Something was irritating her nose, something that burned and left a metallic taste in her mouth. She worked her jaw, trying to swallow, and found her throat was raw like she’d gargled gravel. “Uhhhh,” even the sound was painful to make, something in her chest rasping and digging into her, she could hear it too. She opened her eyes and the room swam into focus then became sharply defined, preternaturally so. The sunlight slanted at a severe angle from the west window, telling her it was afternoon. She could see dust motes floating in the light, swirling in a random pattern, dancing, turning in the air. Her nose twitched again, itching, burning, the taste on her tongue growing heavier. “Hurrrggggghhhh,” she tried again, noting that doing even that hurt all over, and the light was making her eyes water. She closed them and tried to roll over to block it out and go back to sleep.
She couldn’t move, wrapped up in the quilt from her bed she realized. She wriggled and gasped at the pain it caused. She couldn’t stay like this, managed to roll to her left side and she saw a glass of water on the bedside table. Rogue tried to shift an arm under her to prop herself up. That’s when she noticed her other arm was free of the blanket and she scrabbled it toward the glass. It was still to far away and she was getting frustrated. Fuck it she thought and wrenched herself up, a horrible wheeze bursting from her lips as she wrestled the covering from her. Gasping from the exertion she took a moment steady herself before she reached over for the blessed water. She drained it, slopping over her chin and down her front. And that was when she realized she was not wearing her own clothes, but one of Wolverine’s t-shirts and a pair of boxers. She reached down to pluck at the shirt when a bolt of pain seared down her side and she fell back, dropping the water glass to the floor where it shattered. Feet thundered up the stairs from below and Wolverine was her room.
“Shit, kid. Scared me to death.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled into the covers, trying to draw them over her face and shut out the light.
“About time you woke up.” She opened one eye and peeked at him, hovering over her, a cloth in his hand that he used to wipe her face, which she now realized was drenched in sweat. She could see every whisker in his mutton chops, a slither of perspiration trickling past his right ear, the pulse ticking at his throat. She could hear it too, racing for a few moment before it started to slow. The click of his teeth as he smiled tightly at her, the rasp of his jeans as he sat carefully on the bed at her side.
“What happened?”
“Got a little cocky up on the rocks. Took a tumble, you’re been out of it for a while. Had to give you a few touches to help you along.” He handed her another glass of water and, putting his arm around the blanket covering her, helped her sit up to drink. It was then she noticed one of her legs was splinted from hip to ankle.
“Must’ve been bad,” she gasped between swallows, relieved to finally feel the razors in her throat dull. The smell in her nose was still there, sharp and metallic, but now tinged with something else, more earthy, “for you to heal me so often.”
“It’s still bad, kid. Lie back.” He eased her back down, and she winced at the grinding sensation in her torso. “Yer still pretty fucked up. Broken ribs aren’t healing like I thought they would. My mutation is working really slow. I’ve had to hit you with it five times in the last two days alone.”
Her eyes felt raw and her lids were heavy. “Why isn’t it working?” she mumbled as she turned towards him, burrowing into his flannel covered chest, the earthy smell stronger now, washing away the unpleasant sensation from her nose.
“It is working. It’s just slower for some reason. It doesn’t rush out like it did before. It’s steady, at a lower frequency…or something.” He took the glass from her hand and put it on the bedside table, then readjusted her so she could stretch out a bit more. “It doesn’t knock me out cold like it did the first couple of times. Now it kinda just makes me sleep.” He cradled her to his chest, stroking her head with his gloved hand. “Which is good b/c I was out for over 24 hours after the second hit, and you can’t be left unattended that long.”
“How long has it been?” Her eyes closed and she focused on the swish of blood through chest, the steady rumble of his heart under her ear, gentle bellows of his breathing relaxing her.
“Six days. But I think you’ll be up on your feet in a couple of days.”
“Six? How…”
“Hush kid, go to sleep.” He squeezed her gently, then rolled her onto her back to let her doze. He watched her for a few minutes, assured she was comfortable, then took off one of his gloves and rested it on her forehead. He felt the draw of her mutation, but he was getting used to that; it didn’t hurt anymore.
He could feel more clearly what she was pulling from him, and it wasn’t his mind or memories. She’d already taken them all and there was nothing left in his head or heart she didn’t already have in hers, even if she didn’t know it yet. He could feel her simply taking his healing, drawing on it quietly now, slowly rebuilding her body in its uniquely evolved fashion. No longer furious, grasping, and frenetic in its draw, her mutation was only a steady drain, repairing her at an accelerated rate for a human but still slow compared to how he healed. If he’d received these sorts of injuries he’d have been up in 2-3 days, completely recovered and unmarked. She was definitely taking longer, but it was working. He didn’t know why it had changed and at the moment he didn’t really care as long as it worked.
He let his hand rest on her for 10 minutes, until he felt himself growing heavy in the way he’d become accustomed to over the last few days, then pulled away, and slipped the glove back on to unwrap the quilt from around her and smooth it over her still form.
He frowned down her face, soft in sleep. She had a shitload of his garbage up there in her head now, a lot more than ever before. He hoped the next time she awoke her mind would be healed as well as her body.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Rogue wakes up, what's changed?
Chapter End Notes:
The next day.