She hissed at the pain surrounding her abdomen, arms, legs, and the right side of her forehead. She hurt all over. She sat down on her bed and felt tears begin to gather in the corner of her eyes. Lucy had just gotten back from a solo mission she begged Natsu to go on. He was reluctant to let her go, but he could never deny when she gave him her famous puppy eyes.
She regretted not having him go with her. He and Happy would have prevented her from getting so injured. She took a pretty dangerous solo mission, defeating a small dark guild. They were pretty low level, but with the whole guild on her back, it was troubling. And the fact that their leader was just as strong as herself- if not stronger. She did complete the job with full success and got her desired reward (300,00 jewel).
Rent would be paid for months! She could even have a day out with some of the Fairy Tail girls. All in all, it was worth the pain and suffering. She grabbed a small first aid kit from under her writing desk and opened it up, despite the intense pain she felt moving her arms. She was holding the left side of her abdomen tightly, putting pressure on her bleeding wound. She cringed at the mess she was making on her nice white carpet, she was going to rip it all up anyway.
She grabbed the bandages with her free hand and pulled a strip from the securely wrapped bundle with her teeth. Her vision was starting to blur but she managed through her arm pain and began to wrap up her stomach after rubbing some medicine on. Multiple bruises were starting to form, she blinked in worry. Was that a sign of internal bleeding? She would wrap herself and probably talk to Wendy later. Probably.
She really didn't want to bother anyone with her injuries that she gained from a solo mission. She wasn't their responsibility or burden and she didn't want to seem incompetent. She didn't want others to suggest her to not go solo missions anymore. Her friends knew she was strong but they worried quite a lot about her well being since she isn't exactly the strongest. She sighed and finished up on her stomach.
She began on her legs next. A man had knife magic and could form knives out of literally anything, even the dirt below her. He cut her up pretty badly as well as infecting those wounds with the dirt. She grabbed a bucket of water and washed the dried blood and dirt from her deep wounds. She poured alcohol on her cuts and rubbed some triple antibiotics in. A tear rolled down her cheek at the pain. She was so glad Natsu doesn't know she's back yet.
She wrapped up her legs and smiled sadly at her bandaged legs. They were slightly swollen but she knew they'd go down in a few days. She had a bit of difficulty with her arms as she could only wrap one arm at a time, but she did the best she could. She nodded in satisfaction at her wrapping abilities and looked down at her thighs after feeling a drop of something. She watched as blood trickled down the side of her leg.
She cursed at forgetting the wound on her forehead. That was probably the worst one and she forgot it! She internally groaned at her bad luck when she heard the opening of a window. Natsu would surely freak. She tried to hide her bleeding head but gave up when he landed on her bed, he could smell her and her blood a mile away. What was the point?
"Lucy? I knew you were here, I could smell the blood mix in with your scent. Are you okay?" She had her back turned to him and hadn't said anything for some time. Her mouth was dry as she hadn't talked since defeating the dark guild.
"I'm fine, really..." She rasped. She wanted to slap her forehead she sounded so pathetic. She'd probably just pass out from the pain though. She could feel his intense stare at the back of her head but she made no movements, like a deer caught in headlights. She heard the bed spring creak as he got up and she could see his baggy white pants from the corner of her eye. He plopped himself in front of her and grabbed a bandage. He didn't say a word- this was starting to make her nervous.
"And you call me reckless, do you see yourself? You look like a mummy you're so wrapped up! And your head is covered in blood, it stinks! I knew I should of come..." He grit his teeth in anger and cleaned up her forehead before dabbing it with an alcohol soaked cloth. She groaned in pain but stayed still as he worked on her head. He started wrapping her up when she spoke up- quietly that is.
"I-I know...I'm sorry. I don't plan on going on any solo missions anytime soon. This one kicked my ass." At this, he laughed and finished up. He was angry at first, but he knew she would come back to him. He just didn't figure she'd be this beat up. She wouldn't tell him what the job was, he figured it was probably something way too dangerous but he pushed those thoughts back because the look on her face was just so fucking irresistible. The power that expression had on him was scary.
"What was the job anyway?" He tried sounding unworried, but he wasn't good at masking his emotions, especially around the bouncy blonde. She looked away, almost ashamed, and grasped the hem of her skirt.
"Defeating...a dark guild." She closed her eyes tightly and braced for his yell. She opened an eye when it never came. She gazed at his face in wonder, noticing how he looked at her in awe. He had a light blush on his cheeks and his onyx eyes widened in shock. She blinked and started to freak out. Did she break him!? "N-Natsu! Please say something!" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him slightly.
She winced in pain at her arm, gaining his attention. He shook his head to bring himself back to reality and grabbed at her arms so that she wouldn't further injure herself. "Careful." He muttered in worry and checked over her arms once more to check for any more wounds. Lucy made a small squeak in surprise.
"Mavis, I thought I broke you Natsu. What was that?" He tensed a bit but managed to get back to her on her question.
"I'm just shocked, that's pretty impressive of you Luce!" Lucy felt her lips twitch into a shy smile and she rubbed the back of her bandaged head.
"Jeez, I'm getting complimented by Natsu. I must be really getting stronger." She laughed when she saw him pout at her words. He then looked down at her shirt and noticed how it hiked up slightly, revealing her dark bruises. This concerned him greatly. He grabbed the shirt and pulled it up in a hurry, making her squeal. "What the hell Natsu! You pervert!"
"Lucy, why didn't you tell me about these bruises. They're horrible!" She pushed his hand away and pushed her shirt down.
"I didn't want you to worry- and you didn't have to pull up my shirt like that you moron!" He ignored her and picked her up and set her on the bed. He signaled for her to lift her shirt up again. She blushed, but did as she was told and stopped right below her chest. Her whole stomach was covered in purple, you could barely notice any kind of tan flesh. He rubbed a thumb across a particularly dark bruise, making her scream out in pain.
"Sorry!" He retracted his hand. He also had noticed that her stomach looked a bit bloated, swelled. Natsu bit his lip and picked her up suddenly. Lucy's eyes widened and she clung to him as he jumped out the window. He ran to the guild and slammed open the door. "We need Wendy now!" By this time, all these intense movements had made Lucy incredibly Ill. Her head was throbbing and her eyes were blurring. She even began to tremble in Natsu's arms.
A crowd surrounded Natsu's form as Mira searched around for Wendy. She was up stairs with Carla at the time and hadn't noticed the commotion. Erza, Gray, Happy, Levy, and even Gajeel and Juvia looked worried the most. Gajeel stepped up closer to the two.
"She smells horribly of blood and dirt. What the hell happened Salamander?"
"That solo mission she begged me to go on. She defeated a small dark guild, but they did a toll on her body as well. Dammit, I should of followed her!" He looked at Lucy, she finally passed out from the pain. Mira led Wendy through the crowd and let her look over Lucy.
"Let's bring her to the infirmary. Please make room!" Once getting there, they closed the door and Natsu set Lucy down carefully. Wendy looked at her abdomen and frowned. You could tell just how worried she was. "She has some internal bleeding and by the wounds from her head, a concussion. She bandaged her arms and legs pretty well so I'm sure there isn't anything too serious but I need to treat these right now." Wendy's hands started to glow as her magic swirled from her hands.
Both Natsu and Wendy remained quiet as she healed Lucy. Lucy's pale and sweaty form started to disappear and her natural skin began to reform. Her erratic breathing slowed down and sounded like she was back to normal. Natsu sighed in relief and thanked wendy.
"She'll be bed ridden for around a week. I don't want her moving at all if possible after she gets home. I'm just happy you came to me, knowing Lucy-san, she'd blow it off thinking she would just be a burden or that she was causing too much trouble." Natsu nodded in agreement and watched as Wendy left the room in silence. Natsu turned to Lucy and shook his head.
"Jeez Lucy, you weirdo. I'll have to watch you extra close now that you've gotten as reckless as I have. The guild must be rubbing off on you." He had been so worried about her the past four days and slugged around the guild and counted the hours until she'd be back. He really wished he had gone on the mission with her so he could protect her himself instead of her coming back bloodied and beaten.
Then the next thing he knew, multiple guild members barged in the infirmary to check on Lucy. Levy guided herself and Gajeel to the right side of her next to Natsu. Gray, Erza, and Juvia sat down on the right side. Mirajane and Wendy stood on the end and Happy, Carla, and Pantherlilly sat on the foot of the bed.
"You know you guys don't have to be in here right?" Natsu muttered angrily. The disturbance had stirred Lucy awake, she opened an eye and looked around the room and suddenly started laughing. This confused everyone.
"You guys don't have to be so worried. As long as I'm a Fairy Tail wizard, I refuse to die." This made the whole room burst into laughter, their grins wide enough to touch ear to ear. Gajeel even ruffled her hair and smirked at her.
"Jeez bunny girl. You had us all worried, you should really be careful next time or salamander here'll come after ya. He was mopin' around while you were gone and threatened to go after you at least fifty times!"
"Shut up, Metal head!"