Okay, so, a few things about this chapter:
- I am not a doctor, so if I happen to say something that's incorrect when it comes to the medical terms and stuff, you don't have to tell me because I don't care
- I already have the next chapter written, but I'm kind of stuck there, so if you guys have any suggestions for future chapters, let me know. I will happily read all of them
- That's pretty much it… so enjoy
Hanji rushed to Levi's side, pulling out a small flashlight type tool from her lab coat. She lifted his eyelid and shined the light in his eye, checking to see if he was responsive or not. Levi's brow twitched in discomfort and he flinched his head back a bit.
"Levi! Mr. Ackerman! Can you hear me!?" Hanji shouted loudly. The barely responsive man grumbled quietly and furrowed his brow, tilting his head to the side.
"Levi! Do you understand what I am saying!?"
Hanji briefly removed Levi's oxygen mask once she confirmed that he was indeed breathing on his own. The man mumbled a bit louder, groaning a bit.
"What was that?" The doctor yelled, leaning a bit closer to Levi.
"Fuck. Off." The man hissed hoarsely, most likely referring to Hanji's excessive screaming. Eren was still on Levi's other side, squeezing his hand tightly. The grin on the younger man's face was enormous. In his mind, this moment was absolutely surreal. Hanji squealed in excitement and snatched her clipboard from the small table next to Levi's bed. She began quickly jotting down notes and turned to face the door.
A few nurses flooded into the room, prying Eren away from the previously comatose patient and escorting him back to his own room.
"Sorry dear, we just need to run a few tests, but we promise you can visit Levi when we're done," Petra reassured while adjusting Eren's arm sling for him. Eren nodded and sighed, impatiently waiting on his bed.
The nurse reentered Eren's room a few hours later, hugging her clipboard to her chest like she usually did. She walked over to the patient's bed and nudged his shoulder gently.
"Eren you can see him now if you'd like. He's sleeping right now, but if you want to see how he's doing then feel free to go in."
Petra couldn't help her smile when she saw Eren practically pounce off his bed. He exited his room, anxiously making his way toward Levi's. When he entered the room, Levi's eyes were closed and his bed was positioned a bit more upright while one of the nurses was changing the bandages around his head.
"Hey kid, Levi still can't communicate properly, but you can still come in if you'd like," said the male nurse who was currently tending to the patient's wounds.
Eren bit his lip nervously and approached the bed, sitting down hesitantly. He reached and grabbed Levi's hand out of habit, giving it a small squeeze and grinning brightly when he felt a weak squeeze in return.
"Is he… Is he in pain?" The nurse looked at the patient, then over to Eren.
"Not at all. He can't feel a thing. He's on several different pain meds." The nurse gestured to the IV bag full of painkillers most likely.
Just as he said that, two weary grey eyes fluttered open, hazily wandering around the room until they landed on Eren's bright green eyes. Eren subconsciously gripped onto Levi's hand tighter, interlocking their fingers. Said patient groaned tiredly and the nurse sat up, inspecting Levi to see if he was breathing on his own or not. Once he confirmed that he was indeed breathing steadily by himself, he carefully removed the oxygen mask from his face. Levi released another groan, coughing several times and taking a deep breath. Eren looked down at their locked hands when he felt Levi gripping onto him a bit tighter.
The brunette stayed with him for a few more hours until his eyes grew heavy. He leaned down and rested his head in the space between Levi's neck and shoulder. Within minutes, he dozed off, his grip on Levi's hand never loosening. A few moments later, Petra slowly eased the door open, smiling at the sight of a passed out Eren against Levi. She pulled a blanket out from under the bed and walked over to the sleepy brunette. She draped the blanket over him and quietly left the room.
Eren slowly began to wake up, his eyes fluttering open. He felt a comforting warmth surrounding him and was a bit startled when the source of the heat began to shift beside him. Levi groaned tiredly and his eyes opening as well. His thoughts were muddled. He had absolutely no clue where he was or who the hell was huddled up so closely next to him. When he groaned, it was a bit painful. The brunette that was currently embracing him yawned and blinked a few times, remembering where exactly he was. Levi furrowed his brow in confusion and looked down at the young man.
"Who the hell are you?" He croaked, his voice dry and husky from being inactive for so long. Eren's cheeks heated up and he shot up from the bed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as one of the nurses walked in.
"Well, I-I'm Eren." The brunette was staring timidly at the floor.
"I see, so you're Eren," Levi said, hissing when the nurse began to clean one of his wounds. "When I woke up a few days ago, I heard the nurses talking about some kid name Eren who supposedly came in to visit me everyday. So, I'm gonna ask you one more time, who the hell are you?"
"Oh, well, I-I was the one who crashed into you actually," Eren admitted, a look of shame falling on his face. He couldn't bear to look at the man.
"So, it was you who decided to play a little game of bumper cars with me a couple weeks ago. Well, at least we're both alive." He chuckled briefly before shooting a death glare at the nurse who kept prodding at his face. The nurse just rolled her eyes and continued.
Eren looked up at Levi, astonished at how lax he was about the whole situation. Honestly, the brunette was expecting a fit of rage from the man, but he truly didn't seem to mind. Eren just gaped at the older man for a moment in attempt to figure out why the hell he wasn't screaming at him angrily.
"You can stop gawking at me like an idiot. Listen brat, the nurses said that you, for God knows what reason, took time each day to visit me to see how I was doing. You obviously must've picked up on the fact that I don't exactly have a friends or family. And-" Levi sighed deeply when he noticed the younger man's still frightened expression. "Eren, you don't have to look so fucking terrified, I'm not going to bite your head off for crashing into me. I get it. Shit happens. I'm willing to move on if you are."
Eren looked back up at Levi and walked over to him, having to stop himself from grabbing Levi's hand out of habit since he was actually awake now.
"Levi. I-I really appreciate that. I don't think you understand how much that means to me."
Levi could see and hear the sincerity in Eren's voice. He scoffed and sighed again, opening his arms. The brunette looked at the older man with a questioning expression.
"I do not do emotional crap and I am not a hugger, so don't expect this from me ever again, but you look like your about to burst into tears so come here," He said quite sternly. Eren didn't waste another moment before throwing his arms, or arm, around Levi and burying his face into the man's neck, sobbing softly against his hospital gown. Levi hissed a bit at the tightness of the young man's embrace pushing against his shattered ribs.
"I'm sorry Levi! I'm so sorry!" Eren cried against the man. Levi shivered lightly when felt the younger man's trembling breath against the nape of his neck. Usually he thought that expressive and weepy displays of affection were irritating, but he found Eren's emotional display rather endearing, and somewhat cute.
"Okay brat, I already said it was fine, calm down."
Hesitantly, Levi brought his arms around Eren and attempted to soothe him, running his fingers through the young man's messy hair and rubbing his back softly.
"Oi, my ribs might snap again if you squeeze me any tighter."
Eren let out a shaky breath and pulled back, his face flushing red. Levi sighed and rested his head against his pillow. He would never admit this, but he actually kind of enjoyed that. He couldn't even remember the last time somebody, let alone a stranger, had showed that level of care for him.
"S-Sorry Levi, I-I just… I don't know."
Levi snatched a couple of tissues from the table by his bed and handed them to Eren. The brunette wiped his tears and sighed, tossing the used tissues into the trashcan. Levi sat up more and furrowed his brow in discomfort as he attempted to stand up.
"All right brat, I gotta go in for a CT scan now, and quit apologizing, I don't give a shit about who hit who. It was accident, if you want to hear it so badly I'll say it. I forgive you," Levi said firmly as the nurse helped him into a wheelchair.
The older man was wheeled out of the room, and Eren left soon after with Hanji. The tall woman slung her arm around Eren and sighed, walking him back to his own room.
"Well isn't he just a big ol' ray of sunshine!"
Eren chuckled and laid back on his bed, said 'ray of sunshine' still on his mind.
"He wasn't that bad. I mean, I'm just glad he doesn't hate me. He actually seems like a good guy."
Hanji gave Eren an odd look. She adjusted her glasses on her nose and shuffled over to the younger man, examining his face closely. The doctor put her hand on Eren's face and leaned in, inspecting him thoroughly before pulling back and cackling boisterously. Eren just stared at her, cocking his head to the side.
This woman… she's absolutely insane He thought for probably the thousandth time. Hanji tapped her finger to her chin inquisitively and began pacing the room. She stopped with her back turned to Eren, her hands firmly on her hips.
"You visit him everyday although you don't know him, you're cheeks flush whenever he speaks, you get nervous when you're near him. Doll face you have feelings for our fun-sized friend!"
Eren nearly choked when the doctor uttered those words.
"What?!"
"You like Levi!" The woman was practically giddy as she bounced up and down with excitement. Eren furrowed his brow and stammered.
"What the hell are you even saying? I don't even know the guy! I'm just- I don't-! Damn it Hanji I don't like him like that!" Eren groaned and buried his face in his hands, running his fingers through his overgrown hair. He hadn't gotten a haircut since his stay at the hospital.
"You're being rather defensive now aren't you?" She pointed an accusatory finger at Eren and gave him a Chesire grin, giggling uncontrollably. Eren sighed in relief when Petra marched in and seized Hanji's wrist, saving him from further pestering and questioning.
"I'm not going to say it again Hanji. Stop. Harassing. Our. Patients!"
The shorter woman dragged the doctor out of the room, leaving Eren alone with his thoughts. He fell back on his bed and laughed to himself at Hanji's words. I mean, that's absolutely absurd. Eren couldn't deny that Levi was awfully attractive, even with all of the cuts and scrapes. But in no way did that mean he had feelings for the guy. He didn't even know anything about him.
Petra walked back into Eren's room, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Again, sorry about her. She's always making crazy assumptions about people," She apologized, shaking her head a bit. Eren bit his lip nervously and fiddled around with the strap of his sling to avoid talking about said 'assumptions.' Petra stared at the younger man for a moment, taking note of his nervous disposition.
"N-No it's fine," he muttered quietly.
"Well, do you?"
Eren looked at Petra and quirked an eyebrow in confusion.
"Do I what?"
She blushed a little and her eyes fell to the floor. The short nurse shifted her weight from foot to foot, obviously a little bit uncomfortable with the situation.
"Do you have feelings for Mr. Ackerman?"
Eren sat up a bit more, glaring at the nurse. He winced a bit, his arm throbbing with a dull ache.
"I'm not going to say this again Petra. I don't have feelings for the guy. I don't know why everyone keeps-"
Before Eren could finish defending himself to Petra, the male nurse from earlier that day peeked his head into the room. Petra saw the man and looked past the door, nodding and moving aside a bit.
"Mr. Jaeger you have a visitor," The other nurse said, opening the door wider to reveal a shorter blonde man standing with him.
"Armin!"
Eren grinned got up out of his bed, walking over to his friend and using his good arm to pull him into a tight hug. Armin chuckled and returned Eren's embrace, relieved to see that his best friend was doing okay. He had been busy the entire week with school, so he felt awful that he couldn't find the time to visit until now. But the brunette didn't seem to mind, he was just glad to see him.
"It's so good to see you finally. So, how's your arm?" He asked, gesturing to the sling. Eren looked at the broken limb and shrugged, sitting back on the edge of his bed.
"It's fine. It still hurts a little, but yeah, it's fine." Armin nodded and sat down next to Eren, sighing contently. He had really missed his best friend.
"Oh, Armin, this is Petra, she's been my nurse for the past few weeks."
Said nurse smiled and waved to the blonde, moving over to Eren so that she could adjust his sling.
"Eren, stop screwing around with the strap of this thing, it has to be elevated."
Armin laughed as Petra tightened the strap and the brunette groaned, rolling his eyes. The blonde was glad that Eren had made friends while he was here. The last thing he wanted was for him to be lonely.
"Yeah but when it's elevated it's uncomfortable," Eren complained, making a discontent expression when the nurse finished readjusting the sling. She sighed and shook her head, a hint of a smile on her face.
"Quit complaining, you'll get your cast off soon."
The two of them bickered a bit more before Petra left the room, leaving Eren alone with Armin. They then spent a few hours catching up with one another. Eren had missed this. Just spending time with Armin and talking about random things. These times were very few though. Armin was in medical school, which means that he was always studying and going to classes. It took Eren and Mikasa a while to adjust to not having their best friend around one hundred percent of the time.
After awhile, Armin very reluctantly had to leave, his flight back to Shiganshina was leaving soon and he had an important exam the next morning. The two of them said their goodbyes and Armin was gone, leaving Eren alone once more.
The brunette was extremely tempted to visit Levi again. Not because he wanted to see him or anything. He just wanted to know that results of the CT scan, that's all. Eren groaned and sat back up, slipping out of his bed and moving to the door, hesitantly wavering there for a moment before deciding to visit Levi.
"Oh, you again." The older man mumbled, cursing under his breath when Petra taped his IV down. He looked at Eren and couldn't help but smile briefly at the sight of the anxious young man. He would never admit this, ever, but he thought it was kind of cute how nervous Eren seemed to get around him.
"Y-Yeah. I just wanted to see how you were doing I guess..." Eren shuffled timidly over to Levi's bedside, receiving a friendly smile from the short blonde who was currently changing Levi's bandages. Levi sighed and closed his eyes, wincing as Petra cleaned his stitches. She shook her head and continued.
"Eren, would you mind grabbing a few small bandages from that cupboard over there by the sink for me?" The nurse asked. Eren nodded and did as he was told, retrieving several small gauze and bandages. She hummed a thank you and re-bandaged Levi's cleaned wounds, to which he continued to curse quietly and grimace.
"Why?" He asked suddenly.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to see how I'm doing? Why should you care?"
Eren blinked a few times, really contemplating the question. Because honestly, he didn't know the answer himself.
"Well I-I sort of feel partly responsible for what happened I guess, so I wanted to make sure that you were doing well. I just- I don't know"
He bit his lip nervously and looked at the tile floor. Levi sighed once again when he saw the younger man's worried expression.
"Look Eren, I already told you that I forgive you, so why are you still so fucking scared around me? Like I said, I'm not gonna bite your head off or anything like that. You seem like an okay kid and yeah, you fucked up, but we all fuck up at least once in our lives so just relax. You're alive. I'm alive. Let's just leave it at that." He broke his gaze from Eren and shot a scowl in Petra's direction when she pressed a bit too hard on one his stitches. Eren couldn't figure out how to respond, and Levi could tell that he was obviously at a loss for words.
"Have lunch with me."
Eren looked at Levi with a puzzled expression.
"Excuse me?"
"You're the one who wanted to know how I'm doing, so I'll tell you, just eat lunch here with me."
Levi was the type of person who spoke his mind, and Eren wasn't saying anything, so that's exactly what he did. Eren mentally scolded himself for blushing and sat down in one of the room's chairs.
"O-Okay"
Petra gave Eren a knowing look and exited the room to retrieve both of their meals. Levi looked at the brunette and watched as the younger man screwed around with the strap of his arm sling.
"So, brat, how's that busted arm?"
Eren paused and sighed, remembering what Petra had said to him about the strap and knowing that she would most likely yell at him for messing with it.
"It's pretty broken. They said when they brought me in, my bone was actually sticking out of my skin." Eren shivered slightly at the thought, rubbing his cast gently through the sling.
"So is there anything else wrong with you?"
"I had a mild concussion and a few bruised ribs, but that's about it."
"That's good then." Levi just nodded and leaned back against his pillow, shifting his gaze toward the nurse who had just reentered the room with two trays of hospital food. Petra smiled at Eren and silently brought the two of them their food. She nodded at the brunette and left the room again, shutting the door behind her.
"So, you still in school? You look pretty young." Levi asked, picking up his fork and grimacing at the less than appealing meal.
"Heh, I'm twenty-three. I just graduated from Shiganshina Community College a few months ago. I've had a few job interviews over the past couple of weeks. Actually, I was on my way back from an interview right before the accident," Eren said, taking a bite out of the over-seasoned chicken. The older man nodded and poked at the fluorescent green jello on his tray.
"Good for you then. You're actually trying to make something of your life. Hell, when I was twenty-three I was shoplifting and mugging people on the street to get by. I'm one of the idiots who chose to drop out of high school and try living on my own." Eren stared at Levi, who seemed completely unfazed by revealing such a personal fact about himself to a practical stranger.
"Thank you, I think..."
Levi chuckled quietly and set his uneaten meal on the small table by his bed, eyeing the nervous young man across the room.
"You have any family?"
"Y-Yeah. I have an older sister. My mom passed away two summers ago. She was on the bus and the driver lost control and crashed, killing her and four other people. My dad left Mikasa and I after she died. We tried to track him down, but he left without a trail." Eren's eyes threatened to water when he brought up his mom. He hadn't talked about the incident in more than a year. He wouldn't even talk about it with Mikasa, but for some reason he felt like he could be open with Levi.
"I guess I can somewhat relate. Deadbeat dad. My mom overdosed on painkillers. But the difference is that I hated both of them. You obviously cared for your mom deeply, so, I'm sorry," Levi said, feeling a tinge of sympathy when he noticed the brunette trying to hold in his tears.
"I-It's okay. It's n-not like it's your fault or a-anything."
"You know, you're allowed to cry, right?"
Eren shuddered a sigh and gave in, letting the tears flow from his emerald eyes. He sobbed into his hands and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. He had already cried in front of the older man, so he couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.
"S-sorry," Eren mumbled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Levi rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his black hair.
"I told you brat, quit apologizing for shit. Especially shit that you didn't even cause."
"That's not true. I caused the accident. That was my fault!" Eren argued.
"No you didn't. I was just as responsible as you were. I was distracted that night and I wasn't paying full attention to the road. So shut the hell up and stop saying sorry."
Eren had to stop himself from saying 'I'm sorry' again as stood up and hesitantly walked toward Levi, his eyelashes still coated with tears.
"Um. C-can I uh, can I maybe like..." Levi picked up what Eren was asking for and he sighed, opening his arms again. The brunette wrapped his good arm around the older man and made sure not to squeeze to tightly again because of his broken ribs. Levi tentatively closed his arms around Eren and rested his chin on the brunette's shoulder, letting the young man cry on him for the second time.
"It's all right, let it out," Levi muttered into Eren's ear, gently running his fingers through the younger man's hair. He honestly didn't really know how to comfort people. It's not exactly something he did very often.
Eren sighed and took a deep breath, very reluctantly pulling away from Levi.
"T-Thanks. I really needed that," the brunette admitted, a light blush on his cheeks. Levi laid back against his pillow, closing his eyes and nodding.
"Don't expect me to let you do that again. I'm not a 'hugger.'"
"Isn't that what you said last time too?" Eren teased, chuckling a bit.
"Yeah yeah yeah very funny brat."
Levi couldn't help the small grin that fell on his lips as the younger man left his room. The older man honestly was not a hugger, but when it came to this brat, he couldn't say no. He felt like he needed to protect and comfort him. This feeling was strange, completely new to Levi, and he was struggling to figure out what the hell it was exactly. It wasn't bad, no, if anything, it was exciting.
Levi opened his eyes and sat up, a bit panicked. His vision was completely blurred and his body was growing numb. All of the sudden, a whole other kind of feeling overcame Levi, but it wasn't confusing or exciting, it was completely and utterly terrifying. His entire frame quivered and trembled with an intense chill and his thoughts turned completely black, his eyes rolling back into his skull.
Eren stopped mid-step when he heard a fast-paced beeping noise emitting from Levi's room. He turned his head when he saw a cluster of three or four nurses bustle hastily into the room. Eren was stunned momentarily when he felt himself being shoved out of the way. Hanji had darted past him and into room where he had just been. What was going on? The brunette collected his thoughts and quickly stumbled to the door, halting at the frame. His eyes widened and his heart sank. Levi was jerking and jolting violently, his entire frame convulsing in intense tremors.
"Damn it he's seizing! We need to get him on Valproate, now!"
Eren had never seen Hanji so focused and serious, it was terrifying. She shot him a stern yet panicked look and then her eyes darted over to Petra.
"Ral. Get him out of here, now!" She ordered, the frightened blonde immediately scurrying to Eren and dragging him out of the room. The younger man felt dizzy and nauseous. He sank to the floor and Petra kneeled beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"We're losing him! Get a crash cart, now goddammit!"
Eren hugged his knees and tears began to flow from his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time today. The memories of his mother that he tried so desperately to forget began flooding back into his mind. This was all too familiar.
"Charge to three-hundred, clear!"
The brunette slammed his hands over his ears and buried his face between his knees, shakily sobbing. His heart pounded rapidly. He couldn't breath.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!" He cried out loudly, rocking back and forth. It wouldn't stop. It was happening all over again.