Allegiance | Kylo Ren

IV

I slept fitfully, waking up at least once every hour. It was dark, and I knew I should be sleeping as much as possible so as to heal faster, but I could not. Sleep seemed just out of grasp; each time my fingertips grazed it, it stepped back, taunting me.

At last I fell into more of a tired haze, fading in and out of consciousness. I finally felt tired, tired enough to fall asleep for real, and relief overcame me as I shut my eyes, waiting for the black wave of sleep.

The loud clatter of the door being flung open snapped me awake. The lights blinked on, and I squinted, trying to make sense of the commotion in front of me. Mason and a doctor I didn't recognize were struggling to support, no, restrain, a figure cloaked in black as they moved him in the general direction of the other bed. The figure fought them every step of the way.

I met Mason's eyes for a second, and they glinted with fear.

Fear?

The realization of who the cloaked figure was made my spine stiffen. I bit the inside of my cheek, staring, panic-stricken, at the ceiling.

"Don't touch me," snarled Kylo Ren, trying to push them away. His voice sounded mechanical as it was filtered through his silver mask. I could tell by his stiff movements that he was badly injured, but he was trying not to show it. At last he collapsed onto the bed, exhausted from fighting off the doctors and most likely intense blood loss. The other men took a step back, exchanging a glance of uncertainty.

Mason took a step back, his face white. "S-Sir Ren, it will be easier to judge the extent of your injuries if you removed y-your mask."

"No." The single word caused both doctors to shrink back, fearing what would come next. But Ren only fell back onto the bed. A thin trail of blood seeped from his robes onto the floor.

"A-Alright." The other doctor approached the bed hesitantly and began gently pulling back Ren's layers of black clothing. When he reached the base layer, he pulled it up carefully. A sharp intake of breath betrayed the severity of the wound. "L-Lord Ren, is it alright with you if I remove your cloak?"

"Do what you must." The mechanical voice answered after a pause, sounding tired even with its robot-like qualities.

The doctors quickly removed the layers of clothing, hanging them carefully on a hook on the wall. Mason's eyes scanned the wound, which stretched from Ren's hips and traveled up his side and neck, disappearing under the edge of his mask.

"Sir, I-I'm afraid we must insist that we remove your mask, or we risk infection..." Mason's words trailed off, and he gazed at his patient nervously.

There was a long silence. Everyone in the room and the room itself seemed to hold its breath. Finally, Ren's arms moved up to the side of his head, and he removed his helmet.

Even from the profile view I had, I could tell that he was young, younger than I would have ever guessed. He didn't even look much older than me. Dark curls were matted with blood to the side of his pale face, and his black eyes seemed to dare the doctors to make any kind of comment on his appearance.

At this point, my heart rate monitor was beeping at an inhuman rate, and I quickly yanked the band from my chest and pressed the button on the machine to turn it off. I didn't need my fear showcased to everyone in the room.

Neither doctor said a word as they set to work, not seeming to notice or at least acknowledge my action. The gash came to an end just above his jawline, barely sparing his face. His entire side was painted scarlet, and the doctors were struggling to wipe his skin clean quickly enough to stitch up the wound before more blood oozed out again. The doctor made quick work of stitching up the bottom half of the wound, while Mason worked on his neck and collarbone. Lord Ren showed no sign of feeling any pain, despite the constant jabbing of needles into his skin and his gaping wound. This was unnerving to me; I returned my stare to the ceiling.

The silence that had fallen over the room allowed for Ren to examine his medical room. His eyes trailed over the walls, the floor, and finally settled on me. He seemed alarmed to see another person in the room.

"Who is that?" He demanded, shoving Mason away. His voice was deep, even without the mask, but he seemed a bit unsteady as he sat up.

All this time, I had remained stiffly in my bed, hoping silently that my presence would go unnoticed. I got the feeling that, had Lord Ren been in full strength, he would have used the force to fling me across the room as hard as possible.

"She is another patient." Mason fought to keep his voice calm.

I hesitantly glanced over. Ren's black eyes were trained on me, and his face was stony. I felt fear chill me to the core. This was the great leader who was so highly spoken of, so prestigious, so merciless, and he was glaring at me from a nearby hospital bed.

Mason averted his eyes, clearly uncomfortable, as he filled a syringe and inserted it into Kylo's arm.

"Sir," the other doctor started. "We are already trying to find a separate facility to transfer her to. Not knowing how long you will be staying here—"

"I won't be staying long." Kylo interrupted, his words laced with malice. He finally tore his gaze from me and gave the doctors a look of disgust.

"Yes, Lord Ren. May I offer you some pain-reducer?" The doctor held up a bottle of clear liquid.

"No." Kylo's voice was cold. "No painkillers."

"My apologies." The doctor couldn't seem to take it anymore. He scuttled from the room, making some poor excuse about checking living arrangements as he went.

Kylo slowly lay back down, his dark glare not leaving my face as Mason stepped back in to finish the stitching. I felt his gaze searing holes in the side of my head, and at last I gathered the courage to look over. I couldn't hold his stare for long. There was something about him that was indescribably intimidating; I wasn't sure exactly what it was, whether it was his black eyes, or the scar that ran down the side of his face, or the way he seemed to embrace the feeling of pain, but it scared me.

I bit the inside of my cheek to restrain a heaving sigh of relief as he finally averted his eyes. Mason tucked his needle into the pocket of his coat, flashing me an apologetic glance, and pulled out a clean rag to clean off the wound one last time.

"Lord Ren, would you like some bandages to cover your stitches? It will help with any oozing or—"

"Get out."

"Yes, Lord Ren."

Mason gave me one last glance as he exited. He paused as if he wanted to say something to me, but evidently thought better and closed the door quietly behind him.

The silence that followed was unbearable. The absence of any sound whatsoever weighed heavily on me, like someone was kneeling on my chest and making it hard to breath. I did not dare move; I did not dare speak.

He's going to kill me. I'm not sure what brought the idea to mind. Ren had shown no violent tendencies towards me since he had arrived, but I could feel his hatred for me clouding the room like a gathering storm cloud. I had no proof that my thoughts were valid, but the second the words echoed in my brain I felt as if though they were a certainty.