#caretaker-ish

Whumptober Day 21 - I DON’T FEEL SO WELL

Tagging @mnmlover2002 @cupcakes-and-pain @appy-polly-loggies @lave-e let me know if you want to be added/removed!

CW: medical whump, referenced injuries, referenced gun violence, Wildre being an intimate whumper? let me know if I missed something!

Masterlist // Previous

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The rest of the day was a blur for Devin. They had briefly awoken when Duncan had laid them down in what they thought was a car and for a moment they thought they heard Wildre’s voice, but they weren’t sure. They were drifting right back into unconsciousness almost immediately.

The next time they opened their eyes, they were staring at the all too familiar ceiling of their room. There were voices talking around them, but their brain just could not seem to focus, before they were back to drifting.

Devin woke up with a gasp and a cough, their eyes flying open to take in their surroundings. Which, it turned out, they could barely see. The room was swathed in darkness, causing them to squint and tap down on the surge of fear that began coursing through them.

What happened? They thought, lifting a hand to rub their eyes. But a stab of pain stopped them and caused everything to flood back in. The meeting, the shootout, the running, the bullet. The pain. But where am I now?

Swallowing against their dry throat, they tried calling out, “Du-Duncan?” fearing the worst.

Much to their relief, however, the door along one wall cracked open, sending a beam of light cutting across the room that they now recognized as their own.

“Devin?” Duncan’s gruff voice said, softly, from the doorway. “You awake?”

Lifting their head up, they licked their cracked lips, rasping back, “Y-yeah. What, um, what happened?”

He stepped partially into the room, enough so they could see most of the top half of his body. He hesitated before saying, “I need to go get Wildre. He said to get him once you woke up.” He seemed to pause a moment longer than was necessary before he was gone again, closing the door with a soft click.

With a slow exhale, Devin rested their head back on the pillow, shutting their eyes for only a moment before the door opened again, and, through their eyelids, they could see the lights turn on.

“Good morning love! Or rather, good middle of the night.” Wildre’s voice sounded like he’d actually been worried about me was lacking its usual chipperness.

They slowly opened their eyes, allowing them to adjust to the harsh lighting with a soft groan. They moved their gaze from Duncan, standing right by the door, looking as if he was about to bolt to Wildre, who they had to do a double take on.

He looked like a hot mess less put-together than he usually did, his hair mussed from sleep and his clothes wrinkled, as if he’d thrown them on in a hurry. They tiredly looked back at his face, where his smirk seemed less severe than normal, but it seemed to widen when he saw their eyes on him.

Sitting down in the chair next to their bed that they hadn’t noticed, he offered them a glass of water, which they tried taking from him, only to bite back a cry at the pain that raced up their arm. Instead of one of his usual retorts, he simply held it to their lips and watched as they took a greedy gulp. 

The fire in their throat soothed, they asked again, “What, um, what happened?”

Setting the glass back down on the nightstand, he sat back in the chair, thinking for a moment before replying. “We were attacked,” he started. “By one of my rivals. I’d guessed that they’d discovered a couple of the locations I use, but I didn’t think that they’d found that one yet. It was.. unexpected.” His mouth turned downward. “But they chose the wrong day. They thought catching my top men and I all together would be easy pickings. They forgot, I think, that each of us had to claw and fight our way to where we are now.” He grinned slightly at that, a vicious thing that almost had Devin flinching back. “They won’t be a problem anymore.”

Devin opened their mouth to clarify their question, but Wildre cut them off with a wave of his hand. “In the middle of all the chaos, you, love, got yourself shot, so Duncan-” a pointed look at the man, who seemed intent on staring at a patch of floor- “had to do a quick fix solution, so you wouldn’t bleed out and die.” Devin was taken aback, both at the casual manner in which he spoke of their close call and how close that call had actually been.

They glanced at Duncan and softly said, “Thanks.”

Wildre scoffed at that. “Don’t thank him. He was just doing his job.” He rolled his eyes before continuing. “Anyways, those tunnels are filthy, and he didn’t have the time to clean the wound out before he bandaged it up, and apparently Dr. Lenus-” The way he said the doctor’s name showed he wasn’t too pleased with the man- “was too busy sewing you up to do it either, so you’ve been near delirious for the past several days, fighting an infection.” Devin was finally able to identify the emotion playing across Duncan’s face. Guilt. A smile slowly spread on Wildre’s face as he leaned forward and purred, “And you’ve said some of the most interesting things, love.”

Devin blinked, needing a moment to comprehend before they glanced away, tracing the pattern on their blanket with their eyes, determined not to flush at that. Their mind raced with oh god what did i say did i say anything he can use against me anything he can punish me for possibilities. 

He sat back with a laugh and a slight wave of his hand. “Aw, don’t worry. Nothing too incriminating. This is the first time you’ve been lucid enough to hold a conversation.”

Their eyes stilled as they struggled to say, “H-how, how long?” How long have i been gone have i been unconscious have i been here how much longer am i going to have to suffer like this-

Wildre paused, as if counting in his head. “This would be the middle of the night of the second? No, third day. Yes, so you’ve been out over two and a half days.”

Devin sank back into the pillows. At this point, their mental calendar and clock had become so twisted, so confused, they didn’t even know what day it was anymore.

After a few moments of silence, Wildre stood. “Well, if you don’t have any more questions, love, I’m going back to sleep. Duncan will be just outside your door if you need anything-”

“Wait!” The fingers of Devin’s good arm reached out and latched onto the hem of his shirt. “Wait, I have one more thing to ask you.”

He turned back to them, an amused brow raised as he made the ‘go ahead’ gesture.

They licked their lips, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “Why did you- I mean- You could’ve just- Why did you save me?” they finally spit out and, judging from his facial expression, it was not what Wildre was expecting. 

He froze before pulling gently out of their grasp. “Because I take care of what’s mine, love. And you are..?” he trailed off, clearly waiting for them to finish the sentiment he had drilled into them.

“Yours,” they replied dully, a heavy weight on their chest. “I am yours.”

He patted their cheek before leaving, and as they closed their eyes in an attempt to fall back asleep, they just couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that Wildre had actually, even if only for a moment, seemed to care.