"Hey Princess, I come bearing gifts," Lance sang out as he clattered into Allura's room. "Okay, they're not from me, they're from the school children in Onoia, "he said, naming a village near the Castle, "but I get some brownie points for bringing them in, right?"
He set the huge arrangement of flowers down on a table near the bed. "The kids remembered how pretty you found the garden in the schoolyard so each of them chose a flower for you. They smell good, don't they?"
"We weren't quite sure that we could bring them in. Gorma was worrying about how you might react to the pollen, since you needed a little help breathing last night. But since you're doing so much better this morning, he decided to give you a break and allow us to bring in your flowers."
Lance glanced at the bouquet critically and snapped off a couple of dead leaves. "Keith left the final decision to Gorma, you see, but of course, the skipper made his wishes clear. He reminded everyone of how you hated the antiseptic smell of hospital rooms."
He sank down onto a chair next to the bed. "Of course, that was all the prompting that Nanny needed. She sniffed and said that HE was probably the only thing you were smelling, considering how he hadn't taken a bath in a while and ordered him back to quarters to shower and change his clothes."
A devilish grin crossed Lance's face as he launched into an impressive imitation of Nanny's thick burr. "Ack! 'Tis not worthy to be a Prince, you are. Look at you! Your clothes are all rumpled and creased and you smell like you have not been touched by water in almost a week."
"It was quite an interesting sight," Lance laughed, "I wouldn't have thought it possible, but Keith's backbone collapsed before the force of Hurricane Nanny. She had him meekly marching off to your quarters to change with few bursts of wind."
"So you'll have to bear with me for a while. Keith refused to budge unless one of us kept you company... He didn't want you to wake up and find yourself alone." Lance continued, moving his chair closer to the bed and looking down upon the princess' still form.
He could almost believe that she was sleeping, but the fragility in the stillness of her form reminded him otherwise. He reached out and took her hand. He was shocked by how lifeless it felt and suddenly understood why Keith made him promise to stay with her.
He had the feeling that if he glanced away, she might lose her frail grip on the the world. He held her hand tighter to prevent that from happening. He cleared his throat and continued to speak, striving for an atmosphere of flippant normalcy.
"There's crowd of people outside the Castle asking about you. Coran has been giving them updates on your condition, but it's not satisfying them. Pidge says that they're demanding to hear from Keith, but none of us want us to let them see him."
"It's not that he looks bad. From the outside, he looks the same way that he always had, but if you manage to see the expression on his eyes, you'll see that he looks like shit." Lance flinched guiltily, half expecting Allura to sit up and start scolding him. "Sorry, I know you don't like it when we swear, but I couldn't think of a better way to describe it."
"He's exhausted, Princess. Now, you know that he doesn't need much sleep, but I think he hasn't really slept since you disappeared. He loves you so much. You need to wake up for his sake, because without you, he's been going through the motions, but it's as though he's not really there."
"If you go Al, he's going to follow you. So you have to stay with us for his sake. " Lance paused, desperately hoping for a response, but there was none. If it hadn't been for the barely perceptible rise and fall of her chest, he wouldn't have believed that Allura was just sleeping.
"Do you think she hears us?"
Lance started at the sound of Keith's voice and turned to face him. Although the Captain had showered and changed his clothes, it was obvious that he hadn't taken the time to shave. His haggard face was covered with stubble.
"I don't know, but I'd like to think so," Lance said as he stood up and let go of Allura's hand, yielding his place beside the princess to the man whose rightful place it was.
Keith approached the bed and stood over it. His expression as he looked at his wife was a mixture of tenderness and despair. The oxygen tubes were gone now and Allura was breathing normally on her own, but to his worried eyes, she still looked wan and pale.
"Gorma says she can hear us," Keith said softly, reaching out to stroke a lock of golden hair away from his wife's forehead, noticing how the silky strands wrapped around his fingers and seemed to cling to them.
They kept vigil in silence for a while before Keith lifted his eyes to Lance's. "She still hasn't woken up. Although Gorma says it should be anytime now." He sighed heavily, "She'd better. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't."
Lance glanced away. He couldn't bear to meet Keith's eyes — the pain in them was too intense, too private for another to see. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he reached out and grasped his friend's shoulder, offering silent support.
Allura awakened slowly. The air around her seemed too thick to breathe and there was a wooshing sound in her head that reminded her of waves lapping gently against the lakeshore. She opened her eyes and found herself in a dimly lit hospital room, filled with the sound of soft music.
"Hi there, Sunshine," Keith greeted her, watching her struggle for consciousness. The small hand he held in his own flexed once, then lay still again. "Come, on Ally, don't go back just yet. It's been a while since I saw those pretty blue eyes."
She was still pale, he though, much too pale, but she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her sooty lashes flickered once again before her eyes opened. Holding his breath, he waited for them to focus.
"Keith?" she ventured.
Her voice sounded hollow and lifeless, but Keith's dark eyes warmed with pleasure and relief nonetheless. He watched, captivated, as the familiar sparkle returned to her crystal blue eyes. He kissed the slender fingers in the hand he held and smiled at her tenderly. "Yeah, Sunshine, it's me. I'm right here."
"I had a bad dream," she whispered weakly, her eyes closing once again.
"It's over now. You're here with me. I'll take care of you, I promise," he said huskily, as he bent down over her. He wanted to tell her so many things, but all he could manage was a husky question. "How do you feel?'
"Tired... Achy," Allura tentatively reached out and traced the line of his jaw with a slender finger. The unfamiliar sandpaper feel of the stubble on his cheeks and chin caused a small confused frown to form on her face.
"Gorma fixed you all up. You just need to get some more rest now," he said shakily.
"Can't sleep... The nightmares will come back..." Allura shook her head and confessed in a broken whisper. "Stay with me, please?" she asked, her voice a thready whisper laced with remembered terror. "Like you did before?"
"Of course," Keith agreed, grateful for the chance to hold her once again. "Go to sleep, Sunshine, I'll keep the nightmares away." Rising from his chair, he lay down beside her on the bed, carefully avoiding all the tubes connecting her to the monitors around her bed.
He felt her sigh and relax into him as he held her. He sank back against the pillows, the tension draining from him as he felt the warmth of her body beside him. Smiling contentedly, he pressed a kiss onto her honey-blonde head and drifted to sleep.