The Watcher // Sheith

Chapter Four

I wake up to Allura's hands on my face and an itchy, pulling sensation behind my eyes. I blink up at her, and the only noise I can make is a pretty pathetic gurgle.

"Shh," Allura soothes, rubbing my temples with her thumbs. "I'm just helping you manage the pain. The less you remember is probably for the best."

I blink hard and manage to get my eyes open all the way, sighing under her gentle ministrations. Her expression is soft with relief. "Did I punch Coran when you guys popped my shoulder back into place?" Allura smiles, laughing a little.

"Yes. He's got a pretty impressive black eye thanks to you."

"Had it comin'," I murmur, turning my cheek into her palm, cool against my clammy skin. She pushes her fingers through my hair, catching on knots that she gently works out. I feel disgusting, I know I smell bad, but I don't have the heart to tell Allura to stop touching me. "What's the damage?"

"Well, you sure do like to flirt with death." She says as she carefully sits down on the edge of my bed, her hand still playing with my hair, pushing it back from my face. "Your back got ripped to shreds. When Shiro got the ghoul off you, it didn't let go without a fight. You'll have some new scars across your shoulder blades and the small of your back. You're full of stitches, on your arms as well, but those aren't too bad." I still groan, flopping my head to one side, "your shoulder was dislocated, and your collarbone was broken when it bite you. You lost a lot of blood. Your shoulder is... It's pretty bad. The scarring will be bad. It took a chunk out of you, kid."

"I thought it was going to eat me." I confess and I don't care if Allura can hear how fucking scared I was. She scratches along my scalp gently. "If Shiro hadn't stopped it, it would have eaten me."

"I told you he would aide you." She teases weakly and I roll my eyes which makes them burn. God. I feel so fragile. "He got you here. Held your hand the whole time Coran stitched you up. He didn't panic."

"Yeah," I breathe a laugh, "he's good like that. Where is he?"

"Sleeping on the couch downstairs. I talked him into getting a few hours." She slides her hand out of my gross hair and pats my good shoulder lightly. "Speaking of, you definitely need more sleep. Do I need to coerce you?" I shake my head as much as I can without feeling dizzy, cheerfully closing my eyes against the dull light of the room. It must be day time. I don't know how long I've been out. Allura gets up off the bed and kisses my cheek before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her. I sink back down into the dark in seconds.

When I wake up again, soft lamp light is filling the room which I realize now is the room I claimed as mine when I lived here. I sniff and turn my head, finding Shiro in the seat beside me, a book in hand. He looks over at me, smiling when he sees me awake.

"Hey," I croak, smiling weakly at him. He looks tired, bags under his eyes and his hair sticking up on end. He pulls his chair closer to the bed so he can rest his elbows on the mattress, smiling right back at me.

"Hi there. How are you feeling?"

"... Rough." I admit after a moment of consideration. My entire body feels like it's full of lead. I can feel every single bruise and every single stitch that's holding me together. Even my legs hurt and they got the least trauma. I guess slamming down onto the bricks counted. My whole body is just mad at me about the whole thing. Shiro takes my right hand in his, looking over the dried blood caught under my nails. I try curling the fingers of my left hand, up in a sling, and it makes the stitches in my arm pull. "Kinda like I almost got eaten."

"Mmm, is that what the kids are calling it these days?" I laugh, which doesn't hurt too badly. Shiro sighs, cupping his cheek in his palm, his focus returning to my limp hand in his. I'm tempted to just close my eyes again, but I know the look that's pulling on Shiro's features and I can't sleep until I've gotten it to ease up. I tap my fingers against his palm.