I'm Fine (book 2)

Glass

After about a month of sleeping separately, Beastboy was getting tired of being pulled back and forth by Raven. Raven couldn't go to sleep without thinking about how much she wished she had never pushed Beastboy away. She was routinely smashing breakables with explicit dreams so she was starting to develop a soft shading of dark circles under her eyes. She started keeping her hood up during the day and habitually cleaned broken glass out of her room before everyone else woke up. One morning Raven tripped and sliced her hand. She stifled her pain and walked through the hall to the hospital wing.

She tried to use her powers to remove the pieces with her left hand but the glass had shattered in her palm, leaving too many little pieces and she was a little too panicked to focus on each tiny piece. She grabbed a pair of tweezers and started to pull pieces as Cyborg walked in to see her struggling with tweezers in her non-dominant hand.

"Woooah," Cyborg gasped as he ran over to help Raven. She was trying her hardest to hold in tears but her hand was really starting to throb. He had her lay her hand out on the metal table and began to work. "How did this happen?" Cyborg asked as he plucked away.

"I was cleaning my room and tripped with a jar in my hand." Raven whispered trying desperately to stay calm. "Promise me you don't tell anyone about this!" She urged.

"Yeah, no problem!" He promised and continued to work. "36 pieces of glass..." Cyborg mumbled as he examined the bleeding hand for any pieces he missed. He poured a disinfectant into her palm watching her face wince with the sting. He got out a suture kit to stitch up a couple of the deeper cuts and began to connect the skin with his needle. "Don't forget to breath, Raven." Cyborg coached as he worked through the skin. He had notice she had gotten really still and hadn't heard her take a breath.

"Thanks...." she mumbled and shivered from the pain.

"How are you doing?" Cyborg asked as he tied off the first cut.

"Not great, but let's just get this done." Raven urged, wanting this to be done.

Cyborg swiftly stitched up the rest of her hand leaving 24 stitches along 3 long cuts in her palm. He sprayed a numbing disinfectant into the stitches which helped Raven a lot and then wrapped her hand up tightly with gauze and sterile tape. Raven carefully slid her fingerless glove over her hand, which hid most of the tape. She winced at the added pressure of the fabric as Cyborg examined the fit of the glove.

"Do not use this hand for at least a week." Cyborg advised. "Can you perform spells like that?" Cyborg asked cautiously, scared to find out the result.

"Let me try..." she held out her bandaged hand and stared down a pen across the room to move. "Azeroth Metrion Zin—Agghhhhh!!" The black power popped in her hand causing her to clutch her hand to her chest in pain.

"Damnit!" Cyborg shouted. "You'll have to tell Nightwing before training today...and I suppose if you can't do spells, you probably can't heal it either?" Cyborg asked already knowing the answers.

"I can still do stuff, I just can't direct it with my hand... but I'll let him know." Raven paused, "I don't think I can heal my hand though..." Raven whispered thinking about how that would go down. Cyborg examined her face for the first time in this exchange.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Cyborg asked softly, suddenly noticing the dark circles under her eyes. Raven could feel his gaze so she pulled her hood up as she stood.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said flatly as she scooted her chair in to the table. "Thank you for your help!" She spoke assertively before leaving.

"You're welcome." Cyborg said to her back as she left. He was suspicious of Raven's injury but he already had a lot on his plate. He shrugged it off for the time being and got Bee the morning sickness medicine he went to the medical wing for in the first place.

Raven walked down the hallway to Nightwing's door and knocked using her left hand. He answered and saw Raven holding her hand as she walked in. She explained that she tripped with a jar and that Cyborg stitched her up. Nightwing knew something wasn't right because of their mind link but she was closing him off successfully. He agreed to give her the week off of training before she left her room.

Beastboy was the first to notice Raven's absence at training, to which Nightwing said she was unable to train today. Raven tried to meditate while the others were busy but wasn't able to focus. The cuts in her hand really burned but she was more frustrated by the helplessness she felt by the injury. She laid down to take a nap, after taking the glove off to relieve some of the pressure on her stitches.

Beastboy showered quickly after training and went straight to Raven's room to check on her. Their hanging out during the day lately had been hit or miss partially because of Raven and partially because crime had been picking up again. He softly knocked on the door without hearing a response. He tried to open but the door was locked. He transformed into a fly and flew under the door to see Raven asleep on her bed and her right hand wrapped up with hospital tape. Beastboy saw the dark circles under her eyes and knew something was not right. He transformed into a cat and curled up on her lap to guard her from whatever the unknown was.

Raven woke up that evening to see Beastboy's cat eyes watching her intently. She felt his worry and protective guard in his emotions which made her grin through her groggy haze. He transformed into his human form and laid on the bed next to her.

"What happened to your hand?" Beastboy asked carefully.

"I tripped with a broken jar in my hand..." she admitted, still waking up from the long nap. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. The last month's restless nights followed by the excitement from this morning really drained her.

"Do you need anything?" Beastboy ask softly to which she shook her head. "Okay, do you want me to stay?" And Raven shook her head yes. The truth was she missed him, no matter how many jars she broke because of her emotions. Beastboy laid back and Raven snuggled in to his chest and let herself fall back to sleep.