kindly asking for a HURT/comfort cooper howard x reader fic. i’m in my angst era and need a little bit of a near death moment with one of them, which makes them realize how much they need each other…
AN | I do love a good angst moment! Enjoy❤️
Pairing | Cooper Howard (The Ghoul) x fem!reader
Warnings | language; mentions of injury
Word Count | 3.3k
Masterlist | Main
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The pain in your side was biting. Quite literally if you were being honest.
Burning and stinging was causing your side to throb, the adrenaline having worn off now, leaving a weak and defenseless human. You'd managed to escape the hybrid mutts with just enough time to run away and get to higher ground. By the time you were able to stop running and finally catch your breath, the reality had started to set in.
You'd been attacked, caught unawares and unguarded and unable to protect yourself until it was too late. One of the huge mongrels was able to take a nice big bite out of your side. Looking down, you saw the dark red blood staining your shirt crimson. That wasn't a good sign.
With trembling fingers, you slowly managed to peel up your shirt to take a better look at your side. It didn't feel to quell any of your worries; there was a clear bite mark and a chunk of skin missing. The bite was deep enough that you probably should have worried about it, but enough to kill you right away. Your arms were scratched up as well but nothing as bad as your side.
“Shit,” you pulled your shirt back down and closed your eyes, taking a moment to settle yourself down. You tried to blink back your tears, already imagining Cooper's reaction to what happened. He was going to flip out, especially because he'd just warned you, again, to be careful and always remain vigilant, “fuck. Fuck.”
You quickly made a plan on how you were going to hide your injury and act like nothing was wrong. In a few days you'd be better and it would be like nothing had ever happened.
Yes. That was what you would do. Nothing could possibly go wrong at all.
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By the time you'd made it back to where you, Cooper, and Lucy had been staying it was already late and dark. The pain in your side had dulled to a warm, sore sensation rather than throbbing. In your mind this was an improvement.
“Where have you been?” Cooper's voice startled you; you could immediately tell that he was mad. You looked over to find him leaning against the side of the building, eyes narrowed and focused on you.
“Out,” you tried to give him what you hoped was a flirtatious little smile. In reality it probably looked like more of a grimace, “I was just looking for supplies and anything that might have been useful.”
“Tell me why I don't believe you,” he pushed off the wall and moved closer to you, arms crossed over his chest in a defensive manner. You were almost positive that he could smell the lingering blood remaining on you, despite the fact that you’d managed to get a change of clothes and had slapped some gauze over the wound. You swallowed thickly and shrugged gently, avoiding his eyes, “what are you hiding, little thing?”
“Cooper,” you tried to put on a mask of annoyance as you looked at him, “nothing happened. I just got caught up and got a little lost on my way back. That’s all. Can I please go to bed now?”
He reached for your wrist and stopped you from storming off. He studied you for a second, his gaze intently searching your face for whatever could be wrong. You weren’t normally like this, you were much warmer and softer and that alone was enough to tell him that something was wrong, “tell me what happened.”
“Nothing,” you snatched your wrist out of his grip and started to head inside the house, in search of a room that you could stay in sans Cooper, “just leave me alone right now.”
Cooper knew better than to push you when you were in a mood. He watched you go, waited until he heard the slam of a door before stepping back inside. He caught Lucy hovering in the doorway with a worried expression on her face. Her gaze flicked towards the room you went off to before looking back at the Ghoul, “something’s off.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a quiet sigh; he never thought he’d once again have to deal with such feelings and worries. But then you came along and it made him feel like a lovesick puppy more than anything else. He physically ached at seeing you in such a mood, “I know.”
“Do you want me to check on her?” Lucy, ever kind hearted and helpful, was ready to go anything to make sure the two people with her were okay, “I can try to find out what happened.”
“No,” he shook his head and ran a hand over his tired face, “just let her be for now.”
“Okie Dokie,” she offered him a smile of her own that she hoped wasn’t too unnatural before turning to go back to her room, “good night, Cooper.”
“‘Night,” he said gruffly before turning on his heel and heading to his room for the night. It was going to feel a million times colder and lonelier without you tonight. He rolled his eyes at his own softness before slamming the door shut.
It was going to be a long night.
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You woke up before the sun the next morning, exhausted from a night of horrible sleep and irritation from your side. You sat up and rubbed the sleep from your eyes, dangling your legs off the side of the bed and letting out a small sigh. You hated fighting with Cooper and you hated lying even more.
After a few moments of giving yourself a pep talk, you padded your way to the bathroom and locked it behind you. You looked yourself overself in the mirror, noting the dark circles under your eyes and the pallor your skin seemed to hang onto. You quickly decided that it was nothing to worry about and proceeded to brush your teeth and wash your face before dealing with your hair.
When you managed to get up the courage to actually checkout your side, you had to peel the fabric of your shirt off the wound. You gritted your teeth in order to keep from making a sound as slowly rolled up your shirt and assessed the damage. You regretted taking off the gaze from the night before as you looked at red, angry, and irritated skin. The area around the wound was warm and you couldn’t help the pathetic sound the escaped your lips.
You were just going to cover it up again and it would all be fine. It was going to heal.
At least that’s what you kept telling yourself. You knew that if roles were reversed you wouldn’t rest until Cooper or Lucy had the proper medical attention. But this wasn’t the same - you could deal with it and it would be fine.
You reached into the medicine cabinet and grabbed out the supplies you thought might be helpful and started to work on patching yourself back up. You hissed slightly at the feeling of the pressure on your skin but worked through it and eventually managed to get it all wrapped up. The skin around the wound was red and still visible despite the bandage job; you tried to ignore but deep down you knew that it probably wasn’t the best thing in the world.
You tucked the supplies away and made sure it wasn’t obvious that you had gone through anything. Hopefully neither Cooper nor Lucy would notice.
As soon as you stepped out of the bathroom, you found Lucy with her big brown eyes watching you intently. She had a big smile plastered on her face and you couldn’t help but smile softly back at her.
“Hiya,” she held her hand in greeting, “how’re you feeling today?”
“Fine,” you answered much too quickly for it to be even slightly believable, “just…getting ready for the day. Ya know…just livin’ life.”
Smooth. So smooth.
“Great,” she didn’t seem fazed in the slightest as you moved out of her so she could step into the bathroom, “I think we’re getting ready to go soon. Coop’s already up and ready.”
“Of course he is,” you sighed under your breath, readying yourself for whatever inquisition he would throw your way. You quickly made your way into the room you’d been sharing with Cooper and grabbed a change of clothes. You returned to the bedroom you’d used last night and quickly changed clothes - as quickly as your body would allow anyways - and pulled on your heavy boots. After a few minutes you walked outside with your backpack slung over your shoulder, taking a moment to calm your breathing before heading outside. The three of you had been doing some recon before planning your next move on the route to tracking down Hank.
Once you were ready, you walked outside into the early morning sunshine. The sun was still rising, painting the horizon in a splash of golds and oranges. If you weren’t feeling so terrible, you would have taken a moment to admire it all.
“Mornin’ darling,” you stiffened at the sound of his voice and turned your head to find him watching you intently. You offered him a tight smile but didn’t say anything in response. He waited for a moment for a response that he knew wasn’t coming. He reached over and took your chin in his hand and turned your face towards his. You blinked at him a few times before clearing your throat and wrapping your fingers around his wrist, “I believe I was talking to you.”
“Good morning, honey,” you pulled his hand away and met his eyes. You could see that he was taken aback by your shift in attitude; it made you feel bad in return, “I’m sorry. I…I just don’t feel great right now.”
“What’s wrong?” he looked at in concern, clearly scanning your frame for anything that could have been out of place. You swallowed thickly and hoped that he wouldn’t notice your side. You hoped it wasn’t obvious, but at the same you knew that he could pick out any little thing that was wrong with you.
“Nothing's wrong,” you insisted again, this time trying to keep your face and voice as neutral as possible, “I just feel a little off right now, that’s all.”
“You sure?” he looked you over like he didn’t quite believe - he didn’t - but he didn’t want to push you any further. He figured that this was progress anyway, the fact that you weren’t immediately pushing him away.
“I’m sure,” you offered a meek smile that you knew didn’t quite reach your eyes. Before he could say anything else, Lucy burst through the front door with a big grin on her face and the faithful German Shepard on her heels.
“Is everyone ready to go?” her hands were on her hips and looked between the two of you, seemingly unaware of the tension between the two of you, “we’ve got a lot of people to talk too and if we’re lucky, we can even move on to the next spot today.”
“Yes,” you answered quickly before Cooper could say anything, “let’s get going.”
Cooper said nothing but offered up a gruff nod before starting off towards the town, Lucy trailing closely after him with a map pulled out. You exchanged a look with the dog and even she seemed to be judging you. You sighed before rolling your eyes, “I don’t want to hear it from you.”
She made a sound similar to a huff before she started off after Cooper and Lucy. You sighed lightly before following after the rest of your companions.
This was going to be a long day.
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As it turns out it was several long days rather.
And somehow you’d managed to stay in the thick of it. More or less anyway.
Your side was still hurting but at times it seemed like it didn’t hurt at all. You kept cleaning and redressing the wound at your side as best as you could. Supplies had been hard to come and it was getting harder to keep things under wraps. Quite literally as it seemed.
You kept your distance from Cooper, trying to make it seem like everything was fine, but there was only so much more you could get away with before he cornered you in a room and demanded the truth. You were surprised he hadn’t called you for how you seemed to flinch when anything got near your side. You kept hoping that things would get better soon and it would heal up. Maybe it was wishful thinking (it was) but it was all you had to hang onto.
By the time you all found a viable lead and set off on the next leg of your trek, you were doing worse and worse by the minute.
It was unbearably hot and you were tired and thirsty and had to concentrate on each step you were taking. Your feet felt like cement and your vision kept getting blurrier. A few things you wanted to call out and ask Cooper and Lucy to stop for a while but you never made it that far.
You found a building to lean against, taking a moment to try and catch your breath. The sweat was dripping down your face and everything felt so far away and unreal. You heard your name being called vaguely in the distance and the next thing you knew was that you were slipping your way down the wall and hit the ground.
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The next thing that you knew was that you were surrounded by quiet voices and bright lights. You tried to pry open your very tired eyes, reaching up to wipe away the crust in the corners of your eyes. It felt like a herculean effort to get your arm up and a groan slipped past your lips.
“Take it easy,” the gruff voice that reached your ears was enough to get your eyes to snap open the rest of the way. A bright light surrounded you and it took a few moments to adjust to everything before you realized what was going on. Cooper was sat at your side, a scowl deeply etched on his face, “hello darlin’.”
“Hiya Coop,” your voice was scratchy and your throat was dry and raw. He handed you a glass of water which you eagerly took and almost downed in one go, “what happened?”
“You are what happened,” he said with no hint of amusement in his voice, “you collapsed, and here we are. Care to enlighten me as to what happened?”
“No,” you turned your gaze away and looked outside the window of the makeshift hospital room, “not really.”
“You know you’re going to tell me anyway, right?” He kept his voice mostly soft but there was still a firm edge to it as he watched you intently, “why did you keep this from me?”
“It didn’t seem like a big deal,” you caught his eye and swallowed thickly, “I didn’t want you to worry…or get mad.”
“Of course I’d worry,” he sighed softly as you shrugged, “you could have died. You had a major infection in your side that was starting to spread. You were lucky that you got here when you did.”
“I didn’t think it was that bad,” your voice was small and you realized how ridiculous it sounded when you were saying it out loud, “I was hoping that it would go away.”
‘Without treatment?” he hung his head and let out a bitter laugh, “without a med pack or anything? Honey, I know you’re not that stupid.”
“I know,” you sighed, “I know. I just…was trying to convince myself that it was okay. I thought if I kept it clean and wrapped up it might just get better. I know it as a stupid idea. I just got so into my own delusion that I went with it.”
“You should have told me,” when you tried to look away again, he reached over and gently took your chin in his hand and kept your face turned toward his, “why did you not tell me? We could have avoided this whole ordeal.”
You wrapped your fingers meekly around his wrist, “because I didn’t want you to be mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad?”
“‘Cause you told me not to get hurt,” you felt tears welling up in your eyes but tried to blink them back, “and I said I wouldn’t get hurt and then I went and got hurt. Like an idiot.”
“Sugar,” Cooper gently brushed your hair out of your face and brushed his knuckles over your cheek, “I would make fun of you for being a fool, but I wouldn’t be mad.”
“I’m stupid,” your lip trembled with effort not to cry, “stupid for getting hurt and stupid for lying about it.”
“You’re foolish, but not stupid,” he was trying to get a small laugh out of you. He’d never admit it to anyone else, but he’d do anything to put a smile on your face and make you laugh, “and I wouldn’t have gotten mad.”
“Promise?” you asked with a hopeful little smile.
“Promise,” he nodded, before his eyes scanned down to your side. You could see him internally cringing at the bandaging around your side, “how did it happen?”
“Don’t laugh,” the fact that you had to preface your statement was enough to bring a smile to his face, “I was...bitten by this stupid large dog thing. It happened so fast that I didn’t really know what happened until it happened and I felt the pain in my side. And then I thought I could handle it and here we are.”
“Here we are,” he agreed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, “you’re goin’ be okay, kid.”
“The doctor said I’ll live?” you asked dramatically, knowing full well by now that you would be just fine, “my heart will go on?”
“The doctor said you’ll live in and continue to be an insufferable pain in my ass,” he confirmed as you beamed at him, “for a long, long time.”
“Oh goody,” you relaxed ever so slightly with the reassurance at, despite your stupidity with ignoring a major wound, you would live, “can’t wait to bother you forever.”
“I’m counting on it,” but he was glad for it too. He’d been terrified of what was going to happen when you first collapsed but now knowing that you’d make it, he felt a whole hell of a lot better, “annoying girl.”
“But you love me,” you insisted and he scoffed with a roll of his eyes, causing you to giggle softly, “I love you too, Cooper, just so you know.”
“Yeah,” he agreed after a few quiet moments, “I do. Love you.”
“I knew it,” you yawned, “I want to nap now, but will you stay? Please?”
“I’ll be right here,” he kicked up his feet so they were near the edge of your bed, “you don’t have to worry about that, sweetheart.”
“Coop-”
“Get some rest now.”
