I had tried to fight him off as best as I could, and eventually he had retreated. He had been in a worse state than I when he had decided to call it quits, but I still felt weak. If I had done the damage I had desired, the rat wouldn't have lived to see another day…well, I would succeed in my efforts next time. Let there be no doubts about that. I must have seemed weak in her eyes. As a talker, rather than a fighter. I only hope that I had not disappointed her. I was confused as to why I was thinking such things, in all honesty. Why was I suddenly concerned over Elena's opinion of me? Why was I worrying over her opinion of my fighting? Why did it matter so…? No…I wasn't worrying. I assume it was merely delusion from blood loss, or something similar.

All was silent, and I clutched at my chest, eyes shut tightly as I tried to shut out the pain, only to hear Elena's movements. Is she…doing what I think she is doing? I thought, opening my eyes to gaze in her direction.

The blonde was ignoring the pain that she must have been feeling as she attempted to stand up. Why was she doing such a thing? Was she truly foolish enough to believe that trying to stand up wouldn't make her injuries worse? "Stop it, Elena!" I found myself ordering, now shifting on to my knees. To my relief, she did so, and stared over at me. The way that her eyes gazed in my direction was somewhat unnerving to say the least, but I did my best not to look away from her in embarrassment. I felt so pathetic, and no doubt, I looked pathetic to her eyes, too.

"I don't take orders from you!" that stubborn voice of hers declared, as she continued her attempts. For now, I could do nothing but watch, astounded that she would continue to hurt herself in such a way.

"Why are you doing this to yourself…?" I questioned her. I couldn't allow her to continue this self-harm without knowing her reasons for doing so, nor would I allow for her to continue when she made her reasons clear. However, it was her response to my question that greatly surprised me, and left me staring at her in shock for a few moments afterward: "Because you'd do the same thing for me!" She was doing all of this…going to all this effort to move…for me? She was hurting herself for me?

"Shit!" I heard her snap, rousing me from my thoughts, only for my gaze to find her on her knees a short distance away. Her tenacity seemed to urge her to continue in her efforts, but I knew that I had to put a stop to this. She wouldn't listen to my order to stop, so I would have to take action, or else she would worsen her injuries. Now it was my turn to try to move and feel pain as a consequence, just as she had done for my sake.

I needed to act in order to prevent her from acting again. I needed to move, and it would need to be fast. Ignoring the cries of pain from my legs, I began moving slowly towards her, continuously telling myself that it was: 'just a little farther' and that I was 'almost there'. Soon, I had to stop crawling. I couldn't continue further, but I was close enough to reach her, and do something to prevent her from standing. Reaching out my right arm, I placed my hand heavily on her shoulder, pulling her back down to the ground, much to her surprise. I knew that she would try to stand again, so I used my right hand to pull her towards me, forcing her into an embrace and wrapping my arms tightly around her. Yes. To prevent her standing…that was the only reason. Completely.

"Wh-…what are you…?!" I heard her demand, but all I could think of to say was:

"That's enough…Stop... please."

I felt so thankful when she had listened, just kneeling close to me with my arms tight around her. However, these few moments of solitude ended when Elena's voice cut the silence once more:

"V-...V...Valentine...that. We've gotta...I mean...we can't just leave it like that...!"

She was right. It did hurt...but I didn't want to seem even weaker in her eyes by saying so. After all, it was no more than just a small wound to the chest. I would have to put up with it until I had made sure her injuries were alright...that is, after I had gotten her back to the inn. For now, I tried to calm her worries by telling her: "It's not almost as serious as it looks."

"Bu-...!"

"You heard me. It isn't serious, Elena!" I hadn't intended to snap at her, and I immediately regretted doing so once I noticed the look on her face. She seemed scared of me...her honey-coloured eyes wide in what could have been shock or fear...perhaps it was both. Her lips were slightly apart as though she wanted to say something more, but she had decided to remain silent. She hadn't been expecting me to snap at her, apparently...I'll admit, that my reaction to her concern had come as something as a shock to me, as well.

I let her go, and struggled to stand up. It was only my chest that had really been injured, so I had no real problems doing so. Leaving her side for a moment, I looked for my gun, finding it on the ground a short distance away. Picking it up, I put it back into the holster strapped to my right leg, and returned to where I had left Elena.

Glancing down at her, as she was still kneeling down, I thought over how I was going to transport her back to the inn. Only one idea came to mind, and I already knew that she wouldn't much appreciate it, but it was the only way that I could think of that didn't involve her having to stand up. Slowly kneeling down by her side, I noticed that her gentle eyes watched my every move, and once again my actions caused those eyes to widen. Elena obviously wasn't expecting it until I had pulled her close to me again, one arm supporting her back while the other supported her legs. It was only then that she understood my plan.

"Oh, no-no-no-..." Elena began to protest, shaking her head and staring up at me.

I'd simply nodded, and stood up with her in my arms, much to her displeasure. "No-no-no NO! Serious! Put me down! It's gonna look so bad for me if you've gotta carry me back into town! What if the other Turks are ther-..."

"You're honestly expecting them to be there?" I questioned, raising one eyebrow. That had silenced her, and she gazed up at me in shock for a few moments, soon moving her gaze away. Needless to say, she said nothing more after that, and I silently began carrying her back to the inn. The time for apologies wasn't now. That time would come when I knew that she was safely back in the room.