Eva walked inside and narrowed her eyes at the Ocelot Major. She knew that he would be keeping a close watch on Snake so that he wouldn`t escape. His back was towards her, legs over Snake`s bed as if he owned the place. She glared at the form and turned around to leave, a perfectly planned visit ruined. No worries, she assured herself, I`ll just drop by later.

His eyes flew open just as he felt the covers shift under his foot. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the lying form to make sure that he had indeed moved. He saw that the ward lights were turned on and the window behind the bed was showing the darkened sky, Damn. He had slept through the whole day. Snake`s body shifted slightly again. This time Ocelot was quicker to follow. He retreated his legs, got up and started walking at a brisk pace towards the door. Taking a fleeting glance back.

Exiting it, he saw two guards, not the one on previous duty, standing near the door. He ran a hand through his hair, ignoring their eyes and left for his room.

There was warmth, slow and steady, coursing through his legs to all parts of his body, calming him. He didn`t know where he was or why couldn`t he open his eyes, all he could feel was a slight throbbing pain in his right leg, it was somewhat numbed by the other comforting sensation. He didn't know how long it took till he could find the energy to move. But as soon as he got it, he felt the comforter being taken off from his legs. He wanted to scream, he wanted it back, because as soon as he felt the weight being lifted the warmth started to disintegrate, intensifying the pain. He opened his eyes and tried to look around, the bright light stung and he couldn`t find the energy move his stiffened neck muscles. He suddenly remembered his last experience and judged that he was in some sort of treatment room.

His throat felt dry and he wanted water. He was about to call out for someone when he saw a shadow in the light, narrowing his eyes he saw a man with a stethoscope hanging from his neck. Probably a medic. He came closer and asked, "how do you feel?"

"water." He was surprised at the croaky edge to his voice. He tried to sit up, each fiber of his body aching in the process. Getting himself up with a great deal of difficulty, Snake took the glass being offered to him with somewhat shaking hand and brought it to his lips.

"I`m Sergeikh and I would appreciate it if you don`t try anything suspicious while you are here. There`s a patrol outside and it would be best if you let me treat to you without any extra attention."

Snake handed the glass back, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"eighteen hours."

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the pillow with a soft thump. Rubbing his temples, he didn`t care to turn his head sideways to see the one entering the ward.

Eva smiled to herself before nodding to the Doctor and walking up to the very edge of Snake`s bed.

"what happened?" Her voice had a slightly accusing edge to it and he didn`t like it.

He opened his eyes and lifted himself up again, leaning back at the bed so that he was half sitting. The pain in his leg was still unbearable. Sergeikh raised his eyebrows slowly and turned around for his office, saying over his shoulder, "I`ll be back for the medicine later."

Once he was gone, Eva advanced. To his great detest, she ran her fingers through his tangled hair. He repressed the urge to wince and she was mislead, "does it hurt much? Your leg?"

"no." His voice was still low and husky. Every word cost a dollar.

She nodded understandingly. Placing her hand under his leg, earning a wince from him, she towed it a little to the other side to make room for herself on the bed. Snake sneaked a glance at the chair longingly, if only she could have used that instead. She sat near his legs and let out a sigh as if she had been holding it in for a long time.

"now," She looked him straight in the eyes, "what did happen?"

Snake furrowed his eyebrows slowly, "I-I don`t remember." He did. He remembered it well. Each and every bit of detail. The look of determination in those pale orbs while they stared at him. The dominance as he took charge. The feel of those cold lips against his. The heat…

She seemed to buy it, "it`ll come around. How long have you been up?"

"Just now." he looked down at his clothes and noticed the change. He frowned and looked up at her again.

"I`d been meaning to visit you since morning but the security here is tight."

He looked at the main door and raised his eyebrows, trying to figure out how many people did it take to keep an unarmed, injured soldier hospitalized.

"Anyways," Eva went on, noticing his discomfort, "this is great," she played with a strand of hair falling over her forehead, "I mean now you are out of the cell and as soon as you start to feel better, we`ll plan something."

He didn`t know what to say, he was still confused as to why had Ocelot done this to him. Thinking of the cat brought in with the previous night`s experience again and he didn`t want to do the reminiscence right now. It didn`t do much against the knot at the pit of his stomach.

Eva felt the sudden stiffness in his posture and offered, "I know you`ve been hungry, do you want to have anything?"

His distant eyes focused on her face and he shook his head, "I`m fine." He wasn`t.

She sat there for a long while, saying things which she thought would prove to be somewhat comforting. He didn`t know how long had it taken till the medic walked out again, and Eva jumped off the bed. She straightened up and masked her face with an incensed façade, "We`ll meet soon." She turned around to leave, not before stealing a smile to him and winking before strolling away.

Sergeikh cleared his throat, "have you had anything to eat?"

Snake shook his head, although he knew that he might be hungry but he didn't feel like it at the moment.

"you can`t take the medicine then." He picked up a piece of bread from a plate on his bed-side table and urged it forwards. Snake looked at it apathetically and turned away.

Sergeikh shrugged, "I`ll just have to give you a shot."

"fine." He said and pulled over his sleeve. He watched as the doctor pulled out a syringe and filled it with a pale blue liquid. He rubbed Snake`s skin with an alcohol wet cotton and pressed the sharp needle in. As the contents started to drain inside his body, he felt waves of numbness wash over him, the light ahead of him felt dimmer. He tried to focus on the doctor`s face and asked, his sentence almost incoherent, "what is this?"

"Anesthesia." Sergeikh pulled the empty syringe out and threw it into the waste basket under the bed. He then nodded at the unconscious form before tugging his body lower into the bed till he was lying straight, and walked back into his office.

It was somewhat more disturbing, even more than the time he`d seen the blood. Because it made the other seem like he was dependant. Ocelot gritted his teeth as he crossed the distance towards the bed. A thin tube extending from the insertion on his left forearm ended up in the glucose bag hanging from the stand at the other side of the bed. He stood near the bed and observed the drops drip slowly, the pace at which they were entering into the other`s blood. He didn`t like it.

Sergeikh walked out of his office as if on cue and answered Ocelot`s unasked question, "he was refusing to ingest."

He closed his eyes in order to calm himself down and turned to Snake again, a slight glare in place. "when will he be waking up?"

"not before morning." Sergeikh said and walked up to take his temperature, "you`re staying for the night?" it wasn`t much of a question, just a statement of reassurance.

Ocelot nodded.

The medic looked up at him from the thermometer and raised his eyebrows, "is it a personal supervision?"

"yes, you can call it that." He sighed, not meeting the doctor`s gaze. Sergeikh shrugged and went back into his office, not sure whether he should feel sorry for Snake for having such a close watch out on him.

Ocelot sat back into his original seat and propped his legs up on the other`s. As he watched the fluid trickling down, he vowed to himself that he was going to take this damn thing off. Snake had his own mouth so why rely on something that meager? He narrowed his eyes at the side of the other`s face, getting irritated at his childish behavior. Pulling out his revolver he started the spinning again, pensively charging away another night.