Chapter 45: The Morning After

When Dean awoke, he was slightly confused about where he was at. He was in his bedroom but he had no memory of falling asleep.

He had been so exhausted that the moment the adrenaline died he collapsed straight in the doorway.

Luckily Yuki was there to catch him, lest he potentially injure himself. He wasn’t particularly groggy, but he was most certainly tired.

Not the sharp fatigue of sleep deprivation, but the dull heaviness of too much rest after too much strain. He looked over at the side of his bed and found his phone charging there.

The moment he accessed his phone to check the cameras, he found that Yuki was in the kitchen preparing what seemed like lunch, and Katherine was in the infirmary checking on the vital signs of Todd who was now awake and sitting on the table.

The sight of which instantly made Dean realized he slept far longer than he had initially assumed. He got out of bed and dressed himself before climbing down the staircase to find Yuki singing along and dancing ever so slightly to a song in her native language.

She nimbly spun around mid lyric, only to fall utterly silent halfway through when she saw Dean standing in the doorway. Her focus shifting entirely from cooking and instead to Dean as she rushed over and greeted the man.

“You’re finally awake! I was so worried, you were out for an entire day! I tried to wake you, but Katherine told me you needed your sleep.”

Dean was still coming to as his mind was heavy and his thinking foggy. And Yuki instantly noticed this, cutting him off before he could speak.

“Wait just a moment I’ll be right back.”

She ran off and fetched a cup of coffee for Dean, warming it up in the microwave for thirty seconds before pouring some milk in it and handing it off.

“Lunch is almost done by the way, I’m sorry if it’s not breakfast. If I had known you were waking up, I would have prepared some scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and hash browns just the way you like it.”

Dean smiled and shook his head while sipping his coffee.

“It’s fine… How is Todd? And how are things around the neighborhood after what happened before I fell asleep, I kind of left things without a direction to head in?”

Yuki had gone back to the kitchen and finished the last touches of the lunch she was preparing, before setting it down on a plate in front of Dean. She sat down next to him and clung closely while answering his questions.

“Everything’s fine. Daniel took control of your little army while you were asleep, and I made sure the new residents were properly organized. With the raiders gone, there hasn’t been much to do other than what we were already in the middle of before they attacked. So Dean…. When can I expect your answer?”

At first Dean didn’t know what Yuki was referencing to, but the way she clung to his arm, wrapping herself around it, and batting her eyelashes at him, he realized mid sip that he had indeed made a promise to respond to her feelings after everything was said and done.

And everything was said and done now…. He didn’t know how to even begin to broach subject. He hadn’t even had time to think about it all.

The weight of it wasn’t simple. He felt he owed Yuki a debt he wasn’t sure how he could repay. A debt she had no memory of. She had literally died trying to help him before he regressed.

Not to mention, the memory of Avery’s betrayal and ultimate end still clung fresh within his mind. It was an oozing wound that couldn’t be patched up by recklessly venturing into a romantic endeavor with another woman.

And then there was the snow…. The uncertainty of the world around him. Dean couldn’t even begin to process how emotional attachments could hinder his and her chances of survival overall.

It was too much to process, and especially while he was still halfway through his cup of coffee.

Just when he was about to say something, anything to end the awkward silence between them, an exaggerated sigh interrupted their private moment, coming from the entrance to the kitchen/living room area.

“That boy… He’s lucky to be alive, if that bullet had pierced one centimeter in the wrong direction, the cavitation could have involved the femoral… If that were the case then no amount of blood bank, or tourniquets would have saved him.”

It was only then that Katherine realized Dean was awake, Yuki was clinging to him, and she had just intruded upon something she otherwise shouldn’t have.

“My apologies… I didn’t realize you were awake, and that you were in the middle of something, I’ll go… anywhere else.”

But Dean wouldn’t let the moment to buy him some much needed time for clarity just slip him by like this, he quickly rose from his seat and pleaded with Katherine.

“Come on, it’s not anything that can’t wait. You’ve been busy looking after Todd, surely you need something to eat?”

Yuki frowned and pouted, but Katherine realized she was likely pressing for something Dean didn’t know how to give her just yet just from a simple glanced of the awkward dynamic between the two.

She sighed heavily and shook her head while stepping back into the kitchen.

“You have no idea… It has been a day to say the least. Let me grab a plate, and then I’ll join you two.”

Yuki went silent while Katherine arrived at the table. Discussing Dean’s current state and that of Todd.

She also emphasized the need to raid the hospital sooner rather than later, as she couldn’t in good conscience start a blood bank without the ability to test for potentially diseased or tainted donors.

Ultimately, Yuki would have to wait for her answer, but not as long as she might think.

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