Wince – "Stop that."
Wince – "Hold Still."
Wince – "Enough, Haley!"
"I'm sorry if I have the urge to move away from agony!" Haley snapped and got ready to slap Ellie's hand away from the side of her head, but only to get her wrist caught in a powerful grasp midway. Luckily, the limb was still raw in bruises, so she jumped and whimpered and compelled the ape to let ago almost immediately—or maybe, not so luckily. Without a moment's pause or a single care, however, Rocket cupped the side of her face instead and locked her head in place, giving Ellie the chance to carry on while Haley pointlessly tried to move away, only flinching into his palm. Skillfully, Ellie stitched the gash on Haley's temple with a sterilized needle, her face long-since rubbed clean of blood and the side of her head shaved bald for access, the other side of her head the same for symmetry, and the Mohawk of blonde dreads braided loosely down her head to spare the newly-cleaned locks from getting stained again.
Other than the bonobo and the doctor, most of the others have gone back to work an hour ago, but only after Haley tried to push them back to their posts – that is, she weakly pushed against them before she wobbled and stumbled in a daze, not as composed as she was now. The only others that refused to leave were Caesar and Luca, but the latter was instructed to do so by the first, though Haley knew Luca would've stayed anyway. Haley hated it, being reduced to a hospital patient yet again, but by the hand of a bonobo, she didn't have much of a choice but to stay there and could only scowl at him. Of course, she still loved the old ape like a friend you can forgive no matter how mad they make you, but she hasn't gotten that far yet.
Finally, the comforting snip of a scissor sounded next to her ear and cued Rocket to finally let go, leaving her to message her jaw for relief. She felt the temptation to feel the doctor's work, but she already knew it wasn't a good idea, especially now that she could reopen the laceration and make it worse.
"I have to help Malcolm," Ellie explained as she packed her supplies up, and gave Haley's patched wound another quick look before shuffling off, "Remember, just stay awake for as long as possible, and when you fall asleep, make sure someone wakes you up every two hours."
"Yeah." Haley scoffed as Ellie walked away, swiftly shrugging the bloodied jacket from her shoulders and discarding it on the floor like last week's garbage – whatever gratefulness she felt toward Ellie for the clothing was long gone. The site of the thing made the image of Koba's scowl tear through her thoughts, making her tremble fear. In front of the stairs on which she was seated, however, Caesar watched her with a thick and scolding glower, fury burning in his gold-flecked eyes. The other council members took no time at all to see his rage and to watch him with knowing unease, and never have they felt as grateful as when the ape king dismissed them with a grunt and nod.
"'Shouldn't be used to it.'" Caesar repeated her words in a growl, glare darkening when he saw her stiffen, "You said that – why?"
Sudden tension overwhelmed the warehouse, the others seemingly unfazed as they went about their business, and Haley felt her throat grow dry and heavy under its pressure. She gulped and tried to wash down the ghastly lump in her esophagus, but was only left to shift uncomfortably beneath her friend's accusing gaze. "That's really none of your business." She grumbled out and lowered her head, every single word painful, and thankfully, the hoarse crack in her voice made the hurt obvious to the ape. "Haley," He warned again, something she realized he was doing more and more, and cautiously hooked his rubbery and coarse finger under her chin, forcing her to look to the side so he could study the aftermath of her confrontation with Koba, "Koba hurt you before?"
Shockingly, Haley grew silent from his question, actually thinking about answering him honestly, and let her eyes flicker between his to see if he truly was worried about her, which she could see easily, but it took nearly no time at all before she sighed inwardly and decided against the truth, pulling out of his grasp and immediately craving the warm touch again. "No." She lied flat-out, taking a moment to note how she was lying more to Caesar every time she lied less to Koba, and forced herself back to her feet, wincing for a second when the resulting breeze stung her incision, "Please, he was just overreacting – he'll be good when he calmed down, so drop it, okay?" She couldn't believe she was actually defending Koba – it sickened her – but she knew Caesar defending her would make things so much worse; finally, she admitted it to herself: she was terrified at Koba. Thinking back to how she was when she was a kid, always standing up for herself no matter what, she felt pathetic.
"Haley," Caesar tried again, the wrinkles around his eyes loosening as he turned from leader to friend like those rare occasions he sometimes shared with the human female, but this time she stopped him before he ever got the chance. "I'm heading back to the village." She intervened with a ghostly smile and passed by, adjusting the braid carefully on her head while escaping back through the hatch. She could feel Caesar's troubled eyes following her, but she knew he wouldn't cause issues after she asked him not to – that is, she hoped that was the case. Only out of sight did she finally hunch over and grab her head, the pounding still there, no matter how composed she made herself seem. She could feel her wound ache under the sudden grab, but still she continued massaging it in an attempt to get rid of the endless stabbing. Ellie told her that it was mostly a cut than anything else, but the impact officially did her fatigue in – was she really supposed to keep awake in her condition?
The pain amplified immediately when her body jumped at the feeling of an arm wrapping around her middle, but as soon as the support braced her, she relaxed into the faceless ape and felt it dwindling again. "I'm… sorry." She saw hands motioning through the air in front of her, and only then did the pair of despairing blue eyes worm into her vision, her heart swelling with warmth fast. "It's alright." Haley hummed sincerely despite herself while Blue Eyes carried her towards the horses to hoist her onto a beast and take her home, "I understand why you did it, but I do wonder why you're so against the humans… do you not see what I am?"
"Haley not human." Blue Eyes grunted and made Haley's heart fall under the assumption that he thought the same as Koba, but only the second after, she was halted in shock, her breath caught in her throat as delight washed over her. Of course, she had seen his regret when Koba hurt her, but his words were too sincere to be an excuse:
Haley family.
Now how was she supposed to be mad after that? Instead, she could only chuckle – smooth, she thought.
It's late at night, this is cheesy, and I might rewrite this crap, but here you guys go! Enjoy. Remember to comment if you enjoyed it and to keep me going; if you didn't enjoy it, well... go ahead and vent so I know what to change.
