March 10, 1987
11:00 pm

He woke in the dark. He was unaware that a full day had passed; that he'd come in and out of fever and consciousness all without be really aware of it. His muscles were still aching and his throat was feeling sore. It was possible, he realized, as he winced with a swallow, that maybe he'd not been tired. 

Right now, though, he wasn't feeling so very tired. Exhausted, but not tired. Maybe a little bit hungry, but not so much so that he wished for food. What he did wish for was water. Pushing himself up slowly, he groaned lightly, casting about the softly lit Hospital Wing as he did. 

He hardly remembered coming here; he did remember Prim's soft hands on his face. 

And then he remembered Gloria.

Pushing himself the rest of the way up, he shuddered from cold as the blanket slipped from him. Reaching for it, he pulled it about him like a cloak and then realized there was water by his bed. Temporarily forgetting about Gloria, he filled a glass and downed it; then another. The cottony taste washed from his mouth, he stifled a cough and then looked around until he saw Gloria, a few beds away. 

The Hospital Wing was quiet. 

Getting to his feet, he had to steady himself a moment before he padded slowly towards Gloria. Her hair was a nest of tangles; he'd never gotten the chance to come down and fix that for her. Smoothing his fingers along the curve of her cheek, a hint of a smile tugged at him before he was trying to not cough again. Once he was sure he was alright, he slipped up to sit on the bed next to her, wanting to find her hand but not wanting to disturb her slumber. 

He'd no intention of staying longer than to check on her, but walking from his bed to hers had been far more taxing than he'd expected. Maybe he'd just rest for a few minutes before moving back to his own bed. He was stretching out next to her then, smoothing his hand again over her cheek, and watching her face in between the closing of his eyelids. At one point, his eyelids didn't reopen, his arm resting across her stomach; his cheek on her pillow.