A/N - Sorry about this chapter. Didn't really know how to go about making Eren's situation go from bad to worse. Also, I apologize because it's so short. I'll try to make the next chapters longer. Cheers!

Unable to Fight

Eight days. It had been eight days since he had carried the Corporal's body back from outside the walls. By the time Eren had reached the gate it was obvious Levi had lost too much blood. His usually pristine white shirt was red, his blood soaking into it like it was meant to be there. Eren tore his gaze away from the Corporal, shouting profanities at the gate-men who were yanking at the chains as fast as their muscles allowed. Humanities Strongest had fallen. Just like that.

As soon as the gate was high enough for the horse to pass under, Eren lowered his head and pushed his mare forward galloping towards the hospital. "You'll be fine Levi, he'll be fine." This was the chant Eren had kept looping in his head while he dashed through the narrow streets inside the wall.

It felt like hours before he reached the hospital, though it had probably only been a couple of for a man in such a condition, a couple of minutes could mean his life or death.

Jumping off his horse, Levi in his arms he ran into the fortress taking the cris-crossing hallways leading to the hospital.

The nursed jumped when the door was slammed open by a bloody man holding what seemed to be an even bloodier corpse. "Please! Please anyone, the Corporal needs help!" A second of silent shock ensued, roaming from one nurse to the next until Eren stamped his foot to return their attention to the urgent situation. "He needs help! What are you doing?!" The nurses got up, woken from the trance the sight of the two bloodied men had put on them. One of the nurses ran to fetch Hanji wile the others prepared the needed materials. Another one came up to Eren and instructed him to place Levi on the table. They informed him there was no guarantee of survival.

"Just do it! Make him live!"

"Sir, we will do our best. But for now you have to leave, we cannot operate with someone so dirty near open wounds,

It was harder than it sounded, leaving your almost-dead higher up in such a critical condition. Especially when he had grown so fond of the older man and his stoic expressions.

A knock on the door woke Eren from his light sleep. He hadn't seen Levi since he had left him in the hands of Hanji and the hospital staff. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he crawled out from under his sheets and answered the door. It was Hanji.

"Hi Eren, I'm really sorry I came so early in the morning, but I have some news for you."

"Oh, it must be about Levi.." "What is it? Is it Levi? Is he okay?" Eren's eyes were wide, guessing the worst but hoping for the best, no matter how small the hope seemed.

"He'll live for now." It was hard for Hanji to keep going after seeing the relief on the boys face. "I know, we took a long time but it worked out."

There was a pause as the two didn't know what else to say to each other. Hanji decided to break the silence.

"Though it may only be temporary."

And just as fast as it came, the smile was gone. The relief was gone.

"What do you mean temporary? Does he have something wrong with him? Can he move? Can he speak? Eat?"

"Shh, Eren, he can move, to an extent yes, and he still has that bite in his bark." She offered a comforting smile. "But he won't be able to fight. Ever."

Right now, after everything that had happened, Eren couldn't see why that was such a big problem. He was alive wasn't he? Eren saw Hanji shifting from her left foot to the right then back again while she stuffed her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat.

"You're not understanding Eren. Levi can't walk."

Silence.

Eren laughed, albeit a little hysterically.

"What if that's temporary? What if it justs lasts a couple of days and then he can..." He trailed off as he saw Hanji shake her head.

"I'm sorry Eren, I wish it was temporary too."

"Why?" Eren choked out, the tears he had been holding back finally spilling over onto his cheeks. He wiped them away angrily with his arm. "Fuck..why?"

Hanji could see the guilt written all over the boys face, what made it worse was the fact that she was the one bringing him the news.

"Eren, it's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up over this. He was careless in trying to take down all those abnormals at the same time. By himself too. Plus he tried his luck with that lady titan while he was fighting the rest off, he's lucky he-"

"Stop...Hanji, thanks for the update, I'll go see him tomorrow" His hands were at his sides clenched into fists when he decided to reiterate his question. "Can I go see him tomorrow?"

Hanji nodded. "But not too long, He's still weak and needs a lot of rest."