Eren groaned softly, his vision blurred as he glanced around the room. He had never felt so much heat as he did now, a fire igniting in his own skin. His stomach churned and ached,a result of having recently been emptied. He was grateful that Levi hadn't been there when it happened.

"Feeling any better?"Hanji's voice caught his attention, though the sound seemed a distance away and slightly distorted, the titan shifter could make out the blurry outline of the woman standing at his bedside.

"No." he replied weakly. Hanji scribbled a few notes into the file with a heavy sigh.

"I know these tests are hard on you right now, I promise to do everything I can to make it all worth it. Do you want something to drink?"

"I don't think I can take anything right now, I really just want to sleep." A sudden coughing fit hit the young man, sending a stabbing pain through his chest, back and ribs. Hanji moved quickly to rearrange his pillows, allowing him to be propped up by them as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Try to take it easy,"She advised. "I'm sorry I can't give you something to make you more comfortable, with everyone stuck in bed and unable to bring anything in, we're pretty low on everything. What little I have isn't even enough for one person. I doubt it'll even make a difference. It'll take a couple of days for the small group that left this morning to get back. We had to round up everyone not suffering from this thing, including civilians, even still there weren't many. The most I can offer you is a cool compress for your fever."Eren gave a short nod.

Hanji dipped one of the cloths into the bowl of lukewarm water, squeezing out the extra liquid and gently stroked Eren's pale, sweaty face. Eren closed his eyes, the cooler temperature felt good to his heated skin. Hanji repeated the action, only this time, placing the object on his titan shifter relaxed into the pillows.

"I wanted to do a few more tests, but I think you've had enough for today. I know you said you didn't really want anything, but in a little while, you need to have a few sips of water. The more dehydrated you are, the worse you'll feel. Fevers can really take a toll on your body, you don't need anymore problems than what you have. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Bet you're just loving that."Eren said softly, he was sure he saw her grin gleefully once or twice throughout the tests, if only briefly before she attempted to conceal it.

"What?" She asked. Eren scoffed, allowing his head to turn to the side.

"Wasn't important." he murmured.

"Well, anyway, you'll be stuck with me for the day, but we'll make the best of it won't we?"

Eren gave no reply. Exhausted by the combination of his illness and the barrage of tests,he allowed his eyes to close, feeling himself drift into the silence.

Hanji picked up her notes, quietly jotting down a list of the tests that still needed to be done as well as Eren's current condition. She frowned knowing there wasn't much to do for the young titan shifter at the moment, nor could she help the others lying in the infirmary.

"Come on, Eren,"She whispered, "You gotta hang in there and help us figure this sound of the door creaking open and the sudden burst of cold air startled the woman. She rose from her chair and made her way to the front door where she met Armin, a small stack of folders held close to his chest, protecting the documents from the harsh wind.

"What do you have for me today?" Hanji asked, taking the folders and gesturing to the chair. Armin took the invitation, thankful to be out of the cold.

"We lost two more just now. Amy Rosenberg and Sarah, you'll have to look up her file for the last name, it wasn't in any of the paperwork I came across. About an hour and a half ago, Amy was awake,she couldn't focus on the questions we asked, her fever spiked, vomiting. She was dehydrated but couldn't take water. Sarah gave us a small list of new symptoms to watch for. Everything's in those files, how's Eren?"

"Exhausted."The dark haired woman replied, leafing through the documents. "He's asleep right now,it's been a tough day. He's been up since early this morning, before Levi took his group out." Armin shook his head.

"I know this is important, but he needs to-"

""I isn't just some illness. We need to figure it out as fast as we can."Hanji interrupted.

"Do you think with his titan abilities..Eren could fight it off?"The concern was clearly audible in the cadet's voice.

"Well, that's the hope, so far they haven't seemed to be much help to him. All we can do is wait and see. So far there hasn't been any significant changes for the better or worse. It might be that the abilities are slowing down the progression of the illness but as of right now, it's hard to know for sure."

"Can I see him, I won't stay long."

"Go on, but before you do, who took over at the infirmary?" Hanji called as Armin stood and began to walk toward the door.

"Connie, but he's not going to be able to stay on active duty long." Armin replied. "He's starting to show signs of the illness."

"Damn it!" Hanji cursed, dropping into her chair. "Can't catch a break"

Armin stood next to the bed, frowning at the sleeping figure before him.

"Hey," He said softly. "I just wanted to stop and check in. I was hoping maybe you'd be feeling a little better. Mikasa went out with Captain Levi's group to see what they can find out there. So far we've managed to get through okay but it won't be long until we're up the proverbial creek." Armin sighed lowering himself onto the chair.

"We're worried about you. You and Mikasa have always been there for me. You're my best friends and...Can you do just one more thing for me Eren, just live. That's all I'm asking for. I'll do whatever you need me to do, just don't give in and I know that's hard, the others they- You're stronger than this, Eren. You have to be. We all need you to be. I can't stay long, it's Connie's turn to help out but he's not doing very well so it's best not to leave him on his own for too long. I needed to know you're okay. It's been a long couple of days, longer for you I'm sure. With any luck we'll figure out how to beat this and everything can get back to normal." Armin leaned back in the chair, hoping Eren would be different.