He was asleep. He liked being asleep. Lately, every time he fell asleep, he saw his father, and he liked seeing his father. But this time was different… he still saw Hizashi, of course. But Neji wasn't… serene like usual… he felt short of breathe, and oddly hot. However, after seeing his father's face again, Neji overlooked his symptoms.
"I understand you had a conversation with Lord Hiashi. How did it go?" said his father.
"Just fine. However, Hiashi-sama was behaving differently. It was almost as if he was trying to make a friendly discussion." Neji stated, staring down at his reflection in a pond.
Hisashi walked away from the pond, knowing his son would follow, "Perhaps Hiashi-sama is trying to make amends between the houses."
"Hiashi-sama? Hn. I doubt it. Why would he care?"
"Well, maybe he is beginning to understand the problems that arouse between the houses."
"Hn. Either way, he still made me feel uncomfortable."
Neji had started sweating and had sat down after feeling dizzy. Hizashi took note of his son's condition.
"How has your stay in the hospital been? Has Lady Tsunade said anything about your condition?"
Neji winced from the sudden change in temperature, suddenly everything had become hotter. "It... has been going well… I've been feeling a lot better; however, Lady Tsunade says it will be a while until I can move around."
Neji was gasping for air now, and was sweating like a dog. "Are you feeling alright Neji? You look a bit feverish."
Neji was now looking flushed. His dream world started melting. His chest felt tight, he couldn't breathe. His father was screaming his name. "Neji! Neji! "NEJI!"
Neji was tossing and turning in his bed. He groaned as he slowly gained consciousness.
"NEJI. WAKE UP." Tsunade and 3 nurses surrounded his bed. One of them placed a cool, damp wash cloth over his forehead, the others replacing ice packs on the back of his neck and under his arms. Tsunade looked up at the Hyuga's monitor. "105.7. Damn it. His temperature is rising. We need more ice packs! Go!" Tsunade was handed a cold wash cloth and patted the Hyuga's face with it. His eyes shot open at the sudden touch. His pupil-less eyes darted around the room, until the Hokage was able to gain his attention. Neji was wheezing now and had drenched the bed in his sweat. "Neji. Look at me. You have a very bad fever with a temperature of 106.2," she said rechecking the monitor, "You have to remain as still as possible so that we can lower your temperature. Alright?" Neji nodded. Tsunade was getting very concerned. She had never seen a fever rise so quickly. His cheeks were bright red and he was wheezing. Tsunade was running out of ideas, she had tried everything; Icepacks, wash cloths, even lowering the temperature in the room. This isn't working! He needs to be completely covered in something cold. Like… "I've got it!" Tsunade looked around; the nurses had left to retrieve more ice packs. "Guess I'm on my own. Neji, are you still awake?" The Hyuga made no recognition of being awake other than twitching and groaning from the fever. If he was, he couldn't communicate with her. Tsunade checked the monitor again. '107.4' She took out every one of Neji's IVs and removed the heart monitor wire from his finger. Tsunade picked up the Hyuga, bridal style, and ran out of the room.
A constant beeping sound came from the Hyuga boy's room. The nurses looked at one another; concerned for the worse they ran towards the room. They expected to find Tsunade trying to revive a dead Neji (A/N: Hence the beeping…like "the flat line" when you die…) Instead the room was empty. They went out into the hallways and searched the corridors. After searching for ten minutes they had finally found them.
Tsunade was sitting on the floor of one of the hospital showers holding and unconscious Neji. Cold water ran over the both of them. Neji's bandages, hair, and shorts were soaked, but his cheeks weren't bright red anymore. The Hokage pressed an ice pack underneath the Hyuga's neck and moved a strand of hair away from his face. "Is he alright, Lady Tsunade?" one of the nurses asked.
The Hokage looked up, "He's doing much better. He needed to be surrounded by something cold. This was the only place I knew that could get cold quickly. Go get me a thermometer."
"Hai," said the first nurse, and then she walked off. The second retrieved a couple towels and handed them to the Hokage. She took them and wrapped one around Neji's shoulders and took the other one for herself. The first nurse returned with the thermometer and handed it to Tsunade, "102.2" said the Hokage, "He still has a fever, but at least it's not life threatening anymore." She stood up and handed the unconscious Hyuga to the third nurse. "Dry him off, change his bandages, remake his bed, reattach his IVs, go get an IV with water in it, draw some blood from him, take it down to research and development, tell them about his fever and request antibiotics in an IV- there's no way Neji can take that big of pill when he's this weak. – And finally, place a cold wash on his forehead, replace it every ten minutes." Tsunade took one last glance at the Hyuga and walked away, "I'm in my office if you need me." She called.
The nurses' mouths hung open as they thought of all the jobs Lady Tsunade had ordered then to do. "She's probably going to take a nap you know," said the first nurse. "I HEARD THAT!" screamed the Hokage. The girls jumped at the fear. Neji moaned.
"Poor boy, he's probably in a lot of pain," said the first sympathetically.
"Yeah, Lady Tsunade removed his pain medicine from him," said the second.
"Forget that. He been jostled around, he's probably stressed his injuries. I'm surprised he has ripped open his stitches," said the third.
"Well we better get started, every second we stand here, is another second Neji's in agony."
Heyy, sorry it's been so long. I just really needed to get motivated. ;D Anyway, I know this chapter was a bit bland, but I remembered that I had brought up a fever in a past chapter and really wanted to conclude it. Next chapter though, Gai Sensei and Lee come back! ;D haha, I think that was my favorite chapter. Please Review!