Authors' note: Muahah I told you you wouldn't have to wait as long! Whaaat I told you I was on a road trip! What else am I suppose to do?
And for the record:
I DO NOT PLAY HOCKEY OR FIGURE SKATE. All rules and regulations have either came from research, or I made up. I am so so sorry if they are not correct, but what can ya do.
Woah this doc set up is weird.
Please enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.
Lucy POV
"So please explain again why you and your guardian were driving on West Magnolia Road two days ago when you were hit by the oncoming truck." The young officer asked. I signed and leaned back against the hospital bed. Not only had I broken my nose, but also had a minor concussion, so they refused to let me leave. That and I had been questioned everyday by these cops who never seemed to get the story straight.
"I told you, we weren't hit by the truck, it drove us off the road!" I argued back. The cop nodded robotically and I heard Erza sighed as she flipped through her magazine. Obviously she was just as done with these people as I was and she had only been here for a few hours.
"The reason Ms. Heartfilia." The cop prodded. I huffed and explained for the third time that day that Loke and I had been driving to meet Ms. Michelle Lobster, head figure skating coach for Fairy Tail. And that's where the whole issue began. When I had first told everyone that was what Loke and I had been doing they all were put on edge. You see, Fairy Tail doesn't have a head figure skating coach named Michelle Lobster.
This led them, and the cops, to believe that this had been an attempt to kill me. And it was almost successful. And because of that, I was basically left out of the loop except to answer the same old questions by the same dumb cop to make it seem like I was involved. And to make matters worse, I had yet to see Loke since I had arrived and no one would tell me anything about him.
The first day, Natsu, Levy, Gajeel, and Erza refused to leave me though eventually the doctors persuaded them to leave for a few hours so I could get some sleep. When I woke up, only Natsu was there, asleep in a chair next to my bed. And of course, that's when the police came and started questioning me about the event. After that, Natsu refused to leave my side.
"You're missing school! Do you want to fail?" I had scolded him.
Natsu had slammed his hands down on either sides of the bed, trapping me beneath him and forcing me to look at him. "I am not about to go to class and spend all day acting like someone is NOT trying to kill you." He had argued back. After bickering for a few hours, we had a sort of system set up, so I always had someone with me. Him, Erza, Gray, or Gajeel. Of course Levy wasn't on his approved list of body guards but I didn't want to argue with him over that at the moment.
And that was basically my hospital experience up until now.
"And what is your connection to Sting Eucliff?" The officer read from a notebook. Erza and I both looked up at that. This was a new question.
"Um… The first time I met Sting was Tuesday night." I told the officer and he jotted down my response. Erza closed her magazine and crossed her legs.
"Why is this relevant?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. The officer fumbled with his booklet.
"Well… We have a theory." The officer said and motion clumsily with his hands.
"Which is…?" She pressed on and the officer swallowed hard. He looked over at the door and then back at us.
"I am not suppose to disclose that kind of information to the victim." The officer said hastily and stood up. "Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Hearfilia. Don't worry. We'll catch this guy." And with that he left the room. Erza and I starred blankly at each other.
"What the hell was that about?" She muttered and ran a hand through her red hair. I shrugged and watched the door, hoping the police officer would have a change of heart and come tell us what was going on.
"I don't know, I just really wanna see Loke." I said and Erza hummed in response.
"When the doctor clears you." She gave the same answer everyone had given me and I huffed, annoyed.
"Well I better be cleared soon. Not only do I need to see Loke, but I have the first Icicle Queen contest in less than two weeks now." I absently twirled a lock of hair between my fingers. Erza nodded and went back to her magazine. I flopped back on the bed. I was so bored. I turned over and watch Erza read her magazine. She was so pretty. I wasn't fair. I pouted at her until she looked over her magazine at me.
"Yes?" She asked with a sigh, putting her magazine down and leaning towards me.
"I was just thinking how pretty you are." I told her frankly and she turned tomato red.
"Lucy! I h-have a boyfriend!" She stuttered at me and I laughed.
"Glad you're finally calling him your boyfriend." I said happily and she turned even more red.
"Well, I mean, he's not, but when I have time, he." She attempted to explain. I smiled and rolled onto my back.
"I bet it's nice having a boyfriend." I said to which she gaffed.
"Oh please Lucy." Erza said simply and turned back to her.
"What?" I asked her, confused.
"Don't you dare 'what' me, you know." She replied.
"Know what?" I asked but she didn't answer. "What?! Erza! What do I know!?" I whined at her. The door to my room opened and closed and we both saw Natsu, wearing an oversized red sweatshirt and holding his stomach walk in.
"Speak of the devil." Erza muttered. She stood up and went over to him. "Alright, your turn. Have fun, I'll see you at practice tonight." She told Natsu and patted him on the back.
Natsu laughed and walked over to the bed. "Good afternoon Luce! Having a good day?" He asked genuinely.
"Yeah, just had to deal with more police." I told him and he nodded solemnly.
"Good. That means I don't have to go out and do something if they are." He said seriously. I was going to scold him about doing rash things when I heard a meow come from him.
"Uh, did you just meow?" I asked him, a little concerned about my best friend. He laughed and reached down to unzip his jacket to reveal a strangely colored cat.
"Lucy, meet Happy! He's my buddy." Natsu said, and held the cat up for me to see. I hesitantly held up my hand to pet the cat and he nuzzled my hand. I immediately melted.
"Okay two questions." I said and Natsu nodded, telling me to go ahead. "First, are you allowed to bring pets in here?" To that he shook his head no. "Alright… and how did he get to be blue?" Natsu laughed out loud.
"He was born that way! Isn't he cool?!" By this time the cat had walked up and laid down on my chest. Natsu seemed conflicted whether or not he should move the cat and I glared at him. He dropped his hands by his side and watched the two of us contently. "I think he likes you." He stated.
"I hope so! I've never been allowed to have a cat. I was lucky to get Plue!" I said talking about my dog. I immediately felt a pang of home sickness. Plue. How was he doing? I was sure Virgo was taking care of him, but I sure did miss him along with my house keeping staff. Natsu noticed me go quiet. He scooted closer and patted my head.
"Want me to sneak Plue in one day?" He offered and I giggled.
"Natsu, Plue weighs seventy-five pounds. I don't think you can carry him." I told him. Natsu tilted his head in thought.
"Well, I carried you and you weigh more than that." He said simply, a smile on his face. I punched him before he could say anything else and he ended up on the floor. "Luuuuuucy. That's not nice!" He whined.
"You're not nice!" I argued back and went back to playing with Happy. "Isn't that wight, Happy?" I said in a baby voice. "Natsu is a weally mean man isn't he?" Happy meowed and flicked his tail. Natsu plopped his elbows on his bed and pouted at the two of us. 'traitor' I heard him whisper.
A few minutes later the door opened and Natsu struggled to stuff the cat down his shirt. There was a hiss and Natsu winced. Oops. "Better watch out for those claws." I teased.
"Ha. Ha." Natsu said sarcastically and took a seat in a chair. The doctor walked in and came over to my bed. I grinned at her.
"Dr. Porlyusica! You are looking so beautiful today! I am feeling sooo much better today." I said, my voice overflowing with sweetness, hoping she'd let me see Loke.
The women hummed and shown a bright light in my eyes. The light blinded me and I blinked until I could see again. "Your eyes are having a hard time adjusting to light. I'm sure your vision isn't very good, is it?" I avoided eye contact. Alright so maybe my depth perception wasn't that great, and I had a hard time focusing on things, but all I wanted to do was talk to Loke. I could get a wheel chair if I needed to.
I reached out a hand and grab the sleeve of her shirt. I stared at her hopefully and she sighed out a breath, giving in. "Fine. I'll have a wheelchair brought to you." She looked pointedly at Natsu. "And I don't want any wheelchair races like last time, alright Mr. Dragneel?" Natsu grinned and promised he wouldn't. Dr. Porlyusica left the room.
"Wheel chair races?" I asked him, I had to hear this story.
"Once my mom brought me to work and I was just really bored and I found a wheelchair and I thought it would be fun to try and race the other patients…" He winced. "I ended up running over the foot of one of the top doctors in the hospital and broke his toe." I burst out laughing. "It's not that funny!" He cried, a blush on his face.
"Yes it is!" I said, wiping a tear from my eye. "Aw man, I would have paid money to see that!" He hmphed and crossed his arms. Happy mewed in annoyance. "What are you gonna do with him while we're gone?"
"I'm gonna go take him to my mom's office. I'll be back in ten minutes, don't leave without me." He ordered. I promised I wouldn't.
Natsu was only gone a few minutes when I had another visitor come in. One I definitely wasn't expecting. The man walked in and took a seat by my bed, where Natsu had been sitting earlier.
"Dad. What are you doing here?" I asked him. He grasped his hands in front of him.
"You're in the hospital. You are also my daughter. Is there any reason I shouldn't be seeing you?" He asked, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. I swallowed.
"I was just surprised. I thought you were supposed to be in Paris this week." I told him. He cleared his throat.
"Well, I was until I got a call that my daughter had been in a car accident and had been carried into the local hospital by some hooligan. And now Loke is in critical condition. Jesus, I thought I paid him to look after you, not cause me more trouble." My father said angrily. I sat up abruptly.
"Loke's in critical condition?" I asked, shocked.
My father stared at me harshly. "Yes. He hasn't woken up yet." Thoughts raced through my head. He wasn't going to wake up. I would never get to talk to him again. One of my best friends was dead. I ripped the covers off my body stepped down onto the cold hospital floor. I took a few steps before I felt light headed and started falling to the floor. Two strong arms steadied me and I looked up to see Natsu starring at me, concerned.
"I thought I told you not to leave." He said sternly and picked me up, bridal style of course, and set me back on the bed. my eyes flickered from him, to my father, then to the door. He nodded his head, seeming to understand. He stood upright and addressed my father. "Mr. Heartfilia. Although I appreciate your coming to visit Lucy, if you are just going to make her upset, I am going to have to ask you to leave." He said, his voice deeper than usual.
"Ah, you must be the hooligan." My father responded, standing up. I winced and was about to speak up but Natsu squeezed my hand.
"Yeah, and since Loke isn't here to take care of Lucy, then it's my job." He stated simply. My father and Natsu stared at each other, neither willing to give up, until my father finally cleared his throat, straightened his tie, and left the room. Natsu blew out air. "Woo! That was scary!" He said, wiping his brow.
I looked down at my hands. This was just great. "Can we go see Loke?" I asked quietly. I could barley hear myself, so I was surprise when Natsu picked me up.
"Wrap your arms around my neck." He ordered. I gave him a confused look and he rolled his eyes. "Cause knowing you, you're gonna do something weird and I'll end up dropping you." I let out an 'ohhh' and did as he said. At first I thought he was going to carry me all the way there but when we got out into the hall there was a wheelchair sitting there. When he sat me down I couldn't tell if I was relieved or disappointed by that.
"Do you know where we are going?" I asked him.
"Yup." He said from behind me. "I asked a nurse and they told me where to go." Natsu said as we walked down the hall. I half expected him to take off at a run, but I was surprised that he calmly walked through the halls. A few minutes later we got to Loke's room. "Ready?" He asked me.
"As I'll ever be." I responded and Natsu opened the door. I had prepared myself for the worst. Loke covered with a white sheet, covered in blood, or at least missing a leg. I was not prepared for what I saw.
We walked in to see Loke sitting up, a busty blonde sitting on his lap feeding him grapes, a brunette on his right fanning him, along with at least six or seven other half naked girls waiting on him hand and foot.
"Loke-sama! I have those books you ask for!" another girl said as she came in the room behind Natsu and I. Natsu, red face and all, jumped out of the way and I stared at the scene, shocked.
"Aw you shouldn't have!" Loke cried and then he finally noticed Natsu and I, who were paralyzed with shock. "Yo! Lucy! Welcome to casa de Loke!" He said sweeping out his arms. All the girls giggled at him, which I'm sure inflated his ego.
Natsu banged his head on the door frame and excused himself to get some juice. One of the blondes in a mini skirt wheeled me farther into the room next to Loke's bed, Jessica, I remembered from when I was 14 and she came to our house blasting 80's love songs from her car in order for Loke to take her back.
"Glad you're having fun." I muttered to Loke. He just laughed and shoved the girl off his lap.
"Well, my 'friends' heard I was injured and wanted to make sure I was okay." Loke told me. I rolled my eyes at him, annoyed and relieved.
There was a bandaged wrapped around his head, but other than that he looked perfectly fine. "So what exactly did they do to you?" I asked him.
"Fourteen stitches in the head and twenty in my leg. Luckily for me they shouldn't scare too badly either. How 'bout you kiddo?" He asked me.
"Concussion, broken nose. Hopefully it will heal before the first competition." I told him and Loke immediately cut me off.
"Lucy, concussions don't heal in a week." He told me seriously. "And after this I would be an idiot to let you compete. The cops came in here and told me what was going on." I froze.
"You're kidding, right? I mean, after how hard we've worked. The first competition is in nine days, I can't just not compete!" I argued. "If I don't compete in this one, then I can't compete in the Icicle Queen Contest, period!" My voice was sounding hysterical, and all of Loke's lady friends focused on the floor, which was obviously more interesting than us.
"I'm sorry Lucy. It's out of my hands now." Loke sighed and looked away from me. I dropped my hands in my lap.
"But mom was coming to this competition…" I said quietly, my last argument. Loke looked over my head and nodded at someone.
"I'm sorry Lucy. If there was anything I could do, you know I would." He said. I felt someone come up behind me and press a cold can against my face. I looked up, a little teary eyed to see Natsu. I took the can from him and just stared at it.
Loke reached out and took my hand. "I'm glad you're okay kiddo." He said. I nodded.
"Me too." I said, devoid of emotion. I didn't know what to feel right now. I knew it was selfish of me. I was glad Loke was okay, but this just wasn't fair. I opened the can only for it to explode all over me. I stared blankly ahead, not really sure how to react at being covered in the purple sticky liquid.
Natsu made a strangled sound and quickly wheeled me from the room. "Luce! I'm sorry! It must have gotten shaken up when it fell from the machine!" He had grabbed paper towels from the closest bathroom and was trying to wipe the drink off me. I swatted him away.
"Please, the only way I can get this off of me is if I take a shower." I said sighing. He rubbed the back of his head.
"I mean, there is a nurse's lounge that has a shower, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you using it." Natsu offered. I looked up at him doubtfully.
"Natsu, I can barley walk four steps, I doubt I can stand in the shower." I told him and tried to wheel myself back down the hall, to no avail.
"Well that's what I'm here for! I can helpppp-" He drew out the 'help' and then realized what he was saying. He shook his head quickly. "I can call my mom, cause she's working today anyways."
I pulled him down and hugged him. "Natsu! You're a dream come true! Well I mean even though this is your fault anyways." I said, wanting him to feel a little bit of guilt. He pushed away from me.
"Stop it! Or I'm gonna need a shower too!" He said, rubbing the purple off his cheek.
I cut my eyes to him. "You seemed pretty eager to shower with me earlier." I said teasingly. He ran a hand through his hair and avoided contact.
"That was because, I mean…" He sighed. "You know what I meant!" He shouted and then dialed his mother's number into his phone. She came running down the hall a few minutes later, towel in hand.
"Oh Lucy! I am so sorry about my son!" She said and took over wheelchair duty. We left Natsu standing in the hall and she wheeled me to the nurse's lounge.
"So Mr. Dragneel owns a restaurant and you're a doctor?" I asked Mrs. Dragneel. She nodded her head and smiled. "Jeeze, Natsu and Wendy sure have a lot to live up to." I said as Mrs. Dragneel helped me take off the hospital gown. It was then I became extremely aware that the hospital gown didn't have a back. Not only had I let Natsu see me in that, but he had also carried me in it! While I was having a mini meltdown, Mrs. Dragneel went on about her kids.
"Oh those two are making their own path. Even though Natsu loves working with his father, I just don't see him growing up to be a cook." She helped me into the shower, which lucky for me had bars I could use to support myself. "Besides, he eats more than he puts out on the table anyway!" She said laughing. I laughed. I could see that. "And Wendy, although she talks about being a nurse someday, she really loves to dance." I hmmed and she gave me shampoo to put in my hair. I let out a grateful sigh.
"This is my first shower in almost three days." I told Mrs. Dragneel. The first day I was here, they tried to give me a sponge bath. I can honestly say it was an experience I never want to repeat. The next time they tried to give me one I started screaming until Gray, who was on watch guard duty, chased the poor nurses away. I was traumatized to say the least.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Dragneel helped me out and dressed me and I was able to dress in real clothes. Well, nurse's scrubs, but better than nothing. With that she wheeled me back to my room where we saw Natsu asleep on my bed. Mrs. Dragneel walked over and stroked his hair affectionetly. "Well I'm glad he's sleeping somewhere." She said airily and stroked his hair. The boy smiled in his sleep, but didn't wake up.
"He doesn't sleep at home?" I asked, a little concerned.
"Well since he's either at school, here, or at hockey practice, he hasn't had much time to sleep in the past few days." Mrs. Dragneel told me. I felt a pang of guilt. The women obviously hadn't meant to make me feel bad but she did. Mrs. Dragneel looked at her watch. "I have work for another hour and a half, then I'll come back to pick him up." She smiled gently and me. "Feel better, Lucy-chan."
She walked out of the room and it was quiet, apart from Natsu's breathing. I leaned over to the bed and set my elbows on it. Resting my head on my arms I watched the sleeping boy. After a few minutes hand reached out and touched my face. I opened one eye to see Natsu watching me, concerned.
"What are you doing over there?" He asked me, brows furrowed.
I smiled sleepily at him. "You're the one in my bed." I pointed out. He blinked and then realized he had fallen asleep. Natsu made a move to get up but I grabbed his arm. "No it's okay. We can share." I said as I attempted to climb onto the bed. Natsu held his arms out warily, ready to catch me if I fell. I made it up with no problems and laid down next to him. He propped himself up on his elbow and watched me for a minute,.
"You're not going to punch me?" Natsu asked me. I shook my head no and wiggled closer to him. This was a small bed, I told myself, I didn't want to fall off. And when I wrapped my arms around him, it was because I was cold. And when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer it was because he was cold. And when he breathed out my name it was because he glad I wasn't dead. Or something like that.
And when Mrs. Dragneel walked in to find us like that a couple hours later, it was only because we had been to tired to do anything else but fall asleep.
And I definitely wasn't falling in love with my best friend.
Author's note: Woo! So many chapters! Hope you enjoyed them! It's my apology for not updating right away! Hopefully next chapter I'll make it more… action-y. Cept you got a hint of what might happen next! If you were paying attention of course.
PLEASE REVIEW =)