I know I haven't updated in a few months... Je suis désolé! Gah! I just was super busy and I was not feeling very inspired recently. But classes are over and I am ready to update like crazy :D
Enjoy ^_^!
"Son, we're so sorry. Her heart could not tolerate the excessive bleeding. Your mother did not survive the surgery."
Mikasa's hands trembled and she wept softly, turning toward her brother. Eren's look of shock abruptly turned into one of rage. He clenched his teeth tightly together and his heart sank. This wasn't happening. It wasn't real. He would go back home and Mom and Dad and Armin and Mikasa….. They'd all be there, safe and sound, just like always.
The doctor placed a hand on the boy's shoulder in attempt to comfort him.
"Again, I'm very sor-"
"NO!" Eren screamed and slapped the man's arm away. He slammed his hands over his ears and yelled loudly, choking on his sobs.
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE ALL LIARS! SHE ISN'T DEAD!" Eren screeched, shoving Mikasa when she attempted to calm him down. He couldn't breathe. All of the air had escaped from his lungs. His heart slammed against his ribcage and sweat coated his body. His vision was blurring fast. This wasn't real… This is just a nightmare… It couldn't be real…
"-ren, Eren… Eren dear, can you hear me?" At the sound of the familiar voice, the brunette's eyes flickered open. His head hurt tremendously, and there were several faces staring at him.
"You had a panic attack and blacked out. You've been out cold for almost thirteen hours now." He turned his head and looked at Mikasa, who had a practically bone crushing grip on his good hand and a concerned look on her face.
"Le-vi," he muttered tiredly. Petra appeared on Eren's left side and sat down on the edge of his bed. She turned to Hanji, who soon left, along with the other two nurses in the room. Mikasa, unsurprisingly, remained firmly in her place next to Eren. Petra sighed and looked at the brunette, setting her clipboard on the small bedside desk.
"There was an undetected bleed in Levi's brain that triggered a post-traumatic seizure. The seizing caused his heart to momentarily stop, but like I said a while back, Dr. Hanji is amazing at her job and her team is phenomenal. They restarted his heart, but there is one thing still. While some patients recover completely from these sorts of traumas, possible complications include stroke, loss of brain function, or side effects from medications or treatments. But don't worry dear, we are doing our very best to help Mr. Ackerman recover."
Eren nodded numbly and gazed forward, seeing another doctor enter the room. He was fairly young with short brown hair and light freckles on his cheeks that added to his already youthful appearance.
The young man smiled at the three of them and approached Petra's side. Eren felt a bit uneasy around the stranger, but that uneasiness soon left him once the doctor's eyes met his own.
The man had comforting eyes, the kind of eyes that emitted a feeling of honesty and trust.
Eren had the ability to spot people who had these eyes. His mother had them. He still remembers her hazel orbs that radiated a certain warmth and security. He only saw that same look in certain people. Although he usually only saw it in the ones he had known his whole life, like Mikasa or Armin, there were several people in which he could spot it immediately, like Petra, this doctor, and as unlikely as it seems, he briefly caught that same kind look from Levi. It had happened as he was pulling away from their second embrace. Their eyes had met for a split second, and Eren's heart jumped. Through that icy grey glare, a warm and loving gaze had broken through and reached out to him.
Eren was pulled from his thoughts when the young doctor pulled up a chair next to the nurse, and she began to introduce him as if on queue.
"Eren, this is Dr. Bodt. He is one of our hospital's psychiatric residents. When he caught wind of your panic attack, he wanted to have a short session with you. Would that be all right?"
Eren once again nodded numbly and watched as the nurse left the room, stopping to look at Mikasa, a sweet smile still planted firmly on the nurse's lips.
"If you don't mind, I think that the doctor would prefer to speak with Eren alone."
Mikasa shot her a harsh glare, to which Eren sighed and wrenched his hand from his sister's iron grip.
"Mikasa I'll be fine."
She furrowed her brow and stood up, trudging hesitantly toward the nurse with a scowl on her face. Petra's expression still held its usual friendly beam as she escorted the raven-haired girl toward the waiting room, shutting Eren's door on the way out.
"Hello Eren. I'm Dr. Bodt, but please just call me Marco. 'Dr. Bodt' makes me feel old," the doctor greeted, extending a welcoming arm out to the brunette. Eren scooted up a bit so that he was sitting more upright and he shook the other man's hand.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you exactly? I mean you're a doctor, but you look like you could be my age."
Marco chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging a bit.
"Actually, we're probably not too far apart in age. I'm twenty-five. I'm still in residency training so technically I'm not licensed yet. But I had to practically beg my attendant to let me assist him on your case."
My case? Eren thought.
"What do you mean my case?"
"Oh, well, since you had been diagnosed as having a PTSD panic attack, that automatically puts you down in our records within the psych ward. But don't worry, I'm not here to badger you and call you crazy or anything like that. I'm just here to talk, that's all, I promise."
Eren slowly nodded his head and sighed, remembering that PTSD was posttraumatic stress disorder. When he thought about it, it made perfect sense. He certainly had been through trauma to say the least.
"So, Eren, in order for me to understand your PTSD, I'm going to have to understand the T part of it, meaning your trauma. I'm not asking you to relive whatever your trauma may be. But I am going to ask you a series of questions so that I can understand it, so I can understand you."
Once again, Eren bobbed his head up and down, his anxiety going down a bit when Marco reassured him that he wouldn't force him to talk. Said doctor crossed his legs and rested his clipboard on his knee, tapping his pen against the paper.
"Was that girl your sister? She was kinda scary."
Eren chuckled and looked at the doctor, who also was laughing a bit.
"Yeah, that was Mikasa. My family adopted her when she was about four years old. I was only two at the time so I don't really remember a time before Mikasa was in my life. Me, her, and our best friend Armin grew up together. They're my family." Eren rambled on about Armin and Mikasa for about twenty more minutes.
Marco then brought up the car accident, which is what he had assumed to be the trauma, but he was slightly baffled when the young man explained the details of the incident without any signs of serious struggle.
Eren talked about how he had met Petra and that she had shown him great kindness during his recovery. He also mentioned Hanji, and how she was kind too, just a tad insane. When he was done going on about the friends he had made during his stay at the hospital, he began discussing Levi with the doctor.
Marco could hear the joy and admiration in Eren's voice when he told him about how he had visited Levi daily. The young man expressed how thrilled he was when Levi had finally awoken from his coma. But, the Marco also heard the hurt and pain in the brunette's voice when he got to discussing the man's current state. It was fairly obvious that Eren truly cared for Levi, and it didn't take a medical degree to figure that one out.
"Eren, we've been talking for nearly an hour now, and I've just got just a couple more questions for you."
"Sure, what it is?" Eren asked enthusiastically. He had always pictured therapy sessions to be dull and invading, but he discovered that having somebody there who was willing to listen to him ramble on about whatever, and actually listen, was quite refreshing.
"I don't know if I already asked you this, but what about your parents? You told me about Mikasa and Armin, but you haven't mentioned your folks yet." Marco immediately noted the drop in Eren's previously content expression. The brunette's eyes widened a bit and he had a glazed look. He trembled slightly and clenched his jaw, his brow twitching.
"Eren?"
"Please leave…" He said in barely a whisper.
Marco knew he had hit the nail on the head. So it wasn't the car accident. It was something that happened in his past.
"Eren you can talk to me you kno-"
"Get out. Please, just- just go," Eren interrupted, fisting the sheets in his hand and squeezing his eyes shut. Without another word, Marco hugged the clipboard full of notes to his chest and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.
The next day, Marco returned to Eren's room. He sat down in the same chair as the day before and gave Eren a friendly smile, retrieving a pen from the pocket of his lab coat. He sighed and looked at the young man.
"We don't have to talk about it until your ready. Until then, hm, let's see… how about you tell me about your arm. I didn't get the details about what happened."
Eren just stared at Marco, giving him a look of appreciation for not forcing the previous topic onto him. With that, the brunette just rambled on about how his arm was shattered in two places and how the sling on his arm was driving him nuts. Marco listened intently and patiently, determined to find out what Eren had been through in his past that was still obviously hurting him.
"Your arm and ribs seem to be healing quite nicely, there is no sign of damage from the concussion, your vitals have been stable for a quite awhile, and Dr. Bodt says that the two of you are making progress. Based on these facts, it seems that you will be discharged tomorrow. Congratulations young man, you get to go home."
Dr. Erwin looked away from his chart and over to Eren, who didn't look as excited as he should've been in this situation. Honestly, he was having fun there with Petra, Hanji, and Marco. Also, the idea of not being able to visit Levi everyday saddened him. He would truly miss having him right next door. Although Levi was still unconscious, Eren felt a bit uneasy about leaving him. What if he were to wake up? What if something bad were to happen to Levi? Eren wasn't family so they wouldn't call him if something like that were to happen.
"Dear, don't worry, you're scheduled to have two sessions with Dr. Bodt every week, so you'll get to see Levi then."
Eren, a bit startled, looked toward the door and saw Petra standing there.
Jesus, what is she, a damn mind reader? He thought. The brunette blushed a bit and toyed around with the strap on his sling. Petra hustled over to Eren and slapped his hand away in a scolding manner.
"I'm not going to tell you again. Stop messing with the damn sling!"
Eren bit back a smile at the woman's anger. The angry look on her face didn't suit her at all, so it was more amusing than anything. She rolled her eyes and her sunny expression returned when Eren's hand fell to his side.
"Okay okay I'll leave it alone."
The other man in the room smiled lightly at the two and made his way toward the door. He stopped and turned to look at Eren.
"Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your time here with us despite the circumstances. I'll have Hanji retrieve your discharge papers first thing tomorrow." Erwin said before leaving the room.
Petra studied the young man next to her and saw the obvious anxiousness in Eren's face. She knew exactly the reason for his restless appearance and she wanted to help out her friend. The nurse sighed and shuffled out of the room quickly. She walked over to Levi's room and was surprised to see a total of four nurses and three doctors in the room, surrounding Levi. Petra couldn't see what was going on, so when she spotted Hanji amidst the small crowd, she pulled her aside.
"What's going on in here? Did something happen?" The nurse asked.
"Oh! Petra darling! Just the woman I wanted to see. It's Levi, he appears to be waking up. We're all here to see whether the bleed has affected his brain negatively or not. There are too many people in here though, hold on." Hanji explained briefly.
"Everybody except for nurse Petra and I, get out!" The doctor hollered, her booming voice sending the other doctors and nurses fleeing from the room like frightened rats. Hanji smiled proudly to herself and quickly moved to the patient.
His eyes were open and he was groaning a bit. Like she did the first time, Hanji confirmed that Levi was once again breathing on his own, and she removed the oxygen mask.
"E-ren," He muttered hoarsely before closing his eyes again. Petra gaped at the man and then looked over to Hanji, who looked like she was about to burst with excitement.
"Did he just say-?" Petra began to ask before Hanji interrupted her. The taller woman gripped the nurse's shoulders.
"Eren! Yes Petra darling! He said Eren! Oh! Speaking of Eren, we need to get him in here, now." Hanji said, walking toward the door. Petra remembered something and stopped the woman. She pulled out a yellow discharge slip with Erwin's signature on it.
"Can you take this to the main office and get Eren's papers printed? He's being discharged tomorrow," the nurse asked, receiving a gasp from Hanji in return. The doctor snatched the slip and read over it very carefully.
"Our Eren is leaving!?"
Petra nodded and didn't have time to say another word before Hanji stormed out of Levi's room and stumbled into Eren's, practically running to his bedside. Before Eren could even react, Hanji was bawling and squeezing the life out of him with her overpowering hug.
"I'm going to miss you so much! It will be so boring without you here!" She cried, Eren just awkwardly patting her back in response.
I guess she found out I'm leaving then… He thought as the woman pulled back, readjusting her glasses and wiping her eyes. She looked down at Eren and extended her arm out, her voice now completely calm.
"Come with me."
Eren furrowed his brow in puzzlement before reluctantly taking the doctor's hand. She practically pulled him out of bed and dragged him out of his room. Her face became serious and she turned to the confused young man.
"Since you are leaving, I am going to break a rule for you as your going away gift."
Hanji stopped in front of Levi's door, and Eren finally processed what she had meant. She was going to let her see Levi before he left. Hanji pushed the door open and Eren's heart began to race.
"He woke up a few minutes ago." Petra said from across the room, watching as Eren sat down next to Levi and automatically slipped his hand into the other man's. The brunette was startled when he felt an immediate response from Levi. The other man's hand tightened around his own, and he felt a well of emotions stirring inside of him as he squeezed back. Both Petra and Hanji watched the scene play out as if it was a movie. Levi groaned again and shifted some, his grip on the brunette's hand never loosening.
His eyes fluttered open once again. Levi couldn't see anything but bright lights and some darker shapes. He heard voices, but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Levi rolled his head tiredly to the side and tried to focus his vision on the larger shape beside him. He blinked a few times as his senses began returning to him. The first thing he felt was his hand being held by another, it was familiar, comforting. The next thing he realized is that his head was pounding, to which he let out another groan.
"Levi? Levi? Levi can you hear me? I-It's Eren. Do you remember?"
That voice.
"Levi it's me, Eren. Eren Jaeger. Do you remember me?"
He knew that voice. Despite his headache, that voice sounded so sweet in his ears. In that moment, Levi couldn't even comprehend his own name. He was too captivated by the name of the person who was speaking to him. He blinked several times, trying to focus his vision. It was helping a little. Levi could now make out the shape of a person, and he tiredly lifted his other arm, pressing his hand softly against the side of the person's cheek. He felt something wet on his finger so he rubbed his thumb along the skin, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall.
Levi closed his eyes for a moment and let the sound of that sweet voice fill his hazy mind.
"L-Levi. I-It's Eren. I'm here."
This time, he could hear what the wonderful voice was saying and he opened his eyes again. Eren. Eren. I…I remember you, Eren…
"E…Er…Er-en," Levi managed to say, his voice quiet and strained. His arm was growing tired so he set it back on the bed, resting his hand on top of Eren's, which was already intertwined with his other hand. He just rested there for a moment, both of his hands encasing Eren's hand. Levi didn't want to let go. He couldn't let go.
"I'm here Levi, I'm here."
Hanji pulled out her cell phone and opened the camera, pointing it at the sight before her. Eren had once again fallen asleep in the chair holding onto Levi's hand, and the doctor couldn't resist getting a quick photo. She tucked the discharge papers that she had just printed under her arm and focused the camera, snapping a picture of the two men cuddled up together. She cursed under her breath when the flash went off and Eren began to stir.
The sleepy young man just groaned tiredly and buried his face closer to the warmth next to him. Sometime during their slumber, Levi's arm wrapped itself around Eren's shoulder, his other hand still interlocked with the boy's. He squinted his eyes open, his vision still blurry, and he felt a warm heat pressed up against him. Confused, Levi began recalling things in his head, memories beginning to flood back in.
Where am I? I'm in a hospital.
Why? There was a car accident.
What happened? I was in a coma, and then I woke up. Then… I'm not sure, and… who the hell is this?
Levi felt a small squeeze to his hand and he squeezed back, as if on instinct.
Oh, that's right, Eren. The brat who crashed his car into mine, and who has somehow managed to crawl into my life and confuse the shit out of me. Eren fucking Jaeger.
The older man sighed and closed his eyes, lazily running his fingers through the younger man's hair. He thought it was a bit gross that their locked hands had gotten rather sweaty during the night, but that thought quickly left his mind, and he went back to enjoying himself, indulging in the warm feeling that Eren was sharing with him.
"I know you two lovebirds are probably really comfortable right now, but Levi, we gotta take you in for another CT scan in a few minutes."
Levi furrowed his brow and groaned tiredly, unconsciously burying himself deeper against the heat that was Eren. Petra rolled her eyes and couldn't help but smile at the two sleeping men, trudging over to Levi's bedside. Hanji rolled a wheelchair into the room, moving across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. She sighed and leaned in closer to Levi.
"You can cuddle with doll face all you want after you get the scan. So wake up my short little ray of sunshine!" Hanji beamed, receiving another groan in response. Levi opened his eyes and glared at the two women, blinking blankly a few times before looking down at Eren.
"Don't wake him up, just put him in my bed until I get back," Levi croaked, wincing a bit at the roughness of his voice. Without another word Petra walked over and sat Levi up, carefully prying Eren off of him as she helped the other man into the chair. Once Levi was seated, Hanji shuffled to the other side of the bed, picking up Eren bridal style and laying him on the mattress gently as if he weighed as much as a feather. Petra left the room with Levi, pushing him down the hall and toward the scan room.
After the scan was over, Petra began heading back to the room with Levi. Suddenly, Levi gave the nurse a confused look when she pushed him into the supply closet and shut the door. She walked in front of Levi and placed both hands on the armrests of the chair, leaning close to him.
"Before we go back, there are a few things I want to discuss with you, Levi."
"What the hell is this all about?" He asked hoarsely, crossing his arms over his chest.
"This is about Eren. I would consider him to be one of my dear friends, and I don't want to see him get hurt. He's been hurt too many times before. You need to understand that Eren is young and naïve. He's a fragile young man whose emotions are very unstable."
"And what does this have to do with me exactly?"
Petra's stare hardened and she leaned just a little bit closer. Levi wasn't scared of anything, but the look in Petra's eyes was absolutely terrifying. Who knew such a mild-mannered and sweet woman could be so damn intimidating.
"Everything. This has everything to do with you. Eren cares for you deeply. You mean more to him than you will ever know. Why? I don't have a damn clue, but he does. So if you know that you won't be able to reciprocate those feelings, then please, don't give him any false hopes. I wouldn't be able to handle Eren getting hurt like that."
Levi looked the woman dead in the eye and furrowed his brow.
"Listen blondie. We both know that I'm not the nicest guy. I don't run around splaying my emotions for the whole damn world to see. But if you must know. I care about Eren too"
Levi scowled at the floor, kind of embarrassed that he had just been practically forced into confessing any feelings he had for Eren to Petra.
"A lot more than I probably should actually," He mumbled to himself.
Petra's expression softened significantly and she stood straight again, opening the door and pushing Levi back out into the hall.
"That's all I needed to hear," She said softly as the two of them made their way to Levi's room.
"Why is this guy sleeping in Mr. Ackerman's room?"
"How should I know? I just wanted to go the cafeteria!"
"Damn it can you stop thinking about food for like three seconds?! You already got me in trouble once when you were caught stealing from the resident's lunches and I covered your ass!"
"I'm sorry! But I'm starving!"
Eren slowly began waking up from his sleep and his eyes focused on the two strangers arguing and hovering over him.
"Excuse me, but um, who are you guys?"
The two very young doctors turned their heads to face Eren.
"Oh! Hey, I'm Con- I mean Dr. Springer! This is Sasha… or uh… Dr. Blouse."
Eren eyed the two of them and asked, "Oh, okay. Are you guys new or something? I haven't seen you around the hospital before."
Connie walked over to the bedside and tucked his clipboard under his arm so he could rest his hands in his coat pockets.
"Yeah. Kinda. We're interns. Which means we both just finished school and now this is basically like training. The residents in this hospital are the ones who teach and supervise us… by the way, why are you sleeping in Mr. Ackerman's room?"
Eren suddenly looked around at his surroundings and sat up all the way, remembering that he had indeed fallen asleep in Levi's bed… right next to Levi… holding his hand and… cuddling with him.
Oh my god he's not here. That means he saw me being all snuggly with him when he woke up! Eren thought, slightly panicked. He felt his whole face burn red with embarrassment as he eased out of the man's bed, straightening his shirt and readjusting his cast.
"O-Oh sorry. I was um, I just fell asleep here I guess."
Before the two interns could as any more questions, Eren kept his head down as he quickly shuffled out of the room. His steps were halted when he nearly crashed into someone.
"Sorry! I didn't see- Levi!?"
Petra was standing in front of Eren, pushing Levi who was currently in a wheelchair. The nurse sighed breathlessly and groaned.
"Jesus Eren watch where you're going!"
Levi looked up at the brunette, a hint of a smirk on his lips. Eren's face was bright red and he was still trying to comprehend everything.
"Look at that. You almost crashed into me. That's twice in less than month," he teased, finding the mortified expression on the brat's face rather amusing.
"L-Levi, I-I'm so sorry! I didn't see you I swear! I didn't mean it!"
Levi's smirk quickly fell when he realized that Eren was still apologizing about the accident. A pang of guilt rang through him and he gently reached out and grabbed Eren's hand.
"Hey. Eren. I was only teasing you. I'm not upset. You have to stop apologizing for everything. You've done nothing wrong. Understand me?"
The younger man immediately closed his fingers around Levi's hand and nodded, taking a deep breath. Levi soothingly started rubbing his thumb over Eren's knuckles in a comforting manner.
"As much as I'd hate to interrupt the 'moment,' we are standing in the middle of a rather busy hallway, so you two might want to continue this display in Levi's room."
Once he had heard Petra's voice, Eren suddenly became very aware of his surroundings.
"Wha-? W-We weren't having a moment Petra! I mean we were just-!"
"Whatever you say kid, but we do need to move regardless," she chuckled, starting to push Levi back toward his room.
Eren loosened his grip on the man's hand only to have him tighten it. Petra slowed for a moment.
"Oi, brat, walk back with me," Levi said, tugging Eren in his direction. The younger man looked down at their partially interlocked hands before squeezing back and beginning to walk with Petra and Levi.
Once they had gotten back to the room and by the bed, Levi pulled his hand from Eren's grip and placed it on his shoulder.
"Help me up."
The brunette nodded and wrapped his arm around Levi's waist since he only had one functioning arm. Once he had helped the man up onto his feet, his grip slipped a bit, which caused Levi to fall forward against Eren's chest. Eren's already visible blush darkened when the man clutched onto his shirt, and his own hand tightened around Levi's waist. Petra, who had been on the verge of asking them if they needed any help, chose to keep to herself and wait outside the room.
Levi shifted so that both of his arms were wrapped around Eren's neck. The sensation of Levi's breath ghosting over his pulse point sent chills down Eren's body. Soft lips gently brushed against the taller man's ear as one of Levi's hands tangled in the brunette's overgrown hair.
"Eren…" He murmured quietly, inhaling sharply.
Eren's bright green eyes were wide open and his heart was hammering, his entire body had gone stiff. His hand tightened in its place on Levi's hip, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
"L-Levi I-I don't-"
Eren seemed to have brought Levi back to his senses. He took a deep breath as he pulled back slightly to rest his forehead against Eren's shoulder.
"Just… just help me into my bed." He sighed as the hand that was previously resting in the brunette's hair slid down to his shoulder so that he could better balance himself.
Eren readjusted his grip around Levi's waist and did what he was told. Once he was comfortably in his bed, Levi ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, gazing up at Eren, who had an odd expression. It was like a mixture of nervousness, embarrassment, and… disappointment? Levi couldn't quite tell for sure though.
"Goodnight Levi," Eren said quietly before shuffling out of the room.
Levi took yet another deep sigh, falling back against his pillow. He turned his head and glanced up at the clock, chuckling softly to himself.
Stupid brat. It's only three pm.
"So what happened? Eren seemed off when he left." A voice said from the entrance of Levi's room.
"Hm? Oh, hey Petra. Nothing happened," He said, sitting up and resting his cheek against his hand.
"Okay then, I'll come check on you before dinner, see ya later."
The nurse smiled at Levi before exiting the room.
"Yep," he mumbled quietly to himself, falling back against his pillow, "nothing happened at all."
I'll try to update as soon as possible. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Please review, it encourages me to write more