Keith plopped down on the training deck's cold metal floor. "End training level eighteen," He managed to rasp. The gladiator had done a number on his chest. His breathing was ragged and taxing. He laid down on his back, staring at the ceiling.
Just as he got his breathing under control, Veronica, Lance's sister, walked in. He jumped up, sheathing his Marmoran knife. He brushed his clothes off.
"I was sent to come get you. You were supposed to be at the debriefing a while ago," She scolded him.
"Oh, quiznak." He cursed. Keith ran off to his room, got changed, and bolted to the meeting room.
"So, cadet, you finally decided to show up," Iverson said gruffly. He frowned as Keith plopped down in an empty chair.
"Sorry," Keith sounded extremely hoarse. The rest of the crew looked surprised. Keith was usually the first one at the meetings. He was never late, and he was always in peak condition.
"Are you sick?" Shiro went into Space-Dad mode.
"No," Keith coughed. "I'm fine."
"No you're not. You're sick." Shiro said sternly.
"I'm not sick. I was training, and the gladiator hit me really hard in the chest, alright? Nothing's wrong. It's fine," Keith fired back.
"How long ago was that?" Shiro asked, looking strictly at Keith.
"I don't know, twenty doboshes? I'm fine," He insisted.
"Okay, something's wrong. Will someone get him to a doctor?" Shiro looked around at the assembly that was gathered before him. No one wanted to take an angry Keith to a doctor.
"I don't need a doctor, Shiro! I'm fine!" Keith protested.
"Acxa, please take him. If he's misbehaving, I know you could overpower him in seconds," Shiro smiled slightly.
"Hey! I don't need anyone to take me to the infirmary! I can walk myself there! And thanks for the confidence vote! I really needed yet one more person to treat me like a little kid!" Keith yelled, leaping up.
"Come on, Keith." Acxa said softly. She gently steered him out the door.
Once they left, Shiro sighed loudly. "You know what, meeting adjourned. I give up," He put his hands up in an "I surrender" position. He rubbed his temples as everyone filed out.
Back at the infirmary.
The doctor told Keith to take several deep breaths as he listened to his heart. When he heard Keith's breath, he looked very worried. He told Keith to take off his shirt, because he was worried that his lungs might be damaged from external threats.
When Keith finally gave in to taking off his shirt, the doctor gasped. Wrapped around his chest was a blood-stained bandage.
"Keith, what happened?" Acxa gasped.
"Nothing. The gladiator struck me super hard in the chest. When I was putting my knife in my room, I put it on a high shelf, then it fell, slipped out of the sheath, and grazed my chest where the gladiator struck. It's nothing." He said dismissively.
"It doesn't look like nothing," The doctor unwrapped the bandage slowly. What he saw was not nothing. It was far from nothing.
