Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. If I did, we would have had more romance between K and A.
; - D

Beta: Thanks for hanging in there Dawn!

Rating/Setting: Rating of T. Setting is AU but in the DotU universe.

Chapter Eleven: Road to Recovery

Allura's eyes widened as she looked at Keith. She had expected all the medical equipment and the oxygen tubes running to his nose, and she thought she had prepared herself for the bruising and swelling. She was not prepared enough. She had expected bruises here and there and of various colors. The right side of Keith's face was swollen to the point that the skin was stretched taut, and it was purple and black in color. The purple color and slight swelling also covered the right arm that was lying on top of the covers. She could only imagine that his chest looked similar since his cracked ribs were also on his right side. It was odd to see that the left side of his body was relatively free of large bruises. Allura walked over to left side of his bed; she was too afraid to even hold his bruised right hand. When the others left, she would hold his left one.

They were all in the room now. Dr. Gorma had heard more than one sharp intake of breath as they came in, and he even heard Nanny murmur out a small prayer. Maybe she did have a heart for the brave space explorers after all. "Remember, most of this bruising and swelling will go down dramatically in the next couple of days before he is released. There's something I want to show all of you." He walked up beside Allura and she stepped away from Keith's side. Dr. Gorma carefully lifted Keith's left arm and pulled the blanket covering his chest down about six inches to where the treatment bandages for the cracked ribs could be seen. "The bandages on Keith's ribs have electrodes in them that will speed the healing process for his ribs, but that's not what I wanted you to see."

"The harness," Lance said. "You can see the bruises on his chest from where he pulled the harness down."

"That's right," Dr. Gorma replied. "I don't know at what point he got it on or at what point it failed, but I think it could very well have saved his life." Silence filled the room as he pulled the blankets back up and he waited a moment before speaking again. "It will probably be one to two hours before the commander regains consciousness and at that point we will increase his pain medication. I can alert all of you when he regains consciousness."

Coran spoke first, "Nanny and I will return to our duties, but we would appreciate it if you keep us updated on him."

Dr. Gorma just nodded his response and shifted his gaze to Lance.

Lance understood that until Keith recovered, he had some decisions to make as temporary leader of the force. "Hunk and I will take Red out, assess Black Lion, and bring it back. Pidge and Princess, I'd like for you both to stay with Keith right now. Pidge, I'll switch out with you when we get back so you can assist Hunk with Black's repairs."

The team members all expressed sentiments of agreement and Allura gave Lance a small smile. He had given her a reason to stay with Keith that Coran, Nanny, and Dr. Gorma wouldn't question. Of course, it wouldn't have mattered to Allura if he said for her to stay or not; she was staying. This just made it easier. Everyone filed out except for Allura and Pidge.

Allura pulled a chair up right next to Keith's bed. She sat down and took his hand in her hands to massage it.

Pidge walked softly up beside her. "Princess, I'm going to step outside the door for about five minutes to give you some time with Keith."

Allura turned a tear-filled gaze to Pidge who was about eye-level to her while she was seated. She took one hand away from Keith's and pulled a surprised Pidge to her. "Thank you Pidge. Thank you for everything." It was said softly and full of all the emotion she was feeling at the moment.

Pidge returned her hug and only pulled back when she released him. "Anything for you Princess," was all he said as he turned and quietly left the room.

When the door slid shut behind him, Allura slowly stood and moved Keith's arm so she could sit on the bed beside him. She gently pushed his hair away from his face. She smiled as she noted that they hadn't cut much of his hair at all to sew up the small cut on the side of his head. There were small circular bandages on his forehead that she knew held sensors to monitor his brain functions and swelling inside his skull. She kept her fingers away from them as she gently moved his hair. She very, very carefully, leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Before she pulled away, a tear fell from her eyes onto his face. As she sat up, she gently reached out again and this time dried the tear on his face.

She knew she only had a few more stolen moments with Keith, so she would have to speak quickly. "Keith, I'm here and I'm only going to leave if you wake up. Dr. Gorma says you should be doing that fairly soon and I expect you to follow his orders." Allura's voice sounded a little tremulous as she said this but she didn't care. "I know you are the commander of the Voltron Force and there will be risks you have to take, but please my love, be more careful. I can't lose you now that we've just found each other." She looked at his bruised face and gently touched his cheek. "I miss you. Come back to me." She heard the door slide open and she moved off the bed and back to her chair. She looked to the doorway where Pidge was standing awkwardly. "It's okay Pidge, you can come in. I've told Keith what's on my mind and how I'm expecting a quick recovery." She managed a smile at the young team member and he returned it as he walked in and took a seat over near the wall. She knew he didn't want to intrude. She returned to holding Keith's hand and waiting.

A little over an hour later she heard the door open and turned to see Lance entering. He nodded to Pidge, who headed out. Lance walked over to the princess. He looked at Keith as he asked, "Any change?"

She followed his gaze to Keith, "No. No change yet." She felt him put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeeze. "I know Dr. Gorma says he's going to be fine, it's just…I'll feel so much better once he opens his eyes." She felt another squeeze and then his hand left her should and he moved over to take the chair that Pidge had vacated. It was comforting that they were standing watch with her.

She was starting to tire. The battle had occurred before dawn and now it was late morning. She laid her head on the edge of bed, pillowed by one of her arms, while one hand still held Keith's. She had just closed her eyes when she felt his hand twitch. Sitting up suddenly, she looked intently at his face.

Noticing the sudden change in the princess, Lance immediately stood and moved over. "What is it, Princess?"

"His hand moved. Maybe it was just a muscle twitch…" His hand moved in hers again, and she thought she saw his eye move. The other one was too swollen to notice movement. "Call Dr. Gorma just in case." Lance moved over to the intercom and she could hear him relaying the information to the doctor. She heard Gorma say he was on his way.

She was watching Keith's face when his one good eye opened.

Keith thought he heard voices. Where was he? It felt like he was in a bed. "The medical facility, that's where I am," he thought. Where else would he be in a bed with people talking around him? He had been in this position before unfortunately. The pain started washing over him in waves. He tried to open his eyes but only one would open. He immediately closed it. The lights were too bright and his head hurt. His face hurt. His whole right side hurt. He moaned; he couldn't help it. He took a deep breath. Bad, bad decision. He groaned. It was then that he heard Allura's voice.

There was no doubt how much pain Keith was in. When would Dr. Gorma get here? "Keith, it's Allura. You're in the med ward." Was that a smile on his face? Why was he smiling? "Keith, are you okay?"

Keith smiled again, well as much as he could with the swelling. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck… or Nanny; so of course, I figured I'm in the med ward." The smile continued and then he made the mistake of a small laugh. His body convulsed with the pain as Dr. Gorma walked in.

"What happened?" Dr. Gorma rushed to the bedside as the monitors beeped quickly and loudly.

With his eyes on the doctor, Lance spoke up, "The commander picked this moment to show a sense of humor. He made the mistake of making a bad joke and then laughing."

The tension immediately left the body of the doctor as the monitors returned to normal. "Oh, well, I guess he won't make that mistake any time soon." He smiled, relieved that Keith had awoken during the expected time frame and was lucid enough to make a joke. It boded well for his recovery. "Commander, I need to do a short assessment, would you like for your friends to remain or leave?"

Allura and Lance were surprised that Dr. Gorma hadn't just asked them to leave. What did Dr. Gorma know or suspect?

"I'd like for them to stay."

"Commander, as soon as I finish the assessment, I promise to increase your pain medication."

Keith was relieved when it was over; the pressing and prodding and checking were painful. Letting out a sigh as he felt the pain medication flow into him from the IV, Keith listened as Dr. Gorma gave him his medical assessment. It sounded like he had dodged a bullet and gotten off easy. He'd only be in the med facility a few days at the most, and he'd check himself out as soon as he felt ready. The doctor left the room saying that he'd let his friends fill him in on the battle that put him here. The battle! He had forgotten. His good eye popped open. "Hunk?! Pidge?!" It was a question and almost a shout.

Allura soothed, "They're fine Keith! You were the only one injured." She saw him wince as the tension left his body and his muscles tried to relax.

Keeping his eyes closed, he said, "Tell me what happened. I remember going out to take on a robeast and talking to Lotor. It would have been fine if I had forgotten that. I was trying to move the robeast towards to the mountains and then things get fuzzy."

Lance began to describe the battle to fill in the pieces for his friend. "That's right. And you had opened a wound in the robeast's neck. You thought with a couple more well-placed shots at that spot you could take him down. You went to make a run on him and he dropped his mace-"

"And then his arms shot out, grabbed me and pulled me in as I tried a vertical climb."

"That's right."

"It's not just fuzzy after that, I don't remember anything else."

Lance continued. "After the robeast pulled you to its chest, it lifted off and then body-slammed you. We were able to continue the attacks you started on the neck until Pidge was able to sever its head. After the thing exploded on the ground, Lotor's ship took one last low-blow shot at your Lion. We chased them off and brought you back here."

Keith was quiet for a moment. "You both think I took an unnecessary risk." It was a statement, not a question, but he knew they would understand that he wanted their opinions. He might not agree with them, but he wanted them.

Allura and Lance looked at each other and he nodded for her to answer. "Yes and no. You could have waited for us so it could have been a group attack; there were no civilians in danger at the time. But then, it wouldn't have changed what happened. The robeast would have gotten one of us, and I'm not sure that any of the rest of us would have gotten their shoulder harness on in time. The result could have been fatal for one of us."

"I agree with the princess and her reasoning. In fact, you would have told us the same thing if we had taken on a robeast solo." Starting to smile a little, Lance said, "I think if it had been me, you might have accused me of being pig-headed." He saw a smile form on Keith's lips again. "Be careful Cap'n, you know what happened the last time you laughed."

The door swished open while he was saying this and Hunk and Pidge came in. "You mean he's well enough to make jokes? I think this calls for a celebration feast!" Hunk exclaimed rubbing his hands together.

Giving the big man a poke in the ribs, Pidge said, "It's all he's been talking about in the repair bay. He's planned an enormous meal to celebrate."

"Hey, I wouldn't have been thinking about food if Dr. Gorma hadn't told us that the Captain would be okay."

Allura was laughing. "I think Hunk's right, we will have a celebration meal later today, but the Captain will have to stick with the food he's given by the medical staff."

"That's fine with me," Keith said. "I'm not very hungry at all and I'm sure my stomach must be as bruised as the rest of me, so I'm fine just having some painkillers for my celebration meal."

With that, Keith closed his good eye. Lance looked at Allura and said, "We're going to head out and change. We'll update Nanny and Coran and then be back to relieve you so you can change." Allura nodded and the team left giving Keith well-wishes and promising to be back.

Allura squeezed his hand as the door closed behind them. "It's time to sleep now, my bruised knight."

And with that Keith fell asleep.