𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄, doctor strange.

Recovery

                        Ana sat in Steven's arm chair, her legs draped over one of the arms and her head rested against the other one, a booked propped up in her lap, and she smiled sheepishly as one character dramatically exclaimed their love to the other, and she giggled under her breath, blushing for some unknown reason. Steven looked up from his own thick book on the couch, his legs crossed in front of him, his navy blue robe thrown over his usual pajamas, and he quirked an eyebrow with an amused smirk, making Ana send a playful glare his way. He chuckled quietly, shaking his head in amusement before turning back to the book, his eyes swiftly scanning the words on the pages.

                        Ana had been from the hospital for a few hours, and her forearms felt sore and were covered with red-speckled white bandages which pulled at her skin adhesively, and she grunted as her cut began to itch, and she squirmed, furrowing her brows in annoyance. Steven looked up with a concerned expression, eyebrows furrowed as he glanced down at her arms, and he pursed his lips, realizing how much the cut must be itching and dying for the bandages to be removed. Ana probably felt the same way as the cuts. Biting his tongue to keep from exclaiming a snark comment, he flopped his book down with a thump and striding over to Ana, who glanced up at him confusedly and anxiously before he kneeled down next to her head, eyeing the pages of the books. It was Peter Pan, a classic children's book, and Ana's playful demeanor reminded him of the boy who never grew up.

                      " Are you just going to sit there looking at my book, Steven?" Ana said entertainingly, raising a trimmed eyebrow quizzically, her lips upturned at the edges as Steven simply scoffed, rolling his eyes with a soft smile, before looking down at Ana's arm, which moved constantly as she tried to keep from shouting for them to be removed, because she knew she couldn't constantly take them off, let alone scratch her deep cuts. Steven tentatively took Ana's arm in his already shaking hand, and Ana tensed slightly, her breath halting as she watched Steven stare down at the arm, his surgeon mode activated as he ran a delicate finger along the bandages, sending a sparking sensation through Ana's arm and body. She pushed the interesting feeling away and cringed with pain as Steven tore away the bandage with a sickening hiss, and she gasped inwardly. 

                         The cuts were deep and red around the edges of the thin slice from the crook of her elbow to her wrist on both arms, the smallest of blow flood rising to the top like an overflowing ravine. Steven gave her a questioning glance, his Adam's apple bobbing before he placed two tender fingers upon Ana's cut, and the sparking sensation shot through her again as his fingertips traced the cut from back to front, soft words muttered under his breath as his ocean blue eyes scanned the redness. Ana swallowed nervously, her spine shaking as Steven's hands brushed her own fingertips, and he immediately flinched and glanced up at her with a sympathetic grin before returning to his work, finally pushing the firm white bandage back on with a few extra gauze that soaked from the edges of the corner of the Band-Aid. 

                       Steven bit his lip, guilt overwhelming him again as the moment when Ana's screams had filled the air plagued his mind again, and he looked down at his trembling hands, eyes deep and melancholy. Ana furrowed her brows in concern, and despite her pulsing arm, and she leaned her head in front of him, and he glanced upwards, his eyes wet. Ana flinched mentally, imaging the guilt he must have been feeling. " It wasn't your fault, Steven," she said quietly in a calm voice, her lips uplifting in a comforting smile. Steven smiled back,  but Ana could tell it was fake from his eyes. She leaned over and softly pecked him on the cheek, feeling a warm blush creep up her cheeks as Steven's expression went blank, before he smiled goofily, his cheeks red. Bounding to her feet, Ana swiftly walked up the stairs, smiling mischievously as she closed the door behind her, and slid down against the wood, her mind whirling.

                    She and Steven were just friends.