Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Enemy of the Stars (A Stars Above Sequel) ❯ Chapter 14: Caring for the Injured ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

 

After they returned to the town, they didn’t say anything to anyone. They took Nova back to the house and put her to bed who had fallen asleep in Rapunzel's arms on the way back. They were able to get Cassandra checked out and she was right, she had one broken rib. She was just glad it wasn’t multiple. As for her hand, well, they couldn’t do much for it except they instructed them to apply burn medicine every couple of hours as well changing the bandages. 

 

Ever since they got back, Cassandra basically had been masking her pain. She kept telling Rapunzel that she was fine but she clearly was not. Cassandra knew that the princess already felt horrible even though this time around, it was her fault that this happened. She didn’t want her to feel any worse than she already did so she kept brushing her off. Currently, it was high hours into the night and the pain was just too unbearable for her to take. She couldn’t let the passed-out princess see.

 

She stood up and made her way to the bathroom. She gently shut the door and started to unwrap her hand, biting her lip to hold back tears in the process. She tried to rewrap it but her hands were so shaky that she couldn’t. “F-Fuck…” Cassandra mumbled in pain, bringing the appendage close to her chest and squeezing tightly. She most certainly did not miss this stinging, unbearable feeling. She could handle it before but this time around, it was the worst possible pain she has ever experienced. Dammit, why was she so weak?

 

She let out a strangled cry as she continued to try and rewrap it. But it was no use. She couldn’t do it. “Dammit…!” She whispered harshly, kicking the kitchen cabinet. “Get ahold of yourself, Cassandra!” She silently yelled at herself. “Just suck it up and get it over with…!” She tried again but every time she tried to re-wrap it, the bandages only made the pain worse. She couldn’t do it. 

 

She wanted nothing more than to scream out of pain and frustration but knowing that her wife and daughter were asleep, she settled for biting down on a rag. She tried for the third time to wrap it but again, as soon as the bandages touched her hand, she pulled back with a hiss. This time, she ended up dropping the roll of bandages and by trying to pick it up, she ended up hitting her burnt hand against the bathroom counter. She let out a strangled cry and although she tried to be quiet, it was a little too loud for her liking. Eventually, she gave up and slowly slid down the cabinet, holding the mangled hand close to her chest as she panted profusely.

 

She couldn’t stop the tears even if she tried. They came pouring down like a waterful as she breathed roughly. “D-Dammit, stop being such a wimp...!” She whisper-yelled to herself. She tried to calm herself, to stop crying, but she couldn’t no matter how hard she tried. It just hurt… It hurt so damn bad. 

 

It was then that she heard a soft knock and a soft “Cass?”. Cassandra tensed. “Are you okay?” The princess asked from the other side.

 

“Y-Yeah,” She spoke and mentally cursed herself for sounding so weak. “I-I’ll be out in a sec…” She tried to mask the pain in her voice but it came through anyway. And she was still crying so Rapunzel no doubt heard it.

 

“I’m not buying that,” As she expected. “I’m coming in.” Cassandra panicked but it hurt so bad, it pretty much immobilized her. She stayed in the same spot, not knowing what to do.

 

The door slowly opened and when Rapunzel saw her, cradling her arm close to her, tears streaming down her face, with bandages thrown on the ground and a slight hole in the bathroom cabinet, her heart broke and she was immediately by her side. 

 

“Let me help you,” Rapunzel said softly, grabbing the bandages. But when she went to gently grasp the warrior's arm, Cassandra immediately pulled it away and scooted away from the princess. It caught Rapunzel off guard, Cassandra has never recoiled away from her touch.

 

The warrior shook her head. “N-No,” She spoke, her voice filled with pain. “I-It… it hurts too bad. Please…” Hearing Cassandra admit how bad it hurt was when Rapunzel realized how bad this injury truly was and how much it was affecting her. 

 

Rapunzel slowly put the bandages back down onto the floor before she scooted next to the warrior. She grabbed the warrior's arm as gently as possible without actually touching the burned part and just.. held it. “Alright,” She said softly. “Do you want to try and go back to sleep?”

 

Cassandra shook her head slowly. “I don’t even think I could if I wanted to.” She paused. “You should go back to bed though. Using that much power wears down on your body and energy.” 

 

“I’ll be okay, Cass.”

 

Cassandra shook her head. “You look exhausted.” 

 

“So do you,” The princess responded softly. Cassandra looked away, making the dark bags under her eyes more noticeable. “You stayed up with me when I was having trouble sleeping so I’m doing the same,” She ran her thumb on the upper part of the warrior’s arm. “I’m not leaving you alone. This is my fault anyway.”

 

Cassandra shook her head. “Not this time,” The warrior responded. “This time, it was my fault.”

 

“If I hadn’t lost con-” 

 

“If you hadn’t, we’d both be dead right now and Nova wouldn’t be home safe and sound.” Rapunzel sighed, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to win this argument. “I shouldn’t have intervened.” 

 

“You’re right on that,” The princess mumbled. “You could’ve been killed, Cassandra. You knew that this was gonna happen.”

 

“Look, I wasn’t thinking properly. I was worried about Nova, I literally had the wind knocked out of me, and I was worried about you making a mistake that I knew you would never forgive yourself for.” With her other hand, the warrior grasped Rapunzel’s hand, interlocked their fingers, then looked down at their joined hands, running her thumb over her knuckles. “You’re finally starting to get better,” She mumbled, surprising Rapunzel. “I wasn’t about to let you push yourself back to square one.”

 

“...How do you know that it would have even pushed me back?”

 

Cassandra looked back up to meet her eyes. “Because I know you,” She said. “You’re not a killer and you’ve never killed before. It would’ve broke you. It isn't exactly a walk in the park.” 

 

Rapunzel looked down at their joined hands before drifting her eyes to her mangled hand. “But hurting you is so much worse.” She spoke, her voice low. 

 

Cassandra directed her eyes back towards her by hooking her fingers under her chin. She then gave Rapunzel what she hoped was a reassuring smile but it only came out mostly pained. “I’ll be okay, I survived it once.”

 

“Yeah but this is so much worse, Cass,” Rapunzel responded. “And you’re gonna have to learn how to use your other hand all over again.”

 

Cassandra only shrugged. “That won’t be a problem,” She commented. “I never fully got full feeling back in my hand anyway so I had to switch from time to time.” Wanting to cheer up the mood, she gave Rapunzel a half-grin. “I’m a skilled fighter no matter what hand I use.”

 

Rapunzel let out a short laugh but Cassandra could tell that it wasn’t fully real. “I see your injury isn’t affecting your cockiness.”

 

Cassandra smirked but Rapunzel could tell that most of what she was doing was just her trying to get Rapunzel’s attention off her injury. Or she was trying to get her mind off her injury. But the more she talked and the more she looked into her eyes, Rapunzel could still see the pain swarming throughout her pupils and could most definitely hear it in her voice. “What can I say? I’m just too awesome.”

 

Rapunzel sighed. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

 

Cassandra tilted her head in confusion. “Do what?”

 

“Act like you’re okay just to make me feel better. You don’t have to mask anything,” Rapunzel mumbled. “I can see in your eyes how much it really hurts so you’re not fooling anyone.”

 

Cassandra’s smirk immediately fell at being caught. “I told you, Raps, I’m okay. I can get through the pain just like the first time.”

 

Rapunzel slowly shook her head. “You’re not in this alone this time.” She whispered, looking at her hand before looking back up to meet her eyes. “You know that we’re gonna need to wrap it, right?”

 

Cassandra sighed and slowly nodded. “I know,” She whispered. “...I-I don’t think I can do it though.” 

 

“I’ll do it for you,” Rapunzel whispered, grabbing the bandages once more. 

 

“Raps, you don’t ha-”

 

“Cass, it’s my job to take care of you just as much as it's yours to take care of me.” Cassandra sighed, knowing she couldn’t argue with that logic. 

 

Eventually, she slowly nodded. “Okay… but please be gentle.” Rapunzel’s heart broke even more when the warrior gave her a slightly fearful, pained look.

 

“I’ll be as gentle as I can,” The princess responded, grabbing the warrior's hand with the utmost gentleness and care. Cassandra tensed, resisting the urge to pull away. But she didn’t. She needed to overcome this. When the princess touched the burned part, Cassandra let out a whimper but otherwise didn’t pull away. “Take deep breathes, okay?” Rapunzel said while looking into her eyes. Cassandra only nodded. Rapunzel honestly didn’t want to do this, she wanted to say screw it and just not wrap it, but she knew she couldn’t do that. Hearing Cassandra's what was probably her first pained whimper already made her heart drop.

 

Before she started wrapping it, Rapunzel grabbed the ointment they were supposed to apply every couple of hours and squeezed some of it into her hand. When a part of the ointment so much as touched her, Cassandra couldn’t resist the urge to pull away this time. It made her feel even weaker than she already did. “S-Sorry.” The warrior immediately responded, giving her shaky hand back to the princess.

 

Rapunzel gave her a saddened smile. “It’s okay, don’t apologize. We’ll take this as slow as possible, okay?” Cassandra nodded. With the utmost gentleness, she started applying the medicine. Cassandra took another intake of breath but didn’t pull away. The warrior had to squeeze her eyes shut for a second as she tried to fight back tears. Even with Rapunzel’s feather-light touches, it was still nearly unbearable. The more Rapunzel applied the medicine, the more holding back tears became impossible. 

 

Eventually, the tears started falling without her permission as her hand shook uncontrollably. After hearing a sniffle, Rapunzel looked up and her heart broke even more than it already was. Cassandra’s pained eyes met her own. Immediately, the warrior tried to shut herself down. “I-I’m sorry,” She stuttered, her voice filled with intense pain. “I-I’m b-being so weak…”

 

Rapunzel raised her hand to her cheek and tried to rub it in a comforting manner. “No, sweetheart,” She said softly. “You’re doing great love, okay? All we need to do is wrap it now.” Cassandra slowly nodded, tears still running down her face. Rapunzel could tell that the pet names slightly made her feel better.

 

Rapunzel wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible but she also knew she had to take it slow to make sure she did everything right. She gently started to wrap the warrior’s hand and as time went on, she could hear Cassandra’s breathing get more and more labored. “Breath, Cass,” She said softly without looking at her. Each pained whimper, each sniffle, each pained gasp, each intake of breath… shattered Rapunzel’s heart. She soon found herself tearing up but she was able to somehow hold them back. It just broke her to see her lover in this amount of pain. Actually, it broke her to see her lover in any type of pain; especially one as bad as this.

 

Minutes passed, and no one said anything. Finally, Rapunzel was done as she pulled back. “T-There,” She said, her own voice shaking and watery. 

 

Cassandra pulled her hand back and held it close to her chest once more. “Thanks,” She whispered. Rapunzel nodded. 

 

“I can go… if you want to be alone?” She asked. Rapunzel wanted nothing more than to stay with her but if Cassandra wanted to be by herself, she would respect that. She didn't want to add to her pain if her being there was making it worse.

 

Much to her relief, and surprise, Cassandra slowly shook her head. “Please stay.” Rapunzel, although still surprised, merely nodded and scooted until she was sitting next to the warrior. Realizing that they probably weren’t gonna leave this spot, at least not for a while, Rapunzel wrapped a jacket around Cassandra's shoulders before pulling her close so that her head was laying on her shoulder. Cassandra didn’t oblique or argue, she cuddled against the princess. Rapunzel eventually rested her hand on Cassandra’s knee. Minutes passed and no one said anything. There was nothing to say. They just relished in each other’s company, one in a serious amount of physical pain, the other in a serious amount of emotional pain. And guilt. 

After what felt like an eternity of time, Cassandra tried to peer up to look at Rapunzel, to see what she was thinking but the pain was affecting her movement abilities so she stayed where she was and cuddled even closer, making herself appear smaller than she usually would. Usually, it was the other way around but for once, she decided she didn’t mind being the one comforted and held.

 

“I’m so sorry,” She heard the princess’s voice break after some minutes. She tilted her head up slightly to look at Rapunzel’s face, which was staring at her bandaged hand, her expression morphed into one of guilt and… horror; the reality of what she had done finally setting in.

 

“I told you, it wasn’t your fault, Raps,” Cassandra responded in a whisper, her voice slurred due to fatigue from the day's events starting to weigh in. And the fact that Rapunzel was warm and her natural sun-light, flowery scent calmed her. “Actually, you pretty much saved my life.” 

 

“Still… You wouldn’t be in this much pain if it wasn’t for me.” 

Cassandra made a humming sound in the back of her throat as she fought to keep her eyes open. 

 

“I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you either,” Cassandra repeated, trying to pay attention, but she was just so damn tired. After that, Rapunzel didn’t respond. She tried to peer up to look at her again but exhaustion kicked in and she found herself unable to stay awake anymore. But before she dozed off, she responded with what she hoped was what Rapunzel needed to hear: “I love you so much, Raps..” 

 

Cassandra was out before she even got a response. Rapunzel knew this by the way her body went limp and her breathing evened out. Rapunzel's heart tightened when her breathing merely came out in wheezes and pained gasps. But for the most part, she seemed okay. Rapunzel then grasped the warrior's un-injured hand and held it in her own. “I love you too,” She whispered, despite knowing she was already asleep. If she wasn’t imagining it, she could see a ghost of a smile appear on Cassandra’s face as she cuddled closer to Rapunzel, digging her nose in the crook of her neck. 

 

Rapunzel stayed in the same spot for 20 minutes, just reflecting on everything that happened. Once she knew that Cassandra was for sure asleep, she finally moved. She moved very carefully, trying everything in her power not to wake the warrior. But Cassandra was out, Rapunzel doubted anything was gonna wake her up. She’s never seen Cassandra sleep this hard before, usually, she was an incredibly light sleeper; even the smallest bit of movement many feet away would usually startle her awake. She must’ve been exhausted, poor thing. But Rapunzel could hardly blame her, she was exhausted herself. 

 

Rapunzel gently moved Cassandra’s head off her shoulder before she slipped her hands under the sleeping warrior. With ease, she gently picked up Cassandra bridal style. Cassandra let out a small ‘mmm…’ but she otherwise stayed asleep, her head falling against Rapunzel’s chest. Rapunzel couldn’t help but smile. The princess carried the warrior out of the bathroom before gently placing her in their bed; placing the blanket over her with love and gentleness. Rapunzel leaned down and moved Cassandra’s bangs aside to press a small, lasting kiss to her forehead. Cassandra smiled in her sleep causing the princess’s heart to warm. 

 

Rapunzel then gently crawled into the bed and usually, she would climb into Cassandra’s arms, but tonight, she pulled the warrior into her arms and held her tightly. Cassandra nuzzled her and once more pressed her nose in the crook of her neck before she wrapped her arms around Rapunzel’s torso instinctively. Cass then let out a contented sigh. 

 

Rapunzel smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Goodnight, Cass.” She whispered to the warrior, knowing she wasn’t gonna get a response. “And I promise - I won’t let this ever happen again.” With that, she cuddled the warrior close and as soon as her eyes shut, she was immediately out like a light.

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Hey guys, I’m sorry this chapter is so short but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!