Don't Forget About Me (Previously, Keith Isn't Dead)

Chapter 14

Huge thanks to lillianna4625, who has been so supportive and kind! Thank you so much!

Lance woke up late in the day. No one seemed to mind, and when he asked Pidge, she told him Shiro had even called off their daily training sessions. With nothing else to really do, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance hung out in the med bay.

They played cards and watched movies most of the time. Pidge had gone in there originally to keep Keith's physical state monitored. Hunk had stopped in to chat with Pidge, and Lance had been hanging out in there all day. 

No one questioned why Lance seemed so attached to Keith, they just figured Lance missed him. He was a very sentimental and social person after all. 

Pidge pulled away from their Uno game to check Keith's vitals again. Lance grew quiet, waiting for Pidge's affirmative nod, signaling that Keith was okay. It never came.

"Hunk go get Coran and Allura." Pidge's voice was quiet but completely serious. Hunk was on his feet immediately. Lance sat there, unsure of what to do. He debated asking but knew Pidge was tense, so she would most likely snap at him. So Lance just sat there, his gaze flicking from Pidge to Keith. Pidge turned to him.

"He'll be okay," she paused, sighing, "It's-it's just that his breathing got irregular and I don't know why. I just want to make sure he doesn't have fluid in his lungs or something."

Hunk decided to burst into the room at that time, Coran and Allura hot on his heels. The Alteans spoke quickly with Pidge before getting to work. They hooked the pod up to a big clunky machine and it started beeping, Lance measured the noises and found that it beat almost two times for each of his heartbeats. 

"Um, what is that exactly?" Lance whispered to Hunk. The pair were off to the side, scared of getting in the way. Hunk furrowed his eyebrows.

"I think it's a heart monitor, but it must be off, it's going like, two times as fast as a normal heartbeat." Lance bit his lip, "Yeah."

It took Pidge, Allura, and Coran ten minutes to finish their testing. Allura turned to Lance and Hunk. 

"Well, he seems to be alright, his heartbeat has just quickened. We assume it's his body's way of coping with the healing process. Thanks for telling us, Pidge."

Coran followed the princess out the door and the three friends could relax again. After a few minutes, everything was back to normal.

*

"Hahaha, You guys are gonna die so fast this round." Lance was looking down at his cards, a huge grin plastered on his face. A draw four, two draw two's, a skip, and a wildcard sat in his hands. Hunk groaned, he could tell when Lance was lying and knew he was really in for it. 

"Uno." Pidge's voice was small, and the boys almost missed it, but Lance froze. "Whaa-? How?!" Pidge laughed, holding up her single card, "Well dummy, I played the other cards I had, and now I have one. That's how." Lance smirked, skipping her, then Hunk changed the color to Yellow. Pidge threw her card down, a smug smirk on her face. Lance and Hunk groaned, this was the fifth game she'd won.

"Okay, okay, we can take a break." 

Hunk declared he was going to the kitchens, and Pidge eagerly joined him, leaving Lance alone in the med bay. He smiled softly, 'Only three more hours to wait.' Lance got up and began walking around the room, stretching his legs. He passed by Keith and something caught his eye. Doubling back, Lance found out why Keith's breathing patterns were irregular, he as having a nightmare.

Keith's eyes were slightly scrunched up and he was frowning ever so slightly. The teen was sweating and shaking very subtly. Lance glanced over at Pidge's open computer, he walked over and clicked refresh. Keith's breathing had gotten faster, and after a few clicks, Lance saw that his heart rate had increased by a lot.

'Poor guy, I wonder what he's dreaming about? What is Keith afraid of? I hope it's not a really bad nightmare, he doesn't deserve that, especially after what he's been through.'

Lance sat at Keith's feet, fiddling with the discarded Uno cards. He was halfway through building a tower when Pidge's computer beeped. Lance jumped at the sudden noise, and his fragile card tower collapsed on itself. 

Lance brushed the cards to the side and looked at the computer screen. He stared at the flashing red warning. Just as he was halfway tot he doors, Pidge burst in with the whole team behind her. 

Lance froze like a deer in headlights and was quickly jostled around by the group. "What's going on? Is Keit-" Lance's questions were lost in the shouts of his friends. The red paladin slunk away, choosing to stand by Keith. He heard snippets of their heated conversation.

"He's not supposed to be-" "What do we do?" "What's wrong, why is-" "Should we take him out?" "Move over!" "Don't block the screen" "You're not helping H-" "Check his vitals again." "Shut up! We're all confus-" "Let me try!" "No! Get off-" "What should we do?" 

Lance heard all the arguing and figured out the problem with a combination of peeks at the computer screen and fragments of the argument. Keith was awake, or at least, he was waking up. 

"Guys? Hey! Guys!" Lance huffed, moving closer to the bickering group. "I think I know what's going on! Hello?" He growled in frustration, turning back to Keith. As Lance turned around, the healing pod opened, and Keith started to stumble out.

"Keith!" Lance let his friend fall into his arms, Keith was definitely out of it. His eyes were cloudy and far away, He was shaking and stumbled around. It was almost as if he were still asleep. Lance turned to his friends, unsure of what to do. he panicked when he saw that none of them had noticed. Their fighting was so loud no one heard the pod open, no one noticed that Keith was in some need of serious medical attention, they were too absorbed in their own thoughts to see what was right in front of their faces.

Lance stared wide-eyed at his friends, he bit his lip. Taking a deep breath, Lance yelled as loud as he could. "Guys! Would you shut up and help me?"

Everyone turned around to see Keith clinging onto Lance for dear life, obviously out of it. There was silence, then everyone started moving at once. Keith was taken away from Lance, and the group hurried away to one of the hospital beds.

Lance was left alone again and his friends were so packed together that Lance couldn't get through. 

He just decided to wait and pulled himself away. Staring at the ground. 'Why do I always have to be the seventh wheel?'

So um, I'm gonna go away to summer camp for a week. I leave tomorrow. I won't be able to post because phones and electronics aren't allowed :( Sorry! I will try to get another chapter out tomorrow morning before I leave, but I can't promise it. Thanks for reading!