The Next Day...

Linora shifts a bit, slowly waking up.

Cress is resting on the cot next to Lin's and doesn't notice that she wakes up. Two of his lizards are still curled up around her, and croons a bit as she shifts in her cot.

Linora's eyes blink open abruptly at the almost-familiar crooning. For a moment she's confused, then she relaxes a bit as she remembers where she is... and why. A bit experimentally, she takes a deep breath... or tries to... only to set off a fit of coughing.

Cress stirs at the sound of... Coughing? His eyes open and he sits up as he too remembers where he is. And why. "Lin? Are you allright? Feeling any better?" He gets out of the cot and moves to sit on hers, his blanket still wrapped around him. Where had that come from anyway?

Linora turns grateful eyes up to Cress. He didn't leave. "I dunno." A bit hoarse and raspy. She seems to consider it for a moment, mentally taking an inventory of a body that doesn't really feel like her own at the moment. "I'm not so cold anymore," she offers. But breathing seems to take obvious effort.

"Want something to drink?" Cress asks. He was certainly thirsty, and he might as well bring her something if he was going for water anyway. "I'll bring you some water?"

Linora nods but doesn't speak. Too much effort. But she does manage a grateful kinda halfsmile.

Cress stands, and puts the blanket on the cot, then looks down on his feet. His boots are gone? Seems someone had taken them off sometime during the night. He looks around him and finds them neatly placed next to the cot he had rested in. He gives Linora a grin and then sits again to put them on. Then he goes to get two mugs of water, places one on the floor while helping Lin up in a sitting position so she can drink.

Linora tries to help sit herself up, really. Why's it so hard? She grips the mug tightly, almost afraid of it slipping through her fingers, and takes a long drink, half draining the mug in one sip. Then just cradles the mug on her lap, catching her breath. She looks over at Cress a bit sheepishly, as if embarrassed to need so much help. "Thanks," she whispers.

Cress smiles at her, "No problem," he whispers back, and reaches for his mug on the floor. He manages to, just, get a hold of the rim of the mug and brings it to his lips. "It's not klah, but it'll do." He's thirsty too, see, and he drains half the mug too, before needing to take a breath. "I wonder who took my boots of, though," he muses.

Linora shakes her head slightly, having no real idea. But she hasn't noticed much of anything since she fell asleep ... when was that? She doesn't even really know what time, or even what day it is. Another long sip, and the mug is empty. Lowering it to her lap, she drops her head on Cress's shoulder.

Cress carefully takes the mug out of Lin's hands and puts it on the floor. Then he brushes some stray hairs away from her face, and smiles to her. "Was that better, Lin?" he asks, and drinks the rest of his own water and his mug joins hers on the floor. His own voice is a little hoarse too, but that's probably because he just woke up..

Linora nods, lifting her head to look into his eyes. "Thanks." A little sigh at his touch, almost forgetting how lousy she feels. He's so nice, she thinks. Never had a friend quite like this. Never felt quite like this inside.

Cress doesn't let her back down, no he just sits there holding her in his arms. He pulls the covers tighter around her and holds them there with his arms, wondering how long they'll be allowed to stay like this before someone interrupts them. "Is there anything else you want?" he whispers as not to wake up the other patients, that are here.

Want? What else could Lin possibly want? That she could actually have, anyway... She murmurs a negative, relaxing into his arms, feeling a bit better already, even if it /is/ kinda hard to get a good breath.

Yep. Cress is pretty comfortable too, just sitting here with her in his arms, although he's still a little tired and he's having trouble keeping his eyes open. He leans back against the wall at the head of the bed. Yeah, he could stay here forever.

Linora's breathing evens out a bit, if still a bit wheezy, as her aching muscles relax. Safe, yeah. Happy. And so tired...

Cress is tired too, and drops his head against the wall, but does have enough strengh to put his hands on her shoulders to massage them. Yup, that would do her good, right? Even if he /is/ tired. What time is it anyway?

Cress' hands drop from Lin's shoulders, and his eyes close. He slumps down in her cot, so what if she's leaning against him, he's just /so/ tired. And it doesn't feel bad having her in his arms. Nighty night, Cress is asleep.

Linora's head falls back against Cress's chest as he slumps back. With a small sigh she settles herself, hardly even aware she's still in his arms as a wave of drowsiness overtakes her. The beating of his heart echoes in her head, lulling her further, until she's sound asleep as well.

Some Time Later...