Doctor Elliott stood in the door of the hospital room, staring hard at the clipboard in his hands. He pouted, then frowned, made a few questioning "hm" sounds, then glanced over at the bed. In response, Cobalt nervously cleared his throat and pulled the bedcovers tighter over his legs.

The pair stared at each other for a while before the Incubus finally deigned to speak.

"So... Can I be discharged yet?" he asked, cocking his head.

His doctor took a deep breath.

"I can't say I have much experience with Incubi, so I was willing to suspend my disbelief when it came to treating you. But for all intents and purposes, Mr. Trayer, you really shouldn't be alive right now," he said in a tone that sounded both surprised and exasperated.

"Come again?"

"The back of your head was split open. Your knuckles were badly fractured. And yet, before we could get you into surgery, you had already begun to heal."

The Incubus raised an eyebrow.

"Th- That can't be. Surely I wasn't hurt that badly, right?"

"The paramedics saw your skull peeking through your hair, Cobalt. And the firefighters witnessed you break through toughened ice with naught but your fists. This entire state of affairs is... highly unusual, to say the least."

Cobalt glanced down at his feet, his own frown growing deeper. True enough, when he had awoken, he felt as though the entire debacle in the Brimstone Baths had been nothing more than a strange dream. It was only when he remembered that he was incapable of having anything other than lucid dreams that he realised that it had all happened. Not to mention that his head and hands had been swathed in bandages.

"I don't understand, doctor," he said, looking back over to Elliott.

"Neither do I, but I did a little digging, and I found some records relating to an Incubus patient we had a couple of decades ago."

Cobalt's ears pricked up. Was that...?

"Apparently, your kind seems to just... heal quicker. The more life-threatening the injury, the more likely you are to just shake it off, so to speak. It doesn't make a whole pile of physiological sense," sighed the doctor, scratching his head.

He looked down at his bandaged hands.

"I see..." he murmured, unsure of what to make of this information.

"There is a downside, though. According to what I have here, while an Incubus' wounds can heal very quickly, the scars they leave, um... don't."

Cobalt's eyes widened.

"What?!" he gasped.

Before Elliott could stop him, the Incubus bit into the bandages swathing his hands and tore them away, much to his doctor's alarm. True enough, the grievous wounds he sustained after breaking through the ice were gone, but in their place was a series of very noticeable scars all along his knuckles. Anybody that didn't know him would think he was a brawler.

"Oh, this isn't good..." he mumbled miserably, thinking of his already poor reputation amongst B.I.D.'s staff and students.

"I suppose so, but think of it this way," Doctor Elliott said, approaching the Incubus' bed.

He laid a hand on Cobalt's shoulder.

"They're reminders that you did a good thing. If it weren't for you, that girl probably would have succumbed to hypothermia before the rescue teams managed to cut her out of that mess of ice. You should be proud of yourself," the doctor said with a smile, patting the Incubus' shoulder.

Going quiet for a moment, Cobalt gazed down at his scarred knuckles, feeling the smallest hint of pride for what he had done.

"How's Jelli doing, anyway?"

"Jelli...?"

"A- Adeline, I mean."

"Well, obviously I can't go into detail, but I can tell you that she's doing much better now that she's with her family."

He cocked his head.

"And her brother?"

Elliott raised an eyebrow before he nodded slowly.

"Yeah, he's here too."

A smile smile flickered across Cobalt's face.

"That's good to hear."

His doctor pulled a strange face, but quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head. Patting Cobalt's shoulder again, he made his way towards the door.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Anyway, we'll keep you overnight just to keep an eye on you. All goes well, you'll be discharged in time for school," he said, clamping the clipboard under one arm.

Bidding his patient goodbye, Elliott stepped out of the room, leaving Cobalt by himself. Looking around to make sure that he wasn't being watched, the Incubus got out of his bed and crept over to the sink by the window. Twisting the tap, he began to frantically scrub at his left arm, washing away all the phone numbers that he had scrawled upon it in red marker.

He wasn't thinking straight when he asked Alison to track down Stefan Blackwell's phone number - on account of the blood loss - but once he thought about the state that Jelli was in, he couldn't just leave the issue alone. Maybe it was harassment, calling him and lying about her condition, but what else was he to do? His student was suffering, and he wasn't about to sit by and watch idly.

They were together now, and that was all that mattered.

With the last of the ink washed off his arms, Cobalt returned to his bed and slowly shut his eyes.

Perhaps now he could sleep the whole situation away, and return to work like nothing had happened.

-----

It was past midnight, at least that's what Cobalt figured it to be when he heard the door to his room quietly click open. Wondering whether it was a doctor or nurse come to check on him in the night, he ever so slightly cracked an eyelid open, just enough to glimpse who it was.

But no, it was not any member of the medical staff. There, nervously fidgeting in the dimly-lit doorway was Jelli, her tail quietly sweeping behind her as she padded barefoot into Cobalt's room.

What was she doing...?

Unwilling to open his eyes and frighten the poor girl, the Incubus just watched as she slowly tiptoed over to the side of his bed. Her eyes were wide with wonder, enraptured by the sight of her - supposedly - sleeping teacher.

"Um... Hi, Mr. Trayer," the Glutton whispered, glancing back at the door in order to make sure that she wasn't being followed.

Cobalt stirred experimentally, but upon seeing the panic flash across his student's eyes, he refrained from moving and continued to feign slumber.

"Y- You're not awake, are you...?" Jelli asked, looking into his eyes.

He didn't respond, but he could feel his heartbeat getting faster.

"O- Okay, good... good..."

Swallowing hard, the young Glutton sat herself down upon the chair next to the bed.

"My stepbrother, Stefan? He, um... kam zu, uh... came to see me. I- I didn't think he cared about me, but when he arrived, he thought I was d- dead. And he was crying... I don't know why. I- Ich bin es nicht wert, aber... um..." she said, more to her own feet than to his face.

She took a deep, shaky breath.

"When he calmed down and got checked by the doctors, he said that someone told him that I was... you know... over the phone. They said that my h- head had been broken open and that I was dying and..."

Jelli swallowed hard, tears already glinting in the corners of her eyes.

"But I wasn't. You were."

Cobalt's heart seemed to stop for a split second.

"I- I- It was you, wasn't it...? Calling Stefan...?"

Oh no. He thought he had been as discrete as possible! Only using the hallway phone when he was certain that nobody was around!

"I- I'm not mad, though. Quite the opposite, in fact! Heh..."

Standing up, her tail swished back and forth.

"B- By doing that, you've, uh, kinda made me fall mo-"

She cleared her throat as her eyes widened. She stayed silent for a moment, worried that Cobalt would awaken.

"Um, I l- l- like you more, is what I meant to say. Wait, no... It kinda is? Urgh..." growled the Glutton, grabbing her hair.

She sighed and wiped her brow.

"I- I'm messing this up, sorry. Um, I- I thought about saying this to your face, but... You know me... Ich bin in allem schrecklich..." the Glutton continued with a pathetic little laugh.

Sniffling, Jelli shook her head and turned her deep hazel eyes onto Cobalt's lidded ones.

"I tried to tell you at the pool, a- and I chickened out. You didn't understand, and I- I don't blame you. I- I should have... um..."

Taking another deep breath, she slapped her cheeks and faced him once more, resolute.

"What I'm trying to say, Cobalt, is that I love you. P- Properly. As in, I- I've thought about you a lot... sorry..."

This time, his heart really did stop.

"Ever since the day when you saved me, fr- from Magnus, I mean... I found myself falling for you... It seems like an impossible thing, I know... I'm not as pretty as Karazelle, or strong as Izzbelle, or talented as Whitney, and I know that I'm just a gross Glutton who eats to numb her... I, um... I h- hope that..."

The Glutton exhaled and buried her face in her hands.

"Scheiße, why can't I be brave and say this face-to-face?" she muttered before looking up once more.

Climbing up onto the chair, she knelt until she was hovering over her teacher.

"I l- love you, Cobalt, and I hope that you accept my feelings when I finally tell you. I've had a hard time here, but being taught by you makes me feel... well, feelings..."

Jelli suddenly gasped at her own words.

"N- N- Not those kind of feelings! Well... sort of, a little... b- but nothing too indecent! I- I know that's gross, but I promise it was-! Urgh..."

She sighed again and wiped her brow. Silently, she put her hands on the bed and leaned over him.

"I- I- I'm sorry for doing this like this, but... I could never do this in person... sorry..." she whispered, gently holding his cheeks.

With that, Jelli leaned down and planted a lingering kiss on Cobalt's lips, a kiss that tasted of sugar and honey. It was only for a moment, but to him, it lasted an age. A tender, sensitive gesture, filled with little quivers that betrayed the Glutton's mixed fear and excitement. A split second passed, and she broke the kiss.

"I did it...! I did it..." she gasped to herself, sitting back in her chair as her tail threatened to snap right off with how fast it was wagging.

As for Cobalt, it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to cry out. Or gasp. Or do anything, really. His chest felt like it was about to explode, and his head wasn't faring much better.

"Th- Thank you, Cobalt. For getting my family together. B- But more importantly, for being you. Nice. A- And kind. And, um... g- gutaussehend. S- Sorry. Yeah..."

She was shaking all over, and as Cobalt watched Jelli nervously creep back out of his room, he could see that she was staggering back and forth on her feet, as though she was supremely lightheaded. Upon reaching the hall, he saw her bite her thumb and glance back into his room.

"Ich liebe dich wirklich sehr, Cobalt."

With that she quietly shut the door and padded back down to her own room.

Cobalt waited for a few minutes, his heart ready to burst right out of his chest. As soon as he felt as though it was safe to do so, he sat bolt-upright, sweating all over. With shaking hands, he gently touched his face.

"N- No, this has to..."

This had to be a dream, but he already knew that he was just kidding himself.

Jelli. Sweet little Jelli. She was in love with him? He would try to kid himself into believing he wasn't, but not even Cobalt was dense enough to deny what he had just seen. She was smitten, no two ways about it.

A gentle love as pure and sincere as the brash, impassioned confession he had received from Izzbelle, back in the winter.

This...

"This can't be happening..." he breathed, staring at the ceiling.