Third P.O.V
Shiro carefully placed Keith in the healing pod and stood back. The healing pod closed around him and Shiro let out a relieved sigh.
"That was a close one" Lance said from behind, making Shiro jump a little.
"Yeah. At least Keith will be alright now"
As if on queue, the healing pod Keith was in opened and Keith flopped forward, being caught by Shiro.
"Um. Isn't the healing pod supposed to take longer then that?" Lance asked. Keith slowly looked up at Shiro, pain still evident in his eyes.
"W-why didn't it.... d-do a-anything?" he asked, his voice weak and frail.
"Lance, can you go and get Coran?" Shiro asked, pulling Keith up into a more comfortable position. Lance nodded and left the room. Keith let out a small whimper and shifted slightly.
"Don't worry Keith, we'll sort this out and you'll be in the healing pod in no time." Shiro felt like he was trying to reassure himself as well as Keith. Keith nodded and faintly smiled.
Soon Lance returned into the room with Coran trailing behind him. Coran immediately began typing on Altean computer, peering up at the pod now and again.
"Ah. So my prediction was correct"
"What prediction Coran?" Shiro asked, sitting Keith down and peering over at the computer.
"Well it seems as if the planet we visited made it impossible for Keith to be healed by a healing pod." Coran said, twisting the end of his moustache.
"So what are we gonna do? We can't just leave Keith like this!" Lance exclaimed, gesturing to Keith who had his back against the healing pod and his eyes closed.
"Well I'm afraid all we can do is look after Keith the human way and hope that he gets better" Coran said, a sad look on his face.
"Do you know the chances of him making it through this?" Shiro whispered to Coran, not wanting to alarm Keith.
"There is a 15% chance of survival. We will just have to hope for the best"
Shiro nodded and walked back over to Keith who was whimpering quietly and breathing heavily. He knelt down to Keith's level and put his hand on Keith's shoulder.
"We are gonna have to look after you until you get better okay?" Shiro said softly, lifting up Keith's chin so he was looking straight into his eyes.
"A-am I.... g-g-gonna d-die... S-shiro?" Keith whimpered.
"Of course not Keith. You'll get better, I promise" Shiro replied. He then carefully picked up Keith bridal style and turned to face Lance.
"I could do with some help looking after Keith. Would you be able to stay with him while I look for things that could make him feel better?"
"Of course" Lance replied. Shiro then began walking towards Keith's room.
Once they got there Shiro placed Keith down on his bed and Keith grumbled in pain and flopped onto his stomach. He was shivering violently so Lance pulled the covers over him.
"I'll be right back with a thermometer and a some stuff for your hand" Shiro said as he left the room.
Lance sat down at the bottom of the bed and looked at Keith who was rolling around uncomfortably, grumbling slightly.
"Lie still mullet, you're only gonna make this worse for yourself" Lance said, placing a hand on Keith's foot. Keith stopped moving and lay on his back, his arms sprawled across the bed. He was breathing heavily and whimpering slightly.
"What's wrong?" Lance asked, bringing himself closer to Keith to get a better look at him. He could now see that Keith's eyes were glazed over and were watering slightly.
"E-every..... everything..... h-hurts" Keith replied, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. His breathing hitched and he closed his eyes in pain. Lance was internally panicking. He didn't know what to do. He never expected to see the tough Keith Kogane cry. Lance got up and walked to the front of the bed, sitting by Keith's head. He then began running his fingers through Keith's hair, trying to relax him.
"I know it hurts Keith. Just hang on for a little longer. We'll take care of you until you get better. Just try to get some rest." Lance spoke quietly and calmly, softly smiling at Keith. Keith looked at Lance and sniffled. He used the back of his good hand to wipe his tears away and smiled sadly back at Lance.
"Y-you b-better.... r-remember..... t-this time...." Keith mumbled, chuckling slightly. Lance gave him a confused look.
"W-we're h-h-having a...... a b-bonding moment..... a-again" Keith said, subconsciously rubbing his face against Lance's hand.
"You're never gonna let go of that, are you?"
"W-well.... i-it doesn't..... h-happen o-often....... s-so I-I wanted y-you to...... to r-remember it." Keith's voice was almost a whisper and his eyes were slits. He looked like he was in unbearable pain.
"Don't worry mullet, I'll remember this time. Now get some rest. I can tell you are struggling to stay awake"
"D-Didn't you s-say I shouldn't s-sleep b-because....... because I m-might not wake u-up a-again?" Keith asked, already planning on sleeping anyways.
"Well you can't stay awake for much longer. We don't know how long you'll be down for so we'll just have to take that chance. Plus you look like your about to fall asleep any second" Lance looked down to Keith to find he had already fallen asleep. His mouth was slightly ajar and his hair was covering his eyes. Lance moved the hair out of Keith's face and smiled a little as Keith let out tiny snores. He sat there for a minute, taking in Keith's face.
A few minutes later Shiro quietly entered the room, closing the door behind him.
"He fell asleep?" Shiro asked, sitting on the bed next to Lance.
"Yup. He was crying earlier though. Apparently this illness thingy is very painful"
"Wow. It must be super painful if it made Keith cry. I've only seen Keith cry twice since I've known him" Shiro said, putting down some supplies on the bed. He managed to find a bandage, a bottle that probably had cream to help clean the wound, a thermometer, an extra blanket, a wet cloth and a hippo plush. Lance gave Shiro a confused look and pointed to the hippo plush.
"Keith used to sleep with this all the time. He brought it with him from Earth but hid it because he didn't want people finding out. If he gets cranky, I'm sure this'll cheer him up" Shiro explained, smiling at the fond memories of Keith cuddling his hippo. Lance chuckled lightly at the mental image of Keith clutching his hippo.
"Should we wake him up?" Lance asked, shaking off the thought.
"Not yet. Let's just sort out his hand and see how far we get." Shiro answered, opening the bottle. He poured the cream onto his finger and took Keith's hand, resting it on his knee. The scratch on Keith's hand was a weird yellow colour that didn't look very healthy. Shiro rubbed the cream onto the scratch, trying not to press too hard. Keith stirred in his sleep slightly, obviously finding it painful. Lance began running his fingers through Keith's hair to keep Keith asleep but just as Shiro began taking out the bandage, Keith suddenly sat up tiredly and leaned against the wall, not having enough energy to sit up straight.
"Sorry Keith, we didn't mean to wake you" Shiro said, gently wrapping the bandage around Keith's hand. Keith flinched a little but didn't move his hand away. He was too tired and weak to even care. He slouched against the wall and grumbled quietly, fed up with this illness already. Once Shiro had finished bandaging Keith's hand, Keith lazily moved to the side of the bed and began trying to stand up.
"Woah woah woah what do you think you're doing?" Lance asked, pulling Keith back down.
"T-trying t-to s-s-stand u-up" Keith stuttered, pushing Lance away and trying again. He managed to lift himself off of the bed but the second he did so his legs gave way and he fell forward, landing on his chest. He just lay there on the floor, accepting his fate.
"You okay?" Shiro asked.
"Are y-you.... k-kidding me? I c-can't even... s-stand" Keith whined, his voice muffled seeing as he was face planting the floor.
"Come on, let's get you back into bed." Shiro said, reaching out to pick Keith up. Keith swatted him away, shaking his head. He started trying to stand up again, climbing onto his knees.
"Keith, you're just going to fall over again" Shiro pointed out. Keith ignored him and kept trying, eventually giving up when he fell for the 7th time.
"You done?"
"Mhm"
"Good" Shiro carefully picked up an angry Keith and lay him back down on the bed. Keith pouted and crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact with either of the two boys.
"What's the matter mullet?"
"I w-wanna train"
"You can't train when you literally can't even stand up!" Lance said, rolling his eyes.
"I c-could t-try"
"Yeah, good luck with that" Lance grabbed the thermometer and held it near Keith's face.
"Open up" He said. Keith shook his head and frowned, keeping his mouth shut.
"Come on Keith~" Lance poked Keith's lip with the end of the thermometer. Keith just shook his head again, clearly not impressed. Lance sighed before picking up the hippo plush and putting it in Keith's sight. Keith gasped.
"H-How did y-you get that!?!" Lance smiled evilly and Keith gave him a death glare before reaching for the hippo, only for Lance to pull it out of his reach.
"Give me my hippo!" Keith shouted, suddenly sounding like a 5 year old child.
"Nope. Not until you settle down and let us take care of you." Lance said slyly.
"Fine!" Keith lay down in his bed and let Lance put the thermometer in his mouth. After a few seconds it beeped and Lance took a look at it. (I don't know what is considered a high temperature when it comes to the numbers but just know that it was unnaturally high okay)
"Wow. That isn't good" Lance said, showing Shiro the thermometer. Shiro showed a worried expression as he placed the wet cloth on Keith's head, hoping to cool the temperature. Even though Keith felt super hot, he was actually freezing cold. He shivered slightly so Lance took the extra blanket and lay it over Keith, tucking him in slightly.
"C-can I have..... my h-hippo n-now?" Keith asked, snuggling into the blanket. Lance nodded and gave Keith the hippo. Keith instantly hugged it close and buried his face into it, closing his eyes. Shiro and Lance chuckled at the sight and smiled. It didn't take long for Keith to fall asleep after that, mostly due to the comfort of his hippo.
"How long do you think this'll last?" Lance whispered, being careful not to wake the sleeping paladin beside him.
"Who knows? It could be months" Shiro mumbled, looking down at the floor.
"Welp, I guess we have our work cut out for us"
"Yeah.... I guess we do"
Chapter two once again just copied and pasted but still. Chapter three I'll actually have to write so yeah. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
Words: 1818
~Author Mill