My Hero

2

A/N: The girl from the first scene will be referred to as "She" and "Her" (as opposed to "she" and "her") to differentiate between her and the nurse--until the nurse leaves.

At LONG last, the nurse finishes her final knot and cuts off the excess thread.

I wake up to the numbingly cold sensation of a frozen towel on my forehead.

"Thank goodness you passed out, or I would've never been able to finish!" The nurse sasses me as she disinfects my wound with one last antiseptic wipe but more vigorously than needed (as payback for how much more difficult I made her already-complicated job: by moving around a bunch).

I scowl back at her with what little energy I have left.

The nurse begins unscrewing the cap to a tube of antibacterial cream, when she's interrupted by, "I-It's okay, I've got it from here. Thank you."

The nurse scoffs and mutters, "Good luck with that," but, nevertheless, hands Her the tube and some gauze, then leaves with a quick turn on her heels, rushing off to the next patient in need of her assistance.

I grumble and growl after the nurse as She pounces on me, politely, for my childish behavior and begins to take over where the nurse left off.

Squirting some of the cream into her palm, she gets going by dipping a few of her fingers into the pile and rubbing it gingerly over my laceration.

I flinch and inhale sharply through my teeth at her first touch. Though, as she continues on, I discover it easy enough to choke back my other cries by biting my lower lip.

Once she's done, she helps me sit up, slowly but surely, so she can wrap the gauze around my lower-mid-section. I struggle and groan as she bolsters me, taking my hand to pull and my upper-mid back to push.

After ensuring she didn't wrap it too loosely or too tightly, she grabs my hand and back again and cautiously lowers me back down into the pillows. I moan, too fatigued to actually whimper.

After finishing the job and still holding my hand, she stares sadly at me for a moment, whilst I somehow manage to turn onto my side--the one she's on--and curl up into a relaxed fetal position, lying diagonally on the support pillows that were once for my back.

She then carefully lifts my upper body and wriggles herself into my bed until she's sitting up, reclining comfortably, and cuddling me.

I'm becoming drowsy quite quickly now, but I know my head is on her chest because I find myself focused on correlating my breath with her heartbeat: steady and therapeutic.

"You're okay. It's all over now. I've got you. It's okay," she shushes as she begins stroking my hair to ease me into a calmed lull.

Her body is weary and shaking from left-over nerves, but she holds me tightly, squeezing me closer and closer to her chest every time.

I nuzzle her ever-so-weakly to let her know I hear her, as I finally pass out from the pain as my adrenaline fully depletes.