Lucifer is hurting and Chloe knows she needs to leave in order for him to heal. Oneshot. Deckerstar.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! This is purely for my own entertainment!

Her hesitation was evident as she slowly entered the room. Before she could stop herself, a gasp escaped. She had seen her Devil in various downtrodden, disheveled states before, but nothing like this. It took her a moment to realize what was unnerving her the most. The stillness. Lucifer was never still. Even in his sleep, he was often twitching. The only movement now was the subtle rise and fall of his chest. She focused on that movement, reassuring herself that he was still alive. He was still here.

Her eyes shifted from watching the movement to examine the skin on his bare chest. It almost looked as if one giant bruise covered the entire thing. She knew better. There wasn't one large bruise, but rather several smaller ones that were so close in proximity they were blending. It took a moment with her eyes squeezed tightly shut to push the images of how he got the bruises from her mind. Opening her eyes again, they wandered lower, taking in the stark white bandage that covered those washboard abs she loved so much. Her gaze darted down to her own hands, which she just realized were trembling. She was half expecting them to still be covered in blood, his blood, from when she had desperately tried to stop his bleeding. Shaking off yet another image she would like to soon forget, her eyes wandered up to find his face.

Somehow, pale, bruised, and cut up, he was still devilishly handsome. In spite of the circumstances, she felt a smile playing on her lips. She could only imagine the smug response he would conjure up if he knew she had just thought that.

She knew she shouldn't be here. He needed to heal and her presence would only prevent that. Since his return from Hell, he'd had a few injuries, but they were mostly minor. After one would occur, she would make himself scarce (often despite his protests that he was fine) until he texted, saying he was good as new. It never took long. Seeing him now, she knew this time might take awhile. Before she left him to heal, she needed to feel his warmth and firmness, further reassurance that he was alive, and more importantly that he was still here.

Approaching the bed slowly, she looked for an unmarred patch of skin, not wanting to cause further pain or discomfort. Finding a patch of skin on his arm that's large enough, she slowly wraps her hand around him.

His eyes fly open, unfocusing as they sweep the room, looking panicked, "Don't hurt her! Detective!"

"Lucifer! It's okay! He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore. I'm right here. Lucifer! Look at me!"

Hearing her voice, he started to settle. HIs eyes focused, finding her face. She watched as his expression flashed from relief to concern. He studies the gash on her face. The last time she had looked, a nice bruise had started forming around it. It must be rather ugly looking by now. He eyes swept down to her right arm, sitting in a sling.

"Detective! You're injured!"

Laughing, she replies, "You almost died and yet you're worried about my few bumps and bruises. Typical. I'm fine, Lucifer. A few stitches and a dislocated shoulder."

Trying to hide his sharp intake of breath and wince, he shifts, trying to move his arm to take hold of her hand. Chloe instinctively took a step back from the bed, knowing distance is best for him, right now.

"I shouldn't have come here. You're in pain. I'm going to leave. You need to heal and we both know I'm not helping with that. I will have Linda come check on you later."

"Detective, please stay."

"Lucifer, you nearly died because of me. You baited that man into torturing you so that he would leave me alone. I can't be the reason you continue to be in pain now. I'm leaving. You will feel better, once I'm gone."

Turning toward the door, she started making her way out of the room, but stopped when he spoke again."

"I won't feel better in a way that matters. I never feel as favorable as when I'm with you."

Rolling her eyes at his lame attempt to flirt, she spun back around, "This is serious, not a chance to-" Her sentence trailed off upon seeing the look on his face.

"I am being serious. The pain of the body is often nothing compared to the pain of the heart."

Silently, she studied his face, trying to pinpoint the look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was really cheesy. It was just something I was talking about with Linda. Just forget it."

She continued to stare at him in silence, internally westing behind her desire to be near him and knowing that her presence was preventing him from healing.

He slowly raised his arm, hand outstretched toward hers, desperation filling his voice, "Chloe, please."

Unsure if it was the tone of his voice or his use of her actual name, but in that moment she knew what she needed to do. Stepping back toward him, she took his hand in hers.

"Okay. I'll stay, but just for a little while. At some point, you need to heal."

Watching as his body relaxed back into the comforts of the bed, she felt that now familiar twinge of love. His eyes started to flutter as she settled into the chair next to the bed. She couldn't imagine how exhausted he must be.

His grip suddenly tightened as his eyes flew back open, frantically searching for her.

"Lucifer, I'm still her. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Get some sleep."

He pulled at her hand, urging her closer. Scooting the chair as close to the bed as possible, she pulled her legs up as she laid her head on the bed, close to his. He continued to grasp her hand tightly, as though afraid she disappear at any moment, but the closeness of her body must have given him at least a little comfort. Within a few moments, she heard his soft snores.

She suddenly noticed how heavy her own eyelids were feeling. Even after all this time, she was still taken aback by how calm being near the Devil made her. Intending to keep her promise, and knowing she would be there for awhile, she let her own exhaustion win out, eyes drooping closed.

Thank you for reading!