"no dan- soldier. sit down." he said, struggling to keep his composure as a sargeant. "y-you should l-listen t-to him." kahlil stuttered after making sure daniel was watching his lips, he wanted the boy to sit and relax, he’d pushed himself today.

daniel let the doctor help him into a wheelchair before he took the leg off. there was blood on the cotton sleeve due to dan not being used to it and also because of how much he'd pushed himself. the doctor peeled off the sleeve and then bandaged the boy's stump telling him they couldn't do physio with the prosthetic till he'd healed. that also meant that daniel would be in rehabilitation for longer as he couldn't be released until he meet physical and mental goals set for him.

kahlil kept eye contact with his boyfriend when the sargeant came in, the sergeant who just happened to be shea. “soldier, enough.” he said from the doorway of the rehab room. seeing his friendstruggling and exhausting himself upset him but he was a sergeant first and a best friend later.

daniel heard shea and stopped but he couldn't help but argue. "just let me go to the end of the room sargent. that's all i'm asking. i can do this. let me do this" he spoke his voice slurred and words pronounced a little too articulate. the only reason he knew what shea had said was reading his lips through the mirror on the far wall.

kahlil had been holding onto the others hand the entire time, never once letting go, even when he fell down. “كنت تفعل ذلك بشكل جيد.” the boy mumbled in his native language aas he walked without the bars either side of him. he was worried however that daniel was exhausting himself.

it took daniel a few minutes to work out what the other had said before he smiling weakly, sweat coating his tan uniform top. "t-thank you" he mused taking a few more steps determined to reach the end of the room. he ignored the doctors as they told him that he'd done more than enough today. he didn't even click when one left to get a sargent knowing that was the only way dan would stop. 

kahlil squeezed on daniel’s hand to show him he was there, he could’ve whispered something in the other ear but what was the point. their relationship was based on delicate touches to convey how they felt. he laced their fingers, squeezing again, sending the message that he was proud of the boy for getting thie far.

daniel held onto the others hand, it took the male over an hour to walk to the end of the bars and back again to his chair. he was covered in sweat but his steps were getting better and he'd only fallen twice. when he got to the end he pushed his chair out of the way taking a few steps only holding onto kahlil and not having the full support of the bars.

kahlil stood beside the bar, hodling his hand out for the other to take. he couldn’t speak as he watched his boyfriend stand up, if he did speak no-one would be able to understand him anyway, he’d either stutter in english or start speaking arabic.

daniel was quick to grab at his boyfriend's hand holding onto it tightly as he shook a little. it hurt like hell but thats because the leg was new, it was the same principle of having new shoes only a lot worse. when the doctors took a step back daniel too the hint and took a step forward almost falling but he had the physio doc push on his chest to get him standing straight again.

kahlil sighed, watching daniel carefully. since the IED it had been harder for them to communicate, with kahlil’s stutter and daniels hearing, they barely talked properly. late night conversations had turned to nothing. him simply putting the false limb on without a fight was progress.

daniel took a deep breath and used the bars either side of him to stand up, he had his physio doctor and prosthetic doctor in front of him checking how the leg fitted and to make sure daniel wasn't going to fall. he took one hand of the bar reaching for kahlil, daniels own speech was poor as he could barely hear what he was saying but he managed to communicate sometimes.

kahlil let out a soft sigh, they’d been here a while with him gently trying to persuade daniel to just try the prosthetic. “p-please j-j-just do it f-for me.” he stuttered, biting his bottom lip, hating the sound of his own voice.

daniel could only work out some words that kahlil said and that wasn't his fault, daniel's hearing had suffered at the hands of the IED. he sighed running his hands roughly through his hair before picking up the leg and cotton padding. he wrapped his stump hairing the way the thing looked before he slotted his leg into the carbon clicking it into place to connect with the pin at the end of the cotton sleeve.