Disclaimer: The Anime/Manga Saiyuki belongs to Kazuya Minekura.
Note: This type of tense is new for me, so... Yeah.
Constructive crticism is gladly accepted.
Stubby arms attempt to grasp for something, anything to prevent himself from falling farther into the overcast abyss, but one cannot reach for something that doesn't exist in the first place. Still, he claws at the blanketing darkness once more, only to find nothing but air slipping through his fingers. Arms flailing, the child is crying now. A name is uttered from his lips as sheer desperation creeps into his voice- Son Goku's voice. The name belongs to his keeper- his savior, his only father figure.
The last words that manage to escape his lips are, "Sanzo... Save me…" Tousled brown hair obscures bewildered golden eyes as he sinks farther and farther into the murky shadows.
He was just fine a few minutes ago…
Sanzo shakes the fever-stricken child as a new level of frustration tests his wearing patience. Beads of sweat trickle down the child's forehead, hands are slick with the thin film of perspiration forming on the child's palms. The ragged, sporadic rise and fall of Goku's chest and stunted gasps of air... Even those aren't there anymore. Foreign emotions overwhelm his senses, emotions that he refuses to address-… Worry, fear, dread. He shakes the tiny body once more. No response greets him.
There isn't the slightest cough, sneeze, or twist and turn from the child. Unaware of his trembling hands, he curses beneath his breath. "Damn it, Goku!"
He is unequipped with the proper medical care that he is supposed to provide him- and it would be too late by the time the ambulance gets-…
Sanzo shakes off the ominous thoughts sinking into his head.
"Goku..." It's faint, barely heard above the low hum of the crickets outside.
"Damn it, Goku!"
The world swathed around his anxious form stills itself as if waiting for the boy's reaction with bated breath.
The fucking monkey was dying on him. That was unacceptable. Then suddenly...
Eyelids flutter, revealing slightly glazed- but very much alive- golden eyes. It takes a moment or two before Goku realizes that he's not falling anymore and attempts to grin at him as he cracks out a faint, "I'm hun- …gry."
After the living hell the monkey had put him through, all he did was fucking smile. Unsure of whether to smack the boy or allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief, he decides on the latter. Besides, it wouldn't bring as much satisfaction as punishing a healthy monkey.
He vouches to allow himself to brush away the damp bangs sticking to the boy's forehead from his eyes. "You damn monkey..."
Sanzo leans heavily on the wall behind him. Despite the fact that he too could get sick, he doesn't protest as Goku feebly attempts to crawl into his lap. Instead, he places his hand on Goku as they both relinquish themselves to a world of sleep.
"Sanzo! Sanzo!" Goku's overly excited voice was ringing in his ears.
Sanzo grunts as he buries his head further into his pillow. Damn headache.
Goku stops mid-sentence to peer curiously at the golden-blonde man. "Are you feelin' all right, Sanzo? You look sick."
His hit-the-annoying-monkey instincts kicked in and he whacked him away irritably. He wondered why.