A/N: Sorry for another shorter chapter, but if you complain, keep in mind that i gave you 4 to read in one day. This one has not a lot going on like the previous chapter, but it's still cute.

Everything hurt.

He could feel bandages and casts, and his injuries felt a little better now that they were treated, but everything still hurt.

He had a splitting headache and his thoughts were a little fuzzy. His chest felt better than before, not sending stabbing pains every breath he took. His arm felt heavy and a little numb but still hurt whenever he tried to move it.

While he was mentally checking his injuries, he felt something unusual. On his chest, there was a weight, a slight pressure. It seemed to be carefully placed as to not hurt him further or restrict his breathing.

It felt warm, and comforting. And it was purring. Douxie didn't need to open his eyes to know what - or who - it was.

Archie.

He opened his eyes anyway, curious as to where they were. Archie would never sleep when Douxie was in trouble or he didn't think they were safe. Unless they were with someone they could trust or somewhere Archie knew they'd be safe.

He noticed a small window, the sky outside dark. It surprised him to know that he had been unconscious for a whole day. He turned his attention to the space around him. The room was small but not so small that it was suffocating. Almost every surface was white; the walls, tables, even his bedsheet, devoid of colour. He supposed that's what attracted his attention to the brightest thing in the room.

A head of hot pink hair.

What was Zoe doing here?!

Douxie wasn't necessarily unhappy by the hedge witch's presence, but he wasn't exactly happy either. Of course, he loved her and wanted her to be there but if she knew the whole story of how he had ended up on the hospital - at least, that's where Douxie assumed he was - he would be in for a long, boring lecture on 'keeping yourself alive too, Casperan!'. He could tell from experience that it would be a very one sided conversation.

He turned his head to fully look at his girlfriend and was careful not to wake Archie in the process. He knew his familiar needed the rest.

Zoe was curled up one of the chairs next to his bed, her eyes glued to her phone which was playing soft music. She didn't seem overly interested in whatever she was watching, but she was still watching it intently. Douxie wondered if she had just come from work, because he could see the bright blue shirt of her uniform under the baggy, cropped sweatshirt she had thrown on top.

Then with a sudden pain in his head, his thoughts cleared and he remembered everything that had happened. The fight with the Arcane Order, falling, seeing Merlin and Morgana, making the deal with Jim, and then… nothing.

Zoe glanced up and noticed he was awake. She put her phone away and swung her legs forward, crossing them and her arms while she leaned back. She looked at Douxie disapprovingly.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. The Boy Who Lived; Mr. 'I have to sacrifice myself and fall a thousand feet and die just so my friends will be safe'."

"Hello, Zoe."

Their short exchange had woken Archie, who nuzzled Douxie's forehead and purred. "Glad you're awake." He could hear relief in the dragon's voice - though, now that they were in a public space, Archie was in his cat form - but the action comforted Douxie nonetheless.

He turned back to the irritated witch in the room who had watched the familiars' interaction with indifference. It was something she had seen often so it had become normal to her, eliciting no emotion.

"So, I take it that someone filled you in on everything?" He asked Zoe.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "No genius, I just made an educated guess based off of your past experiences." She said sarcastically. Douxie could sense that her annoyance and anger was genuine, only slightly fuelled by fear for his well being. He supposed she just didn't want a fellow wizard to die, especially not when he was her friend and one of the only professionally educated wizards left. Especially now that Merlin and Morgana were no longer alive. And if she knew the whole story, then Zoe would also know that if they were to have any chance at defeating the Arcane Order once and for all, they would need a skilled wizard on their side. Zoe was only mad that he was so reckless, with his life and with his actions.

"Hmmm." Douxie said, acknowledging her sarcasm and promptly ignoring it. "I managed to buy us some time though, didn't I?" This comment received a sharp sigh from Zoe as she looked away in annoyance.

Douxie himself was getting annoyed too, but he had long since learned that living with Zoe meant having a lot of patience towards her. Instead, he tried to sit up. He wasn't exactly comfortable laying down and just turning his head to talk to someone; it made him feel helpless and immobile which he hated. He'd experienced being paralyzed in the past - temporarily - but it was still a terrible and traumatic experience that effected Douxie even now. He had been helpless to save too many people before and he hated feeling that way even if the situation was completely different like now.

His right arm was unable to take pressure so Douxie had to rely on his left. Archie had jumped off of him to make it easier for him to move. As soon as Douxie shifted up, he regretted it instantly. His ribs were on fire and sent white hot flames throughout his body, blanketing his vision. His immediate response to the pain was to hold it, but he used his dominant hand - his right one which was in a cast - and it helped nothing.

Then he felt warm hands pile pillows behind him and help him into a sitting position. His eyes still closed, he felt magic encompass him, alleviating some of the pain and making it bearable. He recognised the magical signature and had no doubt that hot pink wisps were surrounding his torso right now.

"Maybe you should have waited for Dr. Lake before you moved, you idiot." Zoe's insult held no malice this time, her voice now soft and affectionate. Douxie could hear the concern underneath it. He slowly opened his eyes again to see his girlfriend's face inches from his. He gave her a sheepish smile, causing her roll her eyes again, but this time, it was good-natured and playful. She scoffed lightly.

"What would you do without me, Casperan?" Douxie opened his mouth to answer but then was stopped by Zoe's finger covering it. "On second thought, don't answer that." Though the comment was playful, Douxie could see the fear in her eyes and quickly sobered.

The two had been together for quite a while now, their friendship dating back to a few centuries ago. In that time, Zoe had been there for too many close calls where she had almost lost him. There had been a few times where she actually had, but he managed to survive. And there had been times where Douxie had almost lost her or Archie. He knew how it felt. He never wanted to feel that way again, and never wanted anyone else to have to either.

As an apology for scaring her, Douxie cupped her cheek with his left hand and pulled her in for a kiss. Archie had turned away, giving them a moment's privacy. Zoe sat down next to Douxie on the bed and kissed him back fiercely. He knew what she was doing; making up for what could've been their last kiss and being grateful it wasn't.

Douxie tasted the saltiness of tears - not his - and broke the kiss, still staying close and whispering comforting words into Zoe's ear. "It's okay, love. I'm here. I'm okay. I'm fine."

Zoe rested her head on his shoulder, wary of the IV in his arm, and careful not to put pressure on any of his injuries. "This time was too close." She whispered, almost too quiet for him to hear but he did. Archie had also squished himself in between them and Zoe curled an arm around him too.

As Zoe had done with hers, Douxie also let his walls fall down, along with a few tears. The reality of the situation hit him. He had almost died before - one or two times his heart had actually stopped - but this time, he had friends and family to think about when in the past, there had only been one or two people at a time who would have even noticed his absence if he had died. In Arcadia, there were too many people to count on his fingers who would go so far as to mourn him. And they wouldn't have just lost him, he would've lost them.

He would never have been able to comfort Zoe or Archie like this, hug or kiss them. He didn't care what Merlin had said about not dwelling on the past; he was done with bottling up his emotions until he exploded. Because this was the result. He broke down.

The three magical beings stayed that way, hugging each other and silently crying for a few minutes. The beep of the heart monitor was constant and annoying, but it reassured them that Douxie was there and he was okay. Five minutes passed with only the occasional murmur from Douxie comforting the pink haired witch and the intermittent sniff.

Then, out of nowhere, Zoe sniffed loudly and turned away from Douxie, wiping her eyes. "I should probably go and get Dr. Lake." She said, her voice still choked up. Then, continuing to look away from Douxie, she walked out the door with her arms wrapped around her, the too-long burgundy sleeves hanging off of her hands.

This left Douxie and Archie in silence. The wizard and the cat stayed snuggled up next to each other, not talking for lack of anything to say.

Zoe and Dr. Lake came quickly; only a few minutes after the pink haired witch had left did she return with the Trollhunter's mother in tow. The red-headed doctor smiled at Douxie when she entered the room.

"Good to see you awake, Douxie. How are you feeling?" There was genuine concern for him in her expression which surprised Douxie a bit. The two barely knew each other outside of employee-customer interactions yet Dr. Lake was truly worried for his well being.

He supposed it might just have been her motherly instincts. Either way, he decided to be truthful with her as a way of repaying her kindness. He also just felt like he could trust her.

"Considering I died, I feel pretty okay. But everything hurts. I'm sore everywhere, my arm feels a little numb and I've got a bit of a headache."

Dr. Lake just nodded, considering the causes for his pain. "Well, does the headache also make your thoughts a little fuzzy?" When Douxie agreed, she continued. "Alright, so it's not necessarily a bad thing. We had suspected it anyway. The headache and the fuzziness are just symptoms of a concussion. If you're not feeling any nausea, dizziness, confusion or anything like that then it's probably only a mild one. You just need to rest, physically and mentally. Speaking of that, I just need to do a few more checks then you can go back to sleep. I'll make sure to give you something for the pain."

The next five minutes were filled with questions and Dr. Lake putting pressure on his injuries to determine how bad it actually was. It turns out that while he was asleep, his magic had already started the healing process, which made it hurt more but it was getting better than before.

After Dr. Lake had given him some pain killers, the medicine had made him drowsy. It gave him deja vu of back in the forest when the deal was made. This time when he rested, Dr. Lake had asked for only Archie to be present. Besides, Zoe herself needed sleep. Though she hadn't been directly involved in the adventure, it seemed that the stress and waiting and emotional stuff had tired her out. Not only that, but it was already like, 11 pm according to the small alarm clock on his bedside table.

"Before you go Zoe, I was wondering if you could sign some of the official documents we need?" Dr. Lake asked. "I would ask Douxie to do it himself…" She looked at him, smiling almost sheepishly at the barely awake wizard who smirked back. "But as you can see, he's unable to. If you don't know the answers to some of the questions then you can ask Archie or wait for…

Him…

To wake up…"

The doctor's words became distorted, fading into nothing as Douxie's world became dark once again. The difference this time though, was that everyone around him was glad that he was resting and they were certain he would wake up and recover well.

The night was a peaceful one, everyone getting the rest they needed and deserved. Douxie fell asleep a few minutes after the medications were given to him, allowing him to sleep without pain, his familiar following soon after. Zoe signed the paperwork around her boyfriend and surprisingly accepted Dr. Lake's offer to stay temporarily at the Lake household. The doctor herself went with the hedge witch after entrusting another doctor with Douxie's safety for the night. The two women reached home where the group of sleepy but determined teenagers awaited news of their friend. After being reassured by Dr. Lake that the wizard would be okay, the group fell into untroubled sleep from the second their heads touched their pillows. Even the trolls - who needed less rest - had collapsed into a deep sleep, to the amusement of the doctor and the changeling. After checking on everyone else and the few changeling familiars still living with them, the two retired to their own room and slept peacefully in each other's arms.

They all knew what lay ahead, and the difficulties that they would no doubt have to face, but they kept their worries suppressed for now in favour of the relief and satisfaction of knowing that for tonight, everything was great. Tonight was peaceful and this chapter of their story had come to an end, their troubles ending with it.

A/N: Not entirely happy with the ending, but it's the best i can do for now. Just to let you know, i have never broken a bone, nor have i had to be hospitalised, so i don't know any of the accuracy of those parts. I'm just going to take some creative liberty with it though, so don't hate me.

This fanfic will be exploring a little more of Zoe and Douxie's relationship, and i might write a fanfic in the future on my take on how the two met, but you'll get to see some Zouxie in the coming chapters. Which will be posted throughout tomorrow. Until then!

-CrowofArcadiaOaks