Zaid wasn't sure what time he woke up, or what day it was even. All he knew was he hurt. His lungs felt like fire, each breathe sending stabbing pain through his body and making his hands shake with discomfort. Things moved through his brain slowly, sluggishly, and it all took time to process.

He remembered leaving work and taking the long way home. He remembered taking a jump over a fence, and failing spectacularly on the other side. Then he remembered a mutant with snake hair and a kind smile who stayed with him until he fell asleep.

She had reminded him of his mom, and that made him feel a little sad. They talked about the rabbit in the moon, about what it felt like to want to do the right thing. At a certain point, the talking ended and she must have left. Then he woke up to today. This tormenting nightmare.

With more effort that it should have taken, he rolled onto his back. His breathing felt rattly, sweat collecting on his face. How had it gotten so worse overnight? He must have slept wrong, rolled over, something. Maybe the fracture split into a break. He shut his eyes, trying to decide what to do. He didn't even feel like his brain could piece it all together.

Stars, he told Andrea he would go to the hospital today. It seemed pretty obvious they would find something if he did, but he didn't think he could crawl out of bed, let alone get all the way to her office. He cracked one eye open, pawing around for his phone. He couldn't make out the time, trying to scroll through the contacts. Had he put her contact in? He know they exchanged numbers, but why couldn't he remember what he saved it under. He should tell her he wouldn't be there. Not to worry. It was fine.

It's fine, just sleep it off. A doctor can't do much for a rib injury anyway. He told himself. If she came she would only try to heal him again, and that would endanger his new friend. He didn't want to do that, after all she already assisted him with. He would just have to power through.

Ah, there was the number. He could make out a text message, hoping she gave him a cell number and not a landline. Clumsily he typed into the message box:

cnt make in. somthing cameup. srry.

Close enough. He hit send and shut his eyes again.

Andrea had spent exactly 90% of her day worrying herself into some weird sort of snake-headed baldness. She was sure that if she keep shedding hair at the rate she had since clocking on this morning she would need to invest in a wig by the time she clocked off, or buy a plane ticket to some remote island out in the middle of the Mediterranean sea.

Mother Mary save her.

Some of the stress back from her job, yes. It was rather busy these days with the flu and weather related illnesses invading the city, but she was also seeing a lot of stubborn New Yorkers coming in with trip, slips, and falls... and it constantly reminded her of one stubborn fluff head in particular. She chanted a mantra to herself that he would be in and she could attend to him properly, her eyes drifting to her watched over and over again and the big hand ticked away. He was due to be in any minute now... he had promised, after all.

It was the only thing keeping her from overloading his phone with a barrage of text messages.

The Medic got distracted with a rather bad case of whooping cough in a five year old, and by the time she was done with exams and paperwork the time in which Zaid was supposed to come in had passed and then some. Her stress level skyrocketed 1000%.

Checking her phone showed her that she had missed a text he had send. His message did nothing to calm her nerves. She rattled one back as fast as she could before she was whisked away to help reset someones broken femur.

'What happened? Are you okay?'

Zaid wanted to say he fell back asleep waiting for Andrea to reply. He most certainly did not want to admit he fell into a horrible coughing fit that left him curled on the bed, smothered in blankets and longing for someone to smother him out of his misery. His face ended up next to the phone when the bright white light of an incoming text almost blinded him. Squinting, he read the question.

No, she was worried. He had to convince her he was fine!

‘Have to let landlord in. Mini inspection. Heatr issu.’

It was the only excuse he could think. If he said he had to go to work, she could have tracked him there. If he said he was walking anywhere, she would have scolded him. Best plan was something that kept him ‘safely’ on the apartment.

I’d only he could punch the right letters on this tiny keyboard!

She squinted at the text she got back in the break room, with a steaming styrofoam cup in one hand and her phone in the other.

A heater issue? In december? With him being in recovery she couldn't let him freeze to death in there. Weren't bunnies more susceptible to the cold anyway?

'Were they able to fix it? I have a spare area heater I can bring over if they weren't. Can you come by for the xray after they have left? I will stay later if need be.'

She totally wasn't going to let him off the hook that easy.

Sipping her coffee, she immediately burnt her tongue.

Zaid has struggled on a valiant mission to get to the bathroom. It involved wrestling with a wayward blanket, overcoming a giant stuffed bear, and dodging a rather questionable rolling chair he was regretting ever buying. On the return trip, he, well, tripped. It was as good a place as any to respond to the new text. He was out of the bathroom after all, hands were washed. He was a hygienic bunny at least.

‘Totally fixed. No need 2brng heater. Gettin late you shud go hm. Dont stay late cuz me.’ And after a second thought, he added a bunny smiley so she thought he was being cheerful. 🐰That should do the trick!

Actually, the floor felt kind of nice on his skin. His face was warm anyway, and it was like a giant ice pack on his bruised side. This was fine. He could totally just stay here.

Aces, he needed to vacuum under the couch! When did his tail EVER get that much fur??

That. Bunny. Emoji.

'I'm coming over'

Something wasn't right and her gut was gnawing at her insides because of it. After she was done with her current patient she went to grab her things and headed for her Charge nurse.

"Cassie, something of an emergency has popped up so I need to go. I have already passed off the broken arm in 4 and the possible food poisoning in 6 to Heather."

The woman peered at her over her tiny little reading glasses for a moment before nodding stiffly. "Right. You go take care of your business Andrea. Don't you worry 'bout anything here."

Relieved, the Greek shared a rare smile with the woman before hurrying out the door. It would take a bit to get to Zaid's place... but she at least had her emergency kit with her in her work bag. She was prepared for almost anything.

‘I’m coming over.’

Mission failure! Zaid tried to sit up, a creative round of cursing escaping his lips. Something about marshmallows, tatertots and starfish. He needed to look normal before she got here. He got two steps to the couch, and lost the battle, collapsing in all his damaged glory. His little tail was stuck in the air like a flag of surrender.

Bunny down. Send help.

It felt far too soon when a knock sounded on the door. Zaid’s ear flicked, and he nervously tugged at his hoodie. Oh boy, he was busted.

“Zaid?”

Starfish and skyscrapers. She was here! Should he pretend not to be home? Should he ignore her? That was so mean though. ”Everything is fine!” ohhhhhh helllllthsyhurt. He whimpered, regretting yelling. The knocking intensified. ”Fine, it’s not fine, but I can’t get the door! Ow, that...owe, it’s too far to walk.” he broke down into a pile of bunny sniffles. He wished he stayed on the bed. His pillow was so far away now.

Alarm spread though her like wild fire. Everything was fine?

A second later she heard more and pressed her ear to the door. Can't get to the door.... ow?... OW?!

Had he been accosted again?!

She reached out and attempted to wiggle the knob. Locked. Drat. "Zaid, the door is locked!"

Should she break the door down? Could she? (she'd probably break her shoulder trying. There was no use trying to pick the lock either, she wasn't talented in that way like Saph had been.

"Zaid, what is going on, why can't you walk?" Mind spinning, she tried to remember what the inside of his place had looked like. There hadn't been any other entrances that she had seen, only front door and a window.

...window.

Fire Escape!

"I'm going to go around and come up the outside! I will be right there!"

Running was not her strong suit, honestly. With her mutation constantly eating away at her calories she could only maintain a certain pace for so long before she got the shakes and had to stop.

Still, she ignored the signs as she booked it outside and stared up at the long metal staircase that zigzagged up to where his apartment was.

...my... that was a long way up.

‘I’m going to go around and come up the outside!’

Snake-lady say whut? Both his ears stood up, barely making out the sound of her leaving. Outside? How was she—

The fire escape?!!! Sweet mother of monkeys, what had possessed this kind stranger? Even he doubted he would want to climb along one of the rickety metal escapes should there ever be a fire, let alone to rescue a friend from their own couch! He fumbled for his phone, punching in her number so it called. When it picked up, he tried desperately to talk sense into her.

”Don’t...why...what if you hurt yourself? Stars, Andrea, I—“ he was choking on the phrase fine. Okay seemed irrelevant now. I am not going to die? That might be more accurate. ”I must... have rolled....ribs, just hurt. Couch is fine. Closer to bathroom. I have cookies stashed.” he would not starve! She did not have to rescue him!

”Or, maybe the landlord, stars, he charges...” he forgot the clause that billed $200 for lockout service. Dang exploitation of mutants. He needed a new bunny burrow.

She picked up on the first ring, as she was trying and failing to reach for the ladder to the stairs. It was just out of reach. While she walked he could probably hear the sounds of her dragging over trash cans and random junk scattered around to make herself taller.

"It is okay, Zaid. I heal faster than an ordinary person." CLANGTHUD "Ow.." CLANGCLANGSCRAAAAAPE "Huff... I can't very well leave you up there to survive on cookies for the foreseeable future if you can barely even move! What are you thinking?"

SHUFFLERATTLECLANK

"Got it!" The phone scraped around against her while she held it between her shoulder and ear, dandling from the rusty ladder that refused to budge. "I will be up momentarily, ok? Is your window locked? Do you think you can have it open by the time I get there?"

The ladder shuddered and she paused, eyeing the gears that were supposed to allow it to raise and lower when needed.

It wasn't gonna f--

SCREEEECHCRASH

"....ow." She hung up after that, picked herself up out of the trash and started climbing.

There were a lot of noise over the phone that made Zaid nervous. It sounded like falling, and pain, and many things that set his little heart racing. How did his white Knight today turn into a green girl with snake braids who sounded like she was getting f mauled by a fire escape? Heaven help him! Dang her and her need to help! Why was she so persistent! His little heart couldn’t help but break 1000x over.

As the phone hung up he mustered all his strength and hobbled to the window. His legs felt like jelly as he sank next to it, breathing even more heavily than before. He could feel every rib individually trying to stab a hole in his lungs, he was certain of it. His sweater felt like it was a sauna baking him alive. He didn’t even have a shirt on under it, how the heck did it get so hot?

Open the window. Just open the window. Lift the latch—-Stars, lift. He looked doubtfully at the lever. He was sure his side would split in two after this. After a moment, he moved so he could hook his leg under the latch, and kicked it up. Owe owe owe but it was done.

Sit, rest. Window open, sit and rest.

Or, pass out. The ground got closer awful quick. He sounded like darts Vadar as he flopped, sniffling to himself.

”but I wanted a second date.... Well, at least he hadn’t said anything else. The window rose open, and he was relieved he hadn’t told the world he barely had his first kiss. Smooth bunny boy. You are winning today.

By the time she reached his window and flopped a sweaty glove hand on the sill, she was wheezy likes Romeo if he has asthma. She swung her bag in first, dragged her upper body onto the sill and went limp instantly.

"I- wheeze- need to... work out more."

She spotted Zaid a second later and mustered the strength to haul the rest of herself in. The poor boy was on the floor and sounded worse than when she had seen him last. Crawling over on her knees, dragging her bag behind, she hovered over him to grab his attention.

"Zaid... Zaid!" She still hadn't caught her breath, so it was breathy and weak. She placed the back of her hand on his forehead and immediately notice the sweat. Waddling over on her knees, she snagged a pillow from his bed and brought it back over to him. If she was gonna check him, she would do it from where he laid, but she was going to try and get a pillow under his head to make him more comfortable first.

Then, she moved onto checking his pulse and pulling out her stethoscope to check his breathing where she could.

"Okay... I know I gave you a choice last time but I am revoking that privilege this time. You are in no condition to be up and moving right now, and a visit to the hospital, by my estimates, will land you being there for while to heal from this." If he even made it that far with how bad this had gotten.

She fixed her best stern glare at him (which wasn't terribly scary at all) and dragged her bag over to dig her transfusion kit out.

"Have you told your friend Jude about this yet?" She was prepping the needles as she asked.

Zaid had lost the dignity to fight. From bed, to bathroom, to couch, to floor, to—wait, he was pretty sure he had been on the floor twice. Although this batch of floor felt a little colder. He was never trying to jump with bruised ribs again. Lesson learned! He was not athletic enough for those shenanigans. Officer Hopps, you can keep your job, this bunny was not meant for scaling walls.

“Zaid!”

He opened an eye and peered up at Andrea. His nose quivered, and he focused on sloth instead, spotting the white color somewhere within the curls of hair. ”I didn’t get him snacks yet.” he complained.

She gave him his pillow, which he was grateful for, and he shut his eyes again. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen but he was feeling extremely sleepy. His lungs were not enjoying working anymore. His heart was on overtime trying to spread oxygen and he was pretty sure it was feeling mistreated.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

”You win. I concede,” even a bunny knew when enough was enough.

His ears moved and listened to the noise as she dug through her bag. She sounded as tired as he was. He could hear the snakes hiss, possibly wondering if he was going to be their meal. ”Don’t worry Sloth, if I ever really die it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you tried to eat me.” the wrigglers needed food somehow. He would probably taste like ramen though.

“Have you talked to your friend?”

”No!!!” he tried to sit up, eyes snapping open in alarm. ”Don’t tell him! He will think I’m such an idiot and we only had one date! I can’t lose face this soon! Owe... and his kiss tasted like soap....” he flopped back down. ”It’s not supposed to taste like soap... but if you scare him off that’ll be the only one!”

"Don't give him any ideas. They try to eat things all the time when they aren't supposed too."

The snakes visible may have adopted slightly bashful looks. Or at least as much as a snake could.

She gently pushed him back down as he lurched up and startled her. "OKAY, jeez! Lay still!"

Sighing deeply once she had him resting again, she rolled up his sleeve to prep his arm. "This will pinch slightly." She warned.

The needle came out from its sanitary packaging and she slipped it into his skin with expert precision. Then she moved on to settling herself down beside him in a comfortable manner, back resting against the edge of his bed, and prepped her own arm.

"Still... if you are romantically invested in this man you should be honest with him. You do not need to tell him the whole truth, but he should know about what you are going through at least a little bit." She thought back to all of the times she kept secrets from Saph, and how that had blown up in her face more than once.

... and also how he had kept similar secrets from her.

The needle slipped into her arm in it's usual place and a little patch of tape secured it in place as she had with his. She leaned back some more as she twisted the little plastic knob on the tubing that would allow her blood to flow into him, and the transfusion kicked into gear.

"Besides... How is he supposed to know to bring you flowers and candy and a get well soon card if you don't let him in a little?"

As soon as her blood started to mingle with his own, a magical thing would happen. The pain he was in would gradually start to ebb away. Breathing would become easier, and he would be able to relax a bit.

Compared to the broken ribs, the needle to his arm was comparatively mild. There was a little sting, but it didn’t last long. His brain began to take in what she was telling him.

”Why would he bring me a get well card if I’m already well? I think this speedy healing thing is taking that out of the equation.” Zaid said after a second. There would be no worrying over his broken body when there was no body broken still.

”And I don’t know the exact phrase to say now. I can just say I was hurt and someone healed it without detail. Or...I need to think of what phrase is okay.”

While he was thinking, the blood began to trickle into his veins. With swoops of his heartbeat, it carried through his body, and there was a weird healing sensation taking over. From his ribs, to his face, he knew the process was working. His ears shivered with the feeling.

He expected to feel colder, like when you get an IV and the saline freezes your veins. But their metabolisms were similar enough he didn’t feel different. Just a tiny itch where the line connected.

”We should get you something to drink...after this. Electrolites. Loss of blood for you, or is it?”