Porlyusica laid a wet rag on Natsu's forehead as he lay flat on his back, unmoving in the little wooden cot she'd placed him on. His breathing was still ragged and had a terrible wheeze to it, but he had stopped coughing at least.
"You say that he was vomiting blood?" she asked the three sitting on the bench near the bed.
Gajeel remained silent and grim but nodded. Happy could only sob into his paws, sure that he was going to lose his best friend.
It was Pantherlilly who spoke up first. "That's correct. He began coughing and trembling just before the blood came up."
"And it was only once?" The healer eyed them all incredulously as she asked.
Pantherlilly opened his mouth to confirm her question, but Gajeel cut him off: "No, he had another episode in the woods while he was with me."
"I see," Porlyusica said simply, turning back to Natsu as he wheezed loud enough to echo throughout the room.
"What's happening to him?" Happy wept. "Is he gonna make it?"
"He has a rare and deadly form of magic poisoning," she answered. Striding over to one of her nearby cabinets, she procured a small bottle of clear liquid and a petite dropper. "It drains a mage's vitality and magic power while causing the body to deteriorate from within. It begins in the stomach, causing internal bleeding and bloody vomiting, which you've already witnessed. As for his survival…" She carefully squeezed three droplets into Natsu's mouth. "I can't be sure."
Once again, Happy was thrown into hysteria, sobbing into the already drenched fur of his forepaws. Pantherlilly placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder in an attempt to placate him, but to no avail.
After a moment, Porlyusica twisted around to glare at Happy. "Stop your blubbering and listen to me!"
Hearing her harsh tones, both exceed snapped to attention, tears momentarily forgotten.
"I can still save him," she said slowly as if she were talking to small children. "But I need quiet. That is why I would like you all to leave for the time being."
Her words shocked each of them. Happy stood up tall and puffed out his chest to make himself look as big as possible.
"I won't leave Natsu!" he cried boldly.
All of a sudden, Natsu started to cough again, this time weakly but still harshly. Porlyusica turned back to quickly rummage through her cabinets.
"Take the blue cat outside before he starts up again," Porlyusica barked. "This isn't going to be a pretty sight."
Gajeel's mind shot back to the limp figure in the woods that had had blood gushing from his mouth. With a shudder, he grasped Happy by the nape of the neck. He walked to the door, trying to ignore Natsu's painful sounding hacks as he called gruffly for Pantherlilly to follow.
Outside with the door shut up behind them, Gajeel dropped Happy in an undignified heap on the ground.
"I won't leave!" Happy shouted.
Pantherlilly, looking solemn and sympathetic, placed a paw on his comrade's shoulder and said, "I understand your pain, but if the healer believes us leaving is best, I think we should go."
"No! You don't understand!" Happy brusquely swiped the tears off his cheeks. "You couldn't understand! Gajeel is standing right there just fine while Natsu is laying in there dying!"
A tense silence overtook the group. All that could be heard was Happy's hushed weeping as he glared at the other exceed.
"AH!" Natsu's tormented scream broke the silence, ricocheting off the surrounding trees eerily.
"Natsu!" Happy instinctually ran back into the cottage, and Pantherlilly ran in after him, cursing under his breath.
But Gajeel simply stood where he was, staring blankly at the cottage. He moved his hand up to rub his shoulder only to brush the muffler that he realized was still fastened there.
He unraveled it and held the length of fabric out before him. Small flecks of crimson stained the ends of it, but it was still salvageable. As more of Natsu's screams flooded into the clearing, Gajeel remembered that it wasn't the scarf that was in need of fixing.
Again the bloody scene in the forest came back to him. He blanched at the memory. The shade of a tall tree with broad, green leaves beckoned, so Gajeel took a seat beneath it, his mind racing. He'd seen the dragon slayer bleed; he'd seen him black out; he'd even seen him on the brink of death. It had never bothered him before to such an extent, so why did it now?
With a sigh, he buried his head in his hands. Instead of his hands, though, Natsu's muffler came up to meet his face. He reared back a fraction of an inch, forgetting that he still held it. The metallic scent of blood—Natsu's blood—filled Gajeel's nostrils, and he nearly dropped the muffler in disgust but stopped when he smelled something else. A warm, heady scent replaced the smell of blood. He inhaled again, his senses tingling with an intoxicating mixture of exotic spice and the scent of the earth after a fresh rainfall.
What is this? Gajeel thought to himself, holding the muffler to his nose to inhale the wonderful smell.
"Gajeel."
He quickly hid the muffler behind his back as he leapt up and spun around. Standing in the doorway were Pantherlilly and a distraught Happy. Vaguely Gajeel realized that, thankfully, Natsu's cries of pain had finally stopped.
The dark furred exceed cocked at Gajeel. "What is that behind your back?"
A bright red flush colored Gajeel's cheeks as he reluctantly revealed the muffler. "Natsu was getting blood on this. I, uh, thought I'd keep it safe for him." He nodded to the cottage behind them and added, "What's going on in there?"
"Natsu woke up after…" Happy shook his head, clearing it of whatever awful scene took place. "We told him bye. He's unconscious now, but he wanted to know where his muffler was."
Eager to find an escape, Gajeel strode past the two without sparing a backwards glance. "I'll leave it for him."
The door clicked shut behind him as he entered the room. Against the wall was Natsu's cot where he wheezed feebly. Standing over the bed, Gajeel saw that there was still no color in Natsu's cheeks, and he smelled like blood and death. The stark, white blankets that covered him from his shoulders down were not the same as the gray one that lay atop him before Gajeel rushed out which were, he discovered with a sideways glance, lying in a bloody heap on the nearby bench.
"He's not doing well," Porlyusica said behind him. "He's lost a dangerous amount of blood, and I need a full day with him to stop the bleeding within him."
"Then take a full day," he said. "He's sure as hell not finishing this mission with the rest of us."
The healer gave the pierced mage a sorrowful glance that made his mouth go instantly dry. "I fear he doesn't have that much time left to him."
Gajeel took a step back. He felt as though he'd been struck. Natsu—indestructible Natsu, who'd been his usual spitfire self just that morning—might not see another sunrise.
"Ga…jeel."
Hearing his name, Gajeel spun around to see Natsu with his eyes barely open and a single hand outstretched. Blood shone on his lips as he struggled to find words, but could only gasp for breath.
"Save your strength," Gajeel barked at him. He grasped Natsu's hand gingerly, careful not to bruise him. "Don't waste your breath."
"No point," Natsu replied with a look of resignation. "I…heard."
Gajeel's eyes widened. Natsu had never stopped fighting. "Stop! You're gonna be fine, Salamander. You hear me?"
"Natsu, he's right," Porlyusica said, her voice firm. "The more you speak, the closer you bring yourself to your grave. Hush, child."
Trembling, the bedridden mage jerked his head from side to side. "No. Have to…tell you…Gajeel."
Said dragon slayer knelt down to be at eye level with his fading partner. "Knock it off, Salamander. You'll get your chance to say it another day when you've got your strength back."
His voice a barely audible whisper, Natsu spoke: "Gajeel." He smiled, much to the raven haired mage's surprise. "You are…my nakama." And with that, the dragon slayer went limp, his hand slipping out of Gajeel's.
"Na-ka-ma," Gajeel whispered reverently, testing every syllable on his tongue. Never had Natsu fully accepted him for what he had done to Levy, Jet, and Droy. Yet he chose to use possibly his final words to put aside their bad blood with a few simple words.
He spun around to face Porlyusica, his eyes blazing with determination. "There has to be something you can do!"
The old woman gazed disbelievingly at him but merely said, "He needs a blood transfusion, but the only way that could happen would be if there were someone around here that had O positive or O negative blood, like Natsu's. Without that, there's nothing I—"
"There is a chance then," Gajeel said, his face softening as hope flooded his features.
Porlyusica scoffed at him. "How? There isn't time to check dozens of mages' blood, much less find them and bring them here."
"You don't have to. You've got me." He held out his arm, showing her the blue veins near the surface of his skin. "I have O negative."
"But how could you possibly know?" A rare sight was revealed: Porlyusica's eyes widened in pure surprise.
"Are you really gonna waste time finding out?" Gajeel shoved his arm in her face, glaring at her over his forearm. "Hook us up before I lose my nakama!"
So, I know this chapter is kind of slow, but I hope that the next chapter will be better and that you'll all bear with me until then. Thank you to all who reviewed and favorite! It means so much to me! =^.^= Keep them coming, and I'll keep posting!
