Chapter 7

As Eren's palm stops in front of the large doors, Levi has already completely taken off his gear. "Connie, find the medics and have them prepare for surgery." Connie nods and jumps off. "Should we get a stretcher?" Sasha asks. Levi looks over at Rosaria, noting how pale she was and her uniform was soaked with crimson blood. "She's lost too much blood. I don't think we can wait for a stretcher. She needs a blood transfusion." Levi says, stopping in front of Rosaria, unconscious on Eren's palm.

"Sasha, find a stretcher for Samuel. He's not in critical condition but he will need medical attention as soon as possible. Eren can help you while I'll carry Rosaria to the medic bay." Sasha nods, sprinting off. Levi hooks one arm underneath Rosaria's thighs and the other on her bloodied back, lifting her up easily as he stepped out of Eren's palm. Rosaria laid unconscious, not even whimpering in pain when Levi sprints towards the medic bay.

Levi's worried about injuring her further by carrying her in his arms like this - but she was in critical condition and getting a stretcher would cost too much time. Levi cursed underneath his breath.

You can't die on me, Rosaria. You have to hang on. We're almost there.

"Corporal!" Connie shouts as two medics appear behind him as they wheeled the bed out of the medic bay. Levi immediately places Rosaria carefully on the bed, making sure her ankle didn't hit anything, and was resting on the bed. The doctor and nurse roll the bed into the medic bay, already scanning her body for all the likely injuries.

"Connie, go help Sasha with Samuel. I'll stay with Rosaria." Connie hesitantly nods, taking one last look at Rosaria as if he was worried it would be the last time he saw her alive; then ran down the hallway. "How did it happen?" The doctor asked. He was a blonde-haired man in his 40s and the nurse was a young woman in her 20s. "We were experimenting with Armin's titan abilities. She and another soldier got caught in the fire." The doctor nodded, bringing out a flashlight from his pocket. He prods Rosaria's eyelids open, flashing the light to see her dilated pupils.

"Definitely a concussion." The nurse worked on cutting away at Rosaria's bloodied clothes carefully. "Was she conscious?" Levi shook his head. "In and out. She wasn't very coherent either." The doctor nodded. "She needs a blood transfusion." Levi said sternly. The doctor rummages through his cabinet for a collection of needles and tubes. "You're right, Corporal. What blood type is she?" The nurse looks up at Levi. "O." Levi says without hesitation. "Are you sure, Corporal? If you're wron-" Levi clicks his tongue. "I memorize all the blood types of my direct subordinates. I'm right, doctor." The doctor nods and grabs the needle and tubes from his table. "We need a blood donor. It has to be someone with blood type O-" Levi rolls the sleeve of his white blouse upwards until his biceps and holds his arm out. "I'm blood type O. I'll do it." The doctor nods hesitantly.

"Alright, this will hurt a bit." Levi doesn't flinch when the doctor poked a needle into the artery on his arm. Minutes pass by and Levi sees crimson blood flowing through the tubes as it transfers to Rosaria's own lifeless wrist. The nurse carefully takes off Rosaria's bloody uniform, leaving her in only her soaked undergarments. The doctor took a look at her abdomen and pressed gently on the skin.

"Broken ribs." The doctor says. "A badly sprained ankle, first and second-degree burns…." The nurse nods as she starts taking supplies and equipment out of the cabinet. "We're going to start the surgery. Corporal, I'd advise you to look the other way." Levi scoffed, cold eyes carefully eyeing the Doctor's careful hands.

Levi was going to see through it to the end. He needed to make sure with his own eyes… that Rosaria would be safe. Maybe then, his head would finally be able to stop reeling in so many directions.

Am I on fire?

Rosaria groaned coarsely.

Why does my body feel like it's burning?

Rosaria's eyelids flutter open and close, blinking several times.

Is this hell?

Rosaria groaned again, her head a daze and blur all at once.

"Is...this….the end….of...the...road...for me?" Rosaria whispers, barely audible in the room. She glances at the ceiling, unsure where she is or what happened. She feels as if her body is floating in thin air, a fleeting memory, something out of this world. She believes she's somewhere in hell or equivalent as her mind wanders until something falls into her palm. Her glassy eyes glanced towards the blurred shadow by her side, her eyes squinting to desperately focus.

"You're heavily medicated, brat. Sleep. And no, you're not dead." A voice calls out. For a few seconds, Rosaria wonders if it's the voice of an angel or demon. She focuses, now able to make out the black strands of hair and familiar grey eyes.

Why do those familiar eyes look so….

"...scared?" Rosaria whispers, asking herself. Levi raises an eyebrow. His hand is in Rosaria's palm - loosely clutched in her tender fingers. "I'm right here, you're safe Rosaria. Sleep." Levi's voice is slightly soft now as if anything louder would shake her up. Rosaria squints her eyes, her head heavy on the soft pillow.

She raises her right hand, slowly, as if in slow motion from the delayed response of her body - then she brushes against Levi's right cheek. It feels familiar, it feels warm, it feels like she's been yearning for this feeling on her fingertips for a long while. "Don't be…." Rosaria croaks out from her dry throat. Levi's steel cold eyes meet her blurry emerald orbs. "...scared….I-I... won't leave...you...alone…."

Levi's eyes widen. His eyes look into those warm and glassy emerald orbs and he feels all the air is sucked out from his lungs. Levi bites his lower lip, feeling them tremble. He brushes his fingertips on Rosaria's - his hand on top of hers as she stroked his cheek. He feels a familiar heavy weight on his chest, a weight that has accumulated since the day he lost Farlan and Isabel on his first expedition. Since then, the weight has only felt heavier with each comrade lost - Oluo, Eld, Gunther, Petra, Nanaba, Mike, Moblit, Nifa, Erwin….

...and yet that weight seemed to shift for the first time since he could remember. A silent tear drips down from the corner of Levi's eye, slowly trickling down his face. Rosaria clumsily wipes the tear away and smiles at him.

"Go to sleep, brat." Levi whispers. Rosaria's eyelids flutter close, gently going back to sleep in her medicated state. Her hand feels warm as Levi's hand intertwines with hers. She sleeps peacefully with a small smile, feeling safe with Levi's presence.

When Rosaria wakes up, she's in an unfamiliar bed. Her head and body feel immensely heavy as if she was crushed underneath a giant boulder. She groans, feeling how dry her throat is. When a hoarse whimper escapes her throat, a glass of water appears in front of her lips. Someone's hand supports the base of her neck as it gently tips her head upright to allow her to drink the water through a straw hurriedly. As she finds her vision clearer, she blinks to realize it's Luca.

"Luca…?" Rosaria asks. The young girl was young - even younger than the privates from the 104th like Mikasa and Eren. Her glassy eyes stared at Rosaria and smiled. "C-captain! You're awake!" Rosaria blinked, confused. She scans her surroundings, realizing she's somewhere unfamiliar. She looks down at her own body, her right torso, arm, and chest is covered in bandages, and she travels her gaze downwards to her right ankle and finds her entire foot in a cast. She grimaced.

"You must still feel dizzy. You were in and out the entire day from the medications." Luca said. "Day?" Rosaria asked, finding that her voice was still very much hoarse. "Do you remember the training accident, captain?" Rosaria blinked until it hit her like a flash of lightning. "S-Samuel… he…" Rosaria's heart jumped in her chest. Her usual calm was replaced with pulsating anxiety and fear.

Did I lose my subordinate? Did I fail as a captain? Did I fail myself?

Luca's eyes look around the room uncomfortably as if she's trying to hide something. "Samuel is fine, captain. Definitely in way better shape than you. You don't have to worry." Rosaria lets out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. Still, something didn't feel right.

"W-what happened after I fell?" Luca sighed. "When you didn't come back and the coast was clear, Sam went to look for Corporal. The Special Ops Squad used Eren's titan abilities to find you and Samuel. You were critically injured and lost a lot of blood and they had to rush you to the medics. Samuel suffered a minor concussion and injuries…" Rosaria nodded.

"How long has it been since then?" Luca looked at the clock. "That happened around 1330 yesterday…." Rosaria glanced at the clock - it read 4 pm. "So I was knocked out for… more than 24 hours." Luca nodded. Rosaria glanced at her own body and felt the numbing pain traveling through her body. She could make out most of the injuries thanks to her medical knowledge - and she sighed to herself.

I'll have to be put on medical rest for at least 8 weeks.

Rosaria looked up from her hands and back to the room. "Where am I by the way?" Rosaria knew she wasn't in the room she occupied for the past few days since she arrived. This room was much bigger and had a large window with lots of sunlight. There was a connecting bathroom too. "Corporal had you moved to the adjoining bedroom to his." Rosaria blinked, mouth agape.

"What? Why?" Luca met her confused eyes. "You'll likely be needing help to go anywhere, and that especially means the toilet. Corporal said it's easier to place you in a room with a connecting bathroom since the distance is closer and you won't… I quote.. 'Shit yourself while dragging your broken ankle to the bathroom that's all the way down the hall'." Rosaria scowled. Well, it made perfect sense. Her original room was right next to the other privates in her and Levi's squad on the first floor - and the bathroom was shared by everyone at the end of the hallway. With her broken ankle and a crutch, it would still take her a good ten minutes to get to the bathroom without help.

Still, having her bedroom adjoined to Levi's felt a bit out of her comfort zone. And that meant they'd be sharing the bathroom. And… he'd have to help her to the bathroom for the first week or so since they were the sole occupants on the second floor.

"Where's Corporal anyway?" Rosaria asked, curious. Truth be told, she was hoping to talk to Levi and get her up to speed on how she should carry her duties now that she's on medical leave. Luca blinked, licking her dry lips worriedly. "He's… busy with some of the duties with the Special Ops Squad. He's asked me to keep a look on you for now." Rosaria nodded. "Here, take your medication and sleep a bit more. I'll bring you porridge and milk from the kitchen. You must be starving." Rosaria hadn't realized how hungry she was until Luca mentioned.

Luca left a variety of medicinal powder and tablets along with a glass of water. Rosaria read each of the labels carefully - then writing it down on a piece of paper; an old habit from her days in medical school. She wanted to make sure she was aware of what she was putting in her body, that way if something went wrong she could narrow down what medicine was most likely causing it. After she took her medicine, she continued to lay back in bed and fell back into a soft slumber.

When Luca came back, there was a piping hot bowl of porridge and a glass of warm milk as promised. Rosaria ate the whole thing within ten minutes as her body desperately craved nutrition and energy. Luca had taken her empty bowl back to the kitchen, leaving her to her own devices. Rosaria sighed, suddenly reminded that she had a lot of paperwork and she briefly wondered if she could ask Luca to bring it up to her room so she could do something useful.

Before she could execute her plan though, someone opened her door. "Good to see you're finally awake." Levi's voice is neutral as usual. Their eyes meet for a brief second before Rosaria smiles weakly. "Corporal." Levi takes a seat on the chair next to her bed and crosses his leg. "You still look shitty. Did you take all your meds?" Levi gave a careful glance at her. Rosaria nodded.

"By the way…. Who found me? I can't remember anything after I was knocked unconscious." Levi poured a cup of tea from the bedside table and brought it to his lips before speaking. "I and my team did." Levi said through gritted teeth. Rosaria blinked, picking up something unusual in his voice. "Was it...a difficult sight when you found me?" Levi took a few seconds before he shook his head.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before compared to the corpses eaten by titans…" Rosaria tilted her head, as if asking 'then why do you look so… disturbed?', and Levi answered "I thought you were dead." Rosaria's eyes met his cold, steel blade grey colored eyes. Something flashed in them. Something she couldn't put her finger on. "I…." Rosaria found herself at a loss for words. She wasn't used to seeing concern in Levi's eyes. She puts her hand on top of Levi's, a somewhat familiar feeling. "I'm sorry, Corporal. I…. I…. made a careless mistake…. I.." Levi let out a sigh and leaned in his chair.

"It's not your fault. I wouldn't know if you had made a different decision and would the outcome have been different. I've never known the answer to that." Levi's words come out immediately. "As captain of a squad, you'll always make decisions that would cost lives. And… you can only believe that it was the right decision at the time." Rosaria felt a heavy weight in her heart. "No matter what decisions we make, we have to live with the consequences." It feels like Levi has said those exact words too many times to count and it's now a practiced speech.

"I'm sorry…. I….I can't imagine what it must have been like when you found me. What went through your head." Levi can still remember how his heart was beating like crazy. How it felt as if he was brought back to the day he lost his entire squad. How he saw Petra's corpse… and how it looked just like Rosaria's. Levi clenched his fists. "If the roles were reversed…" Rosaria looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know what I would do." Rosaria laughs. "I've lost people before.. Not as many as you of course. But still… you're… different to me. You're important to me, Levi."

Levi blinked. The tension and aura in the air felt different. "Ha…. I mean… who would I make tea for if you were gone? Who's gonna make shitty constipation jokes while I'm eating? Who's gonna spar with me? Those… those things are special to me." Levi smirked, shaking his head. He remembered how he felt when he thought she was dead. How his mind was going in all different directions.

"I'll always be by your side… until the day comes for you to reunite with them. So until then… I'll stick to you with your favorite cup of tea waiting in hand."

"Do you remember the promise you made to me, Rosaria?" Levi asks. Rosaria fumbles with Levi's fingers, still under her own palm. "Promise?" She asked, confused. She really couldn't remember making a promise to Levi. Was it to finish her paperwork on time? To clean dog shit up? … since whe- "Ah." It hits her like a struck of lightning. "Did you mean…. The one where I said I'd always be by your side… until you have to… reunite with the people you lost?" Rosaria hesitantly asks. She remembers the scene like it was just yesterday. Their first winter. Cold as hell. She was… struggling with her dead ex's memory. Then in an attempt to numb the grief out, she fought Levi.

Levi nods, sipping tea as he brings the cup to his lips. It was cold, but he didn't care. "Those words… they mean a lot to me." Levi admitted. He could see the surprise in Rosaria's eyes. "I'll beat you up if you break your promise, Rosaria." Rosaria blinked. "You can't die before me. That's the one thing you have to promise me." Rosaria gulped. She wasn't used to this side of Levi. The usually stoic, snarky, foul-mouthed, clean-freak Levi barely showed much emotion unless it was anger or rage. In fact, he was usually quite calm and level-headed unless someone pissed him off. So for him to say those words, that she meant a lot to him…. That she can't die before him… Rosaria's lower lip trembled. A tear escaped her eye and she cast her eyes downwards.

"What the hell's wrong with me…" She whispered. Levi paused momentarily. "I'm a grown woman…. Why am I crying in front of my commanding officer." Levi sighed. He pulled his cravat from his blouse and unfolded it, gently wiping at the small tears on her face. He's suddenly remembered that he did the exact same thing when he was moving her body to Eren's hand. Rosaria's face flushed at the close proximity.

Why is my heart beating this fast?

Rosaria gulped. Levi noticed her face was getting red. "Are you having a fever?" He puts his hand on her forehead, now their faces inches apart. Rosaria hears her own heart beating like a disco ball. She focuses her eyes on Levi's hands… how his calloused, rough hands sat on her skin. Those knuckles…. Red and ripped skin forming….

Wait… red?

Rosaria reached her hand out, taking Levi's hand in her own. She brings his knuckles to her eye level and she gasps. "What happened to your hand?" Rosaria asks in shock. It was bruised and red and chapped skin all over. It was evidently clear that Levi had indeed punched something, hard. "Did you hit a wall? Why-" Rosaria examined it closely. Surely if it was a wall and with Levi's crazy strength, his bones would have broken. So… if not a wall then…. " Levi clicked his tongue, eyes now flashing with a hint of anger or embarrassment; she couldn't tell. "You hit someone." Rosaria's mouth gaped open. Then she tried to think of whoever could be the victim. Hanji? She wasn't here. Maybe Floch? That bastard always got on his nerves… and Rosaria's too. But he wasn't here either. So….

"Where's….Samuel?" Levi bit his lower lip. He averted her gaze. His reaction further confirmed her suspicions. "Levi!" Rosaria yelled. "You hit Samuel! H-how… He's my squad member!" Rosaria felt anger in her veins. If there was one rule she kept in the military, it was no one was allowed to hit her squad members. "With good reason! The brat could have killed you! He was too lazy to double-check his gear before departure. That's a freaking rookie mistake and he cost you your life, Rosaria!" Levi yelled, furious.

Rosaria tried to calm down. "Yes…. He did… and I would have given him the appropriate punishment after…." Levi rolled his eyes. He knew how soft Rosaria was. "How hard did you hit him?" Rosaria asked. "A few punches and kicks." Levi lied. Rosaria wasn't buying it. "Levi." She warned. "And a tooth." Levi admitted. Rosaria gaped in shock. "Y-you... a tooth?!" Rosaria was about to strangle her commanding officer.

"Levi… T-this. Samuel's just a kid! People make mistakes-" "And that mistake would have made me attend your funeral, Rosaria." Levi's voice was laced with venom. Rosaria understood his tone of voice. His anger was out of control. She looked into his eyes and swallowed. Those… were the eyes of someone who would have killed if he didn't have the restraint necessary. "I take the lives of my subordinates and comrades very seriously." Levi said honestly. "I don't plan on letting anyone die under my watch." Levi can see the corpses of his squad hanging in the back of his mind.

Rosaria closed her mouth, letting her lips sealed tight. She contemplates for a long while, eyes cast downwards to her hands. Slowly, she reaches her hand out to hold Levi's right hand. He doesn't shake it away, instead of letting her place their palms together and intertwining their fingers. "I know you're angry. I know it's justified…. I'll say it again… I'm sorry for putting you in this position, Levi." She rested her head on his chest, eyes cast downwards. Levi doesn't flinch. "Just don't punish Samuel anymore, ok? Do it for me." Levi closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. He places his other hand on her head - combing through strands of blonde hair. There was still dried blood in some strands.

"Fine. But if that brat makes another mista-" "He won't. I promise you he'll be hella disciplined after you punched a tooth out of the poor child." Levi scoffed. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Levi half-heartedly combing her hair through his fingers and Rosaria brushing her thumb across his hand.

"Levi?" Levi looks down, meeting her eyes. "Thank you. For everything." Levi nods, his hands stopping to comb her hair. "If you want to thank me brat... " Rosaria raised an eyebrow. "You can start by getting a bath." Rosaria paled. "The smell of blood and sweat and grease is all over you." Levi cringed his nose in disgust. Rosaria gaped, immediately letting go of Levi's hand. Her face flushed red in embarrassment as she brought her own hair to her nose and took a sniff, proceeding to almost choke.

"For fuck's sake…. Why did you only tell me now?!"

Author's note:

I'm so glad I was able to write these double chapters in 2 days! As mentioned in the previous chapter, I've been feeling a little down with the lack of reviews and well, life in general. So please leave a review! It would mean the world to me!