Five curled around her covers, inhaling deeply and gradually returning to consciousness. She opened her eyes slowly and saw the somewhat familiar area in which she now lay.

It was a room in the hospital, and as she took it in, the events of the night before seeped back into her brain. She could only vaguely remember the end—Dr. Myers had pierced her skin with a syringe, and then everything had gone black. But... the doctor hadn't been the only one to help her.

Five's eyes fell on a figure at the foot of her bed. Sam was sprawled out in a chair—that couldn't have been comfortable—and he was fast asleep. She remembered stumbling back into Abel and refusing to stop until...

Oh, no.

Five cringed. All of Abel had been standing around her and Sam as she sobbed into his shoulder. She had made a fool of herself, and Sam probably thought she was crazy now. She had put him in a horrible position.

Five sat up slowly, her entire body sore. As she began stretching out her aching arms, Dr. Myers strode into the room. Her eyes fell on the runner, and then Sam, and her mouth twitched warmly.

"Good morning, Five," she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"Um... I hurt all over," Five admitted. Her arms and legs were covered in scratches from the tree branches and bug bites.

"Not too surprising," the doctor replied, handing her a glass of water and some pills. As Five gulped down the medication, Dr. Myers handed her some bandages and disinfectant. "This should do for all the scratches."

"Thank you." The runner was touched at the doctor's kindness. "And... and thank you for yesterday. I'm sorry I was such a mess."

"You were apologizing yesterday, too," Dr. Myers said. "Don't. You were almost delirious from exhaustion. Stranded for hours away from base, and at night too, so I'm not surprised."

Five sighed and looked at Sam. "Was I in that bad of shape that you had him watch over me last night?"

Dr. Myers raised her eyebrows. "He refused to leave. He could have at any time."

"R... really?"

The doctor nodded and handed Five some fresh clothing. She was still in the running uniform from the night before.

"There's a shower down the hall. It doesn't have that much water left in the tank, and it's all cold, but you should clean up. Can you walk?"

Five frowned and stood gingerly; a sharp pain shot down her calf and she inhaled sharply. She could walk, but moving anywhere fast was out of the question.

"You'll have to take a break from running," Dr. Myers told her, leading her to the bathroom. "You have to let your muscles heal before you go out on any missions again."

"Do you know how long that will take?" Five asked worriedly. "I still have to earn my keep here..."

"Five, we're not going to kick you out because you got injured," the doctor replied. "It's not major. It should take anywhere from one to three weeks to heal."

After Five showered and changed, she grabbed some breakfast—some almost-stale slices of bread and dried fruit—and shambled back to the hospital room. When she arrived, Sam was still asleep, his neck twisted at an awkward angle. He would be sore when he woke up.

"Sam?" she said gently, tapping his knee. "Sam, wake up."

The radio controller jerked awake and blinked rapidly.

"Five!" he exclaimed, sitting up straight instantly. "You're up! How are you feeling?"

"Better," she smiled, handing him some breakfast and sitting on the end of the bed. "You?"

"Fine, just fine," he said, popping dried apricots into his mouth. "You're the one who was stranded yesterday!"

Five looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"How can you possibly still be apologizing for that? It's not—"

"No, not about that," Five interrupted. "About—about how I came back. And, like, attacked you. Everyone was watching. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I wasn't embarrassed," he shrugged. "I wanted to help. I was just… I didn't expect it, that's all."

"It was partly because of your transmission," Five admitted. "I wanted to—well—" Her face reddened. "I wanted to comfort you, I guess."

Sam stared. "You—did you hear all that?"

"I'm sorry about your sister," she uttered, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. "I'm so sorry. About failing French and losing your family and the roll cakes and that boy from your lectures." She swallowed hard. "I just wanted you to be okay when I came back and I didn't know what else to do."

After a moment, Sam slowly stood up and sat beside Five on the hospital bed.

"And now, I've just made things worse," Five continued miserably. "Everyone saw us yesterday. They'll start gossiping about you. You don't deserve that."

"Five," Sam said firmly. "I don't care."

She looked up at him. "You don't?"

"I don't. And do you know what?"

"What?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Dr. Myers entered the room at that moment.

Five realized just how close she was sitting to Sam and they jumped away from each other hastily.

"It's about time you two had breakfast," the doctor said briskly. "We have a lot to do today. Sam, Runners Seven and Four are ready to head out, so you need to go back to the comms. Five, since you're not a runner for the next couple weeks, we could use your help with other jobs around the township." She eyed them closely. "Hop to it before I put you both to bed rest for fever. Your faces are certainly red enough to merit that."