Hokay~ For those of you who are new to the story this chapter wasn't originally here. It sounded like fun to create this and I needed at least SOME connection between this chappy and the next…. Right?
Blah = Kuro speaking
Disclaimer: I don't own Ao No Exorcist.
Everything hurt. That's all Rin could say about the throbbing that coursed through his body. He hadn't told Yukio that the pain killers had worn off because of his selfish desire to let the boy do his work. He has enough work to do, Rin reasoned with himself and a sharp bolt of pain traveled up his side. It's just a couple of scratches! Nothing to cause a fuss over! The elder of the twins had also failed to inform his younger brother that the pain killers only lasted for about 2 hours before wearing down. They were supposed to last for at least 6 which meant that Rin had to deal with agony piercing his frame for somewhere around 8 hours of the day.
He barely suppressed a groan when the bullet wounds in his shoulder sent a screaming sting to his brain, nerves alerting him to just how much pain he was currently in. A soft pressure landed next to his left arm, Kuro's weight pulling the sheets down a little.
"Rin, how is your fever?" the cat asked through thought.
"Better, it seems to have gone down a little," Rin responded with his own telepathy. He had figured out how to talk to the cat without actually saying anything, connecting their minds so they may have a free conversation during the long hours where Rin was kept awake by the pain but could not say anything properly coherent because of the mask on his face. Honestly, how had Konekomaru even understood half of what he'd said at all?
A wet nose met his forehead as Kuro checked the teen's fever in the only appropriate way he could. Sure placing a paw on Rin's head might do the trick too but the risk of infecting Rin with another fever was too great.
"You feel okay. How's the pain-?" Kuro, knowing the Rin would probably lie and tell him that it was fine looked over to his tail without even waiting for the blue-haired teen to respond.
"If you just going to ignore me in the first place why did you ask?" Rin thought grumpily. Kuro just continued to ignore him. A frown came over the cat's features, as much as a frown could anyway, when he saw how Rin's tail was curled into itself. That either meant he was surprised or in fierce discomfort. The latter was confirmed almost instantly when Rin physically winced as another shot of pain rocketed through his chest, causing his tail to curl in further. Kuro was almost tempted to bite Rin for lying to Yukio like he was. But Rin kept assuring him that the pain killers, while nice, made it hard to focus on what needed to be healed because of how numb he got.
"It's not as bad as it looks…" Rin thought when Kuro whirled on him. He was so glad that he didn't have a heart monitor because he was sure his heart skipped a frantic beat at the sight of his familiar. It wasn't that Rin was afraid that Kuro would hurt him, oh no not at all. He was afraid that the black cat would run down to tell Ukobach who would then find a way to tell Yukio by giving him extra pain killers each time the younger Okumura would go downstairs to fetch them.
"We'll see how bad it is when Yukio comes in to check today," the Black feline hissed.
"Eh?"
"Today's the day where he changes your bandages and cleans your wounds again." Rin had completely forgotten about that. Every couple of days Yukio would come in with a bag full of bandages, some cotton balls and all assortments of other medical mumbo jumbo that Rin couldn't bring himself to fully understand. Almost as if Kuro's words called him Yukio entered the room with the usual bag of medical instruments swinging at his side.
At the sight Rin actually groaned, lifting his uninjured arm to his face he felt his tail flip back and forth in clear indignation at the thought of what would be coming next.
"Sorry, Nii-san, but I have to clean your wounds," Yukio said with a sympathetic smile on his face, grabbing a chair nearby and setting the supplies down. Rin carefully sat up holding in a gasp as he stretched his side a bit too much. Kuro, of course, noticed the curling of his tail and gave his back a gentle head butt. Other than this Rin managed to sit up without incident and his brother nodded confidently. Yukio leaned over and began to carefully remove the swath of bandages that covered his brother's chest. Rin let his eyes close and his head lower a little as he breathed normally. His flames had been steadily returning over the passing of time and already both ribs had snapped back into place making breathing for him a thousand times easier. Rin's immune system also seemed to have regained its strength and was fighting the unwelcome disease in its master's body well.
Yukio seemed to hesitate when he pulled away the bandages from his brother's shoulder; revealing the tender skin where silver had managed to pull itself through. It seemed as though Rin's body was still reacting even though the holes had already healed over, the irritated red color that his brother's skin let off was enough of a reason to worry.
"Does your shoulder still hurt, Nii-san?" Yukio asked calmly as he continued removing the bandages.
"Not so much, just kinda stings sometimes," that much was at the very least true and Rin felt a part of his conscious lift at being able to tell the truth. There was the sound of scissors sniping as Yukio cut off the gauze before he could reach his brothers side. Aside from the elder's lung his side was the worst wound and the cause of severe blood loss. Yukio had scrambled to stop the bleeding but in the end Rin's flames had burst out to weave the skin back together. However they had gone out before the process could be completed, thus his weak immune system thereafter. The black-haired exorcist had been forced the stitch the remaining four and half inch long gash closed and was glad that it had not gotten infected. After all it had been practically coated in a blanket of miasma. Yukio guessed that miasma had little to no effect on his brother and was extremely glad.
Rin winced when his younger brother applied a disinfectant to the wound on his shoulder. It was probably a useless move but with his twin anything was possible so it was better to be safe than sorry. Finishing up with his shoulder he asked the elder to turn around so he could better reach his arm. Doing so with only a small grunt and curling of the tail Rin did just as he was told and then held his arm still as Yukio got to work. A satisfied smile broke over his face when he saw that Rin's arm was fully healed and a relieved sigh whispered past his lips.
"Ohhhh!" The teen yelped happily, noting the lack of pain and missing bullet wound with a wagging tail. Momentarily forgetting his arm was connected to the still tender wounds on his shoulder Rin attempted to rotate it. "Ow!" excitement turned to pain as he was reminded harshly.
"Nii-san…" Yukio's voice was more reprimanding than worried and laughter twinkled in his eyes. After a brief examination of the appendage Yukio deemed it okay to leave uncovered and then moved to Rin's side once more. Since this process was usually so much more delicate he left it for last- or next to last since there was still Rin's lung. With expert hands Yukio gently, very gently peeled the white gauze from his elder brother's skin. The blue haired teenager sucked in a breath as he felt pain rocket up his ride like a lightning bolt of fire. Pale hands stopped unraveling to give him a chance to catch his breath and when Rin finally did he felt Kuro's fur rub up against his uninjured side.
"Sorry," he said to his younger brother who scowled at the stupid apology but said nothing. With a grimace, Yukio continued to pull off the bandages until finally they had all been removed. Dry blood caked his twin's side and he winced. Grabbing a cotton ball he covered it in a disinfectant.
"I'm going to wash it," he warned the elder, who only nodded. Kuro gently rubbed his horns on Rin's side in an attempt to give comfort and the simple gesture made Rin feel a little better. Pain then seared through his entire frame and it didn't matter how careful Yukio was being. Violent thoughts of hurting his younger brother filled his head for a minute before he wiped them all away by biting the inside of his cheek.
Yukio, he thought desperately, hurry up. It seemed that he had forgotten all about how his connection to Kuro still remained and thus the cat could hear his thoughts loud and clear. Hear the desperation in them and immediately understand what would happen if Yukio did not hasten. Rin could distantly hear the cat let out a loud, warning meow to his younger brother and even though it was probably only seconds later it felt like ages until he actually stopped. Leaning back on the arm that was attached to his good shoulder Rin panted a little. He wished with all he had that he could just hurry up and heal so he could rejoin his friends and so people would stop looking at him with such pity dripping from their faces.
So his brother wouldn't have to worry. It took him a moment to realize that Yukio had already begun to re-wrap the bandages and by the time he did notice his twin had already made it up halfway. Stopping just before he reached his elder brothers rib cage, Yukio pressed down the end of the gauze and it stuck to itself.
Time for lung exorcises. Man, Rin really hated this part. A cold hand was placed on his chest and Rin felt his breath hitch a little, enough to be noticeable but not enough to cause a coughing fit. Hopefully he wouldn't cough up blood this time.
"Your hand is freezing!" Rin sputtered looking at his brother. Glad that the reaction his brother had was not because of a broken rib he had somehow been keeping hidden (adding onto the two Yukio thought were still broken) he began to ask his brother for the tell-tale signs of a ruptured lung worsening.
"Nii-san, are you experiencing any back pain?"
Rin shook his head, "no."
"Do you feel faint?"
Rin felt like showily swooning and falling back onto his bed dramatically but he knew that now was not the time for jokes. "No," he said simply.
"Does it still hurt to breathe?" Yukio did not like the hesitation his brother had before speaking.
"….no."
"Tell me the truth, Nii-san." Rin seemed to scramble for an excuse a moment before finally giving in.
"Yes. But only when I breathe deeply!" he tried upon seeing the frown on his brother's face. Any comfort Yukio may have taken in those words immediately evaporated when his brother lurched forward and began to cough. Breathing would cause a sharp pain to rack Rin's entire frame. Coughing not only made that sensation a million times worse but always made his lung feel like it was literally on fire. Once Rin's coughing fit had passed his younger brother offered him a cup of water and he vaguely felt a hand shift from rubbing his back reassuringly to his chest. Yukio said nothing and gently applied pressure over one of Rin's 'broken' ribs. Surprise flitted over his face when the realization struck that his ribs were just fine. His hand moved to the other rib and he smiled inside when he found that that too had healed.
He's starting heal like he's always had, quickly he thought, and then; I'm so glad. But there's still his lung and judging from Nii-san's breathing right now it hasn't really improved that much. Rin's breath came out somewhere between calm and rushed. Fast enough to cause worry but slow enough to not need a breathing mask. However right now it was teetering dangerously to needing the assistance of a breathing machine.
"I want you to keep resting for now," Yukio said, leaning back.
"What about my shoulder? Aren't you gunna cover that?" Rin asked, trying to keep the wheeze out of his voice but failing rather miserably.
"…No, I think that since the wound is already closed. All it needs is some air. Perhaps it will be able to heal faster that way too," Yukio replied. "I'll bring Ukobach's dinner up in an hour," the black-haired exorcist pushed his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose and added, "If you haven't rested in that time then I'm going to knock you out." The light glinted off his glasses, keeping them out of Rin's view. Rin, who immediately lay back down and got to work on trying to sleep, wincing as he did so. "I'm also going to give you more pain killers," he said, walking out the door so Rin didn't have the time to say anything.
"Told you," Kuro said, curling up in the space between his master's shoulder and ear. With that thought the lights were flicked off and Rin was left in the dark, silently fuming at his brothers good observation skills.
I had to look up a bit of information just to make sure that the symptoms were correct. Did you know that when someone has a ruptured lung and things are getting worse their heart beats over 120 times in a minute?
In anycase, I gotta go to bed soon so tata for now~
