Chell woke groggily. A glance at her watch told her she'd been asleep for eighteen hours. Her chest ached from the nonstop dry coughing, but the worst of it had passed, for now. She breathed as deeply as she could, considering the sharp pain, and sat up in bed.
She did the math:
Provided she'd only been asleep for one day, it'd been four days since she'd been outside of her room. Wheatley had been off the plug for about a day before that, so he was due for a charge. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and bit past the wave of dizziness, stumbling to the other side and grabbing his cord from the nightstand. She unlocked the door with a soft click.
Wheatley sat in the living room, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and the heels of his palms pressed into his eyes. It'd been four days since she'd yelled at him, and he still couldn't understand what he'd done wrong. He wanted to talk to her, to make everything okay and to know that she was okay, but she'd been locked in her room for ages, and it was obvious that she didn't want him anywhere near her…
He felt fingers run gently though his hair and looked up sharply in surprise. She stood over him with a soft, sad smile on her lips, the length of grey cord clutched in her other hand. He quickly stood and drew his arms around her. She grunted quietly at his grip and forced her own arms around him. He didn't let go, instead rambling senselessly into her hair. "Honestly, I thought you'd never come out, but oh, I'm so sorry, I just wish I knew what I did because, really, I have no clue. It doesn't matter, welcome back, luv. Please. Please promise me you won't… you won't… oh. Chell…" he stopped when he pulled back to look her in the eye, dull and sunken, with dark circled underneath. Her cheekbones were more defines – unhealthily, even. Her lips were pressed into a thin like and she looked tired, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. He tucked the loose hair behind her ear. "Do you remember," he started quietly, "the day I woke you from the Annex? I told you that you looked great. Remember that?" he asked. She nodded against his hand as he brought it to her cheek. "I lied. You looked terrible. Ghastly. Being asleep for half and eternity can do that to you. But, luv… you look worse, now…" he forced the words out, hearing his own voice cracking. "A thousand times worse. What's… what's happened to you?"
She looked away, resting her hand on top of his on her cheek and pressing her mouth to his palm before she walked away, over to the wall, and plugged the cord into the electrical socket, looking back at him with the lead in her hands.
"Oh, no, no, no, no-" he stuttered, spreading his palms. "I'm not going to sleep until you tell me what happened."
He could see her hesitation, torn between his charge and letting go of the knowledge she seemed so intent on keeping locked away. He moved tentatively towards her. "P-please, luv. I just want to help. You… you're miserable, I can see that. Tell me what's wrong." He begged, taking her into his arms again. "I can help."
Chell felt the heat catch in her throat, settling there and forcing tears into her eyes. She rested her head against his shoulder and would have collapsed, had he not caught her, sounding out in alarm as she crumpled against him. He guided them onto the couch and she covered her face with her hands, sobbing quietly. He held her, smoothing down her hair and supporting her tiny, shaking frame. "Oh… oh, Chell… whatever's happened, whatever's happened to you… it'll be okay. I promise. I'm right here, luv. I'll always be right here." His voice hitched up an octave at the end as a knot settled itself in his chest.
They sat there together and her quiet sobs became shudders and tear stained cheeks. He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face so that he could look her in the eye. "Do you know what?" he asked her, his voice low and thick with synthesized emotion. He forced a lopsided grin. "Whatever's happened to you, it's going to be okay. Know why?" he put a hand at each side of her face, pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. "Because there is no test that we can't solve together."
By the end of the night, they were asleep in each others' arms.