[It had been a week since the spell broke. A week, and Billy still slept, the IVs in his arms being a new addition since he was first brought into the room to rest. He needed nutrients, something to keep his body alive while he stayed unconscious. At first, he'd been in such a deep sleep that he barely even twitched. But as the days passed, he began to have nightmares, frequently, incomprehensible to those on the outside. His body really was catching up on everything that it needed.
And throughout it all, Teddy stayed by his side. He slept beside him sometimes, either from another bed pushed beside his or by just climbing in with him. He read, two books of fantasy early on, and one on health, states of unconsciousness specifically, and all three had a place on the night stand. He healed, the bruises on his neck fading within a day, the hole in his leg closing within two, and his wings just a day away from being completely healed, just a few more feathers to reach their full length. He walked around the room, sometimes ventured to the hallway, he talked to Billy, read the entirety of both fantasy books to him, and even had a third with him. And every time he had a nightmare, Teddy was there, a solid presence that stroked his hair and forehead, knowing by now that breaking him out of it would only cause them to be more prolonged later.
He was always there, for both Billy and for himself.
He worried, too. Worried about his own self, what it meant to be him anymore, what Billy truly meant when he said he loved all of him, all of him, no matter the faults, no matter what Teddy hated about himself... How could that be true, when he had a perfectly good version of Teddy to be by his side for a week? When all affected didn't notice he was gone? When Billy let the fake try to kill him? It ate at him, and only through reading and focusing on his own physical therapy, and talking to Mia, did he keep them at bay. And yet when all was quiet...
For now, it wasn't quiet. Teddy had a book open, again reading to him, knowing how good it could be for unconscious patients. It gives the brain something to focus on, something to give it some activity, and anything to help him, anything...]
- "shook his head and wandered off, but I was lost in my thoughts and hardly noticed. I had wanted answers, and in spite of all I had thought, Elodin had been trying to give them to me. What I had taken as malicious crypticism on his part was actually a persistent urging toward the truth. I sat there, silent and stunned by the scope of his instruction. By my lack of understanding. By my lack of sight."
[Action, October 15th]
And throughout it all, Teddy stayed by his side. He slept beside him sometimes, either from another bed pushed beside his or by just climbing in with him. He read, two books of fantasy early on, and one on health, states of unconsciousness specifically, and all three had a place on the night stand. He healed, the bruises on his neck fading within a day, the hole in his leg closing within two, and his wings just a day away from being completely healed, just a few more feathers to reach their full length. He walked around the room, sometimes ventured to the hallway, he talked to Billy, read the entirety of both fantasy books to him, and even had a third with him. And every time he had a nightmare, Teddy was there, a solid presence that stroked his hair and forehead, knowing by now that breaking him out of it would only cause them to be more prolonged later.
He was always there, for both Billy and for himself.
He worried, too. Worried about his own self, what it meant to be him anymore, what Billy truly meant when he said he loved all of him, all of him, no matter the faults, no matter what Teddy hated about himself... How could that be true, when he had a perfectly good version of Teddy to be by his side for a week? When all affected didn't notice he was gone? When Billy let the fake try to kill him? It ate at him, and only through reading and focusing on his own physical therapy, and talking to Mia, did he keep them at bay. And yet when all was quiet...
For now, it wasn't quiet. Teddy had a book open, again reading to him, knowing how good it could be for unconscious patients. It gives the brain something to focus on, something to give it some activity, and anything to help him, anything...]
- "shook his head and wandered off, but I was lost in my thoughts and hardly noticed. I had wanted answers, and in spite of all I had thought, Elodin had been trying to give them to me. What I had taken as malicious crypticism on his part was actually a persistent urging toward the truth. I sat there, silent and stunned by the scope of his instruction. By my lack of understanding. By my lack of sight."