𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 {𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐭 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫}

fifty seven: the girl full of surprises

Newt's POV:

Intimacy is a tricky thing to master when your partner is recently injured.

After being stabbed, much more horrifically than we had all first anticipated, Y/n had to undergo physical therapy to ensure there was no permanent damage done.

The blade had luckily missed all of her internal and external arteries, mostly by millimetres, however, had gotten dangerously close to her spine. Lincoln explained how the knife had probably grazed the bone, and while that's better than severing it completely, of course, it still isn't a good thing.

He said that walking shouldn't be an issue, but may take a little while for her to get her rhythm back.

I appreciated all of Lincoln's help – but I can't say I'm his biggest fan.

He's a nice guy, and he takes care of Y/n, but in another sense that is also my job, and allowing me to do it every once in a while, won't kill him.

Y/n, being her regular self, hates that people have to give up their time to help her.

She does not like the idea that she needs other people's help, and also hates the feeling that people are sympathetic of her situation. She has barked at Thomas multiple times for trying to help her stand, threatened Vince when he kept coming in to check on her and threw something at Lincoln the last time he came in to change her bandages.

I've learned a lot over the last couple of weeks – most of that being that my girlfriend is stubborn as fuck and can't accept a singular nice thing someone offers her, no matter how small.

It's been hard for all of us, no one took to our best fighter being injured very well. It was definitely a shock to the system when the training sessions with Thomas stopped, and her seat in weekly meetings remained vacant.

That was until, I entered the council room early, and saw her sitting there.

She had never looked so relaxed – so intimidating.

Her eyes were drawn to a knife she spun between her fingers, as she rested her feet on the table.

She always knew how to make an entrance, even if she was the first one to enter.

I stumbled into the council room; surprise probably written all over my face. "Why aren't you in bed?"

She didn't look up at me, constantly twirling the knife between her index fingers.

Her face looked tired, her legs even skinnier than usual, and the muscle she had built over the years looked as if it was beginning to wilt away.

I took a step into the room. "Does Lincoln know you're out of bed? I doubt he'd allow that, love."

Still, her head stayed down.

I know Vince wouldn't allow this, and Lincoln would jump out of his skin right now if he knew she wasn't resting.

Hesitantly, I moved forward. "Love, are you okay?"

She looked up at me then, and smiled.

I wasn't sure what it meant. Her smiles were rare and faint, and even though I try to soak in every happy face she can muster, this one felt odd. Like she wasn't actually smiling at all.

"Sit. The others should be here any second."

I paused then, because I didn't understand.

"I know that – I just don't understand why you're not back in the medical room." I stated, and she looked at me so forlorn and sweetly.