Disclaimer: WEP owns Voltron and all its characters.
Beta: Thanks again to Dawn! I haven't run her off… yet. ;-)
This is the second installment in my "Chivalry" arc. 1. Chivalry, 2. Lion House Restored
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is DotU in flavor but is AU in some ways. If you've read Chivalry, then you have a 'feel' for the setting. Hope you enjoy the story.
Chapter Four
Even though Gorma had told Lance that Keith wouldn't awake until morning, he wanted to keep his vigil in case he did wake up early. Lance worked on arranging his chair with some extra pillows and used the small table to prop up his feet. Having settled himself in the best way he could with the furniture and amenities he had to work with, he closed his eyes and contemplated what they could do to help Keith. As he drifted off to sleep, he realized there probably wasn't much they could do.
Lance opened his eyes as he heard the door open to admit a nurse. Stretching and yawning, he turned to watch Nurse Olga check on Keith's IVs and monitors. What made his mouth snap was the fact that Keith was awake and smiling at him.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Keith snickered at him. "I've been awake for about an hour."
Standing to stretch his aching back, he moved out of the way so Olga could exit. "Yeah, well, you went to sleep earlier too." Lance waited for Keith to say something about what had gone on yesterday, but nothing came. "Well?" prompted Lance.
Keith looked at his friend with complete innocence. "Well, what?"
Dropping back into the chair and throwing his feet back up on the table, he looked at Keith. He had to admit, Keith was a master at evasion – as a pilot in the air and answering questions on the ground. "Are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?"
Shrugging his shoulders and still feigning innocence, he said, "I thought Allura and I explained all that happened pretty well. Did you have more questions?" Keith knew what Lance was fishing for, and it was going to be hard to evade the hard questions when he was trapped in bed. He was contemplating buzzing for the nurse to ask about his release when Lance started laughing.
"I can't believe you. You were really going to try to hide it… again." Seeing that Keith wasn't going to say anything, he continued, "Okay friend, here it is. I know everything."
Shaking his head, Keith said, "I really don't know what you're talking about. What do you know?"
Steepling his fingers in front of him, Lance elaborated, "Late yesterday afternoon, I had a call from Nanny. She and Coran needed help getting you BACK to this room from three levels down at elevator bank 5." Lance watched Keith's eyes narrow. Nanny was in for it. "After getting you back here, I made them tell me what was going on."
Keith's voice was low and intense. "And just what do you think is going on, Lieutenant?"
"I know about your vision. I know about the three quests. And I know that you can't refuse to do them, or Allura will die."
Dropping his head back against the pillow, Keith closed his eyes. "They had NO RIGHT! I didn't want anyone to know. Meddling woman!" His eyes were blazing as he pointed at Lance. "No one else is to know about this. Do you understand me? No one and definitely NOT Allura."
Smirking at his friend, Lance put his hands behind his head. "Too late, my friend. Coran and Nanny shared it with the entire team and that definitely includes Allura." His smirk quickly faded as he toppled his chair to the floor to avoid the water bottle that Keith hurled at him.
Obscenities flew from Keith's mouth as he looked for other items to throw at the object of his anger. Reaching for some kind of medical instrument on a tray, he twisted his body and let out a particularly loud curse as his injured ribs screamed at him in pain. He quickly fell back against the pillows and clutched his side as Nurse Olga rushed back in.
He was breathing rapidly and had an elevated heart rate. Olga shooed Lance out of the room while she checked on the commander.
Keith looked up at the nurse and said, "I need to speak to Dr. Gorma as soon as possible."
"Is something wrong, Lord Kogane?" Dr. Gorma had informed the staff of Keith's new title and asked them to call him by it.
"Yes. But I need to speak to Dr. Gorma about it if he's on duty."
"He'll be coming back on shift in an hour. Can it wait that long or do you want me to page him?"
Closing his eyes, he realized that he had already demanded a lot from Dr. Gorma. He would give the man his off-time. "Don't page him. Just ask him to visit me when he comes in." He watched as Olga nodded and turned to leave. "Wait. One more thing. I don't want Lt. McClain to come back in. In fact, I don't want any visitors right now. Can you keep them out?" Seeing her concern, he added, "I've been through a lot in the last 48 hours and I just need some time to myself to work through everything." Seeing she was still hesitant, he added, "Please."
Olga's heart melted at the pleading in his voice and in his eyes. Looking at the door, she made her decision. "I can key in a lock code that will prevent them from getting in. It can only be overridden by Dr. Gorma." Patting his hand, she said, "You have an hour to think about things before Dr. Gorma comes."
The door closed softly behind her and Keith heard Lance's insistent voice asking to come back in. In fact, he thought he heard him fussing all the way down the hall as he followed Nurse Olga. Well, good luck trying to change her mind, Keith thought. They knew everything. Allura knew everything.
What the hell am I going to do now? He asked himself.