{ &&. soldier on. }

Slowly, Torid looked up, her gaze resting onto Caleb, a very subtle smile on her face. “I want to stay… You’re one of the only people I care about here. I wanna make sure you’re okay…”

Heaving a sigh, Caleb straightened upright momentarily, surprised to find the urge to yank his hair from his head was no longer present - or at least, not as present as it usually was in these situations. “. . . I’m okay, like I said. As okay as someone can be like this.”

“Oh, alright.” Danny nodded, not prepared to try convince him to do something that wouldn’t be beneficial. “Is there anything else I can do?”

He smiled tightly, gaze fixed firmly upon the ground for something to focus on. “Probably not.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” Danny tilted his head, trying to make sure the other didn’t look sick or anything drastic. “Maybe you should head off to bed?”

“I’m good.” He paused, stuffing his tremouring hands into the pockets of his jeans. “-- Bed? Nah, I’ll pass. That’ll make the whole thing worse. Thanks, though - for the. . . concern.”

Without needing to look up, she knew he was motioning for her, and silently she stood up and sat on the bed, her hands folded together in her lap, crystal hues not leaving them. “I won’t sing. I promise.” Her voice was a bit quieter than it usually was, but mainly because she wouldn’t want to startle him.

“Thanks.” Caleb nodded once again, keeping his gaze fixed upon the floor just as Torid was her hands. He inhaled slowly, daring to close his eyes for a moment before opening them once again and clenching his fists by his side. “You really don’t have to stay, y’know.”

With just the sound of his voice fading and his leg bouncing, Torid tried her best to think of a way to help Caleb out of this. “Anything can happen in a moment of PTSD…” Her eyes remaining on the floor, she huffed quietly before coming up with an idea. “My friend on the street used to sing to me when I would be like this… Maybe I could… try…”

“Singing?” He paused, frozen where he sat for a moment and furrowing his brows. “Unless you’re seriously shitty I don’t think that’s a good idea - might. . . put me to sleep instead and that’s the last thing I want right now.” There was another pause, the silence dragging out for what felt like an eternity before he glanced over, and patted the empty space on the bed beside him; indicating for her to sit.

Hearing him broke her heart just a little; seeing somebody that she cared about in a moment like this, knowing she could do nothing to help but wait for him to snap out of it, no matter how much she wanted to help… A small, broken sigh left her lips, tears just barely beginning to sting her eyes. “I just wanna make sure you’re safe…”

Leg bouncing, Caleb shifted ever so slightly where he sat, hands braced either side of his body upon the bed and fingers curled tightly into the covers. “You keep saying safe, but... I’m not -- exactly unsafe, right now. Not - not really, anyway.” He glanced around the room, taking in every inch and sighing once again. “I mean -- yeah.”

Torid stared at the man for a little bit, a quiet, almost saddened sigh leaving her lips. “Fine, I’ll let you be alone…” Turning around, she crawled back towards the door, but stopped and leaned against the wall, curling up. She said she would let him be alone, but she never claimed that she would leave him alone.

“That’s not--.” He sighed loudly, moving slowly from his position to take a seat upon the bed instead of the cold floor; even if the temperature difference was incredibly grounding. “That’s not leaving someone alone, you know. Shuffling a little bit to the left it - it doesn’t count.”

“Yeah, alright. I’m pretty sure I’m done here.” Before standing up from the seat, Valya shot the other a quick glare. It took her longer to stand up than the average person. Not painfully slow of course. But it was noticeable if someone was paying attention. It used to be only ever now and then would her prosthetic leg hurt… the whole ghost limb or whatever the hell the doctors called it. However since she has arrived at the hospital, the pain occurred nearly every day.

Caleb raised a brow idly, glancing over to the interaction before rising to his feet, light blue eyes fixing upon the floor until he caught up with the younger girl. “-- Are you okay?” He inquired, confused by his own sudden interest. He’d essentially made a pact to himself to stay out of everyone’s business - the last thing he wanted was to become attached to the place.

Torid sat on the floor a few feet away from Caleb, watching him carefully. She knew it wasn’t good to leave someone alone during a PTSD attack, plus she was just a stubborn girl. “I’m not leaving, Cal. Not until I know you’re safe…” Her voice remained soft and calm, not wanting to frighten him more.

“Safe?” He laughed dryly, tilting his head back to rest against the wall, eyes slipping closed after a further moment of sitting in silence and concentrating entirely on slowing his breathing down. “I want to be alone, Torid.”

“Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. Not words that I like to use. I can make my own mind up about things, and I don’t like to reminisce and think about what-ifs, they tire me and it’s enough to drain anyone. You;re here to become a better father, a better boyfriend, and a better human being, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about; this is the first step towards healing. I can tell you that now you are here, and this is a place of rehabilitation, and that’s my goal, to rehabilitate you so that you can go out and live your life.There will be hard days, don’t get me wrong, but ten bad ones are worth one good one. Now, stop being so dramatic and get up.”

“Don’t fuckin’ use them, then. I’m not asking you too.” He growled under his breath, running his fingers through his hair and tangling them within the longer layers once again. “Ten bad ones are worth one good one, huh? How long, exactly, is it gonna be until a ‘good day’ pops up? Let me guess, you don’t know. So in the meantime I’ll just have to sit patiently, go to therapy and take a bunch of fuckin’ pills. I don’t think so.”