ZADR Orange Chapter 163

Shuddering noticeably at Rose's touch when she knelt down to press a single hand to his face, one of Zim’s swollen eyes opened slightly as though attempting to locate his hybrid, his blurred vision thwarting his attempt however and only offering him a field of visual colors, all muted and mixed together in a sickening fashion. “D-Dib...” the other’s name came out strained with a hint of daze behind it.

“Z-Zim...” Rose rolled him carefully over onto his back before calling over the medical drone.

Still in shock over the fact that Zim was even still alive, the medical drone nonetheless made his way over to the spot next to Rose. “Th-This...This shouldn't be possible.” he took Zim's wrist and checked him for a pulse. “An Irken can't live without their PAK.” he then said, trying to piece together how it was the other was still functioning enough to speak, let alone BREATHE.

Having noticed the still bleeding wound on Zim’s back from where his PAK had been previously located, Rose flipped him over again onto his front side for just a moment to examine the area his PAK usually occupied. “Well, I'm pretty sure he's not wearing one now. How did he get up here though?” she asked before feeling a cold draft coming from somewhere and noticing a small trail of blood drops littering the floor, leading from the bed to an open window.

Standing up, the medical drone followed the path of freshly shed blood over to the window in question to have a look outside it for himself, an unfamiliar but clean and sweet scent hitting him from somewhere and causing his antennae to twitch. “I'm...not sure. In his condition, I wouldn't think it possible unless he actually DID have his PAK to help him get up here.” he returned to the bed, realizing the other was still bleeding where his PAK had been ripped out. “Regardless, he needs his PAK now. This wound was made several days ago, yet it's STILL bleeding. If we don't get it back on him soon, he'll surely bleed to death.” he said with some urgency when he felt how cold and lifeless the other seemed to be in that moment.

Knowing Dib had been cradling it to himself for the past few days, Rose searched the covers frantically for it. “H-Here it is!” she exclaimed upon finding it.

“It will be painful reattaching this to him, but he'll heal faster with it on and have a better chance of survival.”

Nodding her head to Jack at those words, the two of them then rolled the damaged Irken back over onto his stomach so his back was exposed for the medical drone to reattach it.

Looking over the wound on his back, the medical drone reached forward a hand to feel about for the ports. “Alright, Zim, if you were able to survive all this time without it, then the pain of reattaching this should be nothing compared to everything you’ve already been through.” he said before finding the ports on his back to reattach to the ports of his PAK. Feeling the PAK come alive and pull itself back into place when the two ports met, the medical drone then stepped back when the Irken gasped out suddenly, as though he hadn't breathed since it had first been removed.

His PAK blinking a few times once it had completely reattached itself, it then sent a painful electrical shock all throughout Zim’s body to reactivate his failing spooch and limbs.

Waiting for the jolts of electricity to pass before reaching forward a hand to check his vitals again, the medical drone then proceeded to check his pulse and press one antennae to his chest and abdomen to make sure he could hear everything functioning more fully again. “Well...He seems to be coming to again.” he said, pulling away to retrieve a strong painkiller from his PAK so he could inject Zim with it. “This will help a lot with the pain while we're getting him cleaned up and fixed.” He then reached into his PAK again to pull out a container of some kind of cleansing gel along with some bandages. “While I set to work cleaning and bandaging his wounds, do you think you could get him something sweet to eat. I'm guessing he hasn't eaten anything since he was stripped of his PAK, so he'll need plenty of sugar in his diet to recover. And can somebody get him a change of clothes too? His body temperature seems dangerously low right now compared to what it should be.” he said as he set to work on cleaning the worst of Zim's wounds first, starting on his shoulder where one of the two Irken guards had pierced him with a spider leg.

The group of people all nodded and went about getting the things for Zim as Dib stayed sitting on the floor, just staring at him in shock. It just couldn't be possible. He had seen Zim die…hadn't he?

Looking up from what he was doing after a moment, it was only then that the medical drone seemed to realize Dib was still just sitting there, staring at them in silence. The boy was a pale white, obviously still stunned. “Hey, are you-?” he began to ask before standing from his spot when he saw Dib falter momentarily.

His entire body just seeming to shut down in that moment, Dib almost immediately blacked out on the other, the entire room going dark around him, causing him to sway unsteadily before slumping down onto the ground. It was all too much for him. Surely he was dreaming. The next time he woke up, he would recall the whole ordeal as nothing more than a dream, or so he thought.

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Several hours passed, though Dib had no idea how many, before he finally began to come around again. He felt warmth, something soft pressing into his side. He figured it was just Zim's PAK and so didn't think much of it until it shifted suddenly, causing him to jolt back a bit and lift the covers. Dib’s eyes grew wide. Lying right there next to him in the bed was Zim, all bandaged up now and his PAK reattached as though nothing had even happened to him. Dib faltered again, arms shaking unsteadily. The way he slept, so peacefully next to him, it almost looked as though he had never even left to begin with. A little pale still, he otherwise looked to be doing just fine now, swallowed up whole by one of Jack's shirts. Dib gripped the bed sheets tightly, still unsure about whether he was just dreaming this or not. Then, hesitantly, he reached forward a hand to poke at one of Zim's cheeks, wanting to make sure it was real. The flesh caved in a bit before bouncing back into place. Needing to double check before concluding that this was in fact real, he then reached up both his hands to feel Zim's antennae.

Mumbling a bit at the touch, Zim began purring quietly as his antennas were rubbed.

Pulling away at that reaction, his entire body racked with shivers again, Dib’s hands shook a bit before he grabbed at his own antennas again and shook his head, thinking he'd wake up any moment now.

“Mmm…” Zim’s eyes opened slightly and he blinked a few times before noticing Dib next to him. “D-Dib?” he said the other’s name in yet another strained whisper, though this time it came across as much more coherent.

Flinching at the sound of Zim's voice saying his name, Dib squeezed his eyes tightly shut, thinking this was all just a figment of his imagination.

Reaching out weakly at that reaction, Zim wrapped his arms around Dib before pulling in close to him. “I…promised...wouldn't leave you...” he spoke in broken sentences, still fighting to regain back all his basic functions, such as speaking.

The tears coming as he broke down a bit, Dib kept his eyes sealed tightly shut however. “Y-You come to me every night in my dreams...H-How can I know this is real...? H-How can I know YOU'RE real...? That I'm not just going to wake up from another dream...?” he whimpered out, wiping at his eyes with his wrists, so unsure about everything now. He didn't even want to open his eyes to look at Zim, afraid the other would dissipate right in front of him again if he did.

Antennas drooping at those words, Zim merely pulled in even closer to him before catching his lips with his own and kissing him deeply. “I love you so much...” he said once he had broken the kiss long enough to speak.

Releasing his antennae at the kiss, Dib dropped his shaking hands back down as he completely lost it at that point, sobbing uncontrollably to himself as he kissed back needily, never wanting their lips to part again, whether he was dreaming all this or not.

Pulling as close to the other as he physically could, Zim kissed back as deeply as he could in his injured state.

Feeling the Irken press his forehead to his, Dib then peeked his eyes slightly open to stare Zim straight in the eyes.

Zim pulled back a little to breathe. “I'm so sorry you were worried...But I'll never leave you...” he promised in a voice just barely above a whisper.

“I-I-I thought I'd never s-s-see you a-again...” Dib sobbed uncontrollably, his entire body trembling again as he pressed against Zim.

“Shhh…It's okay, love...” Zim held him close, closing his eyes as he was very tired and weak still.

Slumping up against Zim, Dib practically collapsed with him back onto the bed, hiding his face away in the Irken's chest nonetheless and his breathing anything but steady as he almost seemed to dry heave a bit. “I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry...” he repeated over and over again, just wishing there had been more he could have done to help save the other at the time.