Coruscant- Friday

[notconflicted]

The longer Atton had been gone, the more Sia had worried. He was perfectly capable, he didn't need her worrying, so she'd been Sia about it and gone about things like everything was fine.

And then earlier this week she got a message that told her that her instinct was correct. She made sure there was a bed ready in the medical ward, she made sure she'd be notified the instant that he arrived, and then she just had to wait.

It'd been a tense few days for her.

When he actually arrived, Sia got word pretty quickly. A medical team was on the way already since they didn't know what state he'd be in, though when she got there she saw that he'd made it to one of the inner hallways before they got to him. Of course he did.


[For that guy!]

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

"Doctors," Atton muttered. He could feel meds pouring through his system, and part of him actually wanted to fight it. "Hate 'em."

[notconflicted]

"That's perfectly fine, but they're going t help you anyway," she said firmly.

[suitably_heroic]

"And what if I say no?"

He wasn't going to.

Probably.

[notconflicted]

"Then I'm going to be upset," she said simply.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton made a strangled noise. He would've followed it up with a remark, too, but he needed a breath first.

Or four.

"Why?"

That one took effort.

No one has time for self-pity, Rand, said the Witch, or maybe he was just hallucinating at this point.

[notconflicted]

The full answer was personal, and something she wouldn't fully get into in front of other people.

"Because I care enough to never let you live it down if you die out of stubbornness," she told him, but she was more gentle about it than she normally was.

[suitably_heroic]

Atton blew out a sigh. That hurt, too. Had to be the explosives, there at the end.

"She's going to leave you as well. Why wouldn't she? She's an accomplished princess, and look at you," said the Witch, and he winced.

"You are... such a pain... in my ass..."

[notconflicted]

"That's why you like me," Sia said. "Let them work. Please."

She was honestly worried he wouldn't.

[suitably_heroic]

Another breath.

"Fine."

His arms relaxed in the chair.

[notconflicted]

"Thank you," she said, a note of relief in her voice as they started the rest of the way towards Medical.

And then she thought to ask, "Where were you trying to go?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Your... place," Atton muttered. "Guards at the front... could use some retraining..."

[notconflicted]

"We'll work on that," Sia told him. "I would have brought you down here too."

[suitably_heroic]

"I blame this chair," Atton muttered. "It tripped me up."

[notconflicted]

"That makes me very grateful to the chair," she told him. "It gets you treated faster."

[suitably_heroic]

Atton reached up to touch his nose, and winced.

"Jus' tell 'em to shut the witch up too," he mumbled, voice fading.

[notconflicted]

Sia frowned. "What witch?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Grumpy... old... scow," Atton managed, and passed out.

[notconflicted]

Well, that was worrying.

"Work faster," Sia told the team, and she swore they really did speed up to get him there and started faster.

[suitably_heroic]

It was the blood loss, coupled with a dawning concussion. Could've been worse - could've been actual brain damage.

Atton woke up again some fifteen minutes later, on a bed in the medical ward. This time his eyes did open, blinking furiously to adjust to the light.

"Wha..."

[notconflicted]

Sia wasn't allowed to stay for everything; doctors trumped empresses sometimes. But she was able to come in once they'd gotten him settled, so she could be there when he did wake up.

"Hello again."

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey," Atton said. He still sounded weak, but at least a bit more with it than he'd been earlier. "Nice medical bay you got here."

[notconflicted]

"We have the best." The last time she'd been here had been when she'd been in the position he was right now. "How are you feeling?"

[suitably_heroic]

"Like I fell off a cliff, hit my head on a rock, and nearly blew myself up with the cave I was in," Atton muttered.

[notconflicted]

"That's specific and terrible," Sia said, leaning forward in her seat. "What happened?"

[suitably_heroic]

"I fell off a cliff, hit my head on a rock, and nearly blew myself up with the cave I was in," Atton said, because he had to be Atton about it. "Diplomatic assignment. Turned out... not so diplomatic."