Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[Risky]

Kyle feels himself starting to shake, he shakes his head and looks at her. "Arya, there's nothing wrong with you.. There's something wrong with me.. And I know what it is but if I tell you I'd be forced to relive... I need some sleep." He says quietly before jumping up and rushing to his room.

Max jumps up and takes Kyle's spot on the couch, panting happily as he watches the movie.

 

[BurningWillows]

She watches him leave, even more confused. Then she turned and patted Max's head, deciding to leave her fiance alone for the moment. She'd ask him later.

~~

A couple hours later she's curled up on the couch with Max, her head resting on his back as the two watched movies. Feeling had come back to her legs an hour prior, but she felt mostly tired than anything, so she pulled herself onto the couch before collapsing, cuddling Max. Arya's half asleep, her eyes fluttering shut while she struggles to watch some cop movie.

 

[Risky]

Kyle steps out of the room and walks into the living room where he finds Max and Arya, he sits down where Katerina had been sitting before lightly shaking Arya.

"Baby wake up, we need to talk." He says to her softly, moving over to the remote and shutting off the tv so he could speak.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

She wasn't even fully asleep yet and his words woke her back up. Although she wished she was asleep and hadn't heard him at all. Asking to talk was never good. Still she couldn't just ignore him and as much as she feared what he would say next Arya opened her eyes and stretched before sitting up to look at him. She made no motion to touch him, still feeling that almost stranger vibe from him.

"Kyle? Sorry I got sleepy. What do you need to talk about?"

 

[Risky]

Kyle sits down next to her and takes her hands with his, looking her straight in the eyes. "You told me earlier that you wouldn't be hurt if I loved somebody else." He says to her softly. "The problem is that I could never love anybody else." He explains to her.

"I've been hiding it from you because I didn't think you would love me if I told you.. But the reason I've been so distant is because I've been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder." He says quietly. "That's why I keep trying to go back to the fight and why I never feel like myself out of combat." He explains.

"I don't know what I would do without you, if we ever took a break I doubt I would live through it.."

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

She just looked at him, hurt and a little dumbfounded.

"I'm a doctor and you never thought of telling me? I could be helping you Kyle. Why would you go back into the war if you have PTSD? Your making it worse, and ultimately...Kyle you can kill yourself like this. If you have an episode during combat then your not focused and..."

She sighed, running her hands through her hair, "I guess this means you'll be going back to Afghanistan after your face heals. I..."

Arya turned, petting Max, "Nevermind. Its alright. Everything will be fine. You should rest though, and I can make dinner."

She shooed him off to bed, ashamed at herself for lying. He had no idea she'd been discharged, or what the virus had done to her. And somehow she thought it be better not to tell him, that she'd deal with it alone. Maybe it was because he had so much on his plate. Perhaps if she was more honest with herself she'd know it was because she knew in a matter of weeks she'd be alone once more, and needed to fend for herself.

Collapsed the wheelchair and putting it away, hiding it from sight. Then she set about making dinner, acting as if nothing was wrong.

 

[Risky]

Kyle nods and keans forward, kissing her on her forehead before walking back to the bedroom. He lays down on the bed and curls up under the covers, his eyes fixated on the wall ahead of him. He knows that the only thing sleep will bring him is memories, memories that he has no intention of reliving.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

She was halfway through making spaghetti when the room span. She felt it, like a shot of electricity coursing through her and then everything went numb. One second she was fine, the next she was collapsed on the floor. Feeling came back in her arms first, and as she coughed and gasped for the air that had left her lungs Arya dragged herself to the couch, getting herself into a sitting position before Kyle could come out to investigate. Falling had created quite the bang as it had echoed through the house. Quickly she thought up a lie, still wanting to keep him in the dark for as long as possible. For his sanity.

 

[Risky]

Kyle jumps when he hears the bang, he gets out of bed and walks up the hallway, calling out. "Arya, baby.. What happened?" He calls out, looking around for her and finding her on the couch. He raises his eyebrows at her as he scans her for any injuries, as there was nothing on the floor and it had sounded like a body hitting the floor, he thinks that she fell but he has no idea why or how she did. "You can tell me anything baby." He says while sitting next to her, looking concerned.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya~

She smiled even as her gut churned, hating the notion of keeping secrets, "it's fine I just slipped in the kitchen. Didn't realize there was water on the floor. Dinner will be ready in an hour. I'm just waiting for the water to boil."

His hand rested on her knee and it concerned her that she could feel nothing but she pretended she could, rest her hand on top of his. They said to give it a few minutes to pass. Don't get nervous.

"If your up would you like to pick out a movie or make dinner? I'd love the help."

 

[Risky]

He nods. "I can pick out a movie for us to watch, I was never really good at cooking." He says with a laugh as he stands, walking over to their small collection of movies. He decides on a superhero movie, grabbing The Avengers from their pile and walking over to the TV, sliding the disc in.

He waits for her to finish cooking, staring at the title screen of the movie as he does so, listening to the sounds of her cooking food.

 

[BurningWillows]

After a few minutes of sitting the feeling in her legs comes back and she can cook as normal, careful to watch for signs impending another collapse. When dinners ready she serves them both, handing him one steaming plate then finding herself a spot on the opposite side of the couch, giving him some space. Max crawls in between the two, stretching out so his nose is touching her thigh and his tail end is against Kyle.

"Avengers looks good," she says absentmindedly, getting up and searching for a bottle of pills in her bag that she'd left at the entrance when she arrived last night, "want to click play? I'll be there in just a second."

Moving to the kitchen she grabbed a glass of water and moved to the couch, opening the bottle and retrieving two white pills. In one swallow she took both, hoping he wouldn't ask what they were for. She could have snuck them in the kitchen, but going behind his back felt worse than omitting the truth. If he'd ask, she'd say it was a precaution after Germany, just antibiotics.

 

[Risky]

He clicks the play button and starts to eat his food, eyeing his pills out of the corner of his eye, but deciding not to ask about it, if she didn't want to tell then he obviously doesn't need to know. He reaches up to his face and tears off the bandages, revealing a large scar under his eye that connects to his cheek and twists back to the corner of his lip.

By now his burns have healed, seeming more like sun burns, tiny pieces of skin coming off to show that the skin was dead. He watches the movie while eating, finishing his food before reaching over and petting Max, wishing he could hug Arya but Max is sort've in the way.

He waits for her to finish eating before clicking his tongue and scooting over next to Arya, he and Max had switched places. He puts his arm around Arya while Max rests his head on Kyle's lap.

 

[BurningWillows]

They sit through the movie, Arya tucked under his arm. When the movie finished she offers to watch another but first needs the washroom. As she whisks away her phone on the couch beside him begins to ring, the caller id appearing "Blocked"

 

[Risky]

He watches her go, biting the bottom of his lip as her warmth escapes him. He hears the phone ring and he reaches over, looking at the caller ID before answering it.

"Hello? This is Kyle Wetsworth." He says over the phone.

 

[BurningWillows]

On the other end of the phone a proffessional and crisp voice spoke calmly, "Corporal Wetsworth? Engaged to Arya Culling. We are hoping to speak to your fiancé about her condition."

 

[Risky]

Kyle raises his eyebrows. "She's busy, but I can take a message." He says while sitting down, anxious to hear what the mysterious voice had to say about his fiancé.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Sorry sir, she gave us express orders to speak to her alone. I understand your worried about your fiancés state, but we cannot disclose information without her consent."

The man sounded apologetic, obviously not wanting to start a fight. If Kevin pushed he might get a little information out of him but not all of it, the man on the line trying to do his best.

 

[Risky]

"Listen buddy I have a right to know what the hell is going on with my fiancé, you'd find it in your best interests to tell me right now." He says lowly, as if threatening the man over the phone.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Sir, please. I'm only doing my job. Don't shoot the messenger alright? Dr. Culling let us take some tests before she flew back to San Francisco, to see if her condition was terminal. We are simply following up with the results."

 

[Risky]

"My question is simple... What exactly is her condition, that's all you need to tell me, I don't care about the other news you might have, I need to know what's going on." He says, starting to cool down a little bit.

 

[BurningWillows]

The man sighed, "She left you in the dark then? Figures, she probably doesn't know the right way to tell you that - oh, sir sorry...yes I'm speaking to Dr. Cullings fiance....no, no I did not disclose any confidential information...yes sir."

It was obvious someone was speaking to him on the other line. After a moment he came back, clearing his throat.

"Please tell Dr. Cullings to call us back at her disposal. Thank you."

With that the line went dead.

 

[Risky]

Kyle groans when the line goes dead, he stands and walks over to the washroom, resting his forehead against the door before knocking on it. "Baby? Someone on the phone wanted you.. They were talking about your.. 'Condition'? What does that mean?" He asks.

"We promised to be honest with each other.. Please just tell me." He says quietly against the door, hoping that she will explain and soothe his confused mind.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya finished in the washroom, but hearing his words made her want to hide in there forever. Instead she washed her hands and opened the door, trying her best to smile.

"Thank you for answering that call, they were just getting back to me. Remember I called you the other day about it, you didn't seem real interested then so I didn't want to bother you with it now. Like you said, you're dealing with lots."

She rubbed his cheek with her thumb, "Don't stress over it, just focus on yourself ok? I'll give them a call back now."

Moving around him she scooped up her phone and redialed, scampering into the bedroom.

"Dr.Culling?"

"Yes, that is me. What did the tests find?"

"Nothing good," his voice sounded upset, "You are still not contagious, or any danger to others as long as your condition stays stable."

"This doesn't feel stable."

"Are you losing control of your body still?"

"Yes."

"I see..." there were murmurs, the man talking to someone in the background before returning, "We will need you to monitor them. If you begin to lose feeling too often for more than a few minutes, go to a hospital. As of right now, the drugs you take will help you. As for your condition, it is unfortunately permanent, and incurable."

"I guessed," she sighed, her heart sinking, "Is it fatal? Will I become like those men?"

"We are unsure. If it is, you may still have many years to live..."

"Or weeks," she cut in, depressed.

"We will set you up to go into a government run clinic twice a week every week to keep monitoring it. We are sorry about this, and we thank you for your service."

She let them go, throwing the phone down the bed and curling her legs under her chin, cursing herself. She knew Kyle would go back to Afghanistan soon, and at this point it was the best thing for them both. He thrived there, and as he said his PTSD seemed to lessen out there. And Arya...Arya would tackle this alone.

 

[Risky]

Kyle bites the bottom of his lip softly, there was only one way he could solve this. He walks to his duffelbag and grabs a small paper from his bag, on the top of the page it reads 'Request to Discharge.'

He walks into their room with it and places it on her lap, the only thing missing from it is his signature.

"Let's make a deal." He says to her softly.

"I told you that I thrive in combat, that I can't live without it, but if you're willing to help me through that, then I'll sign this and we can live happily ever after behind the white picket fence you told me about." He says to her.

"But on the other hand, you have to let me help you, you have to tell me what's going on so I can help you beat it, because I love you too much to see you in this much pain." He explains to her.

"So what's it gonna be?"