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Done For

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"How are you feeling?" Kagome asked quietly as she brushed some stray hairs away from his face. Damn, painkillers and anti-nausea medication made for a dangerous cocktail, Kagome mused. She couldn't hold back the giggle when he merely gave her a drugged smile, coyly buried his face into the pillow and cuddled Tessaiga against his chest like it some type of stuffed animal instead of responding.

"You want me to leave you alone so you can sleep?" the miko questioned softly before laughing outright at the horrified expression on his face, "What on earth is wrong with you? I'm not leaving forever just so you can take a nap. I might take a nap myself if I'm being honest."

Grinning and dopily burying half of his face back into the pillow once more, he muttered something that Kagome couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. You're going to have to speak up," Kagome whispered quietly as Inuyasha began to snicker lightly, "You could sleep with me."

"Inuyasha, there isn't enough room on the bed for us to both sleep there," Kagome chided gently before turning beet, beet red when he merely responded in a very un-Inuyasha like, very slurred way, "Who said anything about actually sleeping?"

"Right..." Kagome laughed nervously as she tried to dispel some of the very, very awkward sexual tension that had just entered the room. If someone would've told her a week ago that a very, very high Inuyasha was going to proposition her she would've tried to have them committed but here they were and so he was.

"You're not saying no," he slurred flirtatiously as he sent her a dopey grin and obviously fought a losing battle to keep his eyelids open. After a few minutes where Kagome ran her fingers through his forelocks, he added in a very drunk sounding voice that made Kagome snort to keep from laughing, "You know you want me. I'm sexy. So sexy."

As his eyes fluttered closed, he placed a light, lingering kiss on her palm as it passed by that made Kagome's eyes widen incrementally and made her mind so fuzzy that the miko almost missed something he probably never meant for her to hear.

"Love you, 'gome. Love...you..."

Grinning, Kagome felt her heart would burst straight out of her chest as she watched him clearly pass out. He loved her and yeah, maybe it was the drugs talking but he still said it god dammit and that counted for something, right?

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Inuyasha woke the next morning with a bitch of a headache and the feeling of Kagome's fingers idly scratching his ear.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Kagome whispered, "You need to get up, we've got to head to the hospital in a little bit. I've got some fresh clothes laid out for you alright?"

"Great, surgery," Inuyasha muttered as he closed his eyes again ,"So wolf shit can cut open my chest and pull my still beating heart out. Goody."

"Hey, it'll be alright," Kagome soothed before plucking up her courage, "Why don't I help you take a bath alright? You really need one."

Oh, how he loathed bathing, especially when it was Kagome helping him out. Luckily, the painkillers put a damper on his more primal instincts but they didn't keep his hormones completely in check. Still, he'd rather go into this bullshit somewhat clean than going in completely filthy. Fighting back the growing blush on his cheeks, he nodded and allowed her to help him up.

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"It won't be so bad," Kagome commented casually as she massaged the shampoo into his scalp, "Koga said you'd probably be mostly healed by tomorrow morning, so that's good."

Nodding absently, Inuyasha couldn't really hear her over the blood pounding in his hears and his desperate attempts to bite back the moan that threatened to break free. It felt good, too good, to have her rub his head like this.

As Kagome rinsed his silver mane, she bit her lip as she momentarily questioned her own sanity. She kept trying to figure out a way to get him to admit he loved her again but she was way too chicken shit to say it first so maybe...just maybe if she did something that made it clear how she felt about him would be enough? She'd definitely have to question her sanity later. Gently placing his hair over his shoulder, she took a deep breath before leaning over to place a lingering kiss on his neck as she whispered against his skin, sending shivers down his spine, "You'll be fine."

Before Inuyasha could stop himself, his hand flew up to keep her in place and he flexed his neck in a silent plea for her continue. Smiling softly, Kagome slowly began to place gentle, lingering kisses up and down his neck loving each uneven pant, the almost inaudible moans escaping his partially opened lips, and the way his body writhed gently when she hit certain areas.

"Ka—Kagome," he managed to gasp out breathlessly in between soft panting breaths, his hand still holding her firmly in place, "What're you...I...hmm."

Gently sliding her hand across his chest, she smiled secretly at the feel of his erratic heartbeat before pausing and frowning. His heartbeat was erratic but…she pressed her hand a little more firmly against his chest and immediately pulled her head back, ignoring his frustrated groan. His heartbeat was erratic but it was also uneven and she could almost feel the faltering rhythm.

Inuyasha was still panting as he tried weakly to pull her mouth back onto his neck and he whined softly, "Kagome, don't stop."

"I'm sorry. You're right, we shouldn't. I don't know what came over me," she muttered more to herself than to him as she reached for the conditioner.

"I…I didn't mind," Inuyasha whispered quietly in between his uneven breathing as a blush grew on his cheeks and he played idly with his hands. Here in this moment, when no one could see or hear them, he decided to take a leap of faith and be honest seeing as how he may be dead in a few hours, "I…I…I always…I had hoped..you… you liked me...you know, that way."

Knowing a window of opportunity when she saw one, Kagome smiled gently as she began to work the conditioner into his hair, "I maybe more than like you. A lot more."

Turning his head to look into her eyes, his blushed deepened as he took a deep breath and decided now was as good a time as any to tell her what he'd been keeping inside all this time, "I…I maybe more than like you too. I…I…um…"

"I know," Kagome replied as she stroked his ear gently and gave him a breathtaking smile, "I love you too."

In that moment, Kagome realized she'd never really seen him smile as the happiest grin she'd ever seen on his face burst free. Maybe…just maybe this illness wasn't the worst thing ever.