Kaiya groggily opened her eyes; her headache cutting off any hopes of more sleep. She tried to move, startled, when she was blocked by an arm across her stomach. She rolled her eyes when she remembered Twist insisting on staying. Slowly she moved to look at him. He was sleeping soundly, a small smile gracing his battered features. He probably needed some more antiseptic on a prominent cut on his cheek that was a bit more inflamed than the rest. Kaiya tried to move again, cursing when the entire left side of her body protested. How hard had she hit the rock? Gritting her teeth, she struggled out of bed, taking special care to not wake Twist. She limped her way over to the long mirror she had propped against a wall, biting her lip so she wouldn't make any noise. Slowly, she pulled off her top and dropped her shorts to examine the damage.

The bruise was really hideous. It was an array of nasty colors and stretched all the way down to her calf. It looked the worst at her shoulder and her hip. She could even see the outline of her ribcage surrounded by the purple and green mess of burst veins and damaged muscles. She frowned. Surely she had something in her workshop that would help the bruise heal faster so she could get back to business. Maybe an herbal remedy or some ice pack. She took a step towards the direction of the garage not realizing how weak she already was from standing the few minutes she had. Her leg gave out underneath her and she fell to the ground, letting out a string of curse words as the pain in her left side escalated again. Jet perked up her ears and whined.

"I'm fine girl; just keep it down, kay?"

"Kaiya?"

Shit. Too late.

"Kaiya, what the hell are you doing?"

"I was just going to get some stuff for my bruise and something for that nasty cut on your face." She growled, hoping Twist would just let her go.

"Get back in bed." His voice was commanding in a way Kaiya had never heard before, but that didn't mean she was going to listen.

"I have stuff in my garage, just let me-"

"No."

"Damnit Twist, I'm fine."

"Kaiya, geez," Twist was sitting next to her, handing back her clothes. Kaiya put them on, blushing slightly, but her face was also contorted in pain as she tried to move her arm and leg to get dressed again.

"Kaiya, for once would you just let someone else take care of you?" Twist reprimanded her as he scooped her up and carried her back to bed.

"I can take care of myself!" Kaiya argued back, trying to struggle out of Twist's hold, cursing at her pain.

"Not right now you can't," Twist's firm voice made Kaiya roll her eyes as he laid back down on the bed with her still in her arms. He reached for the bottle of pills and Kaiya's water. She pushed the pain killers away, but took the water draining it quickly, unaware of how thirsty she had been.

"Kaiya, could you for once stop being so stubborn?"

"You're still on that? I'm just fine." Kaiya grumbled.

"No, you're not. You can't even walk! The nurses think you bruised bones. Do you know how difficult that is to do?! Do you know how long that takes to heal?! Weeks, multiple! Not just one day!" Twist sounded exasperated and frazzled. Kaiya had never heard him sound so vulnerable. She looked up at him, blinking in surprise when she saw so much emotion expressed on his face. "They're talking about concussions. Those can take months to heal." His hand moved to cradle her head for emphasis. "Kaiya, you're not invincible. And this isn't the first time you've done this. You mean a lot to this corporation, but even more to me. Don't you get that? It kills me to see you banged up like this. I need you Kaiya, you're my air, my light, my joy in this damned place. Don't you get that? And what about Nicole, and Jet, what would they do without you?" Kaiya was starting to feel the guilt in her chest, but she wouldn't admit it. "Kaiya, please, I don't know why you keep doing these stupid things, but you mean so much to me, and I need you to stop getting so hurt like this. Kaiya I-" Twist broke off his rant, realizing he had said too much. He looked away, embarrassment beginning to show in his face with the rest of the emotions he had let through.

"I-I don't know…" Kaiya trailed off. "I don't have a lot to live for here you know…" She could see the brokenness in Twist's face. But she still didn't know how she felt for him. She leaned her head into his chest, bringing a hand up to rub her throbbing temple. "I just… Want to do what has to be done, no matter what it takes." She looked up at Twist again. He was still looking away. "Twist…" She trailed off again, feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to hold herself together.

"Kaiya, I know you don't feel the same way, but I really do care about you." He was still looking away, but he had begun to rub his thumb in circles on her cheek.

"Not now Twist." Kaiya finally caved. "I can't have this conversation right now." She felt tired and weak, and no matter how hard she struggled to hide it, she knew she was at the end of her rope right now.

"I understand. I'll go get you some more water and some food, okay?"

Kaiya nodded, her headache preventing her from doing anything else. She felt Twist place a light kiss on her forehead; she did nothing to swat it away, nor encourage more. She just let out a pained groan. This was going to be a long recovery.