Devin

The first thing I felt was cold. The air in my lungs was cold, the clothes on me were cold, and even the bed I was lying on was cold. My ears started to ring. It was one of the loudest, most thought destroying sound I could ever imagine. My body shivered in response to the cold and the eternal ringing.

"Dev?" A voice said. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "Devin, can you hear me? Give me a sign if you can hear me." My throat was tight and dry; it could not make any kind of noise. I moved my hand, so it laid on top of my head rather than by my side. "I'm going to go and get Grace; don't worry, you're going to be OK. You're getting help, it's all going to be OK." I heard footsteps leaving the room and a door being closed. I had a feeling I knew who the mystery voice was, but I had no proof and no energy to even open my eyes. After a couple minutes, the door was opened, and two sets of footsteps entered.

"Hey, Devin. It's all going to be alright, you're in good hands. Can you sit up for me? I have a health potion you need to drink." A different female voice said.

"I don't think he can really move." The first voice replied. "Here let's try this." I felt a warm arm wrap around my upper back and pull me up to a sitting position. My back felt so tight that the slow movement felt great, like a nice stretch. I felt cold glass on my lips, and a thick sour liquid poured out and into my mouth. I chugged the juice then the first figure let me back down.

"I'll be back inside in a minute. We just gotta wait for the potion to kick in." The female voice told as one pair of feet left the room.

The ringing in my ears began to cease as I felt strength return to me. I unconsciously shivered again, the cold still as present as oxygen at this point.

"Oh! Sorry about that." The male voice said. I heard a couple of steps and felt a thick fluffy blanket cover me. "There. How's that?" I gave my head a slight nod and tried to peel my eyes open. The room was bright, so they shut immediately. There was a click of a light switch and the swish of binds being closed, then I opened my eyes again and saw none other than Ben leaning over me.

Ben

I smiled when I saw his big brown eyes looking back at me. It's been nearly two full days of Devin being unconscious on the bed, and when he awoke, I was ecstatic.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him, trying my best to act calm and collected; two words to describe how I wasn't feeling at the moment.

"Pretty bad." He rasped. His voice was unusually deep, hoarse and raspy. I turned around and grabbed my water bottle, unscrewed the lid and helped Dev up to a sitting position again.

"You should drink."

"Thanks." He sipped on the water and leaned his head back on the headboard. "What happened and where am I?"

"Do you not remember anything?"

"Well, I remember flying, and, not much else. It all felt like a dream, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't." He snickered.

"I happened a couple days ago. You were gardening and I came over to help you. We talked for a while and then we started to fly over to the commercial sector to get some seeds or something. Your wings broke mid air, so you fell and crashed." I explained.

"Oh gosh."

"Yeah. I called Grace and she brought you back over to her base. Were pretty much living on top of an iceberg, so I'm not surprised that you were cold."

"That explains it. Did I break anything?"

"Nah. You twisted your ankle and she gave you stitches on your arm." I motioned to a bandaged part on his arm. "Now she's supposed to test you for brain damage."

"Brain damage!?!" He screeched, nearly giving himself whiplash.

"Just a concussion or something." I said trying to quiet him down.

"But still!"

"Stop shouting, it'll be ok." I soothed. There's no way that yelling would be good for a half-unconscious person to do.

I heard the door swing open and Grace came in again carrying an armload of various items.

"Alright, Devin. I have to run a few tests just to make sure you're mostly healthy and don't have any underlying conditions."

"Will it hurt?" Dev questioned.

"No, I don't think so."

"OK..." He replied skeptically

Time skip because I'm no doctor

Grace ran about ten or so tests, then left the room the get the results. Devin was still leaning up against a pillow against the headboard; I moved over to him and sat down on the other side of the queen bed.

"Feeling any better?" I asked; I wanted so badly to put my arm around him, or hold his hand, but I didn't. I didn't want to make a move, and have Dev not feel the same way. Besides, I think I saw him eyeing Lizzy one time.

"Better I guess." He grumbled; clearly, he was out of the little energy he had to begin with.

"Do you want me to get you another health potion?" Normally those potions will boost your overall health, so it would help if he had one.

"Nah, I can deal."

"If you say so. But you do need rest. Non-negotiable."

"Oh darn. I have to sleep." Dev said sarcastically. "I wish I didn't have to." He squirmed under the covers and lied down. Just as Devin closed his eyes, Grace burst through the door. I jumped up from the bed and stood awkwardly on the side, like I was standing there the whole time.

"Alright, so..." Grace looked down at her notes. "You have a severe concussion, but it seems as though you're coming out of it well. You can leave tomorrow, but if you would like you can stay an extra night just in case." Dev nodded along, half asleep. "So, I'll just be monitoring you for the next day or so, until you leave, just making sure nothing changes or gets worse, but until you leave just drink water and rest. Not too hard."

"Am I allowed to eat?"

"I don't see why not, but I wouldn't eat anything to heavy." Grace advised. Dev nodded and closed his eyes again. "I'll let you sleep for a while, if you need anything, just give me a call." She left the room, leaving me and Devin alone again.

"Do you want me to getcha some food? Like soup or something?" I asked. He nodded in response. "Alright, I'll be gone for a bit, but I'll be back." I grabbed my wings and shut down my computer. By the time I was at the door, about to leave I heard quiet snores coming from the bed, I turned around and saw the rise and fall of the covers. A smile grew on my face as I watched. Quit being a stalker! Don't watch him in his sleep! That's weird! I felt blood rush up to my face as I turned and left the room.

Today was a Sunday, normally everyone took today off because, you know, the sabbath. So, everyone was busy restocking their various shops, and buying everything they'll need for the following week. I ran into the vary crowded Meira Mart. I speed walked over to the soup isle and grabbed a couple different soups. I didn't know what Devin wanted or liked, so I grabbed a bit of everything, except pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup is unholy. I grabbed a dog bone for Ziggy, tuna for Mercedes, cheesecake for Lizzy and salt and vinegar chips for Steven. I wobbled up to checkout with an armload of cans and chip bags.

"Top of the morning to ya." Meira chirped.

"Morning." I replied.

"You don't look too good. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I didn't think about how I looked, but I must've looked like a zombie. I haven't slept nearly at all, and my hair stuck out in every direction like porcupine quills.

"If you say so." She finished scanning all the groceries. "$21.40" I yanked out my wallet and fished out some bills and coins.

"That should be enough." I grabbed the bags as Meira double checked the payment.

"Have a good day." She said as I left. "AND GET SOME SLEEP, BEN!" She yelled after me.

"I WILL!" I called back. I grabbed my wings off the rack outside and flew all the way across the realm for the fourth time in two days and landed back at Grace's ice castle. "Hey Devin." I whispered while walking (ooh alliteration) into the guest bedroom. It looked like he was still asleep. I silently set down the bags that held all the soup and a note I had written earlier. It read:

I didn't know when you would be awake, so I just left these here with you. You can take whatever you want, it's all yours. Get better soon! --Ben

That note took way too long to write considering its two and a half sentences, but I didn't want to make it sound to cold or too friendly if you know what I mean. I had to get a bunch of work done today, considering I took the last two days off, I deserve it. At least now I could some piece of mind knowing the Dev was alive and mostly ok, we hope.

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I'm so sorry this took so long to get out! I had hardly any solid writing time and I left for camp halfway through this chapter which interrupted the whole "flow" of it all.

It was 1,636 words and it's not done yet, but I'm posting it anyway because I need content. I promise we will get chapter 5.5 VERY soon; I swear. Also, the whole Meira Mart thing, was made up on the spot. At camp Meira asked me to remember her when she becomes famous, and to name a character after her. So I did. Shout out to Meira. That's about it, imma go and try to sit down and write for a while. I forgot my outro.

Love y'all

--Kio