Chapter 12
Blossom sneezed for the ninth time since she'd woken up, and felt like she'd hacked up all the mucus in her system. Now she was just hacking up spit.
Her throat felt raw and itchy, like the scratchiest wool in the world had been forced down her throat and she couldn't do anything about it. Professor, and ayla were anxiously analyzing the super-flu to cure it, but Blossom feared it was going to be harder than just isolating key components and synthesizing serums.
Brick had stayed with her all he could, being surprising sweet and a ray of sunlight—she wondered if he was sick too.
She closed her eyes and thought back to the alley she'd found Luna in. It had been eerily colder there and the rest of the street. As if someone had frozen over it all. So very cold and rainy…
Blossom landed in the fifteenth alley and shivered. "It's like a meat locker in here."
She heard trash cans bang and saw two strays dart out from behind a tower of cardboard boxes, streaking past her and away. Their hackles were raised and they seemed colder than she was.
"Weird…" she murmured. Then she spotted Luna's fur. "Luna!"
Her cat darted away. "Luna!"
Go away, the thought smacked against the surface of her mind. She frowned and persevered. "Luna! Please, come home. If you want me to find your real owner, I will, just please- I can't stand the thought of you being alone here. Luna, please…"
Go away, no one can help me, not even a hero, another thought that felt like it was chucked at her. "I can help. If you let me… Please, Luna…"
Blossom darted out and picked Luna up. She hissed and struggled, even biting her on the wrist. But Blossom held on, and dropped to her knees in the sludgy rain. "Luna… Trust me; I'll get you back to your real owner. I promise."
Luna calmed considerably, and licked the wound she'd inflicted. You're special, Blossom, thank you…
Luna padded over to where Blossom lay on the medical bed. She didn't deserve to be there. She knew she was the cause of it all; the sickness ravaging Blossom's body like a parasite, the emotional trauma that Blossom was undergoing...
She licked Blossom's cheek. Her temporary owner stirred, but didn't awaken. She watched a furrow form on Blossom's brow. Get better soon, Blossom…
With that, Luna hopped down from the medical cot, and padded away, out of the lab, out of the house, and away from the yard.
"Astounding; simply astounding…" Professor Hamilton concluded.
"I must agree. This is a complete recovery." Professor Utonium nodded.
Blossom flexed her fingers again. She could feel it all again. In just a few short hours, Blossom had recovered in her sleep. Brick was leaned against the back wall, a relieved smile on his face.
She let her feet kick as they dangled off the side, feeling like an anxious kid at the doctor's office. All she really wanted was to go see Luna.
"Can I go now, Professors?" she asked, shocking them.
"Well… We'll be running some more tests. But we have the scans and samples we need so…"
Blossom was off before they said another word. Back in her room behind the closed door, she changed into a white cargo skirt, red tank top and white short-sleeved over hoodie. Once that was done, she brushed out her hair and cured it of the unsightly knots and tangles that four days of untreated bed-head left. "It's a wonder that Brick could stand to look at me…." she mumbled.
"I don't know, I kind of liked you looking so helpless and fragile." Brick chuckled from her doorway.
Blossom jolted in her seat. "You- You know the door was locked." She was certain she'd locked it. With all the boys teeming the house lately, she'd thought it necessary.
He shrugged like it was no biggie. "I picked the lock. You know my juvie record. In fact, if you didn't I'd be crushed."
Blossom frowned. "Well, what do you want?"
Brick was wondering the same thing. What did he want? Why had he come here again? Other than to see her face.
He had no reason, so he shrugged. "I wanted to see my sick angel." That didn't sound creepy at all, he chided himself sarcastically.
But Bloss still blushed as if he'd said something really romantic, like how the stars failed to compare to her eyes when they sat under the night sky, or how her hair was the finest silk that not even angels could improve upon.
He groaned inwardly. He could think poetic thoughts but he couldn't say them?
"Well… Um… Have you seen Luna around?" Bloss asked anxiously.
Brick frowned. "No I haven't. And Fire and the rest of them seem pretty content to leave the misfit alone."
"Don't call her a misfit!" she snapped. "She's just uncertain… She's afraid… She's scared that when the glow of having a cat wears off, she'll be cast aside. I know it."
Brick held his retort back at the hazy look in her eyes. Her pupils were wide and unfocused. He raised a brow. "Bloss, are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded then shook her head, and then got up only to take a seat on the window sill. She hugged her arms tight. "I feel like a wreck."
"You did just miraculously recover from the super-flu." Brick pointed out, taking a seat next to her.
She sighed and suddenly leaned against him. He wondered if this was a side-effect of the super-flu. If so, he kind-of hoped her unguarded nature was permanent. Well, at least around him. "I just… I feel so helpless. I want to help Luna. I know I have the power to help her. But… can I? I don't speak cat."
Brick snickered. "No one does. But if I could understand Spitfire, I'd turn myself into a monk for life. Or six days." He elicited a giggle from her; a half hearted one at best.
Suddenly, something scratched at the window behind them. Turning to see who it was, Bloss gasped and bolted upright, pushing him to the floor in the process. "Luna; you came back!"
Scratching the back of his head, Brick eyed the cat who was currently being coddled and cooed over by his girlfriend. Was it any wonder he was jealous of the cat, when it got kisses rained on it just for showing up with a rose in its mouth and ruining perfectly sweet a moment.
"Aw… You brought me a rose. How sweet. You're so smart and thoughtful… Let's go get a vase for it. We'll be right back, Brick-y-whicky."
She gave him a peck on the lips, and with Luna the Cupid-Cat in arms, she flew out. He sat there dumbfounded. Then, he leaned his head back against the wall in defeat. The cat was a blessing and a curse.
AnimeKitty: Blossom loves cats, don't you Blossom?
Blossom: *Holding Luna* yes, I do
A.K.: Maybe my next Blossom and Brick fanfic should include a werecat.
Brick: Hell, no!
A.K.: It's not up to you! Please review!
