Night had fallen. Kagome had slept peacefully for the last few hours, leaving Koga to finally get some well-deserved rest himself. Ginta and Hakkaku had joined Koga in his spot on the cave floor, sensing that their leader needed some company at the moment.

Koga leaned his head back against the cave wall, closing his eyes, but finding that he just couldn't relax enough to sleep. He was too worried...

"How long do you think it will take them to fully recover?" Hakkaku whispered to Ginta, stealing a glance at their leader.

"Who knows?" Ginta replied. "Koga is a very strong demon, so he should be better within a few short days, but Kagome's a mere human. It could take weeks."

Hakkaku stole another glance at Koga. Yep, his eyes were still closed. He must be asleep, Hakkaku decided. "Do you think Koga will ever be able to forgive himself for what happened to her?"

Before Ginta could reply, Koga opened one eye and muttered, "I'm sitting right here, you know. I can hear every word you say."

The two underlings jumped a little. "Oh, sorry." They mumbled.

"It's all right." Koga said grudgingly, opening both eyes and sitting up a little.

"Say, Koga-" Ginta began, "With all of the commotion, I forgot to ask–whatever happened to the demon after he–after Kagome fell?"

Koga didn't answer right away, apparently still enraged by the incident. "...I killed him."

Hakkaku's eyes widened in awe. It must have been the rush of anger over what he did to Kagome that gave Koga that boost of power...

"...And the shard?" Ginta asked.

Koga grunted. "I got it. After what happened to Kagome, though, the shard was the least of my worries."

The three were silent for a few moments, Ginta and Hakkaku afraid to upset Koga any further.

A sound from across the room made the trio jump. Kagome's peaceful sleep had been broken, her steady and deep breathing suddenly becoming short and ragged. Her eyes were still closed, but they twitched as if she was having a nightmare, and she restlessly rolled over onto her right side, digging her hands into the blanket covering her.

Koga leapt up and rushed to the other side of the room, kneeling beside her. Looking slightly panicked, he barked to Ginta, "Go get one of the healers. Now!"

Ginta scurried out of the room. Mere moments later, he reentered, accompanied by an elderly Wolf Demoness. She sat down beside Kagome, peering closely at her flushed face, feeling her pulse and placing a hand on her forehead.

"What's wrong with her?" Koga questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Don't worry, Lord Koga, she will be fine. She is just delirious. She's in a lot of pain from her wounds. She's warm; but I don't think it's a fever. What she needs is something for the pain."

The healer reached into a leather satchel at her side. "Wait!" Koga said, having realized something. "Kagome has some medicine from her era in that bag of hers. She's administered it to me before; it's very powerful. Maybe we should use that instead."

The demoness smiled. "Very well, my lord. Just see that she gets some medicine, and plenty of rest. Do not hesitate to call again if you need me."

As she left the cave dwelling, Ginta grabbed Kagome's backpack from the spot on the floor and handed it to Koga. "I guess it's a good thing we got this from InuYasha."

Koga dug quickly through the pack, pulling out several bottles filled with pills and liquids. "But...which one–?" Koga squinted, now noticing the small sticky notes attached to each container, with instructions on what every medicine bottle was for and how much to give to the patient.

"Oh..." Hakkaku murmured, "I guess that was so InuYasha and the others could use that stuff if she wasn't there to explain. How clever!"

Upon carefully reading each label, Koga found the one marked 'PAIN/FEVER RELIEVER. TAKE TWO PILLS. CRUSH AND MIX WITH WATER IF THE PERSON CAN'T CHEW THEM.'

"Okay then." Koga opened the bottle and removed two small white pills. He then grabbed a plastic drinking cup from Kagome's backpack. "Hakkaku. Go to the waterfall and fill this cup up. Hurry."

When Hakkaku had completed Koga's directions, the Wolf Leader knelt beside Kagome, gently shaking her. "Kagome," he whispered softly, "Come on Kagome, wake up. It's time for your medicine." Kagome merely cried out in response, once again tossing in her sleep. "It's no good...she's too delirious to wake up."

"Then how will she take it?" Ginta wondered. "If she can't wake up, she can't take the medicine. Even if we did like her instructions said, and mixed it with water, she might not wake up long enough to drink it."

Koga thought for a moment, chewing his lip. There was no other way to give her the medicine than for her to wake up. Unless...

Koga blushed just considering the idea. No way could he do that without her permission! But she needed the medicine...surely she would understand that he just did it to help her! Besides, Koga genuinely loved Kagome, and wasn't just looking for a cheap thrill. He set his jaw. He had to do it. Sorry, Kagome, he told her silently.

Ginta and Hakkaku stood back in surprise as Koga suddenly crushed the pills between his thumb and forefinger and mixed them into the glass of water. He marched over to Kagome's bed and fell to his knees, setting the glass of aspirin water on the ground beside him. With a steely determination in his eyes, he firmly lifted Kagome into an upright position, and held her firmly with one arm as he lifted the glass to his lips and drank deeply. Hesitating only for a moment, turning a deep shade of crimson, he lowered his lips to Kagome's and kissed her.

Hakkaku and Ginta gasped in unison, shocked and yet strangely proud of their leader's actions. Koga was actually kissing Kagome! And what a kiss it was...

As Koga's lips pressed firmly against hers, he couldn't suppress just a tiny thrill of excitement. He had always longed to hold his beloved Kagome like this, to finally kiss her. But he reminded himself that it wasn't a real kiss, at least under these circumstances. Koga only dreamed of the day when Kagome would want him to kiss her, because she loved him.

His thoughts were broken when he felt Kagome's throat contract, meaning she had finally swallowed. A few moments later, Koga forced himself to pull away. He held her in his arms for another minute or so, trying to will her to be strong. He then set her back down on the pelts, brushed a stray bang away from her eyes, and crossed the room to his spot against the wall.

"That was...intense." Hakkaku murmured, barely audible, hoping Koga wouldn't hear.

"I know. Go, Koga."

For the next hour or so, no one dared to breathe, each of the demons far too concerned for Kagome's sake to take their eyes off of her. Koga felt a knot tighten in his stomach as he watched Kagome's beautiful face contort with pain. It was all his fault. He was always responsible for death and suffering. His Wolf Pack had been very forgiving and understanding towards him after the incidents with Naraku, but still...it was all his fault. And now that Kagome was in so much agony, he felt like dying. If she hadn't been with him, that demon never would have hurt her...

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ginta finally managed to whisper.

Koga's blue eyes clouded over. "I'm sure she will...I'm just worried about how her body is handling the massive damage. Damn that monster!" He cursed in anger.

"Don't worry! Sis is strong. She'll make it." Hakkaku said reassuringly.

Koga didn't appear convinced. "Well, just the same, I'm going to stay up all night watching over her."

"But, Koga," Ginta protested, "You're injured, too! You need your sleep!"

"That's not an option." Koga declared stubbornly.

"He's right, Koga. You need to regain your strength! Or at least relax a little." Hakkaku said. "Besides, Ginta and I can stand guard for you."

"I appreciate the offer, guys, but my mind is made up."

The two demons shared glance. "Then we'll stay up with you." Ginta decided.

Koga allowed himself a tiny smile. "Thanks, you two."

The bonding moment was interrupted by a cry from Kagome, who once again began flailing, riping off the fur pelt that covered her.

Koga was at her side in a flash. He sat beside her, clasping her hand and whispering soothing words in her ear. After a few moments of his calming actions, Kagome's body began to relax, but she squeezed his hand tight. Koga stroked the top of her head until she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Hakkaku watched the pair and smiled. "Kagome really seems to be comforted by Koga." He commented.

"That's good." Ginta said, relieved. "Right now, they'll need to rely on each other."

Even as Koga watched how relaxed and calm Kagome became, the knot in his stomach refused to leave. "Don't worry, Kagome, I won't ever let anything happen to you again." He whispered softly in the priestess' ear, trying hard to choke back the waver creeping into his voice as he felt his eyes mist over, "I promise, you'll get better. I'll make sure you get better. And soon."