The light from the window sent sharp pains echoing through Kara's skull even before she opened her eyes. Gritting her teeth was her first instinct, but that only made that throbbing stronger. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, wincing at the soreness that ached through her entire body. When her fingers twitched at her side, she suddenly became aware of the straps fastened to her wrists and the tugging of the tape that held down an assortment of needles and tubes. A voice startled her enough that her eyes flew open and the sun sent an agonizing burst of pain through her head.

"Of course you wake up when I'm in here. Just my luck."

"The window…" Kara forced out, wincing at the dryness in her throat.

Huffing, her visitor stood, making sure the scrape the chair to elicit a wince from Kara. Gods… The curtains lowered slowly and when she deemed the coast was clear, Kara opened her eyes. Ignoring the dull ache in her head as she did so, she watched Kylinn pace back toward her chair and plop down with her arms crossed. The soldier raised an eyebrow, irritated.

"What?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm holding Ravus's place," Kylinn retorted, crossing her legs stiffly. She scowled. "Don't make that face. He's here to lecture you, not to check in on you." Kara frowned and tried to push herself up higher, but the sharp pain shooting up her elbows stopped her short. "Hey! Be careful!" Kylinn snapped, reached toward a remote that was tethered to the bed and pressing a button that slowly raised the bed into an incline.

"Thanks." Kara eyed the end of the bed where her feet poked out from beneath the blanket that proved too short for her body. One of them was wrapped in a stiff, beige cast from her toes to the middle of her calf. "What does he want to lecture me about?"

"Picking a fight with Aranea." Kylinn shrugged with a sniff and turned to face the painting on the wall. "I have to disagree with him. I'd 've punched her straight in her pretty little nose long before you lost it."

Kara shook her head with a sigh. "It was stupid of me." She could still feel the anger that resonated with Aranea's words. "I don't care how much Wyn wants us to stick with family. I hate her."

"I can't say I blame you," the soldier scoffed, returning her eyes to Kara's. "She's a bitch for the sake of being a bitch. There's no type worse in the world." A smug smile tugged at her lips. "At least I have the trauma to match."

A short, uncomfortable silence passed between them as they searched for any similarities they might have. Kara crinkled her nose as she eyed the needle in her wrist, disgusted by the lack of life in the color of her skin. She took a deep breath to fill in for her shallow breaths and looked back up at Kylinn.

"How is it being with Ravus? Does he lecture you a lot, too?"

Kylinn snorted, rubbing at the scuff on her boot. "He doesn't do jack shit. I talk a whole lot and sometimes he listens. I kick his ass in training, and it pisses him off. That's the only time he seems to feel anything." Irate, she rolled her head back to stare up at the ceiling. "Even when we fuck, he's somewhere else entirely."

Kara crinkled her nose and quickly swept the image of a blankly staring Ravus out of her mind. "Are you going to break it off?"

"It's almost as though he doesn't think there's anything to break off," Kylinn admitted, though she didn't seem disappointed. "Besides, if I leave him, who do I have left? Wyn?" Kara frowned and Kylinn laughed bitterly. "Those two are inseparable, but they're so different. Ravus is real around him." Her dark eyes pierced Kara. "Around you, too."

"We've known each other a long time," Kara pointed out, uneasy. Ravus was his own specimen with his own unexplainable habits. She had no clue why he chose to let down his guard around her and her brother, but she certainly didn't mind. He needed to feel safe somewhere.

Kylinn didn't seem bothered, shrugging. "I prefer loving heartless bastards, anyway. Makes the end easy."

"He's not—" Kara started.

She cut herself when the door opened, startled. Ravus stepped in, pausing for a second when he saw that he'd interrupted the conversation. It didn't bother him for long, though, because he walked closer and jerked his head toward the door without so much as a glance toward Kylinn. With a snicker, the soldier shot Kara a look and grabbed Ravus's arm as she pressed her lips to his cheek. He didn't blink, keeping his focus on the floor until she closed the door behind her.

Once they were trapped in a tense film of silence, Ravus wandered toward the foot of Kara's bed. She watched as he reached out toward the pitcher of water on the white countertop lining the wall. Then he paused.

"Are you thirsty?"

"I could go for a drink," Kara replied softly, unsure how to read his silence. For once, he was refusing to lower his walls even a touch.

Ravus didn't respond, pouring water into a metal cup and carrying it to her side. Kara pressed the button on her remote to sit herself up further and accepted the cup gratefully. The silence was filled only by the sound of her gulping down the water as quickly as she could. It felt wonderful to do something somewhat normal. When she finished, Ravus took the cup back to the table and stared at the window even though the curtains blocked his view outside.

"So…" Kara shifted her weight with a wince. "What's the damage, doc?"

"This isn't funny," Ravus snapped, shooting her a scowl. Her heart sank.

"It was just a joke."

"It was inappropriate."

Exhausted, Kara scoffed. "Right. Sorry for joking about my own goddamn pain because it's the only thing I can focus on at the moment."

Ravus frowned, eyeing one of the bags held up on a rack beside her bed. "Did I not open it enough?"

"What?"

Ravus headed closer to her bed, but he never touched it as if he feared it might infect him with whatever ailments she was suffering. He touched a switch on the tube leading to a needle in her hand. "They gave you control over your pain relief. I had to estimate what was enough by your grumbling."

Kara frowned up at him. "Grumbling?"

"You spent a long time half-conscious," he explained, stepping away once more. At least this time he was facing her. "They hoped that waking you between operations would allow you to speak to them, but that was too high a hope, it seems."

"Operations?" she repeated, bewildered. All she had was questions and he hadn't answered any of them.

Taking a deep breath, Ravus crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. "The speed with which you turned before falling broke your ankle. Aranea's blow in conjunction with your landing cracked the back of your head." His brows pinched together and his eyes wandered around the room. "It's a miracle only two of your ribs broke and that you didn't suffer much damage to your spine. Your vision was impaired for a few days, but you seem to be alright now." He paused, looking back toward her. "Unless you're not."

"I think I'm seeing the same as before," Kara replied, feeling her face get warm. She was being entirely unhelpful, and it wasn't to her advantage that she'd put everyone through the trouble of stitching her back together. "I can't tell, though. I'm too sore to think."

Ravus nodded. "I can't imagine why."

"Hey now, no jokes," she teased. "This is serious." All she got in response was a sardonic huff. Changing the subject was less than ideal, but she figured it was best to speak with him now. "Kylinn said you had something to lecture me about."

Raising his eyebrow, the soldier shot an irritated look toward the windows once more. "I have no lectures for you."

"You're sure?"

He sighed. "No. There's always something you could improve."

"Well, it goes both ways."

Shooting her a dry look, he jerked his head to fling his hair out of his eyes. It was getting just long enough on top that it consistently fell into his face. The shaved sides of his head did little to help hold it back. Kara wondered if he was growing it out on purpose. Now isn't the time. He was hesitating to speak, and she wanted to rip off the bandage.

"Ravus, why are you here?"

His eyes flickered up to hers before returning to the ground. "There's talk of cutting you from the program along with the others that are leaving."

Kara's heart leaped into her throat and she fought to catch her breath. "What?"

"There's no telling how long it'll take for you to heal, and even then, there's no guarantee you'll ever be the same," he continued, still refusing to look at her. "Even the doctors don't know what to think."

"I'll bounce back," she insisted, struggling to sit even straighter. "They can't cut me, Ravus. You can't let them."

"What if they're right?" he asked. "How can I ask them to fund a recovery that won't succeed?"

"I'm not broken. I'm sore and my ankle's a little beat up." Kara shook her head, bewildered. It felt like her brain was loose, knocking into the walls of its confines and creating thundering echoes. "They have to take the risk. At the very least I'll make a decent commander."

"And what about your head?" he demanded. The shift in his voice indicated his growing irritation, but she wasn't sure it was directed entirely at her. "Piecing your skull back together bit by bit won't repair anything but bone. Your coordination and balance will never be the same. How do you expect to fight when you can't keep yourself upright?"

"I'll learn!" She was getting desperate. Where could she go if she didn't have the program? Who would she be? A nobody doing nothing to ease the suffering memories of her people. She wouldn't be able to live with herself. "I'm not giving up. Let them see that."

Ravus scoffed, shaking his head. "They know that, Kara. They know you, but that doesn't change the circumstances. They can't use a cripple." He shrugged, rubbing the toe of his boot against a skid mark on the tile. "And I can't use a decent commander."

Kara's heart sank and she felt the crushing weight of his hopelessness begin to collapse against her. If I just hadn't taken the bait… Swallowing the lump in her throat and blinking away the tears clouding her vision, she looked down at her blanket. The Empire may have wanted her to lay down and die, but she wasn't willing to do that, even if it meant a huge waste of time and resources. She had to get back on her feet.

"Listen." Wincing, Kara pushed herself up a little further and adjusted her hefty, casted ankle. Ravus watched her pitiful shimmying with a grimace, but she paid him no mind. "Here's what we're going to do."

"Kara—"

"I said listen. We're going to do our very best to convince them that they need to put in the resources to get me back because—" She raised a finger to stop Ravus when he started to interrupt again. "Ardyn just sent everyone away and proved to them that they don't matter. How many good candidates would come back to take this opportunity knowing that they're expendable?" Getting hopeful, she began to smile. "Meanwhile, you and Wyn keep kicking ass to get to the top. Don't let this slow either of you down; I'll catch up eventually."

Ravus shook his head, uncertain. "There's no guarantee this will work in the slightest."

"We won't know until we try." Kara shot him a reassuring smile. "And if things change, we'll adapt. It's what we've been doing our whole lives, Ravus; we're pros."

Uncrossing his arms, Ravus took a deep breath and combed his hair back with his fingers. For a moment, the tense silence return. Then, once, he nodded. "We'll try, then. But if things begin to go wrong, you're on your own."

Kara grinned. "Deal."