Work Text:
White stretched out on the medical bed, sighing as their breath hitched in pain. They glanced to the other side of the medbay, not seeing Blue anywhere. With a quiet sigh, they sat up, leaning over to grab a book to entertain themselves—bored out of their mind, stuck in this tiny room beneath the blaring fluorescent lights. White had been sitting there for three hours, too sore to move after Green—no, not Green. Some horrific imitation of them had tried to kill them. They’d struggled to tell the others that it wasn’t really Green; it was some twisted freak walking among them. They liked Green… or at least, the real Green. That thing? They didn’t even know what it was anymore.
They flipped the book over to its cover. It was one of Blue’s medical analysis books—or something like that. Boring stuff. They weakly propped their legs up, resting the book against them as they skimmed through the pages. A moment later, they snapped the book shut—not out of anger, at least not intentionally. It came off more like a child throwing a tantrum than anything else.
“This is agonizing…” they whispered, tossing their head back with a weary groan. A few more annoyed grunts escaped them as they slumped against the bed.
Their hand slid across the paper-thin sheets as they relaxed their body, lying there with their gaze fixed on the fluorescent lights humming softly above them. They lifted one hand into the air, watching as it cast shadows against the pale blue curtains surrounding their bed. They lazily wiggled their fingers, the silhouettes mimicking their movements.
The room was painfully quiet. Only the faint buzz of the lights overhead and the occasional distant footsteps of the others passing by.
Usually, Blue wasn’t away from the medbay for this long; they always came back eventually, whether it was to check on them, scold them for trying to get out of bed too early to see the others, or simply make sure they were still breathing.
It had only been a few hours—at least, White thought it had—but to them, it felt like forever. Time dragged endlessly within the sterile walls of the medbay, each passing minute stretching into another until they blurred together. They let out a quiet sigh, their hand slowly falling back onto the mattress as they continued staring at the ceiling.
“…Where are they?” White murmured under their breath, the question disappearing as soon as they shut their mouth.
White let out a quiet sigh as they pushed themselves upright, every movement sending a dull ache through their body. They sat on the edge of the medical bed for a moment, staring down at the small drop between the mattress and the floor. It wasn’t far, but in the condition they were in, it looked far more intimidating than it should have.
They lowered their feet to the floor. The moment their weight settled onto their legs, a sharp sting shot through them, forcing a groan out of them. They paused, letting the pain pass before taking another slow step.
With a small, irritated huff, White began limping toward the medbay door. Each uneven step sent another wave of soreness through their body, making them wince despite their best efforts to hide it.
Blue had to think they were crazy if they expected them to stay cooped up in the medbay all day. No—that was ridiculous.
There was no way they were going to spend another hour staring at the ceiling and listening to those stupid fluorescent lights buzz overhead.
They reached out, resting a hand against a nearby cabinet to steady themselves before pushing onward. Every few steps, they found something else to lean against—a counter, the edge of a chair, even the wall itself.
…Maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous after all.