I blinked my eyes open slowly. Where was I? The lights on the ceiling were glaringly bright. I tried to turn around, but I recognized the creak of the bed as the beds in the Healing Center at Foxfire. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I turned my head so I could see Sophie, who was sitting by my side and squeezing my hand.

"Hey, Foster," I said, smiling weakly. "How're you doing?"

She playfully punched my shoulder. "You're the one who got stabbed. And you're asking me how I'm doing?" I just nodded, smirking. "Well, if you must know, I was worried sick, wondering if you'd ever wake up. What were you thinking, fighting Fitz like that?!"

"He started it," I told her.

"Whatever! You could've just pushed him off and light leaped away!"

"I didn't have my crystal."

"Well, you could've teleported!"

"I can't teleport."

"Uh . . . you could've . . . you could've dragged me along!"

"Foster, stop making excuses. He held me tight, and you know I couldn't have escaped that."

"Well, uh, you could've run away when you got thrown to the wall!"

"I was thrown against the wall hard, and I was blacking out."

"Well, you could've—"

"SOPHIE!" That got her attention. "Sophie, I can't just escape like that. If it happened, it happened. Forget about it and move on. I'm better now, aren't I?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But still—"

"No 'but-still's' Foster! You know what happened. Now it's time to move on from that."

She pouted. "Fine."

I tried to sit up so I could see her better, but I forgot about my arm. Just a little nudge, and my entire arm was on fire. I fell back onto the bed, my face contorted in pain. Black spots danced around my vision.

"ELWIN!" Sophie called, squeezing my hand. "Elwin, bring Keefe's medicine quickly!"

"It's fine, Foster," I said through gritted teeth. The black spots started to fade. My face resumed its calm state. "It's better now."

Elwin came rushing anyway. "How is he? Did he wake up?"

"Yeah, he did," Sophie told him. "I don't know how someone can forget that they have a punctured arm and try to move it, but it's Keefe, so . . ."

Elwin laughed. "Glad to see you're awake, Keefe. We were contemplating planting your Wanderling."

My heart stopped. "Really? How long have I been out? Does everyone think I'm dead? Oh, no, I need go tell everyone I'm alive—"

Sophie burst out laughing. "Relax, Keefe, it was a joke."

"But do you have my Wanderling?"

"No, I said it was a joke. Elwin and I were planning it . . ."

"Foster!"

"What? It's not like it's a fatal joke!"

"Well, I believed that everyone thought I was dead . . . speaking of which, how long have I been out?"

"About 3-4 hours," Elwin told me as he set down a tray of vials next to my bed.

"Oh. Good. At least it hasn't been too long," I said in relief, reaching for a vial.

Sophie stopped me. "Keefe, you literally have a major wound in your arm. I don't think you should be doing that."

"I'll be fine," I told her, trying to free my arm.

"Nope," she said, gently pushing me back so I fell back onto the bed. She grabbed a vial, uncorked it, and held it to my lips. "Drink up." I smiled, taking sips out of each vial until they were all empty. Sophie picked up the tray and carried it over to Elwin's office, exchanging a few words with him before returning to her bedside post.

I yawned. "You don't have to stay here, you know."

She smiled, placing a kiss on my forehead. "But I want to."

"Have you been sitting here the entire time?" I inquired, raising my eyebrows.

"Yes, but—"

"Foster, no 'but's'. You have been sitting here for four hours. You need to go home and get some rest." I yawned again.

"Keefe, you should probably go to sleep, instead of arguing about me going home."

"Ok, but if I go to sleep, you'll go home. Promise?"

"Ok, sure, whatever."

"Good." I blinked, trying to keep my eyes open.

"Sweet dreams, Keefe," Sophie said, jumping off the bed and heading toward the door. I closed my eyes, believing that she'd left, when I felt a weight pressing down next to me.

"Foster?" I said sleepily.

"Shh, Keefe, go to sleep," she said, running her fingers through my hair.

"I thought you said you were going home," I said and closed my eyes, not being able to open them anymore.

"I never promised," she said. I could hear the sly smirk in her voice.

"You win, Foster," I murmured. Smiling, I drifted off to sleep.

ehem, so i guess the 2-week thing i said in the crossover didn't work . . . . . at least i updated . . . ? even though this is not my usual 1000 words, i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

anyways, don't forget to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, live, vote, comment, and follow!

– ╰•🌟🌟𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕪𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕕𝕠𝕝𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕟🌟🌟•╯