Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Seduction ❯ Aftermath ( Chapter 4 )

Darien winced as she set the last stitch. He watched as she cut the thread and laid a gauze pad over it before wrapping a bandage around his arm.

"You're good at this."

She shrugged. "Everyone has their talents. Trust me when I say that this is not Mina's calling. She is the last one you want around when you're sick."

"Really?"

"I don't know what it is about her and sick people, but she makes me look graceful."

"Oh God."

"Tell me about it." She taped down the end of the gauze and smiled at him. "There all done."

"I wish there were a faster way of doing this."

"I could heal you, but I can't guarantee that the muscles would work properly or that it wouldn't be stiff. In a few days I'll do something about it, but right now this is the best option."

He reached down and gripped her right calf, lifting her foot to examine her ankle. It was almost twice the size of before and turning a unique shade of purple blue.

"I should patent that color. Do you think it would sell well as a crayon? Serena Purple, or maybe Bruise Blue?"

He chuckled softly even as he shook his head. He rose and pulled a shirt on.

"What are you doing?"

He lifted her. "Taking you to a hospital, you might have broken that thing with that stunt you pulled."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry…about calling you Endymion I mean. I don't even know where that came from."

"It's all right," he said as he stepped on the elevator and pushed the button, "Endymion was my name, a very long time ago."

She looked up at him. "Still, I'm sorry, I couldn't help before."

"I think you did very well." He smiled at her. "You're always there when people need you and that's what matters."

The doors opened and he nodded to one of his neighbors as he stepped out. She frowned at Serena's ankle.

"Taking that young lady to the hospital I hope."

"Yes, ma'am."

"That looks like a nasty sprain. Dare I ask how you did that?"

Serena blushed. "I was dancing with Darien at a club and I slipped."

He grinned down at her. "Klutz."

"Jerk."

The woman laughed softly. "Yes, and if I remember correctly what club floors are like a shower and a change of clothes were definitely in order. Knock on my door if you need to borrow anything for her, Darien. You know my hours."

"Thank you."

The elevator closed behind the woman and Serena looked up at him curiously as he got her into a cab. He climbed in himself and gave instructions before sitting back and meeting her gaze.

"Who was that?"

"My neighbor, Mariel, she's an insomniac so whenever I can't sleep I go over to her place. We watch old movies, eat, joke, you know. She's…she's been a good friend to me over the years." He leaned closer, his breath warming the skin of her cheek. "Jealous?"

She gasped softly. Somehow she thought this had stopped, that they had control, but now her body tingled with his nearness and she realized that any control she might possess was fleeting when she was near him.

"I…I was just curious."

He smiled, it was so easy to make her uncomfortable sometimes, and he didn't mind admitting that he liked the way she looked when she blushed. They pulled up to the hospital and he lifted her out. The nurse did not even require an explanation, one look at Serena's ankle and they were ushered into radiology for the X-rays. Afterward, Darien sat with her, filling out the paperwork as they waited.

"My parents are going to hear about this I guess, not that I could hide something quite that big from them."

She indicated her swollen ankle, covered now by an ice pack. They had offered her pain killers, but she had declined. She did not like being muddle-headed, which was exactly why she never drank.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Exactly what I told your neighbor. I'm enough of a klutz that even Lita will believe me."

Darien stopped writing and looked over at her. "What Mars said, she didn't mean it."

Serena's smile was obviously forced. "Yes, she did. She thinks she should lead us, and the idea of that, scares me."

"Why?"

"She doesn't understand their limits or their strengths. She thinks they should all fight the way she does, and in the end, she'll get them killed."

He was silent for a moment before handing her the forms to sign. "You won't let that happen. You love them all too much for that."

The doctor knocked then entered, a fatherly smile on his face. "Well, the bad news is it's not broken. If it had been, you would be healed in a few weeks. Unfortunately with a sprain this severe it can take months, up to a year even for it to heal."

Serena's face drained of color. A year with Sailor Moon out of commission? The world would never survive. "Is there anything I can do to speed that up?"

"I'm going to give you an air cast and crutches. Stay off of it as much as possible for the next few weeks. It will feel better after that, but it will be weak and more susceptible to re-injury for a long time afterward."

She breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Now are you sure you don't want something for the pain? You won't be able to sleep."

"No, no pills."

He frowned slightly at the conviction in her voice then nodded. His eyes darted to Darien. "Is it all right to discuss something with you in front of your friend?"

She smiled at the two of them. "Yes, it's fine."

"May I ask why you don't want any pain killers, even the over-the-counter drugs?"

Her smile became strained. "In my family we have a history of over doing such things. I would like to avoid ever even having the opportunity to succumb to that particular problem."

The fatherly smile returned. "I commend you on that, young lady. There are few out there who are willing to admit they might be at risk of developing such a problem."

Leaving was just as fast as checking in. The doctor put on the air cast and they set the crutches to the appropriate height. On the ride back to his place, Darien was silent. Serena leaned back in the seat, her eyes closed as she forced her mind to think of something other than the pain. When at last they were within the safety of his apartment he spoke.

"I never knew that…about you I mean…with the drugs and all."

She sat slowly, wary of her foot. "It's not exactly something we advertise. My father is bi-polar. They gave him a prescription to help with it. One pill a day became two, and two became ten, then he was taking the whole bottle just to keep the euphoric feeling alive. It took his parents and my mother two years to clean him up. Ever since then, everyone in my father's family has looked to other means. None of us want to risk going down that road."

"One person does not set a president."

"My grandfather was addicted to morphine during the war, and my great-grandfather…please don't tell anyone."

His head shot up. "Never."

She took a deep breath. "My great-grandfather ran opium for the Western smugglers."

He nodded slowly and sat beside her. She yawned and he pulled her against him, letting her rest her head on his chest.

"You should get some sleep. You say your stuff is over at Lita's?"

"Yeah." She looked up at him, but his gaze was fixed on something far beyond the room. "Darien? What's wrong?"

He looked down at her, a soft smile on his lips. "I was just remembering something someone said once."

"And that is?"

"True leaders know themselves better than any other. I don't think I've ever seen a better example of that, than what I've witnessed tonight."

He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead before rising. He lifted her and carried her into his bedroom. Gently he set her on the bed. He turned to go, but she caught his hand.

"I already told you I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed."

"I am not going to let you sleep on the sofa."

She sighed softly. "Then I guess there's only one option."

"And that would be?"

She moved over and blushed as she gestured toward the queen sized bed. "There's more than enough room for both of us."

"Serena…I'm not sure…"

She snorted and looked up at him. "It's well after two a.m. Trust me when I say I am too damn tired to do anything but sleep."

He chuckled softly before reaching over and turning out the light. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. He pulled her against him, and she curled around him, as though it was the most natural thing in the world for them to sleep together.