Monachopsis

Chapter 12

Everyone was in the van, quiet. They didn't really know what to say. Apricity was driving, with Emperor in the shotgun seat. Eret laid on one of the pull outs; The one behind Emperor. Tommy sat right next to the end of the pullout, with a med kit separating him and Tubbo. Ranboo was walking around, as they had just finished changing over-garments, and Koe was sat reading some of the books they snatched behind Apricity's seat.

"Now, Chao, this tissue right here looks more, um, ill then the skin on, let's say, your arm. Well, I'm going to have to disinfect it. I need you to make a choice. Do you want it to heal faster and hurt, or take longer and not hurt?" Afinity grabbed some medicine out of one of the cupboards.

"How bad will it hurt?" Chao eyed the medicine bottles.

"I'll be completely honest, some will hurt more than others. But, we won't do anything big till we get out of this damn van. So, mostly a stinging pain, for now."

"Well, ok. Yeah, just do it." Chao looked to Ranboo. He looked preoccupied with something. Following Ranboo's gaze, he saw Tubbo, who was looking at his feet.

"Lotv, look at me." Tubbo turned away from them. "Stinger." They cupped his face with their hand and turned his head towards themself.

"Eret jumped in front of you. It wasn't your fault."

"Whatever." He mumbled in response.

"Lotv, if she didn't have a plan, they wouldn't have done that. You would've survived. But, you're needed. I'm assuming you know why since you're the stand-in, Emperor?"

"Actually, that's something I needed to tell you. High- I mean, Eret, didn't appoint me as his 1st back up."

"Huh? Then who is it? Papa J?" Ranboo looked to them.

"No, Enderblade, she appointed you."

They looked at him in shock, then looked to Eret's unconscious body.

"I can't- I can't do that. I-"

"Shadow." He looked to Tubbo. "If you accept that she trusted you with this and he believes in YOU, I'll try to stop blaming myself."

"You will stop blaming yourself." Ranboo slid over to Tubbo and grabbed his hands.

"I'll try to." He smirked. Ranboo stood to get some medicine from Afinity.

"Works for me. Also Koe, don't blame yourself for any of these injuries." They gestured towards Tubbo, Tommy, and Eret. Koe looked up from his book.

"Jerk."

"Love you too." Shadow smirked as he threw Koe a water bottle and a prescription bottle without the prescription label. Instead it said 'Medicine. Take it.' in Afinity's small handwriting. "You need to take those. Eases bruise and joint pain. There's also some meds that'll help with your headache." They threw one to Afinity to give to Tommy and walked to Tubbo to give him his. "Wisteria, open your mouth please." Tubbo opened his mouth and took a sip of the water Ranboo handed him. They dropped the pills into his mouth.

He swallowed, "now, how long until all my crap heals up?" He looked to Ranboo, who was giving Eret shots. He turned his head away; bad memories. Shots were a no-go. 'How does he move around so fucking fast?'

"Well, mild, low-grade ankle sprains will usually heal in one to three weeks with proper rest and non-surgical care, such as applying ice, and moderate injuries may take between three and four weeks. Because of limited blood flow to the ligaments of the ankle, more severe injuries may take between three and six months to heal. Luckily, I'd say it'll take 2 to 4 weeks, with what I can see at the moment. But, when we check it after the swelling goes down, there could be a different answer."