My breath caught, and my stomach twisted into a double knot. I froze on the threshold, terrified to walk inside and find Sang dead, laying in a coffin instead of a bed.
"He's alive," Void promised, tucking a strand of silver hair behind my ear. Someone must have washed the blood out of it, because I remember it being stained red. "Look, Hala."
I tried, but my eyes were pinned to my feet and the carpet beneath me.
"Firecracker?" a hoarse voice rasped, and my gaze snapped up of its own accord.
I sucked in a breath at the dark hollows carved under Mav's eyes, and his ragged hair, his lips bloodless and face lined with tiredness. He still wore the clothes he'd worn in the armoury, slashed and bloody. Bandages wrapped around his tentacles, the only concession he'd made to his battered, burned, and wounded state.
How bad must his burns have been, to have needed wrapping when Void left mine bare?
A sob crashed up my throat, and I took a stumbling step forward, falling into his hold when he jumped to his feet to meet me.
"You're okay," I cried, tears burning down my cheeks onto his shoulder. "You're okay."
"Of course I am," he replied, humour trying to come through in his rough voice. He wrapped all four tentacles around me and held on tight. "It's you I'm concerned about. How are you feeling?"
"Worried about all of you," I choked out, trying to be gentle with Mav when I wanted to crush him against me. Instead, I tipped my head back, reached up to clasp the back of his neck, and kissed him so hard my head spun, sobs shaking every breath.
My other hand brushed his side and flinched from the shape of a long scar.
"Mav," I choked out, looking at the huge white slice down his side.
"I know," he sighed sadly, catching my hand to press it against his scar. "I'm hideous now. My beauty will be forever marred."
The humour in his voice made my bottom lip wobble, but I managed to roll my eyes. "You're devastatingly handsome, and you know it."
"Adds character, doesn't it?" he joked, raspy and raw. His eyes were still dull, but I thought I saw an edge of life and amusement there.
"You're perfect," I promised, and kissed him again. "Mav, I'm scared to see Sang…"
"Don't be. That fucker was already ugly; his injuries are an improvement if anything."
Void slapped the back of Mav's head as he brushed past us, shooting Mav an exasperated look edged with relief that neither of us missed. "At leasttryto be considerate, Maverick."
"Considerate? Never heard of it."
I exhaled a laugh, and held the tip of Mav’s tentacle as we followed Void across the room, past the nest Sang made for me, to the bed where he now lay.
The covers had been pulled up to his shoulders, only his neck and face visible, but deep purple bruising spread across his cheek, bad enough that it showed through his dark skin tone, and my stomach twisted again. The tiniest smile reached my face when I saw there was a cast of anime characters on his duvet cover, and yet more on cushions and pillows. It was soSangthat my heart panged.
"Hey, Cheshire Cat," I said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Careful," Void breathed, rushing forward. "Don't jostle him. His skin is still pulling back together after … after…"
I’d never seen Void lost for words before. I held out my hand and squeezed his fingers when he placed his grey hand in mine, holding onto Mav and Void both.
"I remember what happened," I replied quietly. It was hard to get the image out of my head, Sang hanging upside down, his stomach slashed open and his insides spilling out.
"Hard to forget," Mav murmured, echoing my thoughts.
"Will he wake up?" I asked, my gaze trailing over the shape of Sang under the covers. It might have made me a coward, but I was glad I couldn't see the giant slash across his middle.
"He's too stubborn not to," Void replied with gruff amusement.
Mav nodded, a tiny smirk curling his mouth. I was relieved to see it, and leaned my head on his shoulder when he sat beside me, the bed dipping under his weight.
"I'll stay here until he does," I said.