I do not own Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs or SeiJushi Bismarck. This is strictly a work of Fan-fiction, for entertainment only.
Saber goes and rinses the washcloth Elaine gave him and swaps it for the one on Amanda's head, setting it gently down. He waits a minute before carefully sitting on the side of her bed, watching her for signs of trouble.
She slowly stirs, and turns towards him, her eyes looking up at him. "You're still here?" she asks weakly. He nods. "I thought you went to get Elaine?"
"That was an hour and half ago. The doctor has come and gone. He'll be back this afternoon to see how you're doing," he replies quietly. After several minutes he finally breaks the silence that has fallen between them, "How are you feeling?" he asks, the concern evident in his voice.
"Tired, not as cold, and my head doesn't hurt quite as much," she replies as she turns better to face him, "Why do you have sunglasses on?" she asks, obviously fatigued.
"We can talk about it later. You need to rest now." he replies gently. She nods and quickly drifts back to sleep.
Elaine is in the kitchen when the others return, worry obvious on their faces. "We're back," April says glumly as she plops down at the table. "No sign of either of them." April looks up and sees a couple of pots on the stove as Elaine places out a plate of sandwiches for them. "What else are you cooking, Elaine? Is that for dinner or something?" she asks as the others join her at the table.
Elaine shakes her head, "No. I am taking the soup upstairs in a few minutes."
April's face brightens, "They're back?!"
Elaine nods and they all go to get up and she holds out her hands to get them to stop, "Do not disturb them. They returned awhile ago, and Ms. Kelly is seriously ill. Saber is with her right now. The doctor has come and gone, and will return this afternoon. Until we know what is wrong, they are to have no visitors. She is running a dangerously high fever, so she is constantly being monitored."
"So where were they hiding?" Colt asks.
Elaine shrugs, "He didn't say, and I know better than to ask too many questions."
"I bet he comes down with this sickness too," Colt says with a smirk. "Camping out alone with a woman for a week, I can only imagine what went on."
"I sort of asked if he and Amanda were..." Elaine says. "But he insisted that nothing improper happened. I believe him. Although I do think he's falling for her." she adds under her breath.
"I could see the attraction," April states. "Think about it, she's not afraid to tell him off, he respects that."
"And she's a nice looking woman," Colt adds, getting a glare from Robin. "What?" he asks innocently. "She is, but I'm quite happy with you," he says with a grin. Robin rolls her eyes.
"I don't think that falls into play in this case, Colt." Shinji says dryly.
Elaine shakes her head and dishes out the soups and a couple of sandwiches and places them on a tray. "I'll be down again after awhile," she says as she takes the tray upstairs, entering Amanda's room quietly. Saber turns when she enters. "Food's here, Saber," she says placing the tray on the desk. "Come on and eat something." she comes over to the bed and studies Amanda carefully, touching her forehead gently, "Feels like her fever is down, but not gone."
Saber nods, "She woke up for a couple of minutes, but she went back to sleep. She doesn't seem to be shivering as much as she had been either. Perhaps after she eats something, you could help her bathe and or change clothes?"
Elaine nods, "If she feels up to it. Go on and eat. I'll sit here."
Saber reluctantly gets up and goes to the desk and eats the soup. "This is really good, Elaine. Thank you."
He is eating when Amanda stirs again and turns to find Elaine next to her. "Where's Saber?" she asks quietly.
"I'm here." he says getting up and standing beside Elaine.
She turns and looks at him, "What smells so good?" she asks weakly.
"I've brought up some soup. Would you like some?" Elaine asks gently.
Amanda slowly manages to sit up, with the help of both Saber and Elaine. Elaine then goes and brings the tray and places it on her lap with the bowl of soup. She slowly starts eating; only managing to finish about half of the soup. "It's really good, but I just can't eat any more. Thank you for bringing it."
Elaine smiles and removes the tray from the bed.
"How are you feeling?" Saber asks.
Amanda turns towards him, "A little better. I think the headache is almost gone."
"I'm glad of that," he replies sounding a bit relieved.
"Would you like to change clothes? You were sweating out the fever earlier. That might make you feel better." Elaine asks.
Amanda thinks for a minute or two, debating whether she's up to getting up "That might be good."
"Can you make it to the dressing room?" Elaine asks.
Amanda nods, "I think so, with help."
"Let me take the tray downstairs, and get some fresh sheets." she looks to Saber, "Would you mind changing them?" he shakes his head. "I can help her change while you're doing that." She takes the tray and leaves the room.
Saber sits down in the chair beside bed and Amanda turns towards him, "You never did tell me about the sunglasses."
He chuckles, "You must be feeling better," he says quietly.
"A little," She looks around at the dimly lit room, "Can we turn on a lamp or something. I want to be able to see you."
Saber nods slightly and mumbles, "Sure." He goes to the desk and finds the switch, clicking the light on and then having to blink several times to get his eyes to adjust before returning to the chair. He sits down and for the first time gets a good look at how sick she is and gasps in shock.
"Is something wrong?" she asks concerned watching him closely. He shakes his head. "You're acting strange."
"Just worried," he mutters, trying not to make it obvious that he can see her somewhat.
"You're hiding something," she says in an accusatory tone.
Just as he's about to reply, Elaine comes into the room with an armload of sheets and deposits them on Saber's lap. "Here you go," she says to him and turns to Amanda, "You ready to try and change?" She nods and Elaine helps her up and into the dressing room.
Saber lets out a sigh of relief at dodging the conversation at least temporarily, and starts the process of changing the sheets after they shut the door to the changing room.
"What's wrong with him, Elaine?" Amanda asks as she gets help undressing.
Elaine chuckles, "I think he's just worried about you and isn't sure how to act." Amanda looks at her curiously. "Surely the two of you talked while you were away."
Amanda shrugs, "Yeah, mostly about our past life. How things were before we met," she says finally peeling off the last of her sweat drenched clothes.
"Would you like a quick bath or shower?" Elaine asks.
Amanda looks at herself and the mirror and nods. "I might be able to manage a quick shower, if you don't mind staying in case I fall or something."
Elaine nods, "Gladly, dear. I'm here to help you." Amanda chuckles. "What's so funny?" Elaine asks.
"You left Saber to change the bedding. Does he even know how?"
Elaine laughs, "Miss Kelly, you've spent a week with him and you aren't sure he's capable of changing bedding. Just where did you sleep?"
"On a cot on the ground," she replies with a smirk. "His cot was the far side of where we stayed, before you ask."
"I wasn't going to ask, Miss. I have already offended Saber trying to pry out such information, and he told me that in no uncertain terms that there was nothing anyone could deem as improper going on," Elaine says.
Amanda chuckles, "He has been a bit moody, hasn't he?"
"The two of you running off like that, didn't exactly help," Elaine says as Amanda finishes her shower and steps out.
"I had no idea he was going to be gone that long," Amanda says quietly as she carefully starts dressing.
Elaine assists her as she can with dressing, "Would you still have followed him had you known?" she asks curious.
Amanda stops and stares at her for a minute in thought before nodding, "Probably. I don't regret it. I got talk to him without boundaries; both of us just said whatever popped into our heads. He wasn't judgmental of my past, nor was I of his."
"So you know that he was engaged?" Elaine asks.
Amanda nods as she finishes dressing, "Aye. He told me. He also told me that he is no longer engaged. He said that after he came home to recuperate, she came to see him and found out he was blinded and had no memory. So she broke off the engagement." Elaine nods. "He deserves better than that," she says quietly. "He knows that I was once engaged as well."
"May I ask what happened, Miss?" Elaine inquires.
"I'd rather not talk about it right now. It's a bit of a sore subject to me." Amanda replies quietly.
Elaine stares at her for a minute, not sure what to say, then nods, "I can tell you care for him. Just tread carefully, he's never been one to openly express his feelings, but I think he may care for you too," she says with a smile.
Amanda blinks for a minute, not sure she heard correctly, "Thank you. I'll be careful; I don't want to hurt him. He's a good person," she finally says.
"Well, are you ready to go back out?" Elaine asks brightly.
"I need to sit, I'm pretty wiped out now," Amanda says with a nod as Elaine opens the door and they enter the bedroom to find Saber sitting back in the chair and fresh linens on the bed.
He looks up when they come into the room and fights to keep a neutral expression. "Feel better?" he asks.
"Much, but now I'm pretty wiped out," Amanda replies.
"Well, do you want the bed or you can have the chair if you'd rather? I can always sit on the bed or get a chair from my room," he replies.
"I can sit on the bed," she says as she makes her way over and plops down with a sigh of exhaustion.
"Sounds like you did a bit more than you were ready for," he states, with a hint of worry in his tone.
"I'll be alright," Amanda replies.
"I'm going to take the old bedding down to be washed. The doctor should return in an hour or so. Try and rest until then. Call for me if you need me. The others are aware that you are both back, and not to be disturbed," Elaine says as she grabs the used bedding and heads downstairs.
"Do you really feel any better, Amanda?" Saber asks hesitantly.
"Yeah, not totally better, but better than last night and this morning," she replies, sounding tired.
He nods, "Then rest. I'll be here if you need anything."
"We still haven't finished our conversation," she says quietly. He shifts a bit in his seat, but manages to school his nervousness on his face. "What is going on? Something is up, I can see that plain as day, Saber," she states firmly.
He sits silently for several minutes, almost saying something, but stopping each time. "Last night I couldn't sleep," he says finally finding the words to start. "I felt uneasy, restless. Perhaps I sensed something was wrong with you, I...I don't know what it was. But anyways, I finally gave up and got back up and went to make tea. I was sitting there, waiting for the water to heat when I realized that I could see light." Amanda gasps, but he continues on, not giving her a chance to comment, "At first, I thought I was dreaming. I blinked a few times, figuring it was lack of sleep messing with my head, but then I noticed that I could see the outline of the pot on the fire. That was why I wanted to get back here early. The light seemed to hurt my eyes and head." Amanda nods. "We came back and went our separate ways, and I couldn't sleep. But, as I lay on the bed in my room, I was able to start making out some shapes and such on the ceiling. I got up and I found the picture of my parents on the dresser, I was able to see them. The images I see are still fuzzy, sort of like someone that needs glasses, I suppose; but I can see, in dim lighting at least. I came to tell you, I wanted you to know. That's when I came in and you were burning up with fever. I was worried for you, Amanda. You didn't look or sound good. I am afraid that I have somehow caused you to get sick, and I'm sorry." he sits quietly, unsure what else to say.
Amanda sits in stunned silence for several minutes, "So...so you can...see me right now?" she manages to say after finding her voice.
Saber nods, "Not well, but yes, I can technically see you," he replies nervously.
Amanda studies his face for a long time, "So, I suppose I'll be leaving soon."
"I hope not." he says quietly. "I rather like having you around. You aren't afraid to speak your mind to me. I admire that." Amanda smiles weakly. "This could only be a temporary reprieve. I could wake up tomorrow and be completely blind again."
She nods acknowledging the truth of his statement. "You still owe me some lessons, Captain Rider," Amanda replies with a weak smile.
"That's true, Ms. Kelly, I do," he replies trying not to laugh. "And I suppose I should apologize to the others for scaring them as I did by leaving."
"You don't owe it to them, but you would be the bigger person for doing so," she says tiredly.
Saber nods. "You get some rest, "he says, coming over and feeling her head for fever. He pulls out the pouch, "Here, take this first," He pours some in a drink and hands it to her.
"What is it?" she asks looking at the drink.
"It'll help keep the fever under control. Then after taking it, you should lie down and get some sleep," he replies. "The doctor will be back before too long to check on you."
She nods and takes the drink, finishing it. "Thank you," she says handing him the glass before lying down.
"Call for me if you need anything, I'll come and check on you shortly," he says gently, then smiles, noticing she is already asleep. He quietly makes his way to the door and leave, closing it softly.
