Levi woke up to the faint smell of disinfectant.
He tried to open his eyes, groaning as the harsh light blinded him for a second. His second attempt was more fruitful and it took only a glance at his surroundings to piece out that he was currently laying in a bed of the hospital wing. Granting that his last memories were of outside the Walls, it seemed like a good sign.
He tried to sit up and a wave of pain hit him hard, knocking his breath away.
Fuck.
It felt like he had been stomped on by a titan. Which wasn't exactly the truth, from what he could recall, but close enough. He shifted more cautiously, gritting his teeth, and proceeded to do a quick run-down of his state.
First of all, his arms seemed fine, despite a drip being attached to one of them. He tentatively raised a hand to touch his face and wasn't very surprised to find a bandage across his forehead. He continued his gentle exploration, feeling more bandages on his chest – some wrapped tightly around his ribcage, other thicker, over what he guessed were wounds on his stomach. That would fit what he could recall of their failed expedition.
One of his legs would move, the other not at all, and a dull, throbbing ache was radiating from it. Levi tried to push himself upwards just a little, wanting to see where the cast ended – hoping it didn't go past his knee. His ribs, however, protested harshly against this plan of action and he fell back down on the pillows with a wince.
"Hmm?"
The mumbling on his left made him turn his head a bit too quickly – he had to close his eyes for a second as the entire room spun and he fought back a wave of nausea. When he opened them again, he found himself staring into large, sleepy brown ones, widening slightly behind crooked glasses as they realized he was awake.
"What are you doing here, four-eyes?"
His voice came out as a raspy whisper, making him frown. Hange straightened up, pushing their glasses back into place, and ran a hand through their hair in a futile attempt to look less like a surprised owl.
"Hello to you too, midget," they said with too-bright of a smile. "You see, I wanted to take a nap, but Moblit keep fussing over me in the lab, and the hospital is truly a peaceful place, that's why.
He looked at them in disbelief for a few seconds, then shook his head – immediately regretting the motion as it made his headache flare.
"That has to be the worst excuse I ever heard."
They cringed.
"Eh, maybe", they admitted. "It's just… I was worried, okay? It's not everyday that you, of all people, end up in a hospital bed."
Levi opened his mouth to retort, but something in Hange's eyes made him change his mind. He settled for a question instead:
"How long have I been out?"
"A bit over a day. We got back at noon yesterday, and now it's dark out," they said with a quick nod to the window.
He tried to take a deep breath and winced slightly. The exhale came back out more like a wheeze.
"Take it easy. Your ribs are not looking good."
No joke, dummy. Not like a titan mistook me for a squeezing ball, after all.
"And as you probably know," Hange added, "your tibia was neatly snapped in half. Add to that two wounds across your stomach and internal bleeding that took quite a time to stop – they had to give you a transfusion –, and it's a wonder you didn't pass out sooner."
"Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" they asked, looking quizzically at him. "I just read your chart not too long ago…"
"No, I mean… for saving my life. Hange…"
"Oh, wait, are you actually being nice? There wasn"t any mention of a concussion on the report…"
Levi shot them a murderous look before his features somewhat softened again.
"You know," he continued, "I really thought that nobody would come. There was the retreat signal and all that… not to mention that I didn't tell anybody where I was heading."
"I just noticed you take off to that village, that's all."
"I was scared that… shit, that I would just die like this, you know?" Alone. "Stupidly."
"Eh, not like there are very clever deaths out there, um?"
He half-shrugged.
"I suppose not."
"By the way, what happened?" Hange asked, leaning a bit towards him. "You just said you saw the retreat signal, so why the hell didn't you do just that, retreat?"
"I tried. But the signal distracted me for a second, and one of these fuckers grabbed my wire. All I could do was hide inside a house. That's when I broke my leg. After that, I couldn't think straight, I just… I tried my best not to die, and then that other piece of shit grabbed me and broke my ribs, and- close your mouth, four-eyes, you're gonna swallow a fly. What is it?"
They shook their head, making a strand of chestnut hair fall over their face. He realized with mild surprise that it looked like they had washed it, for once.
"After I saw the signal," they explained, "I had to gather my squad, join the others and look for you there, before I headed to the village. And even there, I didn't find you immediately, so it means that you have survived for ten, maybe fifteen minutes, with a broken leg and damaged ribs, in a titan-infested town, all by yourself. It's… You're incredible."
He snorted. Hange had that look on their face, eyes blown wide and shining behind their glasses, a slight blush over their cheeks – a look that they usually reserved only for titans.
"Well, right now I just feel pretty shitty. By the way, give me that water."
He gestured in the general direction of the glass on the bedpost and they obliged.
"When do you think they will let me go?" he asked again.
Hange shrugged.
"Probably not before a full week, at least. That's it, if you don't terrorize a poor nurse into letting you off early, of course."
Levi glared at them – the effect somewhat lessened by the fact he was currently sipping water through a straw.
Even though, he was out of the hospital wing two days after.
In the process, he had learned that even leaning heavily on his crutches, he could still appear intimidating enough for people to do as he said. It was always good to know.