Chapter Text
The first thing Riven noticed was that he felt like shit.
His whole body was sore in one way or another, but his chest hurt the most.
The skin over his chest was uncomfortable warm and itchy. The whole area felt dry and stiff like it was pulled tightly over his muscles and bones, not to mention much warmer than the rest of his body. On top of that, there was a deep dull ache that spread down to his lungs. He might as well have been a giant bruise.
Every breath Riven tried to take was a struggle. He inhaled as shallowly as possible, taking great pains to avoid jostling his chest. Despite this, every breath sent a spike of agony through his chest.
Opening his eyes seemed like too daunting a task at the moment, just the idea of lights was enough to make his head ache with a stinging throb.
What the fuck happened to him?
He cast his mind back, trying to remember whatever the fuck it was that landed him in the hospital, only to end up more confused than before. His head spun and swam in all sorts of random directions, barely able to hold onto a thought for more than a second.
The only thing he could truly concentrate on was his breathing and his pain.
Riven laid like that for a while. Breathing in and out. Unable to think about anything except how much he wished he didn't feel like he took a dragon head-on.
The second thing he noticed was that there was music playing.
Riven could barely hear it, having to stain his ears a bit, but it was clearly there. It was quiet and hardly had an instrumental. Like someone was singing under their breath with their own little band playing as softly as possible.
It was soothing. The gentle song proved a surprising amount of comfort in his suffering.
The melody was beautiful and the voice almost sounded like Musa...
Musa.
Riven's eyes snapped open and flung his body up, pain instantly ripping through his chest.
Musa. That's why he was in so much pain. He was protecting Musa.
He had protected Musa.
Riven's lungs squeezed, and with a grasp, he began violently coughing. Searing pain shot through his chest, and his whole body tensed from the agonizing feeling. The light hit his eye and burned painfully, making his head spin harder than before.
Tears welled up, his vision whited, and his hearing got fuzzy.
At least when he broke his body jumping off of Cloud Tower he had been high on adrenaline. Breathing was somehow so much harder than before.
Riven was fairly certain that someone had said something when he first sat up, but with the way his head was spinning, he couldn't concentrate on whoever made the sound.
The pain was overwhelming, all-consuming, and despite himself, Riven choked out a sob. His whole chest burned, with stabbing pain in his lungs. Like someone was hammering a nail into his ribs every time he dared move a centimeter.
Then suddenly there were hands in his line of vision.
"Healing frequencies!"
Slowly a warm purple glow lit up the small blurry area Riven could see, followed by a beautiful sound. Soothing his pain and slowing his rapid breaths.
Riven took deliberate steady breaths.
Every inhale was labored and painful, but each breath was easier than the last.
"Riven...?" The voice was gentle, melodic, and painfully familiar.
Musa's eyes were wide in a mix of fear and confusion as she panted. Likely from using a spell she wasn't used to and running across the room to his bed.
His bed?
Taking a look around quickly revealed his location.
He was in a hospital.
Needles and tubes were sticking out of his arms and a tangled mess of wires off to his side connected to machines he didn't know the name of.
The mere fact alone that a fairy healer couldn't fix the curse attached to whatever it was that hit him made Riven's blood run slightly colder.
Better him than Musa.
Musa, who was on his hospital bed.
Musa, who had been in his hospital room when he woke up.
Musa, who he thought he'd never see again.
Riven turned back to face her. Her face still twisted up in worry, but she made no move to do anything.
She was probably letting him get his bearings. He appreciated that.
Just seeing her upright and in the bright hospital, that information was enough to calm a good chunk of his lingering fear. The last time he saw Musa, the last time he had seen anyone, was during...
"Ar—" A violent spasm hit Riven's chest, spurring a coughing fit, forcing him to stop talking. His raw throat suffered more damage.
"Riven!" Musa repeated, sounding more distressed, her hands glowing once again and his pain subsiding.
"Just wait here," Musa said, hopping off the bed. "I'll get you some water!"
Riven watched, unable to utter a single word of protest, as she sprinted off to grab him water. If it wouldn't be followed by an instant bout of pain and a horrible coughing fit, he would sigh fondly.
She was cute as ever.
Turning his head Riven saw a bunch of chairs off to the side of the room with an instrument Riven couldn't name on the ground, several papers strewn about, a blanket, food, and other things on the floor.
She must have been here for a while, staying by his side while he was in the hospital.
The thought made pleasant warmth twist uncomfortably in his chest.
Darkar's lair. That's where he last remembered being.
Things were getting worse, Tecna had been thrown into a wall, Bloom was still under some sort of spell, and Musa had been targeted specifically. Darkar wanted her to be the first to die.
Her magic had been already fading, and if she was forced to detransform...there was no question on whether or not she'd survive. She wouldn't.
His body moved faster than his brain did, and he couldn't bring himself to regret it for a moment.
The only thing he did regret was the fact he passed out before seeing the battle's conclusion.
Hopefully, everyone was ok.
…Hopefully.
Musa...was Musa injured?
He couldn't remember seeing any scars on her body but he also couldn't remember seeing any of her skin. Which meant she could have scars and wounds wrapping her body and he wouldn't know.
If she wasn't in the hospital then she was ok. He did it, right? Kept her safe?
Safe enough that is.
The idea of Musa getting harmed by something worse than what put him in the hospital, despite how objectively stupid the thought was, plagued his mind.
The fact that Musa hasn't returned was slowly starting to agitate his already frayed nerves with extra anxiety, elevating his heart rate if the fact that the incessant beeping sound picked-up speed was any indication.
The door to his hospital quickly opened, and Musa sped through the entryway.
Well, as fast she could go without spilling the glass of water in her hand.
Musa closed the door with her foot, carefully balancing on her one leg, and he gave Musa a once over.
She looked haggard.
Musa has dark circles under her red-rimmed swollen eyes.
The kind of eyes you could only get when you cried and cried.
They were painful and uncomfortable to look at.
She was dressed oddly too.
Musa was wearing a light pink official Alfea sweatshirt, a pair of black leggings, and red flip-flops. She had her favorite yellow beanie tugged over her head, and instead of having low pigtails, her hair was down. Musa never let her hair down.
The outfit completely covered any injuries she could have, but she wasn't intensely favoring one side of her body or limb.
So that meant she was okay, right?
Right?
She didn't look well.
Musa wasn't as committed to fashion as Stella was, but she hated wearing mismatched outfits and always made a point to put her hair up.
Yet, here she was, doing none of those things.
Riven's gut twisted.
He hated not knowing things.
Musa was by his bed in an instant, clearly looking over him to see if he managed to hurt himself in the time she was gone.
He hoped he didn't look as bad as he felt, but he probably did.
Dammit.
"Here you go," Musa said, handing him the glass of water. "Go slow so you don't choke."
Riven resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Mostly because he could definitely choke and that would be humiliating.
"Are..." Riven said slowly.
His throat was still raw from coughing and felt impossibly tight.
Like that was going to stop him.
He'd have to die before he'd ever shut up.
"Are you ok?" Riven asked, voice hoarse and rough. "Is everyone ok? Did we win?”
If he was in the hospital that means at least enough of his friends were alive and well enough to keep him stable and get him to a healer in the first place, but...He had heard someone scream Sky's name and as much as he and Sky still didn't get along, Riven still hoped he was alive.
Tears pooled in Musa's eyes and Riven's chest went cold.
Was someone else in the hospital alongside him? Did one of them end up in a coma? Dead? Did someone die? Was one of his friends cold in the gro—
“Yes, we won Riven…Everyone else is ok. You're the only one who was really injured." Musa said through soft hiccups and sobs. "The only other person who got a big injury is Sky, and he didn't end up in the hospital. His burns are pretty bad though."
Burns?
Ah.
Poor Bloom.
"And I'm completely fine," Musa said resolutely, wiping her tears. "After you went down the tide of battle turned slightly. Darkar wasn’t able to throw out any more attacks like the one he used on you." Musa moved closer to him, and sat on the edge of his bed, lacing his fingers between hers. "Darkar's spell he used on you was...partly cursed ." Musa's voice slightly wavered, and she stumbled a bit over her words. "You got the worst of it."
Riven fought the urge to smirk.
Even without magic, even though he couldn't do anything against that creature, he still managed to keep Musa safe.
Clearly he failed because Musa caught sight of his face and glared hard.
"You've been asleep for two weeks!" Musa said, tears already back in her eyes threatening to fall. “We were all so worried you wouldn't wake up!”
Riven cringed.
Two weeks was a lot of time to miss, and a long time to be in the hospital.
A long time for Musa to be waiting for him to wake up.
He has already come to terms with his death long ago, standing on the window sill of the dungeons in Cloud Tower.
It wasn't nearly dying that bothered him, no.
"It's ok Muse, I'm ok," Riven said softly, and he hoped it made her feel at least a little better. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He had people that would care if he died now. He had real friends and loved ones now.
He needed to stick around for them.
Musa was already a naturally emotional person, he really didn’t want to imagine how upset she’s been over these past two weeks.
"I thought I had lost you," The tears in her eyes got bigger, her voice got louder and higher pitched. "and right after— right after— "
Musa choked out a sob and pulled his arm close to hold it tight. Bawling into his shoulder as she curled up right next to him.
Right after....?
Right after what?
Oh.
Oh.
A blush quickly rose to cover Riven's face.
He...he totally confessed his feelings to her while bleeding out on her legs, didn't he?
That was something he did.
Oh no, not even that, he even asked for a kiss while he was fading out of consciousness.
No wonder she's so fucking upset!
Nice going dumbass. Confess to the girl that's been nursing a powerful crush on you for the past couple of years while you're about to die. That's such a good idea.
Fucking idiot.
Riven moved his other arm to gently hold Musa while she sobbed.
He could fix this, he could totally fix this.
"I didn't get the chance to properly ask you out," Riven whispered into Musa's hair, working off his vague memory of the event. "When I get out of this place, how about I take you out on a date?"
Please let that make her feel better. Thinking about a future date instead of his near demise was good, right?
Fuck, he was terrible at feelings.
Musa sat up to look him in the eyes, face flushed a pretty shade of pink. Her beautiful soft pouty lips parted in slight surprise.
She was so pretty, so pretty.
He’d probably never get over how damn cute she was.
If it wouldn't hurt like hell, and if his mouth wasn't probably disgusting, he would've kissed her until she was breathless and her lips were swollen.
Eh.
He'd have time for that later.
Musa smiled as new tears fell down her face. Which meant she was happy crying.
Probably.
He hoped so.
"I'd really like that," Musa said, wiping the tears from her face.
Riven resisted the urge to sigh in relief.
It worked.
"Well then," Riven slowly moved some of Musa's hair behind her ear, watching her follow his hand with her eyes and the cutest expression on her face. "I better recover quickly. Wouldn't want to keep my girlfriend waiting."