By the time they had gotten Fry situated, all Bender could get out was, "Two-Blips-thugs-tried to-get-the crate-and kill-because-witness-"
"Alright, Bender," Leela says, running to the captain's seat. "You can go take a moment to calm down. We'll be to Earth in two hours." As he walked to the binge room on the ship, he saw confusion cross Leela's face briefly, then it switched back to calm leadership.
Bender walked into the binge room, and stumbled into the bean bag and fell into it. He lay there for a minute, trying not to cry. He didn't even know if he could cry; he's certainly never had to.
If I would've been faster, he thought. If I had seen them sooner... I could've saved him.
"Bender," Leela's voice said. He righted himself so he was facing her. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Don't you have to steer the ship?"
"It's on autopilot."
Bender sat on the beanbag, searching for the right words to satisfy her without revealing the truth. "He's... been there for me since the day we met. He's my friend and..." He struggles for words. "And yeah. He's my best friend."
"...And you love him," Leela said quietly, searching Bender's eyes.
Bender buried his face in his hands, not responding.
A long moment passed, with both Leela and Bender thinking their own thoughts. Then, Leela cleared her throat, shook her head a bit as if to clear her thoughts, and said, "I should... I should get back to the wheel." She stands up and exits the lounge, leaving Bender alone to get lost in his thoughts. But all he could think about was how he could've gotten there in time.
He thought about it for two slow, slow hours, checking on Fry five times during the ride (he was still unconscious), drinking booze, until at last, they landed the ship on an emergency landing pad next to a hospital.
When he saw they had landed, he jumped up to help if needed while Leela released the stairs door and showed them where Fry was.
"D-" Bender stopped and cleared his throat. "Do you need some help, there?" he asked.
Leela looked at him amused for a second, because he's almost never offered to be helpful, then went back to telling the doctors what had happened.
He couldn't grab Fry's hand; he was in a public area. But he looked down on his bloodied face and still saw his beauty.
You'll be okay, Fry, Bender thought as the doctors guided the hovering bed into the labyrinth that was the hospital. You have to be.
