Here's a nice long chapter for y'all! I think there's only 2 more after this. haha. Hope you enjoy.

Torment

Chapter Eight

Emerald eyes slowly blinked as they adjusted to the lack of lighting. The room glowed in the late afternoon sun that was now setting on the horizon. He attempted to brush the stray hairs from his vision but found his hands bounded to the railing. The large handcuff rattled loudly in protest with the rebellious arm. He frowned at the situation, merely using his other arm to do the simple task. He sighed as he studied the bleeping monitors beside him before turning to assess his injuries himself. He could only vaguely recall the details from memory. Although his eyes fell on a certain blonde as he gazed downwards. She was sound asleep, her head resting against his bed. He could of touched her hair if he wanted to. He was happy she was okay. Looking up at the ceiling slowly he pondered his thoughts not knowing what to do next. Maybe he'd be shipped of to jail, maybe not. Although it didn't really matter to him, there wasn't anything he could go back to now.

An irritating burning was felt through his nostril, becoming more annoying by the second. He hated being put on oxygen, but it couldn't be helped as he doubted he had the lung capacity to breathe himself given his current state. The constant hissing of air leaking caused his memory to become increasing clear. He had been shot. It was a miracle he was still alive, three chest wounds rarely had such an outcome. His blood pressure was really low too to top it off. Leaving death a looming figure at the sign of infections or clotting problems, it wouldn't take much. It sucked being a doctor sometimes, you couldn't be spared the details of your own injuries. He took a deep breathe as he looked up at the ceiling, slowly exhaling as he tried to relax. Even that sent a wave of searing hot pain through his chest.

His head fell to the side, finding little interest in the ceilings blandness. He jumped in surprise as he found amber orbs stare back at him, another wave of pain shooting across his chest. Clutching his chest he tried to sit upright to easy the pressure, but that too did little to help as the pain continued to pulse. Beside him the machines started to chime, noting the increase in heartrate. He sunk back into the hard mattress, trying his best to not move. Closing his eyes, he attempted to will the pain away hoping to settle himself down. Trying to sit up really wasn't a bright idea.

He opened his eye's once more, only to find the blonde's gaze still unrelenting. He smirked at the situation, it was as if the world was upside down. She got the job of watchful babysitter now. The corners of her mouth frowned at his response but he knew how it probably looked. Motioning toward his arm he rattled the shackle, hoping she'd understand. The blonde raised her eyebrows in response, obviously not finding the humour in the situation. His expression changed to one of confusion. Her presence was rather odd to him, he didn't know why she was still here. She looked as if she was in deep thought, trying to decide on something before she spoke. He noticed the looming darkness in her eyes, she seemed to be fighting back so much sadness. Her regular bold fierceness was no where to be seen.

Another loud exhale came the blue haired man as he was now slightly annoyed at the long silence, the blonde staying eerily quiet. He cringed as a small pain shot through his chest once again, he really wasn't in that great of shape to be doing much of anything. Even breathing seemed like such a hard task. Once again he closed his eyes, focusing on each breathe. The blonde was an intriguing individual, a certain perplexity came about her odd actions. A sudden sharp jab in his leg caused him to open an eye lazily to see what the problem was.

"You.." she said slowly, picking her words carefully. A long silence followed as she thought. "Thank you Dino" immediately bowing her head. It took him a moment to realized what she'd said. Why was she thanking him? He sighed at the predicament, running a hand through his hair.

"It's Athrun" he said coarsely, deciding to start with the easiest of things first. She tilted her head at the response, she wasn't sure not to make of it. Dino was a mere alias.

"For saving Kira.. and me" her voice became increasing quieter with each word. They weren't easy words for Cagalli to say, but they had to be said. She had Kira because of him, the one person she had left. The blonde shrunk back in her chair, pulling her legs to her chest as if to hide something. Her expression was one that showed a much more vulnerable side of her. He closed his eyes once again, he didn't like the situation at all. It didn't make him feel any better about what he'd done.

"Don't" he said with a small grunt of pain. It was becoming annoying that each little breathe and movement was increasingly more painful then the previous. Let alone the added guilt. The blonde was far from okay and he had played a heavy role in her current state. She was a wreck and he couldn't take looking at the carnage infront of him. " I don't... deserve it" the blue haired man said between short breathes. He cringed, the pain was really something, and it was beginning to cloud his thoughts. There was the soft sound of the blonde stirring, most likely getting up out of the chair. Moments later he heard the door slide shut, she'd left the room. It did little to ease his discomfort. He opened his eyes to find the room was now empty, allowing his guilt to reside into the back of his mind. Tiredness was becoming more persistent by the moment, maybe it would be best to deal with it later and merely rest for now. It wasn't like he'd be running anywhere anytime soon.

He intently watched the monitors beside him, preoccupying his bothersome thoughts when the door swung open. This time an additional two people entered along with the blonde into the small room. He watched one of the men go to his bed side, checking various monitors while jotting down notes. Most likely a doctor much like himself. The other two stood off to the side arguing back and fourth.

"Kira be reasonable, he saved you too" came the angry voice of the blonde.

"So, he still helped them"

"He got me out of there alive"

"After what point, he was only trying to right his own wrongs"

"I'm only asking you remove the handcuff, its not like he's going to run"

"Why do you care Cagalli"

"Because he..saved you... and me. Its the least we could do"

"That's a poor answer"

"God dammit Kira"

"Okay okay, I'm posting someone to the outside door though. I don't trust him" Athrun cocked his head to one side at the statement, it struck him as odd. He watched the brown haired man approach his bedside, withdrawing a key from his back pocket. The man glared him down as he undid the shackle, he was wasn't happy at all with the decision. The blue haired man flicked his eye's to look at the blonde who was standing in the corner. She had quite the poker face, as her eyes already resumed the distant away look. The brunette noticed the shifted gaze and immediately dropped handcuffs on top of his chest sending unimaginable pain throughout his whole body. He knew where he was looking at and it angered him. It would make him happy to do nothing better than to sock him in the gut, but he withheld it. The man immediately left the room afterwards in a huff, the blonde was truly being silly. Athrun gritted his teeth in pain, was that really necessary? He was already in pain without heavy cast iron shackles being tossed on top of sore wounds.

"How's the pain?"the doctor said, talking for the first since he entered the room. He tilted his head side to side, it was annoying but it could of been worst. He scribbled down more notes before hitting a few more buttons on the machine. Athrun could feel the tiredness tugging on his eyes, his injuries were taking a lot out of him really quickly. He held up his now free hand hand, admiring it. Focusing past his hand he could see the blonde. She was certainly an odd one.

XXX

Weeks passed before Athrun had ever regained enough strength to start getting back on his feet. Chest wounds always took a long time to heal, it was an annoying fact. Even now he now he could hardly manage to walk, his long bed stay withering away his strength. He pulled himself upright, his chest pulsing like terrible bruise at the strain. Instinctively he grabbed his torso with a hand as if to brush the pain away. Crossing his legs under him, he held his hand out infront of him. Clenching and unclenching his hand. He still felt so weak. The lack progression was annoying. He had yet to deal with the waiting problem of what to do once discharged, which could be any day now. There was no where to go for him, and he didn't have a single piece of paper to his name. To the world he didn't exist. Then again maybe he'd be locked up in prison.

Him and the blonde had been locked up in this hospital the full duration since his capture. Although it wasn't required to be a hospital , he merely needed bed rest and the occasional pain killer and the blonde was physically unhurt. It was probably a precaution should anyone be looking for the blonde, they didn't like loose ends and he was sure they'd be out to get her. He'd also had his game of twenty questions with the military answering various questions about the organization. Even though he had done the bidding for them for the last two years, he knew minimal information. On top of that he still didn't know if he was heading to a life in prison or not. He was still waiting to hear back on the decision.

He heard the door open to his right and immediately knew who it was. The blonde frequently stopped by, staying for up to hours at a time. She rarely ever said anything, merely hovering like a ghost. It always looked like she was troubled with something but he'd never brought himself to ask, it wasn't in his place. Maybe she had something on her mind she wanted to say. He sighed, karma was truly terrible. There was a certain guilt about her presence. He had to watch the result of his actions everyday play out in front of him, and it was heartbreaking. The blonde was a fragment of her former self, hiding within the darkness of fear. He knew the look from anywhere, it'd stared back at himself in the mirrors for years now. A light rustle was heard as she took a seat, curling her legs towards her chest. She seemed more conflicted then usual, her mind deep in thought. There was a long silence that seem to eat away at her as her mind sifted through various information. He sighed as he hunched over to rest his head on his hand, watching the blonde from the corner of his eye. Just what was she thinking behind those amber eyes.

"You're discharged tomorrow" she said averting her eyes towards ground. It was now very apparent something was bugging her and he could only guess what it was.

"and I'll be shipped off to prison, correct?" Athrun said as rubbed his head. Atleast now he didn't have to worry about where he could go, he'd have no say.

"No, charges were dropped" the blonde said as she went back to watching him, her head resting on top of her knees. He raised an eyebrow at the behaviour, it didn't make sense. There was a long silence, as he tried to process what she said. It was like he had been given a second chance at life, he wasn't expecting that. He looked at Cagalli again, trying to figure out the odd reaction.

"You're unhappy with the decision I take it" he said, gazing out the window. Maybe it was anger that had kept her coming back.

"No, I'm not" she said, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. It was really starting to confuse him, he couldn't understand the disappointment that resided in her eyes. She was upset about something. Another long silence followed as they both thought about the situation at hand.

"Athrun..." his ear twitched at the use of his name, that was a first. "Where are you going to go, I mean. Your not going back..." she said, her expression changing to one of concern. Yet another first for the blonde, this was as personal as she had gotten in the time he'd known him. The woman was really something, completely unpredictable and it was becoming increasingly intriguing to him.

"No, I'm not. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet" he said bitterly. He was a ghost prone to wander alone. She shifted in her seat, becoming increasingly fidgety. Something was really bothering her and he still couldn't understand what. Maybe it was her father death finally getting to her, she never really mourned his death aside from the day she found out. If she wasn't following the brunette around she was watching over him. She always kept herself preoccupied somehow.

"So your just going to leave?"

"Yeup" there really wasn't any other choice for him, he couldn't just stay here. The blonde frowned at the response, she didn't like it.

"Don't" she said, suddenly getting to her feet. Both the response and movement startling him. Just where was this conversation going, what was she getting at. He stayed quiet hoping she'd explain her statement. "I mean, don't go"

"Why would I stay here, I don't exactly enjoy looking at what I've done" he said, laying back in his bed. The guilt he got from just seeing her was enough for him to lose his appetite. He clenched his fist in anger, his blind behaviour was infuriating. Why did he ever allow such things to happen.

"You can't blame yourself... I don't blame you...you shouldn't. I mean...You lost your family, you weren't thinking. Hell, I wasn't even thinking in the exact same situation. It's understandable" she said, her voice coming increasingly louder with each word.

"It doesn't make it right" he said, watching the blonde intently. He could of swore he saw flicker of a flame behind her eyes, the fiery opinionated self was scratching at the surface to be let free.

"Where are you going if you leave"

"I don't know" he repeated, sighing shortly after. She was really talkative today.

"Come back state side with me for a while... Until you can get back up on your feet" she said watching for his reaction.

"Why. Do you not remember what I've done?" he said in disbelief. The blonde had truly lost her mind now, just where was this all coming from. She took a few deep breathes, carefully choosing her words.

"I know, I know. But I owe you at least this much. I'm grateful for what you did and you don't deserve to dumped on the side of the road" she said, once again fidgeting. It seemed like there was something else on her mind. He frowned at the response, it really only added to his guilt.

"I don't need pity" he snapped, coming off slightly upset.

"It's not pity..." She said sighing. "You just shouldn't be alone" He could see where she was coming from. Her mere moments in nothingness allowed her to see the horrible truth within it. Unlike him, she would do the right thing.

"Fine, just for a little while" he said sighing. Help would be good. He'd stay no longer then what was needed to get back on his feet again.

and another chapter bites the dust! hahaah, I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in two day :D