color coded [klance]

fifteen

keith awoke with a gasp, cold, stale air filling his lungs, and his throat ached with the feeling as he quickly sat up in his bed. his hands gripped the sheets so hard his knuckles turned white, and he instantly surveyed the room, noticing the bleary white walls and the steady beeping of a heart monitor. something was playing on the tv mounted on the wall, something about sharks, and the thought that lance would really like that show ran through keith's mind.

lance.

"lance!" he quickly called, startling whoever was asleep in the chair next to him, who quickly stood and took their place by keith, and his blood instantly boiled in his veins. "where the fuck is lance?" he hissed.

  "he's in a different room, he's okay," shiro assured him, placing a hand on keith's shoulder. "how are you fee-"

  "fucking awful," he snapped, yanking his shoulder away from shiro's grasp. "what are you doing here?"

  "keith, i still care about you," shiro replied incredulously, like keith's anger was completely unjustified, which just fueled the fire in his chest more. "i was the one who called 911, lance nearly died of hypothermia right next to you."

  "what?" keith breathed out.

  "lance dove in right after you, he managed to somehow find you and pull you up. and then, despite how heavy the two of you were and how cold the water was, he swam to shore and got the both of you up there. it's a god damned miracle you two are alive, what the fuck were you thinking, keith?!"

  "i...holy shit," he breathed out. "is lance okay?"

  "yes, lance is fine. but back to my original question: what the fuck were you thinking?!"

  "i wanted to fucking die, shiro," keith snapped for the second time. "after you fucking left, i completely lost myself." suddenly, the words were spilling from his lips faster than he could even think them. "you fucked me up, i felt like i didn't mean anything to you, because if i did, why was it so easy for you to leave? i felt so goddamn worthless, and stupid, and i thought that if i didn't deserve you, I didn't deserve to live, and-and fuck," keith hissed, pressing his palms to his eyes to stave the tears marking his cheeks.

  "keith...i never meant to make you feel that way. i just...you're so young, and i felt like i was ruining your chances of being a kid, because i'm so ready to settle down and focus on being an adult, and i knew you wouldn't want that. i should have approached it better, and i'm so, so sorry for that."

  a knock at the door cut off their conversation, and a doctor and nurse entered the room.

  "hello, keith! how are you feeling?" the doctor asked chirpily, giving keith a wide smile.

  "like shit," he replied.

  "i'd imagine so, which all you put your body through. nurse marcella here is going to take your vitals, and then you and i are gonna have a little chat on where you're headed next."

  "home?" he attempted feebly.

  "nice try, mr. kogane. but i'm afraid you won't be heading home for a while."