Watch Over Him

The next time her eyes opened the room was dark. She couldn't see anything other than the glow from the monitors hooked up to her fingers. All was quiet around her. She could see a few streams of light coming in through the half-shut blinds on her window that looked into the hallway of the hospital. She figured that that was where she had to be.

What happened? How long had she been out? Her arms and legs still felt like noodles and she didn't even have the strength to lift any of them. She was half sat up in her hospital bed so she could at least look down at herself.

It wasn't a pretty picture. She never thought she could be here. Her semblance had made her feel so invincible once she'd started to actually use it with a purpose.

She'd spent so long letting her walls be broken down...letting herself believe that she could do good and that she deserved to be happy. Now she was broken.

Inside and out.

She shifted her gaze to the other side of the room. It was dark but she could tell there was somebody there, half asleep on a couch. The small frame was enough to guess at who it could be. "Liv," she whispered, breathlessly. It hurt to talk. Every time she took in a breath her chest stung something fierce and it made her breath quick and shallow.

The figure began to shift and she watched it's long white hair spill from a blanket as she pushed herself up. "Ambur?" She groaned. Maybe she really had been asleep. Ambur felt suddenly guilty for waking her friend up but it was only a moment before Liv shook the sleep from her eyes and was at her bedside. "Ambur," she said again and the amazon felt the other girl's hands rest on her upper arm. "You're awake." It sounded like Liv had been crying. Her voice was raspy and weak like she had been yelling at someone. "Oh my God I'm so glad you're okay," she sniffled and leaned over before Ambur felt her press a kiss to her forehead.

"Whu," Ambur started to speak but felt the sting in her chest return and she cringed in pain. The minute movement shot through her body and suddenly every inch of her hurt. Just the tiniest tick had sent her into so much pain that she'd had to stop talking and try to catch her breath.

"Hey hey," Liv tried to keep her composure at the sight of her friend writhing in pain. "Don't move okay," she sobbed as she tried to hold Ambur's shoulders in place. "Don't talk if it hurts…" she pleaded and Ambur thought she could feel tears splashing on her arm. "It's okay...you're gonna be okay," Liv said between sniffles.

Ambur gritted her teeth and tried to speak again without taking a breath. "Where's…" she breathed. "Mydnight."

Liv looked down at Ambur's hand and held it as softly as she could. "He's in the next room. He's okay he just...hit his head…" Liv said as calmly as she could. She didn't want to worry Ambur. "You need to concentrate on yourself Am…" she choked out.

Well, at least that was something she could try to stop worrying about. Mydnight was safe. The wolf had kept him safe. Try was the keyword there. "Wha...whats…," she started before she trailed off and Liv felt her fingers moving. She watched as Ambur pointed weakly at herself.

"You...you're really banged up…" Liv said softly. "Do you really wanna know?" Liv asked hesitantly.

It took every ounce of strength Ambur could muster to simply nod her head.

"You…" Liv started. Ambur could feel the tears hitting her arm again as she spoke though. She wiped her face in her hand and drew in a long breath from her nose and tried to focus on speaking without choking. "Both of your femurs were really screwed up," she said before she took another deep breath. "They tried to put everything back in the right spot and set them but...there's a really low chance that you'll heal perfectly. It's gonna be a long time before you can stand…" she sobbed.

Ambur wanted to ask her to stop crying but she knew the words would hurt her more than the effort to say them. Liv knew what this was like. She had spent months in a hospital bed and she was only able to walk again thanks to a miracle her parents had paid for.

"Your wrist is broken," she continued. "You've got seven cracked ribs and two of them dug into your lungs pretty hard. They didn't break through thankfully but it's gonna be a couple weeks before you can breathe right...you're so exhausted that your aura isn't recharging yet...it could be a few more days before you feel it returning and even then...as soon as it does it's going to use itself up over and over again to try and heal your wounds…"

Ambur nodded and tried her best to process everything Liv had said through the drugs being pumped through her veins. She hadn't quite grasped all of it but got the gist of it. She was lucky to be alive at all. After all...one of them wasn't.

"What about," she started before taking a few short breaths before she realized she couldn't say the rest of her sentence without crying.

"Rosa didn't come back," Liv said through gritted teeth, "she left you guys to die out there and never looked back…and...Z," she started and Ambur could see her fists clenched tight around Ambur's upper arm. She grunted a little but she really couldn't feel it much in that spot.

"Sorry," Liv gasped as she let go of her white-knuckled grip. "Z...didn't make it but...I think you knew that…"

Ambur was silent. Her red eyes were fixed on Liv's plum-colored orbs for a long moment before she finally found the words.

"How...is Myd-" she began but Liv cut her off.

"Stop worrying about Mydnight!" She begged hysterically. More tears fell from her eyes and onto Ambur's arm. "Worry about yourself for once!" She begged.

"I…" Ambur began as she slowly lifted her other hand and took hold of Liv's free hand. It hurt to move but she needed Liv to understand. "I can't…" she pleaded for Liv to understand. She needed to know. "I love him Liv," she choked out as she watched Liv's eyes widen for a moment before she blinked, pinching off tears.

"Does...he know that?"

Ambur nodded. "After...the dance," she said softly. "I told him. We don't," she said before she fell into a coughing fit and Felt the vibrations ache through her entire body. She grit her teeth and tried to calm her breathing again. "Get to worry...about ourselves," she finally managed to get out and she saw Liv grind her teeth together again.

"Because we are leaders…" Liv finished the thought for her. "We Are responsible for our teams before ourselves...that's what you're going to say isn't it," she growled out and watched Ambur nod. "That's stupid," she said breathlessly. "Ambur that's not true!"

"Liv...please," Ambur begged. "I need you…" she began and Liv cut her off.

"But you're the one that's hurt! Mydnight will be fine in a few da-"

She felt Ambur squeeze her hand a little and she choked down the rest of her words. "Please," she said and Liv watched tears stream down Ambur's face. "Please Liv I...I," she tried to say but she knew she couldn't get the words past her own lips. "He's going to...be a complete...mess," she begged. She would beg and plead as much as she had to to get Liv to turn her attention to the wolf boy. Ambur could do this. It was going to be hell on Earth trying to heal from this but she could do it.

But Mydnight.

He'd lost the first friend he'd ever had. And she was the one that he had died to save.

She'd taken his best friend away from him and she knew it was going to rip him apart inside. Olivier was the only person she could ask to do this. To watch out for Mydnight instead of watching over her. "He's going...to be alone and...I can't…" she tried to explain through her tears. "I can't let him be alone Liv," she sobbed.

The girls were silent for a long while as Liv avoided meeting Ambur's gaze. She didn't think she could stomach watching her friend cry anymore. She wanted to do whatever it took to stop her from crying but that meant agreeing to her ridiculous request. She didn't want to keep an eye on Mydnight. She wanted to be here for Ambur. Be by her side and help her through all the pain she was going to have to go through to get back on her feet but...if being there for Mydnight was what Ambur needed to get through this...then…

"Fine," Liv huffed through her tears. "If that's what you really want then...fine. But you need to promise me," Liv said as she squeezed Ambur's hand back. "Promise me you'll tell me if you need me."

"I promise," Ambur nodded her head slightly and Liv thought she saw a small smile on her friend's lips for a moment. "I promise Liv," she repeated as she tried to stop crying.

"Well…" Liv said before she sucked in another deep breath to try and also dry her own tears. "Do you need anything?"

"Can I...have anything?" Ambur asked skeptically.

"They said you could have water and really soft foods for now," Liv nodded as she wiped her face in the sleeve of her hoodie.

"Water...would be nice," Ambur smiled before Liv reached over with her sleeve covering her hand and wiped Ambur's cheeks dry as well.

"Alright…" Liv smiled. "I'll go check on him and be right back okay? Try to rest…" she pleaded and Ambur gave her a small nod.

"Thank you...Liv," she mumbled as her eyes drifted shut and Liv headed for the door. She was afraid if she watched Ambur faint she was going to start crying again.

She had a job to do after all. Anything she could focus her mind on would help get her mind off of all the pain Ambur must be in. She walked out into the hallway and gently closed Ambur's door before she headed down one room. That room was dark too and she slipped in as quietly as she could. Mydnight was on the bed unconscious. He was still clothed and all the doctors had done for him was wrap an ice pack around the nice welt that had grown on the right side of his forehead where it had met the metal railing on Ambur's bed.

He'd been asleep for just as long as she had. All night and all day. They'd both completely exhausted themselves and thanks to his new concussion he didn't need drugs to stay asleep as Ambur did. She was pumped full of the stuff and it Liv could remember how disgusting and groggy it had made her feel when she'd been on the stuff for her spine.

She walked to the side of his bed and pressed her fingers to his wrist as lightly as she could before she could feel his pulse. It was as normal as it could be. He was taking long and deep breaths and sleeping soundly. Just like she'd expected him to be. Physically he was fine. Other than the headache he was going to wake up with anyway.

Emotionally though...maybe Ambur was right to worry. Liv hadn't had a moment to spare a thought for Mydnight. She was so concerned about whether Ambur was going to be okay that she hadn't thought much about their emotionally unstable Faunus friend. How was the wolf going to take this? Did he even know that Bronzine hadn't made it? Did he know what state Ambur was really in when Qrow had hauled her off the battlefield?

Was he going to wake up to an entirely different world than the one he'd fallen asleep in? Liv felt dread creep over her like she hadn't felt before. Mydnight was her friend and she hadn't even spared him a single thought until Ambur had asked her too.

He had been there for her when no one else was. When she couldn't get a hold of Ambur, Mydnight hadn't hesitated to spend time with her and help her talk through her problems.

Ambur loved him…

The person that Liv cared about most in the entire world and...Liv hadn't even considered checking on him for her. What the fuck kind of friend did that make her? Was it better that she'd waited till Ambur woke up or did that make it worse? That she hadn't poked her head into this room for five seconds to see if he was still breathing?

Liv had been told about how Mydnight had finished off the Uru from the brief visit Qrow had provided. His weapon was broken and he'd used Ambur's to do the deed. Qrow hadn't stayed long at all either. That had pissed Liv off a lot but it wasn't really his fault. He'd been pulled away by Professor Ozpin. It angered Liv to think about the situation their headmaster had created.

She couldn't believe what he'd done to them all. How could he be so blind that he would send only Ambur and her teammates to fight that monster?

If he hadn't made Mydnight able to change into a wolf then they would have all died out there in the snow before Qrow could make it. Mydnight had changed to save Ambur's life.

With no aura, no breath, and no strength left...Mydnight had stepped between Ambur and the worst creature any of them had ever seen. He hadn't even thought twice about it. Liv knew that Mydnight valued Ambur as a partner but...that took more than partnership. What Mydnight had done took courage...it took bravery and even a little stupidity. Liv grabbed hold of his hand as he lay unconscious on the bed and she started to rub her thumb across the back of his palm.

It took Love.

Mydnight had spent most of his life alone. She knew this. Ambur had told her about some of the things Mydnight had told her. He'd spent more than half his life in an orphanage where nobody wanted him. She was shocked they'd even taken him at all. With the way Faunus were treated in Vale it was pure luck that they had sheltered the wolf pup at all.

Qrow hadn't taken him out of that place until Mydnight was fifteen and far passed the age where he could be effectively taught right from wrong by a parental figure. He had never had friends at the orphanage. It was only during his first month at Signal Academy that he had met Bronzine. The pair were fast friends apparently but Liv had been led to believe that that was because Bronzine liked to clown around and cause trouble, and Mydnight liked the way the mischief felt.

She thought it was his way of trying to get back at the world for abandoning him but maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe Mydnight really had liked the things that Bronzine did because they made him smile. Because the brown-haired goofball was…."fun," she said softly.

The only fun night she'd had for the past few months had been because of him after all. He had made her smile and...maybe that was enough. Maybe that was all Bronzine had ever wanted was just...to make people smile. Maybe he didn't care about slaying monsters or getting good grades or impressing his teachers.

Maybe...he just wanted to make people happy.

The boy who never waltzed. The friend that never gave up. Never said no...and never said die. The boy that never said no to a good prank or to going to the mall to watch his friends try clothes on for hours on end. The boy that had taught Mydnight to care.

Liv felt the tears welling in her eyes again and had to shake her thoughts away to keep her composure. She had just come to check on him. He was fine. Time to go. She moved back to the doorway and paused to look back at him one more time before she left.

Her heels clacked down the tile floor in the hallway as she headed for the vending machine. Once there she skimmed her visitors pass around her neck over the keypad and it lit up green. She jammed her finger into the water option and waited. She tried to keep her head down but eventually couldn't help but look up into the glass window of the machine. She couldn't help but look into the plum-colored eyes of her warped reflection in the glass.

The girl stared back at her and she hated all the little things she saw. The bags under her eyes. The runny makeup she had forgotten to wipe off before she'd started to cry. The way her hoodie hung loosely over her small frame. The way half her outfit didn't match because she'd rushed to the hospital when Ambur had passed out on the phone. The way her long white hair was knotted in a mess, half in a ponytail and half out.

The fear in her eyes.

The best friend she had ever had might have died last night and she hadn't been there. She'd lost people. She understood how it felt to have a relative or friend die. This wasn't that. The empty pit in her stomach that threatened to swallow her whole wasn't something she'd felt when her relatives had died of old age. She'd felt it a little when Gretchen had died and...well...that was the most distraught and angry and sad that she had ever been before.

Until now anyway. She hadn't considered that losing somebody could hurt more than it had when she'd lost her partner but...what if it could? It certainly felt like it could now that she knew what almost losing Ambur made her feel like. It made her feel like she wasn't good enough.

And now she had agreed to keep a closer eye on the boy that her friend loved rather than her friend herself. What was she thinking?

Whatever it was, it could wait. They were both unconscious for now after all. Liv leaned down, ripping her attention from the frightened girl staring back at her in the glass and grabbed the water bottle from the bottom of the machine.

When she stood back up straight though something grabbed her attention. She could hear something. She turned her head just in time to watch Mydnight's door open quickly. He'd yanked it open and walked out into the hallway. "Mydnight?" She asked, blinking in confusion. He wasn't supposed to be up yet.

She could see he was uncomfortable. He was breathing heavily and staggering, leaning on the wall for support and could barely keep his eyes open.

He shied away from the bright lights of the hallways and nearly fell to his knees against the wall. His head was on a swivel constantly and he seemed to be swatting at nothing around his head like there were flies crowding him or something.

His concussion was no joke but Liv knew it was probably more than that. He was limping down the hallway toward Ambur's room and right past where Liv stood and he didn't even seem to know that she was there.

"Mydnight stop," she said as she jogged to him and put a hand on his shoulder to try and stop him. He shrugged her touch off and his vision whirled around to meet hers. He was growling at her. Like a wild animal that had been injured and was too afraid to let a human help them out of a trap or to pull a thorn out of their leg.

Was this...even Mydnight?

"Stop," she said one more time, and this time, she felt the laced word slide off her lips and saw it work its way through Mydnight's mind as he began to breathe more steadily and his jaw went slack. She hated to do it but he was going to hurt himself if he kept this up. It was the only way. "Look at me," she ordered again and watched Mydnight do the best his body could to turn and face her. His breath was still ragged and he was slumped back against the wall of the hallway.

Liv took a step into him and ran her hands around his abdomen and behind his back. She pressed her face into his chest and squeezed him as tightly as she could. He was so warm...too warm. Ambur had described to her the warmth of Mydnight's skin on many occasions but she hadn't imagined it could be like this. She'd been waiting an entire day for someone to hold her and let her cry. If that somebody had to be her best friend's boyfriend then...that's who it would be.

So she cried. She balled really. She'd been steadily fighting and releasing a few tears for over twenty-four hours now and she had plenty saved up. And they weren't dainty little sputtering whines that accompanied the tears this time. She was loud...and ungraceful...and childish.

For a long while, Mydnight just stood there and took it. Like he really wasn't there at all. A warm body against a wall. Eventually, though, the stupor of being ordered around by Liv's semblance lifted and, what little there was of Mydnight's consciousness took over.

"Liv," he breathed out. No more wolf in control. That was the boy talking and she knew it was only going to get worse.

"Please...please go lay down," she begged as she pushed herself off of him. "Don't make me order you to do it...please, I don't want to," he watched as Liv cried before him. She was shaking, shoulders, and hands trembling with how much her own words stung in her ears.

"I...I need to see," he started but Liv shook her head and shoved her hands into his chest gently. He stumbled backward toward his own room but barely caught himself before he fell.

"She needs to rest and so do you!" Liv shouted hysterically. "You can't even stand Mydnight! I won't ask again," she bit the words off and tried to sound as serious as she could but between her crying, it just wasn't coming out as she wanted it to. "She'll live…"

Mydnight took a moment to stand back up as straight as he could before he took a slow step back toward her. She took a step back and watched as he came toward her. When he made it back to where she stood he brushed his shoulder into hers and she pinned him to the wall with ease. "Order me then," he breathed. "I need to see her."

Liv was silent for a long time before she finally backed off of him and let him go. "Don't wake her up she…she needs to sleep Mydnight…" she pleaded and when he made it to the door he turned back and nodded to her.

"I won't," he said before he twisted the handle and went inside. Liv watched through the blinds as Mydnight staggered to Ambur's bedside. She knew he hadn't said anything but she could see Ambur's hand stirring. She'd heard someone come in and Liv looked down to the water bottle she had retrieved. She was about to move to the door when she saw Ambur's eyes creak open and her lips part in what Liv had to assume was surprise.

Concern was painted all over her face and Liv could tell she wanted nothing more than to jump out of bed to help steady Mydnight. But he made it there after a minute of struggling. He propped himself up on the railing of her bed and Liv saw Ambur's hand reach out and rest on top of his. Ambur was crying again in seconds.

Liv could tell that she was mouthing two words over and over again while she struggled to stay still. Liv was surprised when, instead of speaking, Mydnight leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. Her uninjured hand raised to his l, before he wrapped his arms around the back of her neck and did his best to hold her in a way that wouldn't hurt.

Ambur couldn't think of anything else to say and so…"I'm sorry," were the only words that Mydnight would hear until she'd eventually fallen back asleep in his arms.

Once she had, he stood and Liv opened the door. She rushed over to Ambur's bedside and put the water bottle down before rushing to his side. She took one of his arms in hers and tried to help him stay up as best she could. She could tell he needed to lay back down.

She guided him to his room and helped him back into the tall bed before she spread a blanket over him from one of the many cabinets in the room. When she was satisfied that he would pass out mostly comfortably she turned to leave but felt him grab her hand.

His hands were dry and so much bigger than hers but she could tell that he had almost no strength. He'd spent everything he had to go and get five minutes with Ambur.

"Thanks, Liv…," he said softly before she felt his hand drop from hers.

It took everything she had just to leave the room before she started to sob again.