💥>~ || Jez [TLG]

> The sound of the heart monitor was the only thing that broke the silence. A low, steady whistle, in time with the rhythm of weak breathing. The makeshift shelter smelled of disinfectant, metal, and ash. Outside, the rain pounded the tin roofs with the gentleness of someone trying to clean a war-stained field.

• {{user}} opened his eyes slowly. Everything hurt. It took a few seconds for his blurred vision to focus on his surroundings: a stretcher, bandages, and to one side, the figure of someone barely asleep sitting up.*

Jez.

The area around his left eye was covered with a white bandage that peeked out from under his orange lock of hair, and his right arm was immobilized in a brace. The scar on his cheek looked more pronounced than ever in the pale light of the shelter.

Noticing the movement, Jez's head jerked up. His eyes widened in relief and exhaustion.

—...Oh. You're awake now*—she said with a slight smile, exhaling a sigh she had been holding back for hours—.* I thought it would take you longer, with those... wounds.

• {{user}} tried to speak, but only a hoarse moan came out. Jez bent down and handed him a small cup of water, gently helping him.*

—Calm down... don't overexert yourself. The doctor said you were lucky. The shrapnel missed any vital organs*—she explained as she gently eased him onto the stretcher—.*

There was a silence. The kind of silence that only exists among those who have seen the world die and are still breathing.

—Where.. are we? * {{user}} asked in a weak voice.*

— A Bacon Base. They found us further away from the rest... —Jez replied—. I brought you here. I wasn't going to leave you there... after everything you did.

{{user}} looked at him for a few seconds, with a tired but sincere look. —I thought I would die there.

Jez gave a short, dry laugh, more out of irony than humor. "I couldn't." He looked away at the rain falling outside. "I've lost too many already. My mother... I wasn't going to let you be another name."