I woke up in my bed, under a pile of blankets. I blinked up at my ceiling –had that crack gotten bigger?- momentarily disoriented. How had I gotten here? More pressingly, was I alive?
The pain broadsided me a second later and I sucked in a breath, too shocked to scream. Yep. Definitely alive, then. My head was killing me and I couldn't really feel my torso, which was worrying. I was debating whether or not sitting up to check that I was still in one piece was a good idea when a voice spoke.
"You're awake."
"Wh-" I started in surprise, attempting to prop myself up on my elbows so I could see who was in here with me. The action sent a twinge of pain through me and I gritted my teeth.
"Don't move," the voice said disapprovingly, and a cold hand pushed me back down. The Doctor leaned over me, coatless. His hair was a mess and there was a long scratch across the side of his face. It disappeared as I watched, healing up, and I blinked. That was kinda gross. "How are you feeling?"
It took my several tries to find my voice. "Like hell," I finally managed, voice thready. "What happened?"
"I killed the demon and brought you back here. Your injuries were non-lethal."
"Oh. That's good." I didn't ask how he'd gotten me back to my apartment. The sudden image of the Doctor hailing a cab struck me. My very out-of-it mind thought that was hilarious and I started laughing, weakly. The Doctor just stared, looking completely baffled. "Sorry. Um. Thanks for rescuing me. Really. How'd you know I was there, though?"
The Doctor smiled and shrugged. "I am…" His form flickered suddenly, lilting into the old man I'd seen yesterday before solidifying back into the dandyish appearance I was used to. Watching him left a blurred after print in my eyes that made me feel slightly nauseous. "…very knowledgeable," he finished.
"Hey," I said, cottoning on. "You were following me?" The Doctor smiled again but didn't say anything. On one hand, that was kind of creepy, but on the other…I really think I would've died if he hadn't been there.
"I like to stay on top of things. I was also concerned there might be danger." His face darkened and he glanced, eyes narrowing. "I unfortunately turned out to be right."
"No kidding." I tried to turn my head so I could look at him better. Bad move. A wave of pain slammed into me and I gasped. The Doctor moved his gaze back onto me, instantly concerned.
"I told you not to move."
"Sorry." I bit my lip. "Um. How bad is it?" I waved a hand above the covers, suddenly realizing I was shirtless. I wasn't sure how I felt about having the Doctor undress me. "Did it ruin my astonishingly good looks?" I joked, trying to distract myself from the pain.
"You will be fine. Look." The Doctor sat down on the bed next to me and pulled back the blankets. The cold air in my apartment assaulted me and I shivered.
"Um. Can I sit up?" Why I was asking for permission I didn't know. The Doctor eyed me for a moment before nodding reluctantly. I sat up slowly, trying to minimalize the pain. It still hurt like hell, though. I took a deep breath and steeled myself to look down, expecting to see wounds all over my chest.
Nothing. There was nothing there. The skin was unbroken and looked perfectly normal. "W…" I trailed off, at a loss for words. "What?"
"A healing spell," the Doctor said by way of explanation. "I fixed the physical damage, but the feeling of pain will last for a while. My apologies."
"How did you do that?" I goggled at him. I hadn't known something like that was even possible. The Doctor looked puzzled.
"It is not a very difficult spell. Can you not do it?"
"No. I can't even heal a paper cut."
"Oh." The Doctor leaned back, studying me with those intense blue eyes. I swallowed, suddenly feeling very vulnerable without my shirt. He moved forward abruptly, trailing a finger along my collarbone. I yelped and batted his hand away. The Doctor drew back, looking affronted.
"S-sorry," I stammered out. "Your hands are cold."
"Hmm." The Doctor made a noncommittal noise. He grabbed one of my hands and held it in his own, scrutinizing it intently.
"What are you doing?"
"You are very thin," he said solemnly, dropping my hand. If I were a more paranoid person I would've thought he had plans to eat me. Ha.
"Can you not criticize my body?" I tried to scoot away. Discreetly. The Doctor noticed and narrowed his eyes. I offered him a weak smile.
"Do you eat enough?" He actually sounded distressed, which just freaked me out. Why would a faerie be so interested in someone like me?
"Probably not," I admitted. "I don't really have a lot of money." I was doing okay at the moment, but there had been times in the past where I'd had to skip meals.
"I see." The Doctor paused for a second, tipping his head to the side. "Lie back down," he said commandingly. I wasn't about to argue. It was cold without the blankets and besides, I was feeling pretty exhausted.
"Don't mess my place up." I eyed him, yawning. Falling sleep in front of a faerie was probably a very bad idea, but I'd never been one for doing the smart thing. The Doctor shook his head. He might've smiled; my eyes had decided to stop focusing on stuff.
"Far be it from me to create a mess. Go back to sleep."
"Ok," I muttered, burrowing under the blankets. I blacked out pretty quickly.