Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Thorne woke with a groan, his side throbbing. It was dark and the clock on the mantle said 12:24. Beside him Cress was asleep, curled up at the other end of the sofa with a blanket tangled around her. With barely a concealed grunt of exertion, he managed to get up and stagger into the bathroom where the orange canister of pain meds were sitting. He filled a little cup with water and downed another of the little green pills, wondering how in the known universe he was going to fly the Rampion.

Well, maybe by the morning he'd feel better.

He meandered back to the sofa, easing himself down and stretching out beside Cress. She moved in her sleep but didn't wake up.

The pain meds made Thorne sleepy, but his ribs still hurt and a dull headache pounded at his temples so he found it hard to get comfortable. He must have drifted off at some point, waking to pale light filtering in through the windows.

"How do you feel?" Cress asked.

Thorne barely managed to stifle a groan. "Not to bad." He took a careful breath, blinking his eyes again to clear the fog from his vision.

Cress moved beside him. Her fingers grazed his cheek as she studied his face. "The bruise is going away."

"Nice."

"Your ribs?"

Thorne shrugged. "Still hurt. Probably will for a while, though." His eyes slipped closed and he felt Cress work his shirt up.

"At least it's a pretty color." She said with half a laugh.

Thorne actually laughed, though it hurt. "We'll go after breakfast, that way we'll get back home around midnight."

"Okay, sounds good." Cress said. Apparently she had finally given up trying to talk him into waiting. She lightly kissed his side before tugging his shirt back down. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Yes please. I actually want to take a shower first, though."

Cress nodded. "Do you need any help?"

Thorne grinned.

"I meant getting up or getting your stuff." Cress said as heat climbed to her face.

"Ah, bummer." He smirked, carefully getting up from the sofa. Cress hurried to his side and he didn't brush her off, grateful for the added support. He kissed the side of her head.

"I'll see about some breakfast and then talk to the maintenance crew about getting the Rampion ready."

"Thanks, Damsel. You take such good care of me."

Cress scoffed. "I'd taken even better care of you if you'd let me."

"I know." Thorne let her go as he stepped into the bathroom, taking the sweats and t-shirt she handed him.

He kept his shower short, the small exertion of just standing wiping him out. He had just finished getting dressed when Cress walked back in with a tray of breakfast in her hands.

Right after they finished eating, Cress started gathering their things together after ordering Thorne to sit down and take it easy. He did, going so far as to stretching out on the sofa and finding that he simply didn't have the energy to insist he was fine.

"The doctor gave me some of these... Lidoderm patches that he said would help." She added, holding a box up.

"What are they?"

"I don't know, I think they get warm and cold and are supposed to be soothing for broken bones." She lightly frowned, reading over the instructions on the back.