Save Me (Levi x OC)

Chapter 6

As soon as we entered humanity's territory again, cheers erupted through the streets as the civilians congratulated the scouts on returning from what they thought to be a successful expedition. They applauded and whooped out in joy, but their festive shouts fell on deaf ears. My comrades were all tired and scarred, both physically and mentally, from watching their friends fall in a meaningless battle. All those lives lost, and we don't even know who the Female Titan is... I rested my head against the wall of the wagon as the crowds parted to make way for the scouts' horses, the path leading us to the barracks that were populated by the Scout Regiment.

From my sitting position, I saw some scouts break out of the formation just to be greeted by their friends and family, and I briefly smiled to myself. Knowing that these soldiers had a family to return to was comforting, even if I myself barely had one anymore. My eyes scanned the crowds, searching for the familiar figure of my younger sister, but coming up empty. She never missed the days when I returned from expeditions... What if something happened? I shook the thought away; it was too painful to even imagine that something happened in the one day that I couldn't be there for her. I'm sure she's just busy with something.

The wagon finally reached the scout's stables, and I waited for the more heavily injured soldiers that were still unconscious to be extracted from the wagon before slowly standing up, wary of my left leg still being weak. I was happy to see that, even though it was painful and I couldn't put too much weight on the leg, I was still able to walk, and I slowly limped towards the wagon's entrance, before turning back, wondering why Captain Levi was still sitting. I thought he'd be ecstatic to return home after such an expedition, but he remained motionless, even after it was only me and him left on the wagon.

"Capta- er, Levi," I stammered,  remembering how he had given me permission to call him just Levi rather than Captain Levi. It felt odd, and somewhat uncomfortable to refer to him just by his first name, but if he was fine with it, I wasn't going to go against his wishes. "Is everything alright? We're allowed to return to our barracks now."

He mumbled something under his breath, before looking up to see my confused expression and repeating himself. "I can't stand up. My ankle - I think it's sprained. It can't hold any of my weight," he muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear him.

I looked down at his feet in surprise; the uniform boots made it hard to see, but his right ankle was, in fact, much bigger and more swollen compared to the left. That must be painful. I wonder when that happened, I thought to myself. Maybe during the fight with the Female Titan? He was fine before that... I slowly walked back to him, kneeling beside him, trying my best to ignore the pain that the action caused for me. I'm a soldier, and it's my duty to help my superior officers even if I get hurt in the process. Besides, I should've made sure earlier that he was uninjured. I wrapped his right arm around my shoulder, and, with my support, Captain Levi, no, just Levi, slowly rose from the faithful, creaking bench. We slowly made our way to the wagon's entrance, and I cursed under my breath at the fact that there was at least a half a meter drop to the ground. 

I slowly let go of Levi and he stood still as I lowered myself to the ground, being careful not to put too much weight on my left leg. Once I was safe on the ground, I motioned for Levi to step down with his left foot so that his right ankle remained unbothered. The action made him visibly grimace, but once his uninjured foot touched the ground, he appeared to feel considerably better. Levi wrapped his right arm around me again, and, using me as his support, I slowly escorted him to his personal chamber. The going was slow, each step inflicting pain for both of us, but we eventually reached the door marked with the words "Captain Levi", a blank spot staring back at us where his last name was supposed to be written. No one, not even Commander Erwin, knew Levi's last name, so it wasn't exactly a surprise that  the door only had his first name on it. With his free hand, Levi pushed the door open, and I lead him to the chair beside his desk that was currently the home of multiple organized stack of paper. 

Levi lowered himself onto the chair, sighing in relief that the long walk was finally over. He looked over to me, his slim gray eyes filled with barely-visible gratitude, but I barely noticed as I limped back to the door.

I glanced behind me to see something resembling worry on Levi's face, and I gave him a pained smile. "I'll be right back. I just need to go to the med bay and grab some materials to make you a brace."

"Alright. Don't hurt yourself too much." 

I nodded to him, my hand already opening the door, as I started the hopefully not too painful journey to the med bay. Thankfully, the medical tools were a lot closer than the stables, and within minutes, I had reached one of the only clean rooms in the barracks. Medicine, bandages, gauze, and braces were organized in small cabinets, and my hands flew over the familiar sections as I grabbed a roll of medical gauze and an adjustable metal brace, grabbing a few extra bandages for my leg before limping my way back to Levi's chamber. The way back seemed even longer than before, and by the time I reached the door, black spots danced before my eyes. I ignored them, pushing the door open and making my way to where Levi was still sitting.

"Tch. Took you long enough," the captain grumbled, but was still evidently pleased to see me back.

"Sorry, I just had to grab some supplies," I answered, smiling apologetically. I gently pulled off Levi's uniform boots, making sure to cause as little pain as possible, but even with my precautions, I could see him try to hide a grunt of pain. Eventually, the boot was off, and all that was left was securing the brace. I put the metal contraction next to Levi's ankle, taking his measurements and adjusting the wires and rods to fit him before putting his ankle in the brace and wrapping it with gauze to secure yet. This would be enough to help his ankle heal faster by keeping it in a stable position and making sure it wouldn't move around and cause even more damage. It would also help provide support for his foot, and hopefully, after a night of rest, Levi would be able to at least walk on his own.

"Keep that cast and brace on for at least a week. Your ankle is definitely sprained, but not broken. After a week, call me again and I'll check up on it. Don't put any extra weight on it, and try to keep yourself off of your right leg when you can. If you need help getting around, tell me, alright?"

I made sure that the captain at least nodded in response before grabbing the remaining gauze and bandages, checking to make sure that I didn't forget anything in his room. Once I was sure that I had everything, I staggered to the door, my free hand on the doorknob as the other cradled the unused medical supplies. I twisted the knob, pulling the door open, and was already halfway through when Levi called me back.

"Alexandra!" A tiny smile crept across his face. "Thank you."