He's quiet, still, but he's not asleep - staring silently at one blank side of a bedside cabinet - and there's no attempt to pretend as she gets closer. He doesn't look up, either.
There's not much keeping him company in the room. A single IV stand running saline through a port in his arm: he wouldn't necessarily need to be here if it weren't for the dehydration of the desert. Without any non-palliative treatment he'd have argued for dealing with the fever and the crippling muscle ache at home, alone. Access to analgesics has gone some way to helping with both, but it's time for a new round of pills and the effects of the others are wearing off: the shivers and the sweats coming back, the pain in his legs meaning he holds his jaw tight. But he keeps his eyes open.
☞ but we're always in repair
There's not much keeping him company in the room. A single IV stand running saline through a port in his arm: he wouldn't necessarily need to be here if it weren't for the dehydration of the desert. Without any non-palliative treatment he'd have argued for dealing with the fever and the crippling muscle ache at home, alone. Access to analgesics has gone some way to helping with both, but it's time for a new round of pills and the effects of the others are wearing off: the shivers and the sweats coming back, the pain in his legs meaning he holds his jaw tight. But he keeps his eyes open.