Enchanting
By Holly-Batali

Author's Note: The ressponse to the last chapter is seriously my favorite. I got a lot of 'you are evil', which made me very happy XD I fangirled over your reviews, I'm serious guys, I love them and you! *hugs and kisses*

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama. Enchanted lyrics are property of Owl City.

Chapter 10

"These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon."

Hanji arrived just over an hour later, panting heavily, her hair and clothes in disarray; when Gunter called her, she had been on her way home in a cab, still over an hour away. As soon as she got the story from Gunter, she had begun to scream at the driver, telling him to 'drive faster, or I will end you with nothing but a pair of forceps and a resection knife'. She blasted into the waiting room like a human hurricane and zoned in on the group waiting for Petra and made a beeline straight for them. A lanky brunette man came running in after her, looking just as stressed as she did, muttering something about 'at least pay the cab fare, after almost strangling the driver'. Hanji had ignored him and gone straight to Erd, who gave her the basic rundown. After repeating the news to Hanji and Moblit Baner (Hanji's 'assistant', which explained why he looked so stressed), they took seats with the rest of the group, and the heavy cloud of anxiety settled over the group once more.

Hanji asked for the specifics that no one else in the group bothered to ask about; things like 'what did her neck look like', 'how much blood and from where', 'how long until she started breathing again' and the like. As someone with actually experience in human anatomy and biology, she told them that depending on what parts of the spine and neck were damaged, on how well her helmet had protected her brain, how long her brain had gone without oxygen—all of these could contribute to Petra's diagnosis, they could be the make-it or break-it points in the surgery. No one was sure if this was reassuring or more depressing.

By this time, the sun was starting to set again, and the doctors still didn't have any news on Petra. Levi had snapped out of his funk pretty quickly and proceeded to give the meanest and most murderous glare any of them had ever seen to anyone who dared to so much as breathe loudly. He was one of the ones that had been more irritated by Hanji's observations and glared at her more often than anyone else.

The sky was almost dark by the time one of Petra's doctors came out to update them; at that point, everyone was ready to snap (Levi was ready to start snapping necks, if his expression were an accurate gauge). He introduced himself (no one particularly cared) and told them the damage.

"Well, the good news is that there was very little damage done to her head; her helmet was strapped on securely, and that probably saved her life." There were several flinches around the group. "Her spine was thrown out of alignment—the discs had to be corrected, and some of them were fractured, along with her sixth and seventh ribs. We estimated four more bruised ribs. We did what we could, but another issue here is her spleen."

Hanji's head snapped up from where she'd been staring at the floor. "Her spleen?"

The doctor jerked back in surprise at the intensity on Hanji's face. "Yes." He coughed. "Yes. Her spleen ruptured on impact, causing all sorts of problems, including hemorrhaging in the lower back; her whole spleen was destroyed, and we needed to perform an immediate splenectomy.

"We corrected the spinal alignment, as I said, and fixed up her ribs—they've been set and wrapped, and they should heal up with time. She has a bad concussion, and honestly that's my greatest worry."

"I thought you said her helmet protected her!" Erd piped up, panicked.

"Ah," the doctor was flustered, adjusting his glasses. "Well, that was true for the most part, yes. If she hadn't been wearing her helmet, she most likely would have died instantly."

"She what?!"

"Yes, right, the concussion!" The doctor hurried to move the subject back. "There was quite of bit of intracranial pressure, and we were able to bring the swelling down with medication and control it, so thankfully we didn't need to operate on that. Her brain was rattled though, and it's still a toss-up whether or not Miss Ral will have any lasting problems from this."

"But she'll live, right?" Hanji pressed. "She'll be okay, right?"

"Well… there's a good chance that she'll live, yes, but with head injuries like this, you just never know. Nothing is ever certain with injuries of this nature."

"…Can we see her?" Auruo asked quietly.

The doctor hesitated; "Very briefly, yes. You'll have to be quiet, though. She's out of the ICU, but we have her under strict observation. She's in room…" he checked Petra's chart on the clipboard he was nervously fingering. "357."

Levi was the first to move, striding purposefully down the hallway and up the stairs, not waiting for the elevator. The others hastened to move after him, jogging up the stairs to try and keep up. "For someone who's so short," Hanji wheezed, "he can really move!" Normally, Levi would lay Hanji out flat for a comment like that, but now he just couldn't bring himself to care, focused solely on his destination. When Levi reached Petra's room, he hesitated for the briefest moment, hand outstretched before the doorknob, before grasping it and gently opening the door, stepping inside.

Levi had always known that Petra was small; she was shorter than him, a blessing if ever there was one. But she looked too small now, all pale skin and crisp bandages and clear tubes. It wasn't natural, and it certainly wasn't right. Petra didn't belong here in this cold room, this sterile static environment. Petra was hazelnut coffee and whip-crack humor; she was late nights studying and ranting the next morning about sadistic teachers; she was kind smiles, light hands on his shoulders and a warm weight on his back as he drove through the city. She wasn't this cold and clinical number on a chart.

Silently, he sunk into the chair beside her, gazing at her pale face. There were dark bruises on her face, a split lip (three stitches to seal it up), and bandages wrapped around her head. At least she still has her hair, Levi absently noted. He knew of people that got cranial swelling so bad that their heads had to be shaved and then small holes had to be drilled into the skull to relieve the pressure. It was a small comfort, but one that he was grateful for nonetheless.

The others had filed into the room, and Levi noted Emily crying quietly. Everybody said something to Petra's sleeping form and filed out, keeping their word to be quick. Hanji was the last one in the room besides Levi. She came up to Petra's other side, running her hand through Petra's hair without touching her head and placed a small affectionate kiss on Petra's uninjured cheek before leaving the room.

Levi knew he was supposed to leave, but that was the last thing that he wanted to do. It was so unnatural to see Petra so still. The closest he had ever seen to this was when she was sick; she had fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation, and Levi had thrown a blanket over her and cleaned her apartment before heading home. She had been a still sleeper, but as congested as she had been, she made a small snuffling noise as she slept, and she would mutter occasionally in her sleep. A few weeks before, she would have been a stranger, and Levi would have found it irritating. Since it was Petra, he found it oddly endearing.

Just a few short months ago, Levi wouldn't have cared what happened to Petra. She was just another of the mindless students in Erwin's class, one of those irritating and entitled sheep that Levi hated so much. Over the course of coffee, pizza, and study guides, Levi now found it hard to go back to that apathetic state. Petra had begun to mean something to him; what that was, he didn't know just yet. He just knew that he cared now.

I am not a doctor or medical professional. Everything about Petra's condition was a mishmash of internet knowledge and BS. Also, points to anyone who can figure out the significance of Petra's room number (hint: there are two different numbers in it).