Chapter Two: Red and Blue
Levy
The first thing Levy McGarden heard after telling Gajeel not to hurt himself was the inevitable crash of the chair he had been leaning back on two legs. She had expected this. What she had not expected, however, was for Gajeel to remain lying on the floor after falling. And she definitely did not expect to see a thick, red liquid spilling from his side.
"Gajeel, are you—"Her eyes went wide as she rushed from her kitchen sink where she was washing her hands to the floor, kneeling next to him. Gajeel's hands were covering his side. Through his fingers there was a slow drip of blood onto the floor.
Gajeel
A numbness was spreading through Gajeel's body—one that shouldn't be there. It felt like freezing fire... or burning ice. Gajeel had only noticed the bleeding when he felt the heat of the liquid rolling down his side. Why was it doing this?
Gajeel had been leaning back in the chair in Levy's kitchen, examining a knife he had found. His hands had slipped and the knife had sliced just under his left ribcage. Usually, a small cut like this wouldn't be bleeding so much. Then again, usually, Gajeel would have felt at least a sting.
"Gajeel," Levy's panicked voice quavered as she said, "Move your hands."
The iron dragonslayer looked at her as he did so. Levy quickly replaced his hands with her own, staining them red in the process. A pain ripped through Gajeel's chest—not from the knife wound, but from the amount of emotion in Levy's face as she hurriedly conjured up some solid script bandages.
The small girl started wrapping the bandages around Gajeel's middle but couldn't lift his back. He noticed there were tears in Levy's eyes as she asked him to lift his back. He strained to do so, managing it in the end yet it was a lot harder than it should have been.
Levy
No knife wound should make Gajeel this weak. Levy thought this as she wrapped the bandages around his arched back. What worried her most, though, was the greenish substance forming around Gajeel's cut. It must... It must be poisoned. Tears streamed down Levy's cheeks as she came to the conclusion.
Wendy. That's who Gajeel needed. Who Levy needed. But she couldn't possibly leave to go get her with Gajeel like this. Not knowing what else to do, she knelt beside Gajeel, distraught. The dragonslayer met her gaze with hazy eyes.
"It'll be fine." He reassured her. Levy watched him as her tears fell to the floor, hoping beyond hope that was true.
Suddenly, there was a knock at Levy's newly-put-up door (Gajeel had kicked it in the morning after Levy had told him she was locked out). Levy rushed to it without a second thought and yanked it open, the new hinges holding well.
"Hi Lev—" The girl with long blonde hair and a short side ponytail gaped as she say Levy's appearance.
"Lucy! Thank God!" It was everything Levy could do not to yell, "Go get Wendy, please!"
Lucy stood there in shock, "Levy, you're covered in blood!"
"Just go!" Levy screeched, "Quickly!" Levy watched as Lucy turned and started running in the direction of the guild.
Gajeel
Gajeel lay motionless on the floor, other than the movement of his eyes to follow her motions. He was too tired, too heavy to move anything else. He heard what she shouted, but it was too much of an effort to figure out what it meant. When she reentered the room, he focused his eyes on her face. He couldn't let himself drift off to sleep like he wanted to. He couldn't remember why, exactly, but he knew that for her sake, he couldn't.
He watched as Levy sat back beside him. She had tears running down her cheeks. Why was she crying? She didn't get hurt did she? Was this all because she was worried about him?
Gajeel felt the comforting warmth of Levy's hand as she placed it over his. Still watching her, he turned his hand to hold hers. For some reason the tears in Levy's eyes grew in number.
"It's going to be okay." Levy said, her voice breaking. Gajeel tried to speak but he couldn't. Instead he squeezed her hand in recognition. His bandages were soaked through but his breathing was still even.
There was a knocking sound and Levy bolted to her feet. Gajeel wanted to reach out to her, to make her stay, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch as she left the room.
Levy
As quick as she could, Levy opened the door. She let out a relieved sigh as she saw a small girl with long blue hair, accompanied by a smaller, winged white cat.
"Levy, are you okay?! Lucy said you needed me—and you're soaked in blood!" Wendy looked her over, trying to find out where she was hurt.
"Not, me," Levy said, grabbing Wendy by the wrist and leading her into the kitchen to the injured Gajeel, not caring when they knocked over several stacks of books. "Please help him!" She pleaded.
Wendy stared at Gajeel's bloody figure then knelt beside him, casting a healing spell.
Levy watched with bated breath, her tears an unstopping waterfall flowing down her cheeks.
She knotted her hands in her hair, waiting for Wendy to finish. When at last she sat up straight, Wendy looked very tired. "That's all I can do, Levy." the small girl squeaked, "He should be fully healed by tomorrow."
"You shouldn't even have done that much," protested Carla, Wendy's Exceed, "You used up too much of your power."
"But I wanted to help!" argued Wendy.
Levy looked at the both of them, then just at Wendy. "Thank you so much."
Wendy nodded, "Of course."
After the exchange of a few more words, Wendy and Carla left, leaving Levy to sit back next to Gajeel.
Levy watched as the dragonslayer placed a hand over his bandages. She could tell that he was no longer bleeding. She sat, cross-legged with her hands in her lap, just watching Gajeel. Her eyes were miraculously dry, but there were prominent tear tracks down her cheeks.
Silently, Gajeel sat up, supporting himself with one arm. With the other he placed around Levy's shoulders and pulled her against his chest. Levy was shocked, but she didn't protest. Rather, she relaxed into Gajeel's grip. She buried her face in his chest, as she did so noticing that he was shaking. She placed her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to calm, all the while her mind screaming at her What are you doing? That's Gajeel! But she didn't care. It felt good.
Gajeel's grip loosened and Levy sat up straight. She let out a small laugh, saying, "I told you not to hurt yourself."
"Yeah, well..." Gajeel grunted.
"Anyway," Levy interrupted, not needing an excuse, "Are you okay now?"
Gajeel nodded, then looked down. Levy discovered the reason when she saw a tear running down his cheek.
After a few more moments of silence, Levy stood to wash the blood off of her hands, tossing the disregarded knife in the trash bin on her way.
A/N: Thank you for reading! We really appreciate all of you wonderful people. After two uploads in one day, Kat and I have come up with an update schedule. We'll be adding a new chapter every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, giving us the weekends off and a day in between in case schoolwork gets in the way.
So this chapter was a little random/morbid/suspenseful. The next chapter is going to be a lot more laid back (I promise). Until Monday, PEACE~