Mr Kruger (Eren x Reader)

VIII

☆☆☆

FAMILIAR NAMES

"There we go... a few more steps..." You say, concentrating on Mr Krugers balance as he followed your lead.

You were helping him with his wooden leg. Trying to make him balance on both his fake one and real one, but not completely otherwise he'd just fall from the pain. He would grip your shoulders every now and then when the said pain would shoot up his thigh. You'd squeeze his wrists in return and encourage him to take a breath then try again.

"You're doing great Mr Kruger. You want to try and stand by yourself?" You suggest. Feeling like he could handle taking the next step.

"Okay-" He agrees. You begin to lift one of his hands from your shoulders, immediately intertwining your fingers with his for support then did the same with the other. You kept his weight steady with the hold you had on him as he hopped on his good leg to try and get into a more comfortable position.

"Ready?" You look up with just your eyes. A few bangs of hair falling over your forehead. Much like how Mr Kruger looked only most of his hair covered his whole face.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Okay, I'm going to count to 3 then I'm gonna let go. 1, 2, 3!" You let go of both his hands and he was successfully standing on both his legs with zero support! The brightest grin was making its way onto your lips until he grunted under the pressure, immediately lurching forward for your support again to alleviate the pain that surely must have shot up his missing leg. On instinct you stepped forward to catch him better, not anticipating he would be so close as both his arms draped right over your shoulders completely hiding you with his figure but that couldn't stop the small rupture of laughter that echoed from your lips. Vibrating against Mr Krugers chest.

"That was so good Mr Kruger!" You praised him for the small feat. It was honestly such great progression. Not many people got this far after only 3 days of physical therapy and as a fellow nurse you couldn't help but want to praise him for it.

Mr Kruger suddenly put even more of his weight onto you, bending down just enough for his head to rest on your shoulder while his hands grabbed fistfuls of your coat. Your peppy tone immediately stopped and worry began to take over you as you looked him over. You could hear small groans of pain coming from him and put two and two together pretty quickly.

"You're having phantom pain." You said while trying to keep him steady with your hands on his forearms. It was a pretty firm hold and you were incredibly shocked to note how firm he was. His arms were practically rock solid. You found that to be insane considering every war patient and you meant every single one was as malnourished as you could get when coming back from the battle field. It was clear as day Mr Kruger didn't even scratch that surface.

You were quick to take him to the closest bench and helped him sit down. He sat with a groan, his one eye squeezed shut as he endured the horrible sensation. It was the most emotion you had ever seen him convey since meeting him but it was the worst one it could have been. You took off the wooden leg, had him grab your hand to squeeze and gently applied pressure on his leg. Letting him sit it out. Its all he could do at this point. He already took his meds so he just had to wait for them to work.

He leaned forward to alleviate some of the pain, but now he was just a hair away from you, resting his elbows on his knees, a firm hold still on your hand whilst his hair covered his face. He wasn't making any sounds anymore but you knew he was still in pain. It always angered you when patients went through this. Just another reminder of how unfair life can be for Eldians.

"Wish I knew there was such a thing as phantom pain-" He breathed. Almost regrettably. You furrowed your brows thinking not like he would have been able to prevent his leg from getting severed anyways. That's just the price of war, you thought. Whether he knew about it or not.