"I'm not sure," Lis admitted, "You'll probably be fully better within a couple of weeks, but it'll start getting better soon. You just need to rest more. You haven't really been able to rest much with what's been going on, when that's really the best way to make concussions better. Sleep, medicine, and not pushing yourself too hard."
"It is," Tohru agreed, "I was pretty sheltered myself, so I know where you're coming from. It's super confusing at first, especially when you're the one who's experiencing it all. Like I said, you can just ask them to try different pronouns for you, and you don't have to tell the whole group anything else unless you want, but of course, you can still bring it up to individuals. And if you have any more questions, you can ask me. No guarantee I'll be able to answer them all, but I'll try."
"Mmmm… everything huuuurts…" Mori whined. "I just want it to stooooop… why can't we just… not be in a stupid apocalypse…?" He coughed weakly and grimaced, hugging himself tightly.
"R-Right… yeah… I guess I don't really need formal labels yet anyway, right?" Kas asked hopefully. "B-Because I don't really know what the hell is going on, so… I have no idea what I am right now. And you don't think they'd like… I-I dunno… get mad if I ended up not liking the new pronouns or something?"
"I… I know, Mori… I wish we weren't. I had a lot going for me before all this happened, and I miss it all. But, on the bright side, you're not missing out on much as far as medical treatment goes. Usually for concussions, the doctor just sends you home to rest, maybe tells you to take medicine, and tells you what to do and what not to do while you heal. Nothing fancy. It's just that you haven't been able to heal properly without resting," Lis explained.
"You don't," Tohru agreed, "And even if you never really want to use formal labels, that's completely valid too. But no, they won't get mad if you don't like the new pronouns. People really shouldn't get mad at something that doesn't affect them, especially when you're trying to find what makes you most comfortable."
"Mmmm… I don't like being tired all the time, though… I can't sleep well because everything hurts, and when I'm awake I don't wanna be awake because everything hurts." Mori buried his face in his arms and huffed.
Kas sighed, running his fingers through his hair again. "I wasn't really planning on doing all of this today… I don't know how well I'm handling it. It's really weird and uncomfortable, and yet… I still feel kinda relieved in a way, I dunno."
"Right… We probably need to make sure you're on medicine more often so you actually can sleep when you're tired. Here, take some of this?" Lis offered, holding out a pill in her palm and a water bottle in the other hand, "We should try raiding the pharmacy while we're here. Maybe find some liquid medicine for you to take if you're having trouble swallowing pills."
Tohru nodded. "Yeah. It's good to get off your chest. It really is, even if it's a little weird to come to terms with. But just know that you're not overreacting at all or anything. I was close to your age when I first told someone, actually, and I was a mess too. I just told my childhood best friend at first, and even then, I was crying so hard. I was worried he'd hate me, or think I was a creep. A lot of the same things you said you're worried about. But it turned out fine, and it'll turn out fine for you too."
Mori accepted the medicine and tried his best to swallow it. He choked a few times, and it took him several tries to actually get it down, but he eventually managed it. "Mmmm… y-yeah, that would be good… pills are hard…"
"Y-Yeah, thanks… hopefully I don't freak out too bad when I tell the rest of the group. I… uh… I don't wanna embarrass myself or anything…" Kas sighed softly. "It's going to be embarrassing enough as is. I don't need to be passing out or throwing up or anything."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do when the others get up," Lis replied, "In the meantime, you need to rest a lot."
"You'll be fine," Tohru promised, "Once you get there, you'll find the words. I'll be right next to you the whole time."
"Mmkay…" Mori closed his eyes and huddled up on the floor, trying to get comfortable. "This is all so stupid… d-don't wanna do it anymore…"
"Okay… I guess I've got a little while to relax, anyway. They're not all awake yet, right? We should probably make sure everyone's awake first."
"Me neither, kid. But you can. You can push through it, and the rest of us will be right here with you," Lis said, "Anyway, I'm going to go see if anyone else is awake, and I'll get back to you, okay? Just keep my water bottle for now."
"Yeah, exactly. That's kind of why I sent Lis on her way. To see if anyone else was up," Tohru replied, "That, and to get her out of the way of course."
"Mmkay, miss…" Mori accepted the water and sipped at it idly, still pretty out of it, but slowly starting to relax where he lay.
"Yeah, right… s-sorry for freaking out so bad when she came in here." Kas laughed weakly and closed his eyes. "I was… I don't even know how to explain it, actually. Don't worry about it."
Lis started down the hall, and looking through one of the doors that was cracked open, noticed that Levi was awake. She knocked on the door lightly, not wanting to disturb him if he didn't want her barging in.
"It's okay. Your first thought was probably that she was eavesdropping, right? But she really did seem none the wiser," Tohru laughed, "I wish I could be so… clueless is the wrong word, right? Mmm… carefree. That's more like it."
"Y-Yeah… it would be bad if she was eavesdropping." Kas sighed, looking away. "Not exactly the way I'd want her to find out about all of this stuff, you know? I think it'll be better to do it on my own terms. Then we can avoid misinformation and stuff."
"Hey Lis," Levi groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and patted the ground next to him with the other. "Come on in." He still didn't want to get up, but having some one in the room made it easier, even if they weren't Tohru.
"Yeah, agreed," Tohru said, "That said, I'm sure she'd be fine with it. But yeah, that would've been incredibly awkward."
He leaned back in his seat, trying to make conversation while they waited for others to filter in.
"Sooo… I'm gonna be honest, sleeping next to Levi is literally the best sleep I've had since I had to set out on my own. Not sure if it means anything, or if I've just been absolutely starving for the company of other humans, and this safer shelter did me in."
"Hey, Tohru sent me to check on you," Lis replied, not really thinking out how she worded it.
He'd sent her to check on everyone technically. Not just Levi.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah, it definitely would've been pretty uncomfortable…" Kas sighed softly and looked up at Tohru when the man spoke again. "Well, that's good, I guess… it seems like you two get along pretty well, yeah? I think Luka and I have been getting along…"
Tohru nodded, feeling a little heat rise into his cheeks.
"Yeah, I guess we do. He's helped me out a lot, so it's hard not to like him. But um, yeah. Luka seems to like you a lot. It probably helps that the two of you are about the same age, but you two seem to click, when you're not shielding yourself off. Not that it's a bad thing. I know you've probably been hurt a lot and lost a lot of people, and it's… it's really hard to open up to others. You know, so you don't get hurt again. I've tried so hard to close myself off, but I just latch onto people so hard, you know? If anything happened to any of you, I don't think I could forgive myself."
Kas nodded, blushing a bit as well as he talked about Luka. "Y-Yeah… right… I dunno what it is about him, but I felt like I could trust him, even though I didn't really trust the rest of you guys. I dunno… maybe it's because he's my age. He's like me; just a kid stuck in a really crappy situation." And he's cute… He fidgeted with his hands, blushing a little harder. "I… want him to think highly of me, even if it's kinda stupid. It would suck if he didn't wanna hang out with me anymore."
"I gotcha," Tohru replied, "I don't think anything you did would change his opinion of you. Unless you intentionally hurt him. He's a sweet kid."
Tohru smiled slightly.
"I feel… I feel horrible I couldn't save his sister, honestly. I don't think he or his siblings could ever forgive me, honestly. It's just…"
"Y-Yeah, right… he's really nice…" Kas cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, trying to fight down his blush. He looked up when Tohru mentioned Luka's sister, however, very confused. "Huh? What do you mean? Lilac and Bean are fine, aren't they?"
"Oh, shit… he didn't tell you. I guess it never came up-" Tohru gasped, "But it's no secret really, so I guess it's alright for me to tell you? There was- there was a fourth sibling… I met them at the survivor's outpost, and they dragged in this poor girl. She was bleeding to death. She'd been impaled on a branch or something. It… it was horrible. I've seen many a person die, but never a child. Maybe if I hadn't frozen up- Maybe if I had actually tried-"
Kas' eyes widened as he listened to the story, his face paling. "H-Huh? He had to watch his sister die like that and he's… still able to smile? And he's always so worried about how everyone else is feeling…" His eyes stung with tears and he stared down at the ground. "I-I mean… with injuries like that, I'm sure there wasn't much you could do anyway. We don't have the supplies or the experience for surgery or anything…"
"No, maybe not, but… still. I didn't even try," Tohru sighed, "But um… losing someone doesn't change the way you care for others. I doubt he's moved on entirely, but every time he frets over you, I'm sure that's because he doesn't want to lose you too."
Tohru shook his head.
"You'd think this apocalypse would harden our hearts, but I swear, it's made some of us softer."
"Y… Yeah…" Kas sighed and rubbed at his eyes a bit. "I feel like I'm getting weaker and weaker by the day. I mean, I can hardly walk on my own right now. My leg really hurts…" He closed his eyes, turning his face to the ceiling. "And now I'm 'talking about my feelings'? It's weird."
"Tough image aside, you seriously need to rest that knee. If you don't take it slowly, it might dislocate again, and we'll be back at square one," Tohru warned, "One of the guys in the group I was traveling with dislocated his shoulder like three times because he refused to give it a break after the first- forget the fact we had a literal doctor with us who told him to cut it out."
But with that, Tohru gave a sigh.
"Yeah, feelings are rough… But talking about them supposedly helps. It's definitely not a sign of weakness, I know that much."
"I can't just keep resting, though… I don't have that luxury." Kas sighed softly, looking down at his knee. It was pretty swollen still, and it hurt a lot. "We have to keep moving, and I can't always expect people to carry me out something. I need to be able to deal with it myself."
"I think we're staying here a few days, maybe," Tohru said, "You're not the only one who's hurt. And it's pretty safe here, which is why we picked this hospital to crash at."
He stopped for a moment.
"Wait, this is a hospital. We can probably find you crutches. That's probably the best thing for you right now, because you seriously need to rest that leg as much as possible, even if we do end up having to travel."
Kas sighed dramatically and leaned back against the wall. "I dunno how to use crutches, though… what if they're painful?" He asked. "What if I get them stuck on something or use them wrong and I fall and hurt myself worse? They might not even have them for my size. I'm not all that tall."
"They should be adjustable. And the alternative is that you almost certainly hurt yourself again. I would at least give them a try while we're here," Tohru insisted, "It shouldn't be that hard, and if it is, you have time."
"Alright, alright… I guess we should go find some, then…" Kas reluctantly stood up and started limping over to the door so that he could try and find wherever the crutches were. "Where do you think they'll be?"
"Orthopedic area, probably," Tohru guessed, "Here, lean on me, though. You really do need to keep the weight off that leg. I'm dead serious about it dislocating again."
He scanned the sign near the entrance of the floor.
"Looks like it's this floor, on the opposite side."
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