Chapter 9: Sleep

I slipped Zim's shirt off again and unwrapped the bandages tenderly. He was incredibly thin, about as thin as me, and very muscular for some reason. I shrugged it off and used two fingers to push gently on each rib, trying to see where I should wrap tighter or looser depending on how much pain he was in.

He flinched at the fifth rib, which was probably where it hit first.

"That hurts?" I asked him. He nodded as I grabbed more bandages. "Sit up straight," I instructed. He sat up straight. I began dressing up the wound again, making sure to tighten the wrapping around the fifth rib. He winced.

"Incoming call," Computer interrupted.

"From who?" I asked, still holding the roll of bandages as I looked up.

"The Massive," Computer replied.

"Ooh!" I said, jumping gleefully. "The Tallest are calling, Zim!"

He simply nodded as Computer displayed the image up on the big screen.

"Tess?" Tallest Purple asked, with Tallest Red eating donuts in the background.

"Hey!" I called, waving with my free hand.

He smiled. "You made it to Earth safely then?"

I nodded, jumping up on the bed Zim was sitting on and switching hands to hold the bandages. "Sure did!"

Purple's expression turned from happy to confused as he noticed Zim sitting behind me. "What are you...?"

"Oh, he got thrown into a wall today," I said casually.

Red said nothing the entire time, but now he started laughing hysterically, choking on donuts until some other Irken coaxed him to stop laughing. Finally calming down, he said, "I mean… that's horrible."

Purple was holding down the giggles too as he said, "Yes, too bad."

I smiled with my back turned to Zim. "He broke his arm and bruised some ribs. I'm fixing it now, so it's kind of a bad time to call," I said.

Purple grinned and nodded. "Now aren't you glad you had to go through nurse training?"

I laughed. "Yep," I said as I hopped off the bed and continued to wrap Zim. "So how are you?"

"We're good," Purple responded. "Nothing much has happened since you went to Earth," he said, trying to be careful with his words; trying not to let any information slip.

"That's good," I said, not having a lot of things to say. "Tried any new foods lately?"

Purple shook his head. "Nah, not a lot of time to. What with the invasion and all."

"How is the invasion coming?" I asked, trying to create small talk.

"Good," Purple said, in deep thought. "Invader Skoodge was the first to conquer his planet."

I stopped wrapping and looked to the screen in shock. "Skoodge? Skoodge? The first?"

"I know, incredible isn't it?" Purple looked down and shook his head.

"Yeah," I said, turning back to Zim, who also stared at the Tallest in shock. "Well, I guess I'd better go," I suggested.

"Okay," said Purple as he smiled a little. "Good bye, then."

"Yes, Invader Tess and Zim, signing off," I said as we saluted and disconnected.

I finished wrapping up Zim's chest as I muttered, "I can't believe Skoodge was the first to conquer his planet," to myself. I tucked in the end of the strip and patted his side a little. Then I cleaned up the cuts on his face and put some of my homemade herbal healing potion on them. "Done," I said, as I smiled.

He smiled a little too and slowly got off the bed. He put his blood-stained shirt back on and walked slowly towards the elevator as I hovered over him asking, "Are you okay to go to school tomorrow?"

He got to the elevator and said, "I guess I could go to school. But I'll need to get the Dib-meat back for this," he added quietly.

I laughed light-heartedly. "I bet we can work something out," I said as I followed him into the elevator. "Elevator, bring us to the house, please."

The elevator zipped up to the house, but didn't shoot us out this time. Instead, it climbed slowly up out of the trash can. The late afternoon sun hit us as we stepped out and walked toward Gir and Vee.

Zim stood tall, warming his cold-blooded skin against the warm Earth sun. As I watched him walk to the window and take in the deepest breath he could manage in the sunny fall day, I realized how different Zim was from other Irkens—and not just by the way he acted, but the way he looked.

Even in pain, Zim looks strong and humble; his eyes, unlike anyone else's, contain an endlessness to them that make it seem like he's seen everything in the universe, yet an innocence that makes it seem like he's seen nothing at all.

When his antennae are blown in the wind, they curl up slightly and then come back to normal. When he stands tall and the sun shines in his eyes, he doesn't look away, but instead embraces it.

And at times when he looks to you, you can forget about the world around you completely and fall into Zim's hands—oh, those hands with pointed fingers in little black gloves that are almost exactly like yours. Sometimes, he's so handsome and loveable, I thought. Do I love Zim? No, I can't. I mustn't.

"Tess?" Zim was impatiently asking, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, trying to focus on him without the detours. "What were you saying?"

"You should've been listening," he said, irritably walking off.

I watched him for a moment and then turned to Gir and Vee. "What'd he say?" I asked them.

Vee shrugged and said, "Something about school tomorrow."

"Yeah—if he should go," Gir chimed in.

"Oh, okay," I said as I chased after Zim, starting to get back in the trash can.

"Wait," I said, pulling on his good arm to stop him from getting fully in. "I think you should rest, and we'll see how you feel tomorrow."

He stared blankly at me for a moment and then said, "Okay," as he resumed climbing into the can. I soon followed, and down we went, back to the medical room.

I fluffed up a pillow for him and tried to make the bed somewhat comfier as he made his way over.

He hopped into the bed and sighed. "I haven't slept in ages," he said quietly.

"Me either," I whispered, more to myself, as I eyed two blankets on the other bed. I grabbed one and threw it above Zim for it to float for a moment and then land softly on top of him. He stirred a little after it landed, and then dozed off in a matter of moments.

I turned out the lights as I jumped into the second bed and covered myself with the second blanket. "Me… either…" I repeated as I slipped into the subconscious world.

I woke up heavily panting and in a cold-sweat, with the lights on and Zim's good arm tightly wrapped around me, saying over and over again, "It's okay, it's okay."

"What…what happened?" I asked, still thinking about my nightmare.

"I don't know," Zim said irritably. "You started screaming a few minutes ago, which woke me up, and you wouldn't shut up so I tried to calm you down."

I pushed his arm away from me. "I…I had a nightmare," I said sitting up. "It…it was about…about…"

"About what?" he asked, still irritated that I woke him.

"About losing the… the people I… I love, I think," I said, still struggling to make sense of it.

In my nightmare, I was sitting in a field of soft purple grass, only found on Irk of course, surrounded by many people radiating out from me—and the closest to me were Tallest Purple, Violet, Invader Tenn, and Zim. Beyond them were other Irkens that I know—like Invaders Skoodge and Larb, and even Tallest Red. And I was so happy to see them all together, but then, one by one, they started to disappear. Just—BANG—gone. Everyone I liked was gone and the only people left alive were me and everyone I hated—like Dib and Ms. Bitters—and they took me prisoner and forced me to be their slave to do their dirty work, like cleaning toilets.

Zim climbed into his own bed and said, "Yes, yes, that's fascinating," as he yawned and turned out the lights and fell asleep.

I sat up for a few minutes before I decided not to go back to sleep and to get up instead. I stood up slowly and realized I was still wearing my blood-stained pants. "Oops," I muttered. If I still have these on, does Zim still have his on? I thought.

I walked quietly over to Zim's bed and pulled the blanket down a little to reveal he still had his bloody shirt on. I silently sprinted to the elevator and whispered, "Elevator, bring me to Zim's clothes floor thingy…?"

"Okay," Elevator whispered back and brought me up a level. I stepped out and shuffled around in the dark until I found the light switch and flicked it on. I let my eyes adjust and found rows and rows of little dressers.

"Wow," I whispered in awe as I walked to the first one. I opened the first drawer, and saw that it was pants. I looked down to my own pants, decided I might as well borrow his instead of going out to the Voot and getting my other ones, and took one out. I shook it loose of its tight little fold and checked the size. "Perfect!" I exclaimed quietly as I changed out of my bloody pants into clean, fresh-smelling ones.

I dug through the rest of the drawers. When I found shirts, I checked the size again—still perfect—and changed into a new shirt. I grabbed another shirt and some pants for Zim.

I went back to the elevator and whispered for it to bring me back to the med room. I tip-toed back to Zim and pulled the blanket off him, hoping he would wake up. When he didn't, I shook him a little and whispered, "Zim?"

When he still didn't wake up, I shook him harder and said, "Zim!"

He woke up with a start. "Huh? What now?" he asked after he realized it was just me.

I threw the clean clothes at him and said, "I was just trying to be nice."

He looked down to the clothes in his hands using what little light the Earth's full moon offered.

"Umm… thanks, I guess," he said as he slipped out of bed to change. I turned around to give him some privacy, and he managed to get his shirt and pants off, but getting the clean ones on was harder. By counting the thumps on the floor, I guessed he tripped and fell four times with his pants before he asked, "Tess?"

"Yes?" I asked kindly as I spun on my heel and walked toward him.

"Would you mind helping me?" Zim asked from his little spot on the floor.

"I don't mind." I helped him to his feet and let him lean on me for support as he pulled his pants up with his one good hand. He sat down on the bed and said, "Thanks."

He lay back in bed and as soon as I got to the elevator, he was out like a light.

In the morning, about an hour before it was time to go to school, I stepped in the elevator and went down to the medical room. "Zim," I called sweetly to him as I stepped out of the elevator.

He stirred a little but didn't completely wake up. "Zim," I repeated as I sat next to him in the bed. "Wake up. It's time to go to school," I said as I gently stroked one side of his face with my thumb.

He muttered something but still didn't open his eyes. "Zim," I said a little louder as I pulled the blanket off of him.

He rolled over on his right so his back was facing me and said quietly, "I don't want to go to school."

I turned around and rested my arms slightly on his left side. "But I need you to be awake for what I'm about to do," I told him.

He moaned. "What is it this time?" he asked harshly, still not opening his eyes.

"I need to check your ribs and elbow," I said, slightly rolling him back over.

He opened one eye to peer at me. "Why?"

"To check if you can go to school," I said as though it was the most obvious thing in the worlds.

He sighed as he sat up. "Fine. Just be quick about it."

I got the supplies ready while he tried to wake up a little more. "Okay," I said. "Let me see your arm."

He held out his left arm to me and yawned a little. I studiously unwrapped the slightly bloody bandages and checked the stitches. They seemed fine, nothing to fix—until I noticed a faintly darker spot above the first stitch. "What is that?" I muttered to myself, turning Zim's arm towards me.

"What?" he asked, clearly not very interested.

I ignored him and grabbed a little surgical knife. I made a small incision to the right of the spot to confirm my suspicions. I was right. The bone, when it ripped through the flesh, had chipped a piece away and severed a small vein to his hand. No wonder he couldn't get his pants up last night, I thought.

He was distraught that I was making another cut on his arm. "What are you doing?" he asked hastily.

"Sorry," I said as I grabbed a cloth to suppress the bleeding. "I was checking something."

"What were you checking?" he asked looking up at me. "What reason could you possibly have to cut me?"

I sighed, still holding the cloth up to his arm. "You have a severed vein," I told him as I moved his right hand to the cloth to hold it in place.

"And?" he asked as he gripped the already bloody cloth.

I grabbed an antibacterial cleanser, a sterile needle, and some string as I said, "You need surgery to fix it."

"Oh," he said as I walked back to him and he eyes flickered away from me. "Why?" he asked as he looked back up.

"I can't just glue it back together, Zim," I said as I removed his hand and the cloth. "I actually need to perform a full-on surgery to repair it."

"Oh," he repeated. He stayed quiet while I cleaned the cut and started to sew it up.

As I finished, I told him, "We're going to stay home today."

"Okay," he said without hesitation.

"You're having surgery."

Author's Note: Um… review please? I have over four hundred visitors to the story but only twelve reviews… but thanks to everyone that did review (love you people. You give me so much encouragement!)! And special thanks to my continuous reviewers *cough cough* Zim'sMostLoyalServant and *cough* TheInvader *cough cough* Man, I really need to get my cough checked huh? *cough* I'M NORMAL! AND NOT SICK!