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South Estonian Hospital, Estonia
After being in a catatonic trance for some time, Crystal emerged from that weird dimension, teased by her sore body. Her blurred vision slowly cleared and she stared at a blank ceiling.
"Neil?" she called, surprised to hear her own voice so strange.
"Hey, beautiful. I'm here" he said covering her view and beaming at her "Easy. You have to rest and let the wounds heal".
"How bad?".
He sighed "A cracked rib and a deep cut on your side, plus many bruises".
"Those bloody trees are too sharp" another voice commented.
"Ives!" she recognized and turned her head to see the other man standing in the room "Are you alright?".
"Hello, sweetheart, welcome back" Ives said grinning and moving closer to pat softly her hand "I'm covered with bruises, but I've been luckier than you. Or I just have a thicker skin thanks to all the scars I've gone in my life story".
"I'm relieved to hear that" she said heartfelt.
"I was saying to Neil that my tastes on vehicles is remarkable. It wasn't funny to be like in a washing machine, but the jeep resisted to all that flipping".
"Thanks, Ives" she said simply.
"Don't thank me. Neil was calling me Ives the Impaler. But when he arrived and took us out of there, he was the one who wanted to impale me" Ives chuckled, getting elbowed by Neil.
"Where are we by the way?" she asked frowning at the anonymous hospital room.
"Not far from the place where you got the accident. We were lucky to have a hospital on the way".
Crystal rested her eyes on Neil and asked carefully "What happened in Tallinn?".
"We lost our camp. They invaded it" he said defeated.
"The Korol?".
"Yes and Sator" he confirmed.
"I'm so sorry" she murmured, feeling her heart aching. She had her huge dose of guilt to deal with.
"At least we are alright. Injured, but alive" his lips curled in a small smile "The team moved to Berlin. When you'll be able to move, we'll join them".
"How long?".
"The doctors say you need to rest for some weeks, to recover properly" Ives replied noticing Neil's hesitation.
"Weeks" she repeated in disagreement.
"Don't worry. I'll keep you company" Neil promised with a teasing smile "Your health is more important than anything else".
Healing was more challenging than she expected. She wished she could control her body and make it heal faster. After few days, she persuaded Neil to move together to Berlin and reunite the team, so when she was asleep he was free to join the trainings of Tenet and then coming back to her to take a nap, while she spent most of her lazy time studying theories and analyzing strategy plans sent by The Protagonist.
