“Remember, two pills in the morning and two pills before bed. They’ll help with lingering pain and to prevent infection.” White informed him yet again as she continued to pack up a small bag of medication. Cyan and Purple had been dodging her as the head of medical prepared to release her patient. Black simply nodded amicably as she rambled. He had already heard the instructions on his medication and bedrest several times. He also knew that she’d included written instructions in the bag. In Black’s opinion, White was being paranoid. 

Though, without the extra guidance from the malfunctioning medical equipment, he supposed he could put up with it. Nine times out of ten, whenever a medical scanner or electric thermometer was brought over they would glitch out and refuse to work. Black was starting to get suspicious, but really there were no grounds for it. He could think of no reason at all that the medical staff would pretend that their equipment was on the fritz. Besides, with how White was still double checking everything, it was simply an asinine notion. They’d even insisted on Black using a wheelchair for the time being to help him get back to normal. 

“White, I think I’ve got it.” Black finally sighed as she began her checks again. “Besides, Blue and Rose already said they’d check in on me. And Pink is going to be bringing me meals when I can’t get to the cafeteria.” Black reasoned. White nodded in response, possibly more to herself than Black. She seemed to be going over everything in her head. Black wheeled himself over to pat her knee, before swiping the bag and attempting to race out of medical and to freedom. Sadly, he was stopped by a wall of dark red and muscle. 

“Oof! Black? What are you doing?” Maroon questioned, steding the smaller man and himself as they collided. 

“Trying to escape!” Cyan choked out through his cackles. Black looked back to see him doubled over with his helmet off. Purple looked on disapprovingly as White approached. 

She was angry.

“Seriously? One hour into having permission to leave medical and you can’t even wait for an escort before zooming away?” She began her lecture. Black groaned, letting his head fall against the back of the chair. 

“Whiiiiite, please!” Black moaned, “I just want to go back to my room.” White paused, took a breath, and levelled Black with a glare that could wither flowers. Black didn’t drop his puppy dog eyes, earning more giggles from Cyan. After a few minutes, white sighed in defeat. 

“Fine, fine. But Maroon and Gray will be escorting you back.” She said with finality. Black glanced back up at maroon and the now present Gray standing behind him. 

C̵̸̵̶̵̶̸̶̵̸̶̨̠͗̀͑́̊͝Ö̵̷̶̶̷̶̶̶̵̵̡́̌̏̌͜͝N̵̷̵̸̵̶̵̷̹͑͂̚͠c̸̵̶̵̸̴̶̸̴̷̴̵̷͎̯̣̖̐̌̓͛̐̈Ḙ̵̷̶̷̵̶̴̵̴̻̰́͜͠r̶̸̸̸̴̵̵̸̴̴̼͕͙̆̍̀͜N̵̵̵̴̷̫̉ ̸̶̵̷̴̸̴̶̵̶̸̸̣̜͕̍̒̆̒̓̓a̷̵̵̴̸̵̵̷̸̷͈̝̤͙̘̋̊m̸̵̴̴̵̸̴̶̸̴̶̴̴̵̡̬̣̗̳̹̈́̄̅́̌ų̴̶̵̷̶̸̸̸̶̸̴̷̥̪̺͉̯̂͒͝S̷̷̷̷̵̵̷̴̵̵̯̻̲̦͋͊̋E̷̴̶̸̵̶̶̸̷̸̷̷̷̵̷̟̜̖̘̬̿͂̐͌̈́͠ͅm̵̷̷̸̴̸̵̷̸̶͍̮̗̍̌͒̚È̷̷̸̸̸̵̶̦͊̔N̴̵̶̷̶̶̝͒̇T̸̸̸̸̵̷̸̴̸̶̷̷̷̴̵̨͔̹̙͚͎͂͌́͋̄͝ ̷̵̷̶̵̵̷̴̵̷̴̩̯͔͐̂̈́̽̾Ằ̶̶̴̴̴̷̶̬̚d̶̵̴̵̶̵̴̪̱͕͝O̸̴̴̸̸̷̷̸͈̗͌̅̓R̵̶̶̷̴̷̵̵̡̛̯͒͘ā̷̵̶̷̴̵̸̶̷̸̠͍̫̤͓̇T̵̶̷̷̷̷̷̵̷͓̮͇̼͋̅ȉ̴̵̷̸̸̵̸̴͓̗̄͊o̴̸̸̷̸̷̶̴̴̴̢̦̞̦̝̫͊ṉ̸̴̸̵̵̵̷̵̸̵̴̴̷̸̤̺̲̜̀̌̓̽͐͆

Another micro headache made Black wince slightly, but he was getting better at handling them. Though the presence of them certainly gave him pause. He nodded his consent to White, allowing Maroon to step around him and grab hold of the handlebars of his chair. 

“Good, and make sure to follow my instructions.” White said, just as the door to medical closed behind the trio. Gray chuckled, brushing a hand against Black’s shoulder. 

“How many times did she grill ya?” He asked. Black grimaced. 

“Maybe nineteen?” He shrugged. Gray snorted behind his visor. Maroon simply sighed. 

“She’s just worried. We all were.” His warm voice somehow calmed Gray down and sent waves of comfort through Black. The trio settled into a comfortable silence as they entered the cafeteria and headed to the elevator up to crew quarters. Black’s room was blissfully close to the elevator. The door opened to reveal it just as he’d left it. Bed eclipsed by plushies from every stop in the galaxy they’d been to. Dinky string lights that barely worked hung from the ceiling. Gray cleared a spot on the bed for Black while Maroon wheeled him into the room. 

“Now, I know you’re eager to be out of Medical.” Maroon began as he assisted Black in transferring to his heavenly soft bed. “However, I and Red expect you to rest as much as you possibly can.” Blankets, freshly washed, were draped over the smaller man by Gray as Black settled back into the pillows. “Your duties will be restricted and monitored until we can be certain that you’re improving.” He finished. Black nodded, grimacing as Gray ruffled his hair.He sent a glance back at the smaller man as he left.

c̸̴̷̸̷̸̵̸̵̵̴̸̶̣̓Ō̷̷̴̶̷̴̷̴̷̷̸̵̷̵̴̴̶̸̸̖̠̑ṅ̸̸̶̵̸̵̸̷̶̶̵̸̷̷̶̵͇̭C̸̶̷̸̸̷̵̸̸̷̸̴̵̷̴̸̱̗̓e̶̶̵̶̵̶̵̴̸̶̶̶̶̵̷̵̵̴̸̢̥̽̅R̵̵̷̷̷̵̷̷̸̷̵̴̷̸̸̷̻̓̎N̸̶̷̴̶̵̷̴̶̷̷̴̶̸̵̴̴̵̸̟̲͒̄ ̸̸̴̸̸̸̵̶̵̷̵̵̵̵̷̵͉̬͌G̸̶̶̷̴̴̷̷̷̷̶̴̶̵̷̵̵̷̶̹͔̑̈u̴̶̸̸̷̶̷̴̴̶̸̸̶̴̴̷̷̸̸̖̺̅͑ī̴̸̶̸̵̸̵̵̸̸̶̴̴̶̷̴̸̶̴̝̻̽l̴̵̶̸̸̶̴̸̶̸̴̵̸̊ͅt̴̸̸̵̸̶̸̵̷̷̵̶̸̬̀ ̸̷̷̸̷̶̷̸̷̶̵̷̸̸̷̴̱͌͋C̷̸̸̵̴̸̵̶̸̴̴̴̶̆ͅO̶̵̷̶̸̶̶̸̸̶̷̴̸̵̵̴̶̵̵̲̜͆͛n̵̵̸̶̶̶̶̷̸̴̷̶̸̵̸̶̫̝̓C̶̷̴̵̴̵̸̵̷̵̷̶̶̵̵̴̝̥͗e̸̶̸̴̸̷̷̶̶̶̶̴̵̵̸̷̦̓̓Ŕ̵̴̵̶̸̸̴̶̶̶̶̵̸̡Ǹ̸̶̵̷̷̸̷̶̶̶̸̵̸̷̷̸̶̷̴̻̭͛ ̶̶̸̵̴̸̷̸̷̶̴̷̸̣͘ğ̷̸̷̶̷̷̸̵̶̷̸̸̸̘Ų̸̷̸̵̷̷̶̵̸̸̵̵̴̸̵̴̵̸̶̞́̔ì̷̸̷̸̵̷̷̶̷̵̴̵̶̤l̵̴̴̴̸̵̷̵̵̶̷̶̴̶̶̴̮͎͛T̸̵̵̸̴̸̴̴̷̶̸̴̶̵̷̵͕̆̊ ̴̷̵̴̷̷̷̵̴̴̷̵̶̶̴̶̭͐͝g̵̷̶̵̵̷̵̶̴̶̶̶̷̷̶̸̷̸̷̬̱͑̕Ű̵̴̴̶̷̷̴̵̴̸̶̴̴̷̸̴̷̴̵̻̗͗I̶̷̴̶̸̷̸̴̵̸̴̶̷̶̴̷̳̐̈́L̴̵̶̷̶̸̷̵̶̸̴̶̸̴̷̵͕̈̊T̶̸̷̶̸̴̸̴̷̵̸̸̵̴̷̷̶̶̶̤̱͆͋ ̸̵̶̸̶̴̸̶̴̷̵̴̵̵̷̷͇̭̄G̴̴̶̸̸̶̴̵̶̸̴̸̸̵̴̴͈͎̍Ṵ̴̵̸̷̶̷̷̶̵̸̶̴̷̷̸̶̶̷̸̟͛̈́i̶̵̷̶̶̴̶̶̶̸̴̴̶̵̷̷̶̷̴͔͉͊̂l̴̷̶̷̷̴̶̵̸̷̴̶̸̴̶̸̶̷̶͎̤̓͑t̵̷̷̷̶̶̴̵̶̸̵̷̵̴̷̶̼̰̎ g̵u̶I̷L̷T̸

Black winced again as the sudden headache raced through him. Pain seared behind his eyes like hot pokers. Black’s hand flew up to cover his eyes as Maroon steadied him. 

“Another micro headache?” He questioned. Black nodded as the pain began to fade. “Get some rest.” Maroon rumbled. He too slipped out just behind Gray. Black was alone, for the first time in weeks he was completely alone. The fairy lights flickered above him. Black suddenly wished he’d thought to ask one of his escorts to shut them off. They’d make it hard to fall asleep. As he glared at them annoyed, their flickering became erratic. A dull throbbing made itself known in Black’s temples. 

Black reeled back in shock as suddenly the lights wined and went out. He was plunged into absolute darkness. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim blinking of his personal console, and the buttons by his bedside. Labels for the window shutters  and ac stood out starkly against the blackness. Now he needed to make sure that there wasn’t an issue with the fuse. Lovely. Black cursed quietly, now wishing for more light to see. He felt around blindly for his chair when the throbbing returned. 

Black groaned and collapsed back into bed, the throbbing blinding his vision. Or was it lights? Or the darkness? Then there were the sounds surrounding him. Suffocating him in beeps, groans, hums, and buzzes. The noises slowly muffled back to their normal volumes. His eyes fluttered against the fading pain before coming into focus again. The lights were simply too bright to look at and…

The lights. They were on. 

Not just his fairy lights, but every light in the room, down to his desk lamp. His console had powered up and left idle on the startup screen. The window shutter had opened to reveal the stars. The air conditioning was on full blast, humming loudly and cooling the room. A glance at his bedside revealed his uncharged tablet on and glitching wildly. Black gaped, breathing ragged. 

“No way…”