"Please stay." Issy whispers and Eric nods his head, stretching out on the bed like Alec had done all those days ago and Eric leans his head on top of hers.

"Always." He whispers back, running his hands through her hair.

Issy grumbles as she wakes up slowly, her eyes blinking rapidly at the bright light. It was the second time that when she woke up her pillow was moving with each breath. The first time was when she woke up from a nightmare and Eric held her until she could tell reality from dreams. She lays somewhat awkwardly against Eric. Due to her ribs, Issy has to lay on her back and Eric lays slightly underneath her, also on his back. Her neck is arched into the crook of his neck and her good arm is hooked around the back of his head; her fingers threaded in his hair. Issy still can't believe this is happening. Sometimes, she still suspects its some morphine induced illusion…

Issy pauses for a moment, trying to tell if he really is asleep or not; it's a rare occasion if Issy wakes up first. When she makes the decision that he's still asleep, Issy moves her head away slightly so that she can look at all of him. Eric looks younger in his sleep – peaceful even. Unthreading her fingers from his hair, she begins to lightly trace his face and her eyes follow her fingers. She starts her map of Eric's face on his cheekbones, trailing up to his forehead. It's smooth and holds no crinkles of his usual scowl nor are his eyes narrowed. He doesn't have the weight of the faction on his shoulders or the façade he bears. From his eyes, her fingers follow the bridge of his nose to his parted lips. There's no frown or sneer there, just the soft skin she remembers being pressed against her forehead, against her own. Her fingers drop from his lips and run along his strong jaw before tracing the Leadership blocks down his neck. He's just Eric in this moment. He has no worries, no pressure, nothing chaining him down. Just as her fingers begin to touch the edge of his black t-shirt, a hand flies up to hold her own and Issy looks up.

Eric's smouldering grey eyes are staring back at her. She'd been so caught up in tracing his features that Issy hadn't noticed that he had woken up and was breathing heavily. Issy bites her lip to keep in the gasp from the sheer emotion held in those grey orbs. His eyes flicker down to the lip between her teeth and back up to her eyes.

"You're injured." Eric whispers huskily. Whether he was saying that to her or himself, Issy didn't know, but nonetheless it made her squirm. His eyes darken and the grip on her hand tightens. "You're injured." He repeats quieter but somewhat unsure of his own words. He dips his head down slowly until his nose nuzzles hers. Issy releases her lip from her teeth as she lets out a shuddering breath. Eric angles his head to the side, their breathes mingling together, and his eyes glance from her lips to her eyes. Eric pauses and then he grins wickedly before pulling away. "Not in the infirmary." Issy groans, her head rolling back onto the pillow as he chortles. Issy tries to rub her thighs together as best she can and Eric's face becomes serious at the motion. "Not in the infirmary." His voice is deep and promising. "I wouldn't have any control and I don't want to injure you more than you already are."

"You're a fucking tease." Issy hisses as she glares at him.

As he stands up, he gently lowers Issy back onto the bed. "Now you know how you made me feel." Eric smirks, resting a knee on the edge of the bed and leans forward until their noses almost touch. "Karma's a bitch, huh?" Issy rears her head back as if to headbutt him but Eric catches on and leans back, laughing. He slips his boots back on and picks up his jacket. "I've got to take care of a few little things and then I'll be back okay?"

Issy snorts and glances down to the tent in his trousers suggestively, unable to help herself. It's not her fault if he walked into that one with no encouragement. "Of course you do."

Eric's eyes narrow as he understands what she means and his jaw clenches. It makes Issy wonder that if she pisses him off enough, would he go back on his unspoken promise or not. "That's not little."

"Well, you know what they say," She shrugs, grinning at his reaction. "The bigger the chat, the smaller the chap." A growl rips through his throat and just as he takes a step forward, the door opens to reveal Marlene. The nurse glances between the Leader and the soldier with caution. Eric doesn't take his gaze of Issy as she grins at him, happy to have regained the upper hand. She wiggles her fingers at him, her grin getting impossibly wider. "Have fun with your little duties." The dismissal is clear and he bares his teeth at her as he shifts his jacket in front of his tent. Issy laughs gleefully, not missing the twinkle in his eyes as her leaves.

Marlene raises both hands. "I don't wanna know."

They keep a light conversation going as Marlene checks Issy's ribs and leg. The nurse doesn't mention what she saw between Issy and Eric, instead she tells Issy about how most of the family is getting irritated from not being able to see her. Issy frowns, remembering earlier that morning and she groans loudly, slumping back.

"Issy? Are you okay?"

"I'm so sorry." Issy closes her eyes as it all came back to her. "For what happened today. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Iss," Marlene sooths. "We know you didn't mean it."

Issy sighs and opens her eyes. "Can you get Tris and the guys back here? I want to apologise to them."

"Sure." Marlene smiles down at her before pointing. "But after you've finished your lunch; you've already missed breakfast."

Issy rolls her eyes but smiles.

xXx

They arrived during lunch and Marlene left with an empty tray. Tris and Four sit on one side of Issy while Hugo and Josh sit on the other. The guys look at her with slight caution but Tris sits with her tongue sticking slightly out as she doodles on Issy's cast in green ink.

"I'm so sorry for what happened earlier." Issy whispers with tears welling in her eyes. "I don't know what happened, I just couldn't remember…"

Four smiles softly. "It's okay. We probably made it worse by trying to get closer to you."

Tris pauses and looks up. "I'm not going to lie, it shocked me, but as long as you know that we'll always be there for you."

"I know, thank you."

Josh and Hugo were still looking at her with caution but Josh smiled, winking at her. He nudged his shoulder with Hugo's, jabbing at her brother's side until a grin slid onto Hugo's face. Hugo slapped Josh's hand away and shook his head. Something had shifted between them. It wasn't obvious but the way that they stayed closer to each other and didn't watch each other with guarded eyes gave it away.

"So," Josh started. "I thought you'd like to know that the squads that were down at Amity with you have started back on the normal rotas again. Squad 226 will be staring back up again soon and you'll join them once you've healed."

Issy nodded, she was both glad and jealous. Issy wanted to be out there patrolling with them but also she didn't know if she could mentally do it yet. "Are Uri and Hec okay with that?"

"A bit shook up but good."

The guys talked for a bit between themselves as Issy watched Tris draw on her cast. Its moments this this when Issy remembers that Tris is a part-time tattoo artist. Issy doesn't know how she has time for it between basic human needs and being an ambassador but Tris tells Issy that she goes in on her days off mostly.

They all stay until lunch draws to an end and they have to get back to their jobs, but as they leave each of them promise to return.

xXx

Eric arrived back sometime later with his tablet in hand and a book in the other. Issy didn't say anything along the lines of little duties but it was written on her face as she smirked at him. He simply rolled his eyes and passed the book to her.

"Oh shut up and read." Eric said as he settled in one of the chairs and placed the tablet in his lap. "I've got work to do."

Issy snorted lightly before turning her attention to the book. It was a big hardback book with a red cover. On the cover was a silver dragon head with the title The Ruin of Kings underneath it. Issy frowned as she flipped it over. She didn't recognise the book at all and it wasn't from her collection. She glanced up to Eric, who was focused on his tablet and silently mouthing whatever he was reading. Glancing back down to the book, her curiosity was spiked with not only who the book belonged to but what it was about. Though before she could start reading, Issy was having difficulty opening and propping up the book.

"Here. Let me help." Eric said as he stood up. He walked over to the cupboard and took out the table attachment before walking back over to Issy. He took the book from her hands and placed it on the table. Issy watched as Eric attached it to the bed frame and angled the table-top to a forty-five-degree angle before tightening it to hold there. He picked up the book again and propped up on her waistline so it didn't add pressure to her ribs.

"Thank you." She whispered, her eyes already on the blurb on the inside sleeve of the cover. She didn't notice how Eric gazed at her fondly as she began gnawing on her bottom lip and slowly flipped through the first few pages. She grinned, a small squeal escaping her. "It has a map!" Issy hissed happily as she analysed it thoroughly before starting the story.

Time passed and pages were devoured as Eric worked silently. During the whole time, she didn't notice that whenever Eric took a break he would watch looking pleased before looking back to his tablet. Issy was torn from the words in front of her when Eric stood up, the tablet off and in the bedside draw. He stretched his arms above his head and the bottom of his top lifted up too giving Issy the chance to stare. Issy looked up and blush furiously when she saw Eric had been watching her with a satisfied smirk. Her gaze jumped back down to the book with her face burning. Eric chuckled as he walked around her bed and sat down next to her cast as he picked up a few markers.

"I didn't know you could draw." Issy stated after a few minutes. She couldn't actually see what he was drawing, which annoyed her greatly.

Eric looked up flashing his teeth at her in a wide smile. "Not well enough compared to you." He looked back down. "I find it therapeutic sometimes."

"What are you drawing?"

"You'll see."

Issy rolled her eyes. "Fine but make sure you leave some gaps. Other people want to draw on it too."

"Oki."

Issy watches him for a few more minutes as he drew on the part of the cast that no one could really get to but Eric didn't seem to be having any trouble. She soon turns back to her new book and tries to remember not to shift her left wrist at all. A few chapters later and Eric caps a marker with a happy smile as he leans back.

"You finished?"
"Yup." Issy tried angling her wrist so that she could see what he had drawn but she was unable and slumped back with a huff. Eric chuckled, snapping a picture on his phone before handing her the device. Issy's breath caught in her throat when she saw the image. On the underside of her cast was almost a replica of Eric's maze tattoo's on his forearms. "Do you like it?" Eric almost sounds hesitant and when Issy looks to him, he's watching her carefully.

"Yeah," She says, staring at the man himself. "Yeah I do."

The book mentioned is by Jenn Lyons and I definitely recommend it to anyone that likes fantasy stories!