Levy slowly woke. Her entire body was aching and the bright light from the room burned her eyes. Letting her eyes adjust, she looked around the expanse. She felt weak, as if all of her magic was gone and slowly returning to her. Is that what (was happening) happened? She honestly didn't know. As she observed further, she realized that she was in a hospital room... Frantic voices became audible, and she even recognized one, one she didn't expect. Gajeel.
As the voices and her eyesight became clearer, she saw gashes on her abdomen, arm, and legs, covered in bandages with bloodstains; her blood.
"How you feelin' shrimp?" he asked, trying to keep his cool. Suddenly aware of his presence, she looked away attempting to a growing blush on her face. His hand gently reached for her chin and tilted her head to face him, minding her physical state. Her eyes darted around his face, avoiding contact with his piercing red eyes.
"Levy," he growled, "look at me…" Her eyes widened a bit as they met his, not expecting the dragon slayer to use her real name.
"What the hell kind of stunt was that?!" he hissed sharply, "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if I hadn't gotten there in time?"
Her eyes watered at his words, 'What could have happened if he hadn't been there this time…' she thought.
The dragon noticed the tears form in her eyes and he sighed, trying to calm his thoughts. "I-I'm n-not a child G-Gajeel…" she mumbled as she looked away again, "I-I can take c-care of myself…"
"Really? Then if you can take care of yourself then why are you here?" he pointed out, trying his hardest to take the harshness and sarcasm out of his voice.
"Gajeel…" she said softly as he eyes filled with tears.
"Aw fuck…" he mumbled, running his hand through his hair. "Levy, do you have any idea how badly you scared the shit outta me?" A blush returned to her cheeks.
The small script mage slowly sat up with a pained look on her face and all Gajeel could do was watch with worry, not wanting to make her feel dependant even more. She looked down, clutching the sheets of the hospital bed with her fists. "I-I'm sorry…"
The anger and guilt within himself, telling him that he wasn't strong enough to protect her, filled his thoughts. He tightened his fists until his knuckles grew white. 'I couldn't even protect her from being kidnapped, almost taken advantage of.' he thought. In his mind, he was a failure.
"Gajeel, whatever doubts or guilt you're having, it needs to stop…" she said firmly upon seeing his expression and the color of his knuckles. "The past is the past; we can't change it or have regrets. We just, have to move on…" She gently and shakily reached over for his fist and took it in her small, soft hands "Things happen and you did what you could… so, thank you…"
His feelings remained constant, even rising a bit. That is until he looked into her big hazel eyes; instantly knowing that she meant every word of what she said, causing all the regrets and anger to subside.
Gajeel gruffly tried to cover up his emotions by attempting small talk, "So…uh…you hungry?"
She sighed and decided to play along, "A little bit, I guess…"
He got out of his chair, "I'll go get you something in the cafeteria then…"
"Gajeel…" she whispered softly as he walked to the door.
"Yeah?"
She paused, not sure how he would respond to what she wanted to say.
"Nothing." She said, a blush rising.
He gave a soft half- smile and left, heading down to the cafeteria to get food for the injured book worm. As she sat and waited, flashbacks of what had happened a few hours before haunted her. Though she wasn't conscious for most of it, what she did see was vivid and traumatizing. An investigator came in during Gajeel's absence, taking of his hat in respect to her, she just smiled sweetly. "Hello, I'm Det. Harvy," he said kindly, "I'm investigating what happened to you so that we can fairly tri your attacker without you coming to court..."
"Okay, I'll tell you what I know…" she responded weakly as her hands began to shake. She took a deep breath, "Gajeel and I were on a mission to decode clues that my attacker had left that were in an ancient language. I went alone, without Gajeel's consent to check out a warehouse, where the clues had led us…" she paused, "He came out and introduced himself to me like he was some sort of comic villain. We fought for a bit before he knocked me out, I don't remember how exactly…"
"Did you wake up again before you woke here?" he asked as he wrote on his note pad.
"Yes, I woke for a brief time when Gajeel came… I was strapped to a wall and I saw a lot of medical equipment; syringes, medicine…those kinds of things…I saw Gajeel fighting him and he won of course. I saw him run to me as he called my name and I blacked out again…" She explained painfully. She knows that her ignorance had hurt Gajeel. But at the same time, she wasn't a child. She didn't need someone by her constantly to protect her.
"I see, thank you Miss McGarden…" he smiled as he got up, "I will make sure that your attacker ends up behind bars…"
"Thank you…" she smiled. As the detective left, Gajeel returned with a tray full of food and he eyed him as he left. The iron man set the tray down by her bed and sat down. "Who the hell was that?" he asked.
"An investigator…he wanted to know my side of what happened so that I wouldn't have to go to court for the trial" she said as she took a fork and started eating, her stomach growling for more.
"Oh…" Gajeel crossed his arms and leaned back into the seat.
"Gajeel, if you don't want to answer this now I understand, but, did the guy ever tell you what he was going to do to me…" she twirled her spaghetti with her fork, avoiding eye contact with him. "Nah, you deserve to know, "He began casually, "He said he was going to, putting it lightly, take advantage of you; then run some tests because apparently he was this smart ass scientist who can do fucking experiments or some shit like that…" his voice grew more and more angry as he explained. "Luckily I got there in time before he was able to do any of that…"
Levy painfully held back her tears. The tone of his voice said it all. The way she was bound to the concrete wall, the wounds…it brought back memories from her and Gajeel's first encounter. "I didn't know it bothered him that much, I mean, I know he regrets it…" she thought as she put a fork full of noodles in her mouth. The puzzle in her head was coming together but she was missing pieces. It bothered her. After finishing her meal she gently wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Gajeel, why don't you go back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep. I'll be okay here."
"You can't get away from me that easily, shrimp…" he smirked, causing Levy to blush a bit.
"W-Where would you sleep?" her face becoming more flustered.
"Right here in this chair. Don't forget, I can sleep anywhere…" he chuckled.
She couldn't help but to laugh. He always knew how to cheer her up or make her laugh, even if he was upset or angry.
"Okay, well I'm going to sleep" she laid down, pulling the covers over herself, "Goodnight Gajeel…"
"Night, shorty…" he smiled warmly, only because she wasn't looking.
He stayed awake for a while after she had fallen asleep. The sight of her sleeping so peacefully calmed his nerves so quickly that it almost concerned him. He fell asleep with a content smile on his face.