Chapter Six: Reality Sucks

River opened her eyes to find herself in complete darkness. Her whole body felt as though it was throbbing in pain and she wasn't sure if she were lying or sitting or standing. She tried to lift her head, or so she thought, and found she was lying on her side. She decided it was about time to try and figure out whether or not her eyes were actually open and so she tried blinking.

Riddick signed the papers as William Johns for the fuel, wondering about his unexpected passenger. She'd only make life more difficult. He sighed as he pressed a button to seal the hatch doors, sealing them inside until the next stop. He rubbed the sides of his head after pulling off his goggles, feeling relieved to have air finally reach that part of his face. Riddick stood leant on the doorframe as he watched the figure on the bed stir. He let his thoughts out in a quiet sigh.

"I'm getting soft."

"Hello?"

The figure moved slightly, seemingly disorientated but awake. Riddick moved into the room silently, making his way towards the chair that was placed beside the bed.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

He watched her lips move as she spoke, there was no fear in her voice.

"Depends who you're looking for."

She stopped moving once she got a response. Only her bright blue eyes moved all over the room, searching desperately for the source of the voice.

"Umm… who's that?"

Riddick smirked as he pulled his goggles off and stared at her.

"The bogeyman."

Her eyes went wide as she stared at the glowing silver eyes in front of her. Her hands started shaking and she winced at the pain from her left wrist. As she put her other hand on it she felt that the bone had been twisted into an unnatural position and she screwed her eyes tight shut from the searing agony. Riddick looked at her wrist; it was dislocated, not broken. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand around hers. She flinched slightly from the sudden feel of his hand on hers, eyes still searching frantically for a face in the blackness.

"It's dislocated."

Pointlessly she looked down towards her wrist, wondering how he could see or know. Opening her mouth to question then closing it again thinking twice, she moved her hand out the way and let him take hold of her wrist. Without warning he snapped it back into place, the sound of grinding bones filling her ears. River screamed then bit down on her bottom lip as the pain slowly started to die down to an annoying ache, merely a single tear falling from her tightly shut eyes. Riddick let go and leant back in his seat, watching her face as it relaxed ever so slowly, watching the single tear run down her cheek and hang on her delicately chiselled jaw line for a moment before falling to the messy quilt below. Finally letting go of her lip, she opened her mouth, pausing as she tried to remember which direction to look in before speaking.

"Thank you."

Standing, Riddick silently left the room and headed for the cockpit to check on things.