DOMINO - Eustass Kid x Reader

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE: Guilt

When I had regained consciousness, I had been back on the Victoria Punk, in my bed.

My initial response was to immediately try to get to Kid, but both Dive and UK insisted I just wait, and let Wire do his job of trying to treat him.

Nobody had been fatally wounded, which was honestly astounding, though we had all left the battle brandishing new scars, both physical and mental.

I had ended up scarring my hand pretty good when I had cauterized Kid's wound, the large burn now wrapped with gauze and treated with topical ointment, the same went for my thumb. My back had a few nasty cuts and gouges too, but that didn't matter.

Locating Killer was my next task, and even though I had been pointed in the right direction, to the study, he wouldn't answer me, the door locked. I really did try to leave him be, but after a couple of hours, until nightfall, I couldn't take it anymore, and decided to pick the lock.

Slowly, I pushed the door open, the only light in the room coming from the moon behind me, and the lit lantern hung on the outside of the doorway. Unhooking the lantern and holding it up, I entered.
"Killer..?" My voice was tired, and hardly there, but I heard a slight shift, moving the light to see Killer hunched over on the ground, his back against the wall.

Has he been sitting there this entire time..?

"Hold on...You haven't been treated..? Fucking hell..." I approached quickly, but Killer barely moved, his arm only moving to cover the split in his helmet.
"M'fine..." He muttered, sounding equally as exhausted and hoarse as I did, if not worse.

Taking note of the dried blood down the front of his shirt, I glanced to the desk, seeing that someone had left the medical equipment to get him patched up, but it remained untouched.
"Killer, you're not fine. You need to be checked out-"

"I'm not the one who lost an arm." He cut me off, curling in on himself more, boots shifting closer together by the heels. "I'm fine. I'll live. I didn't lose parts. I should have, it shouldn't have been him, but here I am...Just fine..."

He's being swallowed by guilt...

Swallowing back the urge to cry again, I set the lantern down by his side and went to the desk, gathering all I could carry before returning and kneeling down in front of him.
"You have a head wound. D..Do you really think that Kid would be okay with you refusing to look after yourself right now?"

Killer's fist closed in on itself tightly, but after a few moments he let his arm drop, his covered head rising, just a little.
"Have you heard anything..?" He asked hopefully, and I hated that I had to shake my head.

"Only that he'll live..." I looked down at my knees before internally slapping myself to get my head screwed on straight. "Will you let me take a look, or would you prefer it if I went and got Heat, or someone else? I know you're not comfortable with showing your face..."

He didn't respond for a bit, just huddled there, the epitome of guilt and exhaustion.
"I...don't care if it's you...I don't think I could ever be uncomfortable if it's you..." He spoke so quietly I hardly heard him, but I didn't bring attention to that.

Hesitantly, once I was sure he had actually given me the go-ahead, I reached to take hold of his helmet, slowly and very, very carefully pulling it from his head, not wanting to cause him any further injury considering the state of it.

Once his hair fell back into place, and I had put the helmet aside, it took the final shreds of my willpower to not stare in awe.

His fringe was long, almost to the point of covering his eyes, which were framed by dark, full lashes. His lips were inked a deep, royal blue, or perhaps purple, it was hard to tell in the flickering light of the lantern.