Adolin stared blankly at his leg—or, what was left of it. Alone with his thoughts, again, he had tossed aside the blankets and kept his gaze riveted on the stump of his leg. He could barely remember the incident. According to Renarin, it was likely a combination of the shock and the medication used to knock him out that had stopped any clear memory from forming. He remembered some things, however...
Emotions, most of all. He had been afraid, but determined; from the moment he had first received the call, to the moment he passed out, he had felt an overwhelming need to protect.
What possessed this country's negligent gun control? That a seventeen-year-old could walk into a school with a pistol was revolting for so many reasons...
None of the children had been hurt, both his memories and the police reports agreed on that. He had arrived with his partner in time to stop the teenager from doing more than yelling threats and waving the weapon around, but somewhere along the way...Adolin had been shot. It had been above the knee, apparently, and shattered the femur irreparably. There had been no chance to of putting it back together; amputation had been his only chance.
...it had saved him, but at a high cost. Still, alive was certainly better than dead. He would try to make the most of it. Later.
When he was finished moping.
Reaching down, he ran a hand over the pristine bandages. His leg...really felt like it was still there. It would be so easy to swing his legs over the side of the bed and stand up. Only the sight before his eyes kept him from doing so.
"Ah, Adolin Kholin? You're looking better," a cheerful woman announced. He hadn't heard her enter the room, and he didn't recognise her. "My name is Maria. I'll be your nurse while Kaladin is off for the next few days."
Kaladin was off? Wait, the man had told him that he had a few days off. Right, he remembered that, now. Still. It was disappointing. He enjoyed Kaladin's wry humour and sharp tongue. And company.
"What do you say, about ready to get out of bed?"
That perked him up, temporarily banishing thoughts of Kaladin. "I can? How—?"
She smiled, stepping aside to gesture to a wheelchair parked out in the hallway.
"Going to take me on the grand tour?" he asked, shooting her his most winning smile. Still, it would have been nice to have someone to share this moment with. His father was at work, and his brother had a study group, though.
She chuckled, the faintest blush coming to her cheeks. "If you want. I figured you had to be getting tired of the ceiling."
"The whole room is disappointingly..."
"White?"
"Yes. White." He broadened the smile, the familiar action of flirting taking his mind from other matters.
"Well then, perhaps we'll visit the children's wing. They love a new face, you're not contagious, and there's colour."
"That sounds fantastic."
She met his smile, helping him into the wheelchair. Despite his flirting, he could not help but wish it was anyone else. Renarin, Father, his cousins, Jasnah and Elhokar, Shallan...or even the other nurse, but they weren't here so he would take what he could. And, dammit, he would smile while he did!
For the next three days, they visited the fourth floor, the children's floor, every day for an hour. It was a refreshing change, and once Renarin even took him. In addition, the nurse began teaching him some simple exercises to keep his body limber, and to begin moving the stump. They had placed restraining bands around what was left of the limb the day before, to keep the muscles from atrophying too much. There was also promise that the exercises would get more in-depth, but for now it was kept simple, so as not to aggravate the healing injury.
He kept his mind focussed on recovery, trying not to let depression crush him too much. At nights, though, when he was alone and it was quiet...that was when he let himself grieve for his lost independence.
Adolin had never been the sort to look down on disabled people. No, in fact he had always admired the will to push on despite disability. Now, though, as he struggled to cope with his own amputation...it crushed in him in a way that was difficult to describe. The ability to see disability in a positive light was completely overshadowed by the feelings of loss and helplessness crushing him recently.
It wasn't...fair.
In the days, he smiled for them. During the nights...he grieved for him.
On the fourth day, the nurse that showed up to check on him was not Maria.
"How you feeling, rich boy?"
Despite himself, Adolin found himself grinning. Not a half-hearted smile, or a flirtatious one...but an honest, open grin.
"Decided to rejoin us, huh nurse boy?"
"Unfortunately," Kaladin remarked, checking the IV. "Off your pain meds yet?"
"I get some when it hurts, but—"
"Yeah, yeah, I read the file."
Adolin scoffed. "So why ask?"
"Because I wanted to remind you that I'm God," the man replied blandly.
Adolin frowned. "Okay, less funny, more offensive."
Kaladin shrugged. "It's who I am."
"Good grief, and I was happy to see you."
"Nabbed a copy of the third Hobbit movie..."
"Getting happy again."
After their exciting viewing of The Lion King several days before, they had chatted briefly about their interests in movies. They had agreed on an interest in fantasy films. Kaladin, it seemed, had remembered that Adolin had missed seeing the movie in theatres.
Kaladin's lips quirked in a knowing smirk. "Try not to worship me too mu—hey!"
Adolin scoffed, watching the magazine he hadn't been reading tumble to the floor at Kaladin's feet. "You have a high opinion of yourself."
Kaladin snorted. "Not really, but you're fun to tease."
Adolin rolled his eyes, laying back. "Right. Well. Make yourself useful and...get me Jell-O."
"...maybe after your physiotherapy session. Mind telling me what you've done so far?"
To business, then. Adolin explained everything he'd been doing, and at the end, Kaladin sighed.
"Useless...look, forget all that. I've drafted a recovery plan for you."
"And what do you know about this?" he challenged.
"More than her. Rehab is what I was trained in. Want to go for a walk while we talk about what you need to do?"
"...can we not go to floor four." He liked kids, but good grief...
"How about the roof?"
Adolin grinned. "Let's go."
The roof was nice, Kaladin thought, watching Adolin stare out over the city. The poor man probably hadn't been outside in days, and Kaladin couldn't care less that they weren't really allowed out here.
"How were your days off?"
Kaladin grunted, shrugging. "Fine?"
"What did you do?"
Confused, Kaladin asked, "...why?"
"Forgive a guy for trying to make a friend..."
"You're really that bored?"
"I'm that bored."
Kaladin grinned. "Well, let's see what we can do about that..."
They went back inside, Kaladin unabashedly wheeling Adolin through the halls. He took the blond to meet some of his friends on-staff, before sneaking him down to the Starbucks.
"We're not allowed to be here, are we?"
Kaladin shrugged. "I won't tell if you don't..."
"Oh hell yes. Coffee."
Kaladin found himself grinning at the eagerness in his expression. "Anything else? On me."
Adolin quirked a brow, then shrugged. "Anything's better than hospital food."
Kaladin stepped forward, placed their order, then wheeled Adolin over to a table, shoving a chair out of the way to park him. Leaving the blond, he collected their tray and carried it over, setting it on the table and taking his own seat.
"...why are you doing all this?"
Unfazed by the question, he shrugged. "You seem like you need a friend," he replied simply.
"...am I that pathetic?" Adolin asked, voice uncharacteristically quiet.
"You are pretty sorry looking, all eighty-five percent of you," Adolin snorted, which Kaladin ignored the interruption, "but mostly you're decent company."
"Thanks?"
Kaladin smirked over the rim of his cup. "Do none of your other friends ever stop by?"
"Of course they do," Adolin muttered, clearly offended. "They have jobs, though..."
"Right. And it's literally my job to babysit you."
"...you're really obnoxious."
"You're welcome for the food."
Adolin sent him a glare. "I can't decide if I should like you, or hate you."
"That sounds like quite the conundrum."
"Definitely hate."
Kaladin chuckled. "I'll take you back to your room, then..."
"Don't you dare, nurse boy."
"I thought you hated me."
"Not as much as I hate that room..."