章 20: Get Through It Together
The prince woke up to the darkness of night having set in. The lights were dim in the room and he had to blink a few times to realize where he was. He had been resting in the same place for so long that the particularly big wound on his back was aching. There was a chill running through him unlike anything he had ever felt. As he turned his head, he saw the sleeping woman next to him. She was fully dressed and on top of the covers which caused him to shut his eyes in frustration. In his earlier plight to get back to his own room, he forgot she would worry about him in this state.
In an effort to look less helpless, he tried to sit up higher in the bed - instantly regretting it when the room started spinning and his body felt impossibly heavy.
Movement nearby caused Varya's eyes to shoot open.
Basileus had his hands planted on the bed and he was trying to sit up. His jaw was clenched and his muscles were flexed, giving away how much he was exerting himself in order to do a simple task.
"Wait! Stop," Varya said and sat up. "You're going to hurt yourself, Basileus."
The prince instantly started feeling irritated that she was treating him like something fragile. A couple of injuries had never stopped him before. He raised his hand with the intent to run his fingers through his hair in a sign of frustration, but he stopped as he saw the IV connected to his arm.
"What is this?" he asked her.
Without warning, he started trying to undo the bandage that held the IV stay in his arm.
"Please, Basileus," she made eye contact when her voice caused him to look up, a dark expression on his features. She spoke in a serious tone. "Stop."
Varya's hand went over the one that was trying to undo his bandage and he instantly stopped. This was the first time she had touched him since he had returned and his skin felt unusually cold. He was normally vibrant and warm and it made her worry grow. The prince looked into her eyes, a questioning expression on his face.
The closeness of their faces caused Varya to blush. As pale as he looked, he could still unnerve her with a glance. She removed her hand from his arm and gently caressed his cheek, being sure she wasn't touching any other part of him so he wouldn't get hurt.
"You're so pale," she couldn't help whispering. Her voice was heavy with worry. "How did this happen?"
Basileus broke eye contact at her question and his head fell back into the pillow he was leaning against. Thoughts of that bastard tyrant were floating to the surface of his mind. He shut his eyes as he tried to will away the anger that was bubbling up in his chest. What he really wanted to do was punch a wall, the hopelessness of not being able to injure his attacker causing him to feel cornered. In this state, even he knew he shouldn't push himself too hard.
"I'm going to kill Emperor Kruos," he said, simply.
Those words were enough. Varya sat back on her heels, blinking in disbelief at the prince's words.
"He did this to you?" Her voice was shaky and heavy with emotion.
Varya was barely containing herself, not knowing what to do with this type of anger. In her life, she had been mad many times before, but the rage she felt towards Emperor Kruos was hard for her to handle. Varya wondered why anyone that made her happy was ripped out of her grasp by the cold tyrant. She feared the feelings she was starting to develop for the prince in case he was completely taken away from her like her parents, like Roth, and like Kallo.
"This isn't the first time something like this has happened," Basileus explained as if it were normal, only to have Varya's expression darken even more.
The blankets had moved down to Basileus's waist due to his earlier movements and Varya's eyes slowly traced down his body, frowning at the bandages and blood seeping out of many of them. She wished she had power to do something in her new reality. All she was able to do is watch someone she cared for suffer and do nothing else.
"If I could do the same to him, I would," she said, emotions still causing her voice to be shaky.
The prince could only respond with a sigh. The last few years of his life had been dedicated to becoming stronger for one reason alone: defeating the tyrant who took everything from him and his people.
The silence between them was heavy and unenjoyable. Basileus turned his head and her eyes went to his. He reached out his hand and caressed her soft cheek. Her worry for him was palpable and he was having a hard time getting used to it. When he left she told him to be safe and he did the opposite.
Varya put her hand on the arm that was outstretched to her and she took his hand off her face, not wanting him to have to exert himself anymore. She couldn't help touch the edge of the bandage on his upper arm. Unknowingly, it was where Lord Kruos laid his first attack.
"It's so hard to see you like this," she suddenly admitted.
He considered her words and responded with a question, "Are you worried I won't be able to protect you if something happens?"
Her response came quickly, "Not at all. I don't care about that." Her words were honest and she added, "I just don't want you to be in pain. Did you know you have hypothermia?"
"Emperor Kruos's race, the Ptomans, have the ability to draw ice from their aura," he started. "I don't have enough fire aura to successfully overtake his ice. His race lives far longer than most and has had time to develop his abilities. He defeated most of the warriors on my planet because of this. Lowering our body temperature can be fatal for us. It depletes our fire aura completely."
Basileus lifted his hand and put it on his forehead. The more he talked, the more his head felt heavy. He knew he had lost a lot of blood, but this weak feeling was unlike anything he had experienced before.
Varya didn't push him to talk any further and lifted the blanket over his chest.
"Please rest," she requested.
As the words left her mouth, the computer on the wall chimed and soon the doctor was back in the room with a warmed IV in her hands.
"Prince Basileus, I'm glad to see you're awake," the doctor said while walking towards the bed. "Are you feeling cold? How's the headache? You've lost a lot of blood."
"I'm fine," Basileus replied, though Varya knew it wasn't entirely the truth. He had only just let go of his head.
"For most other beings, I would have offered a blood transfusion, but with the regenerative abilities of Basilians, I think you'll recover well without it. Your color is already coming back," the doctor observed. "If you feel up to it, you should eat."
"I will," Basileus responded again, his voice not revealing anything about the state he was in.
"As long as you're not getting any worse, here's another warmed IV," the doctor started replacing his old one as she spoke. "As Emperor Kruos's main doctor, I'm available whenever you need. Don't hesitate to call me. Keep resting."
The doctor was gone as quickly as she had arrived and the two of them were left in a heavy silence.
Basileus glanced at Varya who was sitting quietly on the bed, clearly in thought.
"I don't want to eat. I want to go to sleep," he said to her.
"Do you need me to do anything for you?" she asked, quickly snapping out of her thoughts and becoming alert.
The prince reached towards the headboard and pressed a lit up panel until the lights in the room were off. Slowly he moved himself lower on the bed and lay down on the pillow he slept on before.
"Come here," he said.
Varya instantly did as she was told and got under the blankets, though she didn't touch him in case it would hurt him.
"I mean…" he trailed off.
Despite his injuries, he pulled her closer to him on the bed until her body was pressed up against his side. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him with a questioning expression.
"I don't want to hurt you," her voice came out quietly.
"I feel cold," he explained and pushed her head into his shoulder and placed her arm across his chest. "Share your body heat with me."
To Basileus, pain was something that could be ignored. He wouldn't say it out loud, but her touch was comforting to him. Being in this same injured state many times before, he had never had someone at his side while he recovered.
The last of the prince's energy left him and he fell into a deep sleep. Varya followed soon after, assuming that since he could sleep he must be at least comfortable.
They slept until his IV was changed once more.
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