life in the first place. This was all so confusing.

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face, but it still came down in my eyes. "I thought, and still think, that we're very similar. We're the heroes; give our lives to save others even if they're complete strangers. I made an assumption, and I guessed I was right whenever you carried me here. Who would've died had either of us not been there? Who's weapon or Miester would've been lost? I always ask myself these questions after an obstacle such as that spider." I paused. "I assumed you did too.

"I made assumptions about you, and I didn't even know you. I still don't know you too terribly well, but I know you well enough to know that some of my assumptions were wrong, and some were right. So, forgive me if I've placed too many assumptions about you." I gave a small, sarcastic chuckle. "It's a bad habit."

The room was very quiet after that. Soul rubbed the back of his neck, looking to the side. "Well, the hero assumption wasn't wrong, Claire. I would give my life to save others. And I had no idea there was someone else who asked themselves questions after a fight like that." He shrugged and smiled at me. "I guess we're more alike than different." I smiled, "Yeah."