The trio of Jean, Armin, and Reiner trekked through the snow at a slow but steady pace. Reiner was doing most of the work, holding Mikasa with a Fireman's carry. Despite weighing a solid 60 more pounds than her, and being one of the strongest cadets, it did become taxing after a little while with the weather as it is.
"Why is Mikasa so heavy? She's heavier than any guy I had to carry in physical training, all except for Bertolt. And he's 6'4!" Reiner said in a half-joking, half-serious way. It was true, she is exceptionally heavy for a girl of her height. "It's no damn wonder she's the strongest person out here. All this weight must be pure muscle. Must be some good genes or somethin…" he added, as if to back up his initial statement.
Armin tried to encourage him. "Hey, the clinic is basically right in front of us. You're doing great as it is!" He wasn't lying, it was quite close. On a regular day it wouldn't take but about 30 seconds to walk to it from where they were currently. However, trodding through the snowstorm, with Mikasa on his shoulders, resulted in Reiner taking slower paces; and it was only natural for it to feel about 4x as long as usual due to how draining it is. So draining in fact, they covered Mikasa from head to toe with a sheet from a cadet's bed, because she was in no shape to face the weather.
"Yea, but goddamnit if the snow isn't doing everything it can to stop us." Jean jested frustratedly. He and Armin were intentionally walking evenly with Reiner so they wouldn't leave him behind, which Reiner was appreciative of. If they had no decency they would've hurried into the clinic as soon as possible to get warmed up.
"Yea, it feels like we got shook in a snowglobe." Reiner said. In the instant he finished saying that, his heart nearly stopped.
"'Shook in a snowglobe'? I haven't heard that one before, heh." Armin said, completely oblivious to what Reiner really just said. Of course Armin and Jean wouldn't know what a snowglobe is. It doesn't exist inside the walls.
Reiner almost came to a stop, but he semi-recollected himself and sputtered out, "Yea, uh, it's a colloquial term I suppose. I don't even know what it means or where it came from."
Conveniently for Reiner, the topic came to a halt as they approached the doors to the clinic. Armin stepped in front and opened the double doors, letting the other two inside. "Hurry, so I can shut the doors!" Armin exclaimed, a little louder than he intended. They hurried inside and Armin slammed the doors against the wind.
Reiner adjusted his holding of Mikasa into a bridal style and laid her onto a bed. "Son of a bitch!" Reiner said, in recoil at suddenly losing 149 pounds. "That feels good."
Armin went into the office to find the doctor, and Jean pulled up a chair next to the bed Mikasa was in. He unwrapped the sheet down to her waist and checked her pulse and breathing.
"How is it?" Reiner asked, in reference to her condition.
Jean was caught off-guard by the obvious question, apparently reminiscing the melancholy nature of this situation with Mikasa. Oh, what he would give to be alone with her like this; him taking care of her and her taking care of him when he needed it. He felt truly happy now, especially with that thought in mind. "Huh- oh." Jean responded quickly, straightening up a little. "Her breathing and pulse is slow and steady. It's not erratic like it was when she was in the barracks." He took a short moment to analyze her again. "She isn't sweating and her skin is more or less back to it's usual tone. No nose bleed either, thankfully. That was worrying…" It was quite obvious that Jean was concerned.
"That's good. You seem to care a lot about her." Reiner said, without joking like most of the other immature cadets would do. In fact, he was quite profound.
Normally Jean would stumble in this situation, but Reiner was being authentic. He felt like there was no point in hiding it from Reiner and trying to make some lame excuse. He wasn't taken aback at all, and instead stayed quiet. Jean's face looked sorrowful, lost in thought…
...truthfully, at first, he only found Mikasa attractive. He took a shot, and made the comment about her long, pretty black hair. Clearly a childish remark that seemingly held little significance at the time. Quite ironically he didn't balk at the fact that she cut her "long" pretty black hair. The entire rendezvous was ultimately a firestarter for him, rather than something monumental in and of itself. His love for her began to run deeper over time, for reasons he didn't entirely understand. He saw how protective Mikasa was of Eren, and he was envious of that. It infuriated him. How could his antithesis, Eren Yeager, get that out of her? He yearned for protection more than most anyone else, that was clear from day one at training. He wished to enter the MPs and live in the comfort of the interior. He was not afraid to elaborate as to why, either. He was open as to how much he coveted that. When he began to see that protective nature in Mikasa, it resonated with him down to his core. As he matured, he didn't question the fact that he genuinely loved her. She was everything he wanted. He knew that. He just didn't know why a suicidal maniac who constantly pushed her and her protection away was the one who was always given love.
He believed his love would go unrequited until the day he died. The real tragedy of it all was that his cherishment for her was simply a projection of his most primal desires. All he wanted was protection and comfort.
Jean was suddenly snapped out of his trance. "Hey, don't care about her too much!" Reiner said jokingly, noticing how solemn he looked.
Jean blinked slowly. "If only it was that easy." He said quietly, speaking out of turn. How could he go against his own nature anyway?
"What was that?" Reiner asked, unable to understand what he was saying under his breath.
Jean looked up and was about to say something, but Armin returned from the office with the doctor.
"Oh! Dr. Hammond! Did Armin tell you everything?" Jean inquired, excited to see if he could shed some light on what's going on with Mikasa.
"I suppose so. Were I in his shoes, I don't believe I'd withhold information." the experienced doctor said, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge. He had a tired face, with a 5 o'clock shadow that seemed to parallel that. His short combed back hair was black and greying, even though he couldn't be any older than 40-something. His eyes matched his hair, being a dull grey. He definitely showed wisdom in his field, and ironically enough a sense of professionalism given his nonchalant approach to appearance and his job. His outfit was quite plain too; just a long sleeve white button up shirt and black slacks, topped off by a pair of brown loafers.
Hammond sighed and rolled up his sleeves. He looked at Mikasa and grinned. "Yep, sure enough that Ackerman would be coming down here. I guess pigs will decide to fly next." he said sarcastically, before sitting down and turning more serious. "It sounds to me like her body was overworked. Though, I find that hard to believe given her physical and mental strength. And hell, I was told that you carried her here Reiner? You seem fine to me. Not to discredit you, but this girl should've been able to do that 2 times over and still be able to run a marathon."
"Did Armin tell you about the weather sir?" Reiner asked, thinking it could be a determining factor in her condition.
"Yes, and I'm taking that into account. Either she's unrealistically cold-natured or it's an insignificant detail. You lot are fine after all, though I imagine it was a bit harsh." As they spoke, Hammond was removing the sheets and the majority of her winter gear so he could perform a check-up.
"A bit harsh? The weather out there is monstrous! I don't care who you are, enough time spent out there would tear anyone down. We have no idea how long she was out there either." Jean said, irritated that the doctor was being so dismissive.
Armin backed him up. "Jean is right. We don't know how long she was out there for, she could've been looking for Eren the entire tim-" Armin's eyes widened. He just remembered. "Eren could be out there too! And he definitely can't take it for as long as Mikasa! Jean, you said you saw him get up in the middle of the night and leave? Where could he have gone?" Armin asked, sounding a little desperate.
"Yea, he just got up, got dressed, and walked out. I was half asleep at the time, but I do remember him being in his winter gear with a supply backpack. No idea what he was or is doing, but he seemed prepared. Maybe he's in one of the other buildings. Or dead in a ditch somewhere."
Armin visibly and audibly reacted at that last comment. "Goddamnit, why is Eren always leaving like this?! He doesn't even say a word. He just gets up and leaves! There's no telling what could've happened to him." Armin vented. To call him distressed with everything that's going on would be an understatement.
Reiner tried to offer some solace. "Hey, it's Eren. He's got the most willpower of anybody I know… surely he will be fine. Especially if he was prepared like you say he was Jean. Maybe he was up to something really important?"
Armin knew better though. "No, Eren is a hothead. Even if he seems prepared, he might just be being foolish and naive. Maybe he wasn't, but I don't know. It isn't like him. He could've got into some mess…"
"Ahem." The doctor turned the attention of the three away from Eren, who all promptly noticed he had gotten Mikasa undressed down to her long sleeve white button up, pants, and boots. The winter coat, scarf, gloves, and other accessories were on the floor. "If it were the cold, she would have frostbite, which I see none of. In fact, she seems to be in optimal condition now. Even if she were blacking out with a nosebleed, pale skin, sweating, and etcetera, you'd never know it happened. As it stands, she is just unconscious. I can't give a proper analysis of her because, quite frankly, there is nothing wrong with her." He paused as to let that sink in a little for the three cadets. "We will wait for her to wake up and see what she remembers."
The room felt a little more tense, but nobody could put their finger on as to why. At least Mikasa was back to normal, right?