Keith didn't know why Aurelis had let out a sound of surprise as he saw the medical scan results.

"What?" Keith asked when he saw that the healer was looking at him strangely. The Red Paladin felt a sudden sense of unease, but it vanished when the Proselyt asked him, in a flabbergasted tone of voice, how in the name of all the stars in the universe Keith hadn't noticed that his left shoulder was practically dislocated.

Aurelis face palmed himself when the Red Paladin blinked and seemed completely surprised at the news.

"Uh…"

Keith looked down at his shoulder and then back at the healer, looking confused.

"It is?"

Aurelis threw his hands up in the air in a 'what am I going to do with you?!' manner that somehow needed no explanation. It was surprisingly similar to something Shiro would have done if he'd known about it and wasn't -

Wasn't in a cryo-pod because he'd almost died at the hands of the Galra. Again.

Keith swallowed and looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling exhausted. Now that the healer mentioned it, his shoulder did hurt more than - than maybe it should have. He didn't know exactly when it had started to hurt, but now -

Keith suddenly felt dizzy, and he was glad he was sitting in a chair against the wall, so that he could lean his head back and close his eyes.

The healer had already leapt to his feet and was now preparing a sling, and Keith heard him grab what sounded like several doses of pain-killers from a nearby drawer.

"Stars," Aurelis was saying as he gathered everything he needed to treat Keith's shoulder, "sometimes I think your pain receptors must be completely arbitrary - stars, Paladin, you're telling me you didn't notice it before now?!"

Keith kept his head against the wall, and almost didn't want to open his eyes, because he was still trying to block out the sudden wave of dizziness and exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him, but at the healer's question, he forced his eyes open, tried to focus on answering the question. He didn't want Aurelis to think he was ignoring him.

Keith made to shrug his shoulders and stopped mid-motion, hissing between his teeth. Shrugging had been a bad idea.

"Didn't - really have the time," he said. "Sort of - busy - there was a lot happening. I-"

In his mind's eye, he saw Haggar again, standing in front of the giant machine - he remembered how awful Shiro's screams had been - and suddenly the world seemed to tilt and waver, and Keith felt as if suddenly, he was starting to fall backwards down a very long tunnel.

Aurelis turned around, his arms full of medical supplies, and saw the Red Paladin was just staring into space, his hands gripping the sides of the chair. His eyes were locked onto the far distance, and he seemed to be looking at something invisible that he both feared and hated.

"Paladin?" Aurelis asked, and then the Red Paladin was looking back at Aurelis, and he seemed to be slowly coming back, back out of the memory, back to the present.

"…yeah…?" the Red Paladin asked after a moment, and he sounded - well, he sounded as if he'd just felt the full effects of the last few days come rushing back to him all at once.

Without ceremony, Aurelis let the medical supplies clatter onto a nearby table, came over to Keith, and checked his temperature by putting one hand onto Keith's forehead, while at the same time taking a gentle but firm hold of the boy's wrist to take his pulse.

The Red Paladin sputtered, and he sounded much more like his usual self when he said, obviously confused, "What are you doing?"

"Hmm-mmm," the healer said, and without further ceremony, he picked up a cup full of medicine and shoved it into Keith's good hand.

"I want you to take that before I put your shoulder back into place," he said, and ignored Keith's protests as he continued. "It's clear you don't communicate pain well, and so, I am taking reasonable measures to ensure you don't simply suffer in silence."

"I - what?!" Keith said, unsure whether or not to take this as some kind of insult. Aurelis re-organized the medical supplies on the table as he continued.

"It's not that you refuse to acknowledge pain - you just think it's normal or something that you can work through, and it's - frankly - a very dangerous mindset."

"…why is that dangerous, exactly?" Keith asked, deciding that Aurelis wasn't calling him weak. The healer turned and gave Keith a direct look as he said,

"Because pain is how your body communicates a need for rest, for treatment, and for healing. If you are unable to meet those needs, it's bad for you. It's very bad for you."

The healer reached out, grabbed hold of a small mug of water standing on a different side table, turned back towards Keith, and placed it firmly into the Red Paladins' other hand.

"So, take the freaking medicine and drink some water before I put your shoulder back into place."

Keith muttered something under his breath about healers being bossy, but he did it. Aurelis set the shoulder - which was far from being a pleasant experience for either Keith or the healer - and then the healer put Keith's arm into a sling.

"Should we just call it a 'cyber-sling' now?" Keith asked before he realized he was asking the question. He groaned and put his good hand over his face. "Agh, not again. Why do all your medicines have this effect on me?!"

Aurelis tried to keep the smile from his face as he answered. "You can call the sling anything you want, Keith. But as for the medicine's effects on you, I'm afraid it varies from patient to patient. For you, it makes you more inclined to voice what you're thinking, or to - well, just say more than you usually would."

"Stars," Keith said, "It's like - I can't shut up." His eyes widened slightly then, and he looked almost concerned. "Oh, crap - it makes me sound like - Lance…"

Aurelis really, really tried not to smile at the dismay in Keith's voice. It was strange to see Keith under the influence of pain medicine, but it wasn't really anything healers weren't used to seeing. Pain medicine could have a wide variety of side-effects. Some people grew more talkative, some people grew sleepy, and others simply acted very much like their usual selves.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Aurelis said. "Come on - let's get you back to the room with the others."

Keith sighed as he got up from his chair, and Aurelis made sure to keep an eye on him as they walked back down the hallway.

As they neared the room where the other Paladins waited, Aurelis heard the other three Paladins talking about something - a card house? It must be an Earth game they were playing to pass the time.

Pidge bounded to her feet in confused concern when Keith appeared in the doorway, his arm in a sling.

"What-" she began to ask, but Aurelis waved a clawed hand and said, "Don't worry, it was nothing serious - his shoulder was just dislocated."

Pidge heard the healer sigh before he continued. "He - he said he hadn't noticed."

Hunk sighed, rising from his chair to come and greet them both. "Yeah…that sounds like Keith…"

Keith made a dismissive sound and waved his good hand in denial. "No…'m just…you know…"

Lance's head shot up at the sound of Keith's voice, and the house of cards fluttered to the ground as he leapt out of his chair.

"Oh, man," he said, "Aurelis, you gave him painkillers, didn't you?"

The healer shrugged. "I had to."

Pidge shoved her glasses back up onto her nose. "And…how long did you say they last again?"

Aurelis shrugged. "Well, it's not the exact same type I gave him before. A few hours, perhaps? He seems to be more coherent this time, at least…"

Just then, Keith turned and headed towards the door again, his face set and seemingly back to normal.

" 'S cool," he said. " "m just - going to go train for awhile - "

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge exchanged a meaningful look, and Aurelis sighed.

"Then again…" the healer said. "Maybe I spoke too soon."