Fire Emblem Drabbles: Angst Edition

Stay With Me (Henry x Summoner!Reader)

WARNINGS: Mentions of blood.

'Til death do us part. Five simple words, yet almost true.

The last battle had been brutal. Pushing deeper into Hel's territory had been your only objective for a while, seeing as you hadn't gained enough ground to do anything else. That last battle had been something of a turning point, but that turn came at a great cost.

You couldn't bring yourself to try and count the bodies.

Even the more bloodthirsty Heroes were silent as you marched to camp. Grima cradled a black eye in his hand, the other holding Chrom's hand like a vise. Duma's solemnity permeated the entirety of your army as he walked, simply putting one foot in front of the other, eyes downcast. Even the cheerfully morbid Tharja was unusually quiet, and Henry, sweet, sweet Henry...he had a close call. He got carried back on a stretcher.

It was a miracle he wasn't brought back to bury.

You had seen the enemy mage readying his tome, lips forming words that promised destruction. You had tried to warn Henry, but he was too busy dispatching an axe-wielding warrior to notice your panicked cries. Your eyes barely met his before the blast hit, flinging him backward onto the cold, hard ground.

The healers tell you he nearly bled out.

You sit with him now, in the tent you are reluctant to call a hospital of any kind, much less a field hospital. He's barely conscious, eyes flickering open long enough to see Heroes and healers come and go, bringing medicines, staves, and visitors to the wounded.

His voice comes out harsh, quiet yet rasping because of the blood he swallowed.

"Am I dying?"

The first words out of his mouth since his fling with death. Almost predictable, in a way.

"No, Henry," you manage to choke out between silent sobs. "You're alive, you'll make it."

"That's too bad. I thought this could have been my bloody end," Henry whispers, before a cough wracks his body, bringing up blood. "It still could be, you know."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." You manage a smile as you dab the blood from his mouth with a cloth, before taking another cloth and wiping his forehead. "Henry, you're burning up."

He smiles at the healers as they return.

"Not finished with me yet, ladies? Your sweet Summoner here says I'm too hot to handle, you know."

"Goddammit, Henry," you say. "You're still cracking jokes." A small laugh escapes you, and Henry smiles, a sight you are sure to cherish forever, no matter how bloodstained he may be.

"As for me...let's see, how am I today?"

Henry pauses, and you see his eyes glistening with tears that threaten to spill over at a moment's notice.

"I guess...everything hurts?"

He whimpers when the healer brings her staff closer, and the tears finally come as a blue aura surrounds his chest.

They tell you there's internal bleeding.

You stay with him as the healers work, mending lacerations and all finally attempting to stop the bleeding. Eventually, they do, after...3, 9 hours? Time lost meaning after the first few. You remained with Henry through all of it, even when he fell unconscious due to the pain.

"Can't you do anything about the pain?"

Maria shakes her head.

"If we did, it would only put more stress on his body, maybe even risk the bleeding resurfacing. I'm sorry."

She curtsies quickly and leaves the room.

Henry's face is streaked with tears now, his face flushed red with feverish pain. You reach out to brush his hair behind his ear, and he grips your hand so tightly you nearly flinch from the force behind his grasp.

"Please, please stay with me. Don't go, please, everything hurts...it all hurts, please—you're the only good thing I have left. Being with you is the only good thing left in my world anymore."

You wipe his tears, hold his hand, kiss his forehead.

You stay.

A/N: This is a slightly altered version of a request on Tumblr.