Flora

Chapter 27

Flora woke from fitful dreams.

Her heart was pounding when she opened her eyes, and it only increased its tempo when she found herself in an unknown location. She actually had blankets and pillows, so that was an improvement. She still felt cold, but far less than she had before. She blinked against the light and moved her head around on the pillow in an attempt clear the fog that rested over her brain.

She flinched hard when a hand came into contact with her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're alright. It's just me."

She swallowed and looked up to see Ghost. She let out a tense breath. Who knew that she would feel so at peace at the sight of a skull mask. She attempted to sit up and instantly regretted it when her body screamed at her, collapsing back down.

"Easy now. How do you feel?"

"Fuckin' ow." She grumbled and he laughed.

"It's a good thing the others aren't in here. You know how they feel about you swearing." He told her, placing his hand back on her shoulder now that she was expecting it.

"Feel like I got hit by a bus." She elaborated. She was finding it kind of difficult to speak and, more importantly, breathe.

Ghost seemed to notice her struggle, "Your chest is gonna feel tight for a bit. Punctured lung."

Her eyes widened and she suddenly notice the tube that was coming out of her side. She hadn't enjoyed a simple IV, so she really wasn't a fan of that.

"They'll take that out in a few days." He told her.

She began to remember the manner in which she had come to be there, eyes widening. She snapped her head back around to Ghost, "Is Soap okay?"

He seemed to soften at her concern for his partner, "He's just fine. Should be back in a minute, went to the restroom."

She relaxed again. She remembered the way her stomach had dropped at the sight of Makarov yanking a knife out of his torso. She barely remembered blinking before she was carving his throat open with that cross.

"Flora? You with me?" Ghost asked, moving his hand to rest on the side of her head.

She blanched and looked back up at him, "I-I thought... I thought he was gonna-." She choked on the words, cutting herself off.

Ghost moved swiftly, leaning down and carefully pulling her into him. He was a little bit worried about aggravating her sore body, but the instinct to hold her was much stronger than that concern. Any reservations he had about it were erased when she released a tense breath into him.

Flora felt more secure than she had in a long time. Ghost was massive, so that definitely helped. It felt like with him there, nothing would ever dare try and harm her.

"He's alright. You did good, love." He told her and she nodded against him. "You might not want to hear this, but I was impressed with your handiwork."

Instead of getting more upset, as Ghost had feared his struggle with a filter might cause, she chuckled a slightly watery laugh, "Thank you."

"I'll try and make sure you don't have the opportunity to get good at that." He told her. It was as close to a promise as he was able to give. He used to think that the only one to receive this level of commitment from him was Johnny, but here he was. Simon 'Ghost' Riley, holding a young girl, and making promises.

He began to feel moisture on his shirt and quickly realized she was crying. He was momentarily horrified that he could have been the cause, but then she was reaching up and grabbing onto the fabric of his clothes. He held her tighter.

Flora pressed her face farther into Ghost, and she sort of couldn't believe it. When they first met he had been aiming a gun at her, and she had had his partner at gunpoint as well. She also got the sense that he wasn't the type to do something like this. Maybe she was getting special treatment because she had been kidnapped.

Either way she would take it.

After a couple minutes she felt the mattress on her other side dip a little, and then there was a hand on her arm. She turned her head slightly to peek past Ghost. And there was Soap, smiling at her.

"Glad to see ya awake, lass."

She darted her hand out and grabbed onto the front of his shirt and used all the strength she could muster to drag him forward. He grunted out a laugh and wrapped his arms around her.

"Easy there. We're both still a little fragile, my dear."

"Don't ever do that again." She demanded, returning her face to Ghost's shirt.

Soap chuckled, "Yes ma'am."