“What’s wrong with him?” the guard demands.

“Pneumonia, I think. Maybe mild hypothermia,” Matt answers.

“No bites?”

“No.”

Matt follows the guard through the shelter to an infirmary that’s filled with people. Matt purses his lips. “Is there anywhere a bit more… private? He doesn’t like a lot of people.”

“Sorry, you’ll have to stay in here,” the guard says. “You can ask Charlie once he gets here.”

“Wait, you’re not staying?”

“I have to go back to the door. Someone will get to you soon.”

Matt gasps as the guard leaves the room. He sets Edison down on a bed and lifts off his mask, setting it on the table to his right. He tugs his gloves off too, and his armor as he walks around the infirmary. “I don’t know what works for pneumonia. Why couldn’t he at least give me a clue what to look for?”

“Matt.”

He trots back to Edison and brushes his face. “Hey, Edison.”

Edison rolls onto his side to cough. Matt dumps the contents of a long bowl out so Edison can spit into it, then sets it back down and sits him up.

“Sorry it’s kinda crowded in here. I asked for somewhere emptier, but-”

“Cold. Matt, I’m cold,” Edison whines, holding Matt’s hands tightly.

“Yeah, I bet you are.” Matt looks around and grabs a blanket from the empty bed behind him. “You mind if I climb up there with you?”

Edison shook his head and sat up as far as he could manage, taking the blanket from around his head to wrap it around his shoulders.

Matt pulls off his boots and starts to tug his shirt up.

“What are you doing?” Edison wonders, too out of it to be really concerned.

“You’ll warm up faster with skin to skin contact,” Matt answers and sets his shirt on the table, nodding to Edison’s. “Are you comfortable taking yours off too?”

Edison tries to nod, but ends up just swaying. “That’s… fine, but I can’t feel my hands.”

“Do you want me to do it for you?”

Edison nods again and moves his arms so Matt can work his armor off. He shivers when his shirt comes up.

“Okay, I’m coming up there now,” Matt warns and climbs up onto the bed behind Edison. He shivers when Edison’s back presses into his chest and chuckles. “Holy crap, you’re very cold.”

“Sorry,” Edison mumbles.

Matt shakes his head, wrapping the blanket from the other bed around them. He hugs him tightly, with his arms and legs, and holds his hands up to his lips to blow warm breath on them.

“You’re really warm,” Edison murmurs.

“I think anyone would be this warm to you after being out in that blizzard for so long,” Matt teases.

Edison chuckles and relaxes against his chest. “How long are you going to sit here with me?”

Matt shrugs, leaning back against the frame. “Until you tell me to get down, probably.”

“You’re going to get sick.”

“I’ll be fine. I got vaccinated when I was a kid. Granted, that means it’s been a while.” Matt hums thoughtfully, then shrugs. “If I get sick, I’ll just get to hang out with you longer

Edison laughs and coughs again, shaking his head. “You’re strange, Matt.”

Matt purrs and kisses his hair. “That’s alright. There are worse things to be.”

“Like sick.”

Matt snorts and Edison giggles through another cough. He brushes Edison’s hair out of his face and rubs his arms slowly. “Keep talking to me, Edison. Don’t fall asleep.”

Edison hums. “What… do you want to… talk about?”

“Anything. Tell me about… um… your favorite book.”

Edison shakes his head slowly. “I… I can’t read books.”

Matt looks at him. “Really?”

He nods.

“Oh.” Matt hums thoughtfully. “In that case… tell me about your first kiss.”

Edison shrugs as much as he can. “I don’t remember very well. It was in Cavity, a girl named Clarisse. I… don’t know what happened to her.”

Matt purses his lips to think of another topic.

“Matt!”

They both look up as Ekua trots into the infirmary and to their bed, followed less enthusiastically by a tall black man with a bird-like stare. He wears clean clothes that Matt almost envies. To occupy himself, he turns to Ekua as she holds his face in her hands.

“Edison, do you mind if I touch you?” she asks.

Edison shakes his head. “You can.”

She smiles and holds his face in both her hands and kisses his forehead. “Shit, kid, you’re burning up. We need aspirin.”

She takes off to the shelves of the infirmary while the other man steps up.

“Ekua says you two got caught out in the blizzard,” he says.

“Yeah. It was very cold,” Matt replies with a cheeky smirk.

Edison coughs again and Matt reaches for the bowl on the nightstand. He puts it back a moment later and hugs Edison almost tightly.

“Here we are.” Ekua hums as she brings over a small paper cup and holds it out with a bottled water. “Take this. It’ll help with your fever. I’ll go get the doctor and something warm to drink from the cafeteria. Charlie, go easy on them. They’re my friends.”

Matt takes the cup and bottle and helps Edison through taking the pill while Ekua leaves the room. Charlie, the man with the sharp stare, regards Matt and Edison for a moment.

“Ekua’s told me a little about you,” Matt announces, glancing at him. “You’re like the head of this whole group, right? The one that calls all the shots and stuff?”

Charlie nods. “Yes. Though my husband tends to make decisions as well.”

Matt smiles. “You don’t sound particularly upset about that.”

“He always has good intentions and I trust his judgement.”

“That’s good. He saved our asses. If he hadn’t brought us here, we’d be three feet under snow right now,” Matt murmurs.

Edison shudders. “That’s not a good place to be.”

Matt nods in agreement.

“I’ll leave you two to recover. Ekua should be back any minute,” Charlie says and turns to the doors.

“Thank you for letting us stay,” Edison announces.

Charlie smiles over his shoulder, then leaves.

Edison grumbles and closes his eyes. “I’m tired.”

Matt nods. “I know, bud. Just wait until Ekua gets back with the doctor. Once you get looked over and get something warm in you, you can sleep.”

Edison sighs, then coughs again. “I hate coughing.”

Matt chuckles. “I think I’d be concerned if you didn’t.”

Edison smiles. “Tell me about your first kiss.”

Matt’s laugh is nervous this time and he leans his head back. “Oh geez. I think it was Manuel Parrot, back when we still had the inn business. It was right before we got invaded. Like, the day before.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know what happened to him?”

“He joined a raider party I, uh, disbanded, but after that, I have no idea.”

“He sounds not good.”

Matt chuckles. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

Edison takes a slow breath.

“I wonder how long they’ll let us stay here,” Matt murmurs, glancing at the door Charlie went through.

“Hm.”

“Maybe long enough for you to get some real rest.”

Edison rolls his eyes.

“Don’t even try to argue, mister. You’re going to need a lot of rest once you get over this.”

“I know, I know,” Edison purrs.

They turn as the door opens, but Matt looks back down when he feels Edison go rigid. The color drains from his face, almost matching the look on the girl behind Ekua.

“Edison?” she asks with a punched out gasp.

Edison shakes his head firmly and sways against Matt. The room swims as he fumbles off the bed and uses the wall as a stablizer.

“Edison, where are you going?” Matt demands as he follows Edison.

“How is he alive?” the girl with Ekua inquires, looking between her and Matt and Edison. “And why isn’t anyone concerned about those bite marks?”

Edison whines and folds his arms around himself. “I’m not dead.”

“Wait, you two know each other already?” Ekua asks.

“He was with our group for a while in Privass, but we thought he died. Victor said he was bit and from the looks of it, he was right,” the girl replies.

Edison shakes his head again and drops. Matt rushes to catch him, but Edison pushes him away. “Stay… stay back.”

Matt’s face falls, but he does. “At least take this.”

Edison takes the blanket and wraps it around his shoulders.

“Elinore, I think it’d be best if we went back to the cafeteria,” Ekua says, herding her toward the door.

“No, I want to know what happened! Why is he still alive?! And where’s Maybelle? I thought you two never went anywhere without each other.” Elinore pushes Ekua’s arms away and walks across the infirmary.

Edison stumbles back, hitting a tray of things, then darts through the door on the other end. He slams into the wall and uses it as a crutch as he makes his way farther along.

Clouds are closing in on his eyes the more he walks. He can hardly see the wall anymore. As he goes around a corner, his arm pushes through a door and he collapses on a soft floor, too dizzy to get back up right away.

“Whoa, are you okay?” The voice is warped and far away. It’s unfamiliar; warm.

“Need to hide,” Edison mumbles, pushing himself back to his feet. He tries to see around the room, but can only make out a patchy silhouette and dark shapes.

“You need to hide?” the silhouette asks and a gentle hand touches his arm.

He winces, but doesn’t step away as he nods.

“Who from, hun?”

“V… Vic…” Edison sways dangerously and catches himself on a table to his left.

“Vic?”

“Vic...tor,” he mumbles, then topples to the floor again.

“Dude, you need to go to the infirmary,” the voice insists.

Edison shakes his head. “Just… need somewhere to sleep.”

The silhouette sighs. “Fine. I’ve got a bed in here you can use. Will that work?”

“Mhm.”

Edison tries to help them bring him over to the mattress on the floor. They end up dragging him most of the way and set him on the bed as carefully as they can.

“You’ve got some pretty wicked looking scars here,” they say and Edison realizes he’d dropped his blanket.

“Not… dead,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, I can see that. Don’t worry, kid. You’re safe here.”

He whines and curls up on his side, hiding his face in his arms. “Thank you.”

They chuckle as they walk away. “Don’t mention it. You sleep now.”

He doesn’t have to be told twice.