Day 10

            He does not mind being alone, though the silence bothers him a little. His own fault.  Once he would not have minded at all, but he got too close to his human servitors, to Legato. He has become used to having someone to talk to, if only in his head. Now there is no Legato, no Vash, nothing.

            But he's done this before; he won't let it bother him, and certainly won't let it show that it's bothering him.

            The pain does irk him, however, and he cannot help but let that show. A few days ago he tried to escape, tried to move out of bed. A catastrophe that irritated his wounds, tore them, ripped the delicate web of healing flesh that was just starting to reappear. That was agony indescribable.

            He screamed then, the first sounds he has made since waking up. Vash came to him, of course, settled him back amongst plush pillows and constricting blankets.            He stripped the soiled bandages away, cleaned up the fresh blood, re-stitched any torn wounds, applied salves, re-bandaged what was left then, seeing that Knives was still panting and sobbing in agony, fed him a potion which banished the pain, but dissolved his mind.

            For a while the days passed like phantoms, the world became a blurry, indistinct place of flittering shadows and dancing lights. The crystalline icebergs of his thoughts were melted into muddy slush, but the pain was gone, at least.

            Being alone, being alive was almost tolerable.

            Almost.

            When at last the effects of the drug died away, he nearly asks his brother for more, nearly begs to return to the drug induced stupor. He does not, though. For one thing he knows Vash would never accede. For another he will not stoop so low.

            He still has his pride.

Reader Replies:

To Anon: Sorry about that guys. I made a mistake and downloaded the wrong document. My bad! It's all fixed now. Please keep reviewing!

The chapters should start getting longer from now on, I'm sorry they've been so short thus far, but it makes sense as Knives, for the most part, is either sleeping and/or sulking all the time.

Thank you for being so patient, anyway. More plot ahoy!