Title: Sick Days (Part 1)
Description: Skull hacked wetly into his hand, wincing at the pain it caused him, and then winced again when he drew his hand back. It was splattered with blood. Well shit, this was worse than he thought. He might actually need to see a doctor this time.
Word Count: 1,000
Warnings: sick!Skull, Skull-is-Harry, short and simple, hints of Skull/Fon
Day 1
Skull snuffled miserably as he tightened his grip on his blankets, shivers racking his thin frame. He hated being sick; hated it with every fiber of his being.
Of course, being who he was, Skull rarely got sick, but when he did, it was usually something serious -usually pneumonia, and on some occasions legionellosis-, most cases were things that could be fatal to normal humans.
He had noticed something was wrong three days before, when he had suddenly come down with a violent cough after staying out late training for the upcoming war against Ginny and her supporters, (who wanted to drag him back to Britain to clean of whatever mess they had made within the thirty years he had been gone) but he had brushed it off as something minor (to him), like bronchitis again.
But it wasn't.
Within the three day time frame, Skull had noticed a stabbing pain in his chest, the slight fever too, he was weak and fatigued all the time, he was always cold, but was sweating at night. He had no appetite, and Skull had lost some of his very little weight.
Skull hacked wetly into his hand, wincing at the pain it caused him, and then winced again when he drew his hand back.
It was splattered with blood.
Well shit, this was worse than he thought. He might actually need to see a doctor this time.
Forcing himself from the comforts of his warm (and now slightly bloodied) bed, Skull stumbled out of his bed and staggered down the hall, vision growing fuzzy around the edges as he looked for somebody, anybody.
His Flames fluctuated in distress as his vision blurred in and out of focus, he needed to find the others... Where were they?
The world suddenly tilted, the ground rushing up to meet him, before everything went black.
The flare of distressed Cloud Flame caught their attention first, and they were moving before the crash reached their ears. Fon was the first one to reach Skull, who was sprawled awkwardly on the ground, eyes half-lidded, air wheezing through lips stained red, and blood smeared across his chin.
Fon immediately dropped down beside the unconscious young man as Reborn and Colonello surveyed the area for any possible threats.
"This isn't an attack," Fon reassured the two gun-users, hands hovering over Skull's limp form, and his eyes narrowed in alarm, his breath hitching slightly. "Call Shamal."
"Tuberculosis." Shamal informed the hovering Arcobaleno, his mosquitoes flying overhead. "Usually, a case of tuberculosis this advanced is serious, sometimes fatal, but it would seem that Skull's systems are already destroying the illness at an impossible rate. There's really nothing for me to do." He told them, "Kid'll be out of it for the next few days while his immune system reconstructs itself. From what I can tell, the disease progressed within a three day period, instead of the usual three weeks, and while it got critical at an inhuman rate, his white blood cells are already destroying the infection." The doctor added in amazement, "Which should be impossible, because tuberculosis usually effects those who have it for the rest of their lives. But the kid's cells are completely erasing any proof the infection had been there in the first place!"
A small smirk twisted Verde's face, "Hmm... What an interesting use of Cloud Flames..."
Shamal paused, looking as if the information had walloped him over the head, "Cloud Flame is propagation and multiplication, so speeding the disease up and propagating white blood cells to fight the disease... It makes so much sense now!"
Day 2
Fon brushed sweaty bangs from an unconscious Skull's forehead, replacing the wet towel as he did so. The younger Arcobaleno's forehead crinckled and glazed violet eyes fluttered open, not really focusing on anything particular.
"...Mum...?" Skull rasped quietly, and Fon felt his heartstrings tug, "Mum... is that you? Please don't leave me 'lone again... Don't like bein' 'lone..."
"Oh, Skull..." Fon muttered, cradling the Cloud's cheek, only to draw back in horror when hot tears started to roll down his fevered cheeks.
"Mum... Dad... Sirius... Remus... Fred... Teddy... Tonks... George... d-don't go..." Skull sobbed, "I don't like the dark... don't make it dark...! Dark is lonely... Don't wanna be alone!"
Fon shifted, unsure as to what to do, while Skull cried for people who weren't there.
"Dead... They're all dead... All m'fault... Dead because of me..."
Fon moved forward, cupping the younger man's cheeks in his warm hands, fingers deftly brushing away tears, as he touched their foreheads together. "Xū, qīn'ài de [Chinese: Hush, dearest]… It's alright, you're safe."
Skull calmed almost immediately, sniffling slightly as he burrowed into the older man's warmth. "D-don't leave me..." The violet-haired stuntman sniffled, and Fon placed a gentle kiss to the younger man's forehead.
"I don't plan to, wǒ de bǎobèi. [Chinese: my treasure/my darling]"
Yeah, Part 1 is short, sorry about that. I wrote this while I was sick, and decided to post it as a 2-part drabble. I have no medical knowledge other than coughing up blood is not good, so I hope you'll excuse me if I got anything wrong... I had a few people asking for a sick!Skull with the other Arcobaleno looking after him, so TADAAHH!
I have an idea for a future fic, or at least a headcannon; Skull and Fon eventually adopt a bunch of adorable little ninja babies ^.^
Hope you enjoyed it, Part 2 will be coming soon.
~TDU
Update: rianifitria pointed out the little error in my knowledge of Cloud Flames in her review ("I wonder why Shamal didn't say something along the line of 'What an interesting use of Cloud Flame' because Cloud Flame is propagation and multiplication, so speeding the disease up and propagating white blood cells to fight the disease more makes sense. I'm not sure if Shamal knew about Skull's wizarding status, so it makes sense that he'd think it's Skull's Cloud Flame ability.") So I added a little bit more!
Cheers!
