Recovery

Chapter 1

There was a musky scent of incense. She'd smelled it before, had actually become fond of it, but she couldn't decipher where it originated it from. She felt suspended, bodiless, everywhere, yet contained. She couldn't define any of her surroundings, but she could sense them. There was that familiar incense smell. The air felt dense, smoky, closed, and dark. She could hear people coming in and out. One voice was most common. It soothed her, talked to her, though she could not respond. She wished the most that she could wake when she heard his steps, heard his tone, and felt his touch. His touch. In her complete absence of form, she melted under his touch. She felt light, weightless, and free.

When her eyes did open, she was alone. Where she was before there was no pain, but as her eyes opened as she moved, her whole body screamed. Her voice however was lost and she just gasped as she stopped immediately to reassess her current situation. The room was lighter than she expected. There was a cool breeze blowing through the open window and some pretty wool curtains waved gently. The incense that she had familiarized with burned slowly nearby. At least there was that familiarity between the two worlds. She tried again to sit up but more sharp pain caused her to collapse back into the bed. She felt the blankets, heavier in weight, some kind of wool. She looked around and took in a slow breath. She wished she wasn't alone. She wished for a voice, a touch, that she knew so well… but he was not there.

The next time she woke, there was a young girl. She didn't say anything, just watched as the girl color on a piece of paper. She didn't recognize the girl right away, but her brain ticked, trying feverishly to remember her. The girl, short with black hair pulled back into a braid, wearing a colorful dress, didn't seem to notice her gaze, so she didn't call out to her. Then something snapped and she opened her mouth as she recognized the girl. She had given the girl those crayons! But still, she didn't say anything. She just smiled as she watched the girl hum and color.

Then a man walked in. He was taller, darker dressed, but had a soft welcoming face though his dark features. He raised his arms as he said something that she didn't catch and walked quickly over to her. This whole time, Elena was unaware of her clothing. It didn't dawn on her that she wasn't really wearing anything. She felt bandages around her, but she felt suddenly self-conscious. Tenzin tried to encourage her to sit up, but Elena waved him off and declined. He then handed her some tea, which was strong to taste, but felt good on her empty stomach. She could understand him, for the most part. He told her that she'd been mostly asleep for just under four days, and that she needed to drink the tea. He told her that he'd being her some food, and that he needed to change her bandages. As he left, possibly to get supplies, she looked around the room for something to wear.

"You are awake."

There was that familiar voice, that soothing tone that had calmed her while she was suspended. Elena looked up to see Nathan walk in.

"Tenzin said you were awake."

Elena nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

Elena looked at him for a minute before responding. He was the one solid thing in her life that she was completely comfortable with. His brown hair was mostly a mess, but he was clean shaven. His clothes were dirty and had some kind of hair on it. His blue eyes were full of concern, but his touch was caring and gentle. He smiled, but she knew he felt just as uncomfortable as she was, probably scared too. All the past weeks' memories flooded her. She fell back as she felt greatly overwhelmed. "I think I'm alive," she responded as she stared at the ceiling.

Nate, in his casual ways, nodded. "You sure are."

She then tried to sit up more, holding the blankets close to her body. Her wounds caused her to groan but as she settled into a sitting position, she sighed as the pain slowly decreased. Nate reached out in a short panic to assist her but Elena raised her hand to stop him. "I got it," she whispered. "But you can find me some clothes…"

Nathan chuckled. "We have been changing your bandages twice a day for a while, it was easier to leave you bare." He sat down on a stool next to her and leaned in to speak with her. "We didn't do anything to you. We were trying to help."

She nodded, knowing that it was the truth.

"I will find you something to wear," he said and he patted her thigh. "Are you feeling better?"

Elena nodded and looked back up at him. "Yeah… just starting to remember…"

He bit his lip. There was too much to go over, and he didn't want to overwhelm her. He stood up and as he moved to the door, Tenzin came back in with clean cloths. He waved it at Nate, handing it to him, before turning and heading back out, the little girl following him this time. He turned slowly, smiled nervously, and lifted the bandages to show Elena. "You know," he smirked as he sat back down in the stool. "In the couple days you have been out, I've learned a little."

"Oh," Elena coughed out a laugh as she watched his facial characteristics. He was searching for her approval, unsure of how to proceed. She, honestly, was too, but she wasn't going to make it more nerve wrecking than it had to be.

"Yeah," he scratched his cheek. "I think he said he was going to find your clothes…"

Elena giggled. She didn't hear everything Tenzin had said, but she did hear clothes.

"I'm, uhm… I'm going to change your bandages…" Nate lifted the bandages again. "It's going to be easier now that you are awake…"

She wanted to argue with him. She wanted to take the bandages and do it herself, but the pain was sharp and unforgiving. She only nodded and sighed. She lowered the blanket as Nathan grabbed some salve from a shelf. She didn't dare look down at herself. She instead watched Nate's reaction her to skin and wounds. He didn't grimace or frown, that was a good start. He instead motioned for her to lift her arms as he began to unwrap her. She could see the rusty red stains on the cloth. Old blood. She looked up, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Oh God," she whined.

"Sorry," Nate growled at himself. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

She giggled as a response. "No. My hair…"

Nate stopped to look at her hair. He hadn't noticed.

"It's greasy and all messed up."

Nate smiled. "I think it's nice."

"You're such an ass."

He went back to pulling another bandage off. It was tender, she would admit. But it wasn't as bad as she thought.

"Is it possible that I can bathe before you re-wrap me?"

Nate stopped and thought for a second. "Yeah," he nodded. "I think so."

She felt his fingers pull the bandage from her breasts, exposing her chest to him. But he didn't flinch or gaze too long. Maybe they weren't as pretty as they were before. He used to just stare at them before…. He stood up, motioning for her to cover up. He helped wrap a blanket around her and leaned over, slipping his arms under her, picking her up in his arms. This was a new experience for Elena. She was not the type of woman to be coddled and held like this. But for her first time since awaking to see Nathan Drake, Elena let her breath get taken away.

He took her outside. The air was crisp, but refreshing. The bath was not far. It was a round tub, with a wood fire under it. They saw Tenzin and Nate tried to tell him "bath." Elena corrected him and Tenzin immediately showed him to the house. Nate sat by the tub with her as Tenzin started a fire to warm the water. He continued to pull the bandages off, one by one, till she was bare. She wasn't actually embarrassed since her and Nathan had relations before. But the sensation of the bandages coming off were sensual and refreshing. Nate was soft about it. He took the task more grown up and mature than she had expected from him.

Once in the bath, however, he took a turn, leaning against the wooded edging and smirked. "So… Do you need help in there too?"

Elena laughed out loud though that hurt. "No," she rolled her eyes. "I just want to soak and wash. Come back and get me in thirty minutes."

Nate laughed and nodded.

But Elena needed her time alone to analyze her situation. There was a lot to take in. It was fine while she was in the suspension of white. There was little to think about. She just existed. She had memories, but they were not forceful or important. These memories seemed to lash out at her, demand attention and decoding. There was a memory of this place… Shambala… an old man… Schafer… and an explosion. She closed her eyes as she could see the oversized men dressed as apes scream and run after them. She felt the heat on her skin, the shrapnel pierce her skin in a hot rip, burning as it lodged itself into her. Her hands slid down her body as she felt the scars. How was she supposed to deal with that? Then a face appeared. Jeff. Dear God, she thought as she felt a tear run down her face. Jeff.

She allowed herself to slip under the water. Her hands grabbed at her hair, tangled and oily, and ran her fingers through them as she surfaced again. She felt nasty, yucky, and dirty. The water wasn't warm enough, but it wasn't cold, so she didn't complain. There was some kind of soap on a shelf and she used it on her hair, lathering it over and over again. In her head, she kept seeing his face, smiling and laughing with her. Jeff. She took the bar of soap and washed her arms, but the movement for her hair was already too painful, so she stopped. Despite her best efforts to wash and feel better, feeling her scarred body, and her scarred mind, she felt weak and broken. She wanted to cry, but that too hurt. Everything had its own painful stab. She dropped beneath the surface again rinsing her hair. She heard his voice. She could see them, sitting in a hotel in Pakistan, going over evidence. He was happy-go-lucky, with the same go get them attitude. As she surfaced for air, she breathed in too deep causing her to hiss in pain. At least he wasn't in pain… not anymore.

The bath took more energy out of her than she expected. Nate helped her out, and in the same careful fashion, wrapped clean bandages over the necessary scars. Thanks to the bath and her trying to walk on her own, she reopened a wound and Nate was quick to lecture her on taking it easy as he, again, carried her to her bed. They found a nightgown, something baggy but more than nothing on her. She painfully crawled into bed, sipping some strong tea. Her body felt heavy, cold, and achy. She curled up the best she could in her blankets, and although she tried her best to drink some broth, she found herself nodding off instead of drinking. Tenzin and his daughter were playing a simple game. Chloe and Nate were standing by the door talking and watching the game. However, she noticed that Nate keep looking at her, and not at Chloe. He kept sneaking peaks at her with a soft smile, as if he wished it was her next to him. But Elena was dozing fast. She wanted to stay awake and be part of the group, but her body was objecting hard. As her eyes finally shut without motivation to open again till tomorrow, she drifted back into sleep.