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-Fever Breathes Salty-
At first all I can recognize is damp pressure, but I'm still too far under to fully understand its origin.
My body feels abused.
There's a faint buzzing now and I struggle even more, fighting to open eyes before the obvious becomes clear – It's Fuu.
The buzzing is her humming and the pressure is most likely a bathing cloth. I'm surprised when I allow myself to relax under her administrations, but I see little else in the way of option.
Her hands are light and the trail of clean warmth offers a fleeting relief to the penetrating ache.
Smells come back to me all at once. Clove oil. Incense. The ocean. The faintly sour musk of a sick room.
Her hands are gone now and again I'm struggling to open my eyes. When I finally succeed she's across from me. Mugen's head is in her lap and she's holding a cup to his lips, imploring him to drink.
He's sweating and shaking and an unfamiliar concern supplants my own pains.
"We have to break your fever, Mugen," I can barely catch her whisper. "You have to drink. Small sips." He does as she asks and she lifts his head further so he doesn't choke, all the while petting his hair until he's done.
This is one of the rare times I've seen her with her hair down. It obscures her face despite her occasional attempts to tuck it behind her ears. I suppose caring for two invalids leaves one with little time to style one's appearance.
He finishes and she lowers his head again only to begin bathing him in kind, checking under the gauze as she goes. His teeth chatter and when she completes her task she covers him in a blanket and sits back on her heels.
I want to thank her for her care but, despite the will, I lack the strength at present for such an endeavour. There's enough time later and I'm sure any attempt to now would seem the rambled words of a fever patient.
I have no wish to worry her further and so, instead, I retreat back into sleep under her vigil.
