? POV: The first thing I woke up to was the pain in the side. It certainly wasn't as strong as before, but it was still there. Reminding me how close to death I was. Only it was dulled and burning anymore.
I groaned and opened my eyes, and was surprised to see a white ceiling. I looked at myself, I was still in my original uniform with clean white bandages wrapped around my stomach. This place must be the place they mentioned before.
I slowly and carefully sat up and against the pillow behind, trying not to irritate my wound. Which wasn't easy.
"Be careful, it might start bleeding again." someone said beside me.
It was the woman before, setting down a tray with supplies. She must have treated my injuries, but I still need to be careful around her.
"Are you feeling better?" she gently asked, taking a seat.
"I'm not bleeding out anymore." I answered, keeping my guard up.
She just nodded and grabbed some supplies. She made it clear she wanted to check me over, and I let her. She carefully unwrapped the bandages and applied the medicine. It felt really cold and my stomach to somersaults, but I stayed as still as I could.
Once she was done and wrapped new bandages on she said, "There, we're done."
"Thank you…" I said, quietly.
"You still don't trust, right?" I guess she saw right through me.
"Trust is earned." Was all I said.
She smiled and said, "I understand, and I hope that we can earn."
I wasn't sure if I believed that, but I kept quiet. Then someone else moaned and she walked away. I peaked at who it was, and froze when I saw it was Kai in rough shape.
He had cleaned up from when I last saw him but he still looked beaten up. A guy in a similar uniform as him was trying to clean his wounds while a girl with another similar uniform was holding onto him. He was shivering as they replaced some bandages on his chest. I tried to not be noticeable with my stares as they finished.
"Get some rest Kai, I'll get you some more blankets." the girl said, after helping him lay back.
"Yeah… that's a good idea." he croaked out, sounding really tired.
They all looked worried but they didn't say anything and they all left the room. And Kai noticed that I was awake too.
"So… you got out too?" he asked, turning his head to me.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one. …I'm guessing they were a part of your team that you were always talking about?" I responded, laying back myself. But flinched from the sharp pain that shot through.
He noticed that and asked, "Did you get hit?"
"One of… them got a lucky hit. It isn't that bad and I'll heal in no time." I answered, looking down.
"I thought you won't let that happen?" he said, laughing a little.
"Can't predict everything, plus I was caught off-guard. What about you? How bad are your injuries?" I asked. It has to be bad if he's worn out like this.
He went quiet, just looking at the wound instead of answering. I guess it's really bad, and if I remember correctly he was trying to get…
"It was him, wasn't it?..." I realized.
"...you were always too good at guessing games." he whispered.
I didn't say anything else. He was more of a monster than the rest of them, and fighting him alone was a terrifying nightmare in of itself. I'm amazed that he's still alive.
Then the girl walked back with some blankets and helped him get comfortable. I turned away and let them be as I tried to go back to sleep. And despite the pain, I slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Lloyd POV: The team was gathering in the Bounty Control Room to talk about what we were going to do. We all had concerns about Kai's condition, as well as the mysterious girl that my mom found.
Cole, Jay, Sensei, and I waited only a little while for Zane and Nya to finish. My mom wanted to join but something came up at the museum and she was needed there.
Once they arrived I said, "Okay, with everyone here, let's get started. Zane, how's the injuries looking?"
"The smaller cuts and bruises are almost healed and we can take the stitches out soon. His broken bones are healing smoothly with no indication of abnormalities. His burn is slowly recovering and his chest wound has no signs of infection." he answered.
"But there's still a chance that it could get infected?" Jay asked, fidgeting a little.
"Yes, and we're keeping a close eye just in case so we can catch it sooner than later." Zane said, calmly.
"What about the internal bleeding? Has it stopped?" I asked, still worried despite what he said earlier.
"It's all taken care of, but with his ribs still fragile we'll need to be careful that it doesn't get worse." I sighed a little when he said that.
"So physically, he's doing much better." Sensei said, stroking his beard.
"But then, there are the nightmares. Those aren't exactly what we're used to." Nya stated, looking more worried than the rest of us.
"Of course… They are a big concern. And while he says he doesn't remember them now. I have no doubt he'll start to remember them eventually." Zane said, also looking really worried.
"Has he said what he thinks might be causing them?" Sensei asked.
"No, he really hasn't said anything about what happened." I answered, and I know that's not good just by itself.
"And isn't it a little too much of a coincidence that this girl showed up not long after we rescued Kai." Cole stated, crossing his arms.
"It's too much of one. And after examining her injury it was similar to one of Kai's wounds. So, at the very least, she ran into some of those men." Zane answered.
"I doubt we can just ask her. She is not exactly being friendly with Misako, even after finding and helping her." Jay said, making a good point.
"Then we'll just have to ask Kai… when he's ready." Nya said, whispering a little.
"Hopefully, that happens soon. Before he hurt himself because of these nightmares." I said, but I was still worried.
Kai was always the type of person to hide things like this until they became a big problem, or if he got caught red handed. I just hope that he can rely on us this time before then.