Please, Don't Be The End

He nodded at the warning about his own movement but didn't really listen to it. His own body was a distant concern, even if it wanted to remind him it was there with twinges of pain. What mattered was Remi, how he was going to be, if Sam had to blame himself for the rest of his life and wonder what they could have been with more time or -- Hearing the words 'He's alright', Sam fell back onto the bed and covered his mouth as tears fell down his face for the hundredth time that day. The sheer relief was enough to even put him in something like a good mood, manic joy spreading up through his chest. He turned to look at Isla and held out a hand to rest somewhere near her knee just for a moment. "Thank you." She asked him to tell her what had happened, so he waited a moment to calm down and tried to speak evenly. "We...w-were on a date. Did..you know? That me-me and Remi are d-dating? ...Anyway. That's no-not important. We were in the f-f-forest. He got some bark, and then...a b-bear appeared. Remi tried to s-save me, but he was being overp-powered, even as a lion..." He trailed off for a moment, staring at the ceiling and trying not to think too hard on the image of Remi's side being ripped into. "So. I um...bit him. So I c-could be a lion too, and fight. And we won! B-b-but...then. Remi was hurt, and he made a dirt...um.......room, thing." Sam made the shape of the dirt cocoon in the air, struggling with the proper word for it. "I th-thought he would die. And w-we needed to get out. So I...p-punched it. But that made it all fall on R-Remi and choke him and cr-crush him and..." Feeling his speech getting hectic again he closed his eyes and counted to five. "..Th-then I told him to turn into an an-animal, so I could c-carry him here." SAMUEL How could a night so frozen Be so scalding hot? How can a morning this mild Be so raw?

Isla smiled to Samuel, letting her hand rest over his for a moment even if only one of them would really feel it. "It's my job," she said warmly at his thanks. "But he's a good friend of mine too, so I'm glad to know that he is alright." And the pent up stress and panic and strain of holding the alchemist's life in her hands was going to come out eventually - probably some time after she left the infirmary for home - but it could wait. She listened carefully as he explained, brow furrowing at the prospect of Remi and Sam dating, though she confirmed that she hadn't known with a polite nod. Distantly she wondered if she was supposed to know - again, though, it could wait. Wincing at his description of what had happened, Isla gave Sam's hand a gentle squeeze before letting him go, rising to her feet. "Come on," she said softly. "We'll go and see him. You can lean on me if you need to - but try to keep your voice down, okay? He might be groggy or confused." ISLA Hush now, I'm here

Sam got up too quickly, had to sit still for a moment as his head spun with pain and nausea; maybe the upgrade wasn't always so great after all. But still, he forced himself up on his unsure legs and took Isla up on the offer of leaning on her. He had never been a loud person but he nodded his agreement to be quiet. As they walked over to the room which held Remi, Sam wasn't sure what to expect. Would he be as normal, just with some scars? Would he be a bloody mess? Would he look pallid, close to death? He braced himself for every possibility. When he did see Remi, it was...both a relief and an anti-climax. He wasn't looking well, but with a blanket over him and his wounds cleaned, he was hardly a gorey monster. "H..has he said anything yet? A..about me, maybe?" Sam asked Isla, worried Remi had been cursing his name as soon as he was able. SAMUEL How could a night so frozen Be so scalding hot? How can a morning this mild Be so raw?

R E M I But the drug Isla had given him was still blissfully swimming through his veins. Beneath the blanket at a rate far slower than either Isla or Sam would have experienced, Remi's body worked slowly to try and heal itself now that Isla had mostly set everything back to where it was meant to be. Even as their whispered voices reached his ears, his mind heard them as if in a dream, and so in the dream they stayed. Lashes fluttering with visions they couldn't see, Remi drifted through a strange landscape while on the body his battered and exhausted body worked to mend itself.

Isla walked slowly to make sure Sam didn't push himself too hard, letting him lean against her and leading them down the corridor to the room Remi had been placed in to recover. "Not yet," she murmured to the other Ascended. "But in fairness he hasn't been in any sort of state to say anything to anyone. Oh, but... yes, he did say your name before I started the surgery. He seemed to relax when he learned you were safe." Falling quiet to step into the room, Isla let Sam go (ensuring there was a seat nearby in case he needed to sit) and drew up at Remi's bedside. The medic took a moment to carefully check him for a fever, her hand encircling his wrist to take his pulse, too, and to ensure he wasn't too cold. ISLA Hush now, I'm here