PortofSeas, a.k.a. Shigure-Sensei or Talon.
Disclaimer: If I only owned Teen Titans…
Thanks again to everyone for reviewing. It makes me so happy. This is just a slightly shorter one than the others. It was either gonna be fairly short or pretty darn long, and I didn't feel like editing all of it. Enjoy.
Chapter 5: Stubborn
"Despite everything you know, everything you do…"
Robin struggled, his arms caught up in his sheets.
"You are completely and utterly out of control."
"No!" he yelled, pulling himself up into a sitting position. His breath came in short, shallow gasps. With no point of reference in the dark of his room, his stomach churned and growled. He felt awful.
As his eyes adjusted to the absence of light, he noticed a tray and a note lying on his bedside table. Shakily, he picked up the paper and began to read.
Robin,
Thought you might be hungry when you woke
up. Made you some soup.
Don't worry, no tofu or Gorblesh.
Eat up.
Robin tossed the note in the garbage and helped himself to the steaming bowl. Chicken and noodles bobbed up at the surface, meant to be appetizing. He put the bowl to his lips, sipping at the broth sparingly. But rather than make him feel any better, it only made his headache worse. With a sigh, he put it back on the tray and leaned into his pillow, tucking the blanket closely around him, shivering and sweating.
Thoughts swirled through his mind in a confused whirlwind.
We never found the body.
He fell into a pit of lava. Who lives through something like that?
He's beginning to accept that Slade is really gone.
Slade may still be alive.
He's still alive!
Robin rolled over and emptied his already hollow stomach into the trash can beside his bed. Bile burned his throat, choking him as he retched weakly. And he'd thought he was sick before!
With a gasp, he wiped his mouth, chest heaving. Why was he so weak?
Glancing over at the soup, he groaned. Just the thought of eating it made him want to throw up again. He grabbed at it, dumping the contents into the trash with his vomit, replaced it, tied off the bag, and fell back onto the sheets. He felt like such an invalid…
Sleep overtook him again, and he succumbed, not even bothering to untangle his legs from his bedsheets, where his last nightmare had left them.
"Trouble!" Cyborg announced.
"Looks like Jinx got out of jail," Beast Boy explained as the others joined them, "and she's not alone. Mammoth and Gizmo are with her."
"Must be keeping up with their lessons, even with the school under construction," Raven said.
"They are in the city bank," Starfire went on. "We must hurry."
"Geez, how many times a year does that thing get robbed, anyway?" Raven asked.
"Never mind, let's move!" Cyborg ordered. They started heading out the door when a voice interrupted.
"What do I do?"
The four of them turned around, jaws hanging.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Starfire demanded.
"I'm well enough," Robin argued dully. His face was pale and dark circles were under his eyes.
"Man, you can barely stand on your own feet, much less kick bad guy butt with'em," Cyborg reminded him.
"But I'm fine, see?" he mumbled, swaying on his feet. Starfire hastily caught him.
"You're delusional, Robin," Raven said firmly, "and that means you're unfit to go out."
"And you're kinda in your pajamas," Beast Boy added.
"Listen, Robin, we haven't got time for this," Cyborg insisted. "We gotta go and you gotta stay here. That's just how it works."
"Yes, Robin, please," Starfire pleaded. "Return to bed and rest."
"But, I don't…"
Robin swayed again, this time falling completely into Star's arms.
"Look at you!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You're exhausted." Robin didn't respond. Beast Boy knocked on his head. "Are you listening?...No…because you're unconscious."
"I will take him back to his room and meet you at the bank," Starfire told them.
"Cyborg installed some sensors in there last night," Raven informed her, "to keep track of his vital signs. Turn them on."
Starfire nodded and flew down the hall to Robin's room. After placing him on his bed, she couldn't help but hold his hand for a few seconds before leaving. Behind her back, his hand rolled up into a fist.
R&R