. 11 .

                                    

                                          
(F/N) woke with a start, sweat drenching her clothes. She tried to sit up, but her left shoulder tinged painfully and she resigned to stay laying on her back. The memory of the dream, or better yet, nightmare, that she was having came back to her and she felt her stomach turn over. It was as if she had been stuck in the moment of the man being shot and his head exploding. 
                          
She realized she was in her own room and that the sun was low in the sky. She didn't know if that meant it was setting or rising. A quick tug of the blankets told her that someone had changed her clothes while she was asleep. How embarrassing. 
                          
Just then, the door of her room opened quietly and Brock entered, carrying a tray filled with bandages and anti septic. He noticed she was staring at him and gently smiled. 
                          
"You're awake. I'm so glad." He set the tray down on her desk and went to turn the light on. It was bright at first, but soon (F/N)'s eyes adjusted. "Here, let me help you up." 
                          
Brock slid his hand under her upper back and lifted her into a sitting position. 
                          
"Thank you." She mumbled. "How long have I been asleep?" 
                          
"Two days." Brock sighed. (F/N)'s eyes widened. How could she have been asleep for two days? "You look surprised." He had moved to her left side of the bed and began reaching for her shirt hem. 
                          
"What are you doing?" She asked incredulously, wrapping her working arm around her waist. He moved back again, blushing. 
                          
"Sorry, I'm was just going to change the bandages on your wound. I got used to just going for it while you were sleeping." (F/N)'s face flushed. She knew she wasn't in a bra. "Don't worry, I haven't looked anywhere I shouldn't be." He assured her, his face not changing shades. She wasn't sure she believed him, but she supposed it wasn't important right now. 
                          
"Let me, um, take my shirt off myself." She winced as she struggled to pull it over her head, and eventually she managed to get it off. Brock had turned away to allow her a bit of privacy. "Alright." She covered her chest with her right arm the best she could. 
                          
"Let me remove the old ones first, then clean the wound." He turned back around. She couldn't look him in the eye as he began to unwrap the current bandages on her shoulder. Instead, she looked at the wound, expecting to see a gaping hole in her shoulder. Instead, there was a row of stitches and the area around them was slightly red. 
                          
"Who did this?" She asked. 
                          
"I did. When we brought you and Brian back inside, you guys weren't in great shape. Brian still hasn't woken up..." He trailed off. He set the dirty bandages on the tray and grabbed the anti septic. "This'll probably sting a little." 
                          
She hissed in pain as he cleaned her wound. It was over with before she knew it. 
                          
"There. Now let me wrap you up and you'll be good to go. It's healing nicely with no sign of infection." (F/N) nodded and as soon as he finished up, he moved to leave. "Are you hungry? I can bring you something to eat." 
                          
"No, I think I'll get up myself. My legs hurt a little bit from laying down for so long." She blinked and the image of the man came flooding back and she felt her stomach lurch. She leaned over and dry heaved, at least aiming for the floor. Brock rushed over and held her hair back. Bile came shooting out of her mouth as she retched. 
                          
"Just let it out, (F/N)." He said as he rubbed her back. Another cough and she finished, feeling lightheaded. "Here, put your shirt back on and I'll get this cleaned up." She had forgotten she was topless and shakily grabbed her shirt from his hands. His eyes were averted away, though she was positive he had to have seen something during what just happened. 
                          
"I-I'm sorry." She mumbled. 
                          
"Don't worry about it, (F/N). I know what you saw in there and I'm sure it's not sitting well with you..." He surprised her by enveloping her in a hug. She sucked in a deep breath and wrapped her good arm around him in return. 
                          
"I've never seen someone die before." She whimpered into his chest. 
                          
"I'm sorry you had to see that, (F/N), I really am." He rested his chin on the top of her head and she bit back a sob. She didn't know how to process what she saw. 
                          
After a while, Brock let her go. A twinge of fear struck her, as if his letting go of the hug meant she was going to fall into the dark abyss of her mind. She had to be stronger than this. 
                          
"I'll get your room cleaned up, yeah? Just lie back down and rest." He helped her lay back down and even went as far as to tuck her in. He placed his hand on her cheek for a moment. "I'm just glad your not seriously hurt, (F/N)." He whispered before he grabbed the tray and left. 
                          
(F/N) figured Brock would be back shortly to clean her mess up, but the next person to come into her room was not him. It was Evan. 
                          
"(F/N)? I heard from Brock that you're awake." 
                          
"Yea." She mumbled, rolling onto her side to face him. His nose was still bruised and his brown eyes were filled with guilt. He had a towel with him and bent down to the mess on the floor. "I thought Brock was going to do that."
                          
"I figured I owed you one." He stated quietly. (F/N) didn't say anything else as he cleaned. When he was done, he threw the towel into the hallway and closed the door. He sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. "I put you in severe danger, (F/N). For that, I am so sorry."
                          
He placed his head in his hands and continued. "I should have known they had been watching us. It was too easy getting you back the second time. I was stupid, careless." (F/N) managed to push herself up and placed a hand on his leg. 
                          
"Evan..." He looked at her, shame radiating off of him. "You guys saved me."
                          
"You got shot. You saw something horrible. We didn't even manage to take out all the enemies, they ran off before we could stop them." He turned on the bed to face her completely. She had never seen him look so distraught before. 
                          
"I'll be alright, Evan." She said. She didn't even know if that was true herself as the memory floated in the back of her mind. Just like Brock, Evan placed a hand on her cheek. 
                          
"We could have lost you. I...could have lost you." When did he get so close? 
                          
"I'm not going anywhere." She assured him. She pressed her forehead to his and smiled weakly. 
                          
"Good." He cleared his throat and pulled away. "Anyways, you probably want to rest, so I'll go. Be sure to holler if you need something, I'm just on the other side of the bathroom." He said as he got up and went to the door. (F/N)'s eyes followed him and he hesitated at the door. 
                          
"I am sorry. I'll be a better bodyguard, you can count on that." And with that, he flicked the light switch off and left the room. (F/N) decided to lay on her back and wondered if she would ever be able to shut her eyes without seeing the headless man again. She must have been more tired than she realized, as she was out before she even knew it.