Chapter 25
Tuesday afternoon, the blonde is in her hospital room with just Gray. He's sitting on the chair while she's still lying on her bed. Virgo is taking a break because Lucy insisted upon it multiple times and the interpreter was only comfortable leaving because the person staying knows sign language. The pinkette was much harder to convince, but he's back at home to shower and relax. He only left because the dark-haired guy swore he'd watch over Lucy.
"You've got to be bored out of your mind," Gray comments.
She nods as she flips through the television stations. Nothing interesting is on so she settles with turning it off and looking at her honorary brother.
"You look better at least," he compliments.
'I don't feel a whole better,' the blonde types into her phone to show him.
He reads it. "Yeah, I bet. But you're not letting this thing kick your ass. You're toughing it out."
Someone knocks on the closed door.
"You're good," the dark-haired guy says.
It opens up and Juvia steps inside with a bouquet of lovely blue roses in a blue vase. "Hello, Miss Lucy. Juvia came by–" Her eyes fall on Gray and she blushes. "H-hello, Mr. Gray!"
He stands up. "Hey, Juvia. What brings you here?"
The blonde rolls her eyes at his denseness.
"Miss Erza informed Juvia about Miss Lucy's condition," she answers, finding a spot to put the vase down. "Juvia wanted Miss Lucy to have time to adjust before Juvia visited."
"And blue roses?"
The long-haired bluenette smiles. "It is Miss Lucy's favorite color!" Then she looks at the blonde as she walks over to stand on her left side. "And how is Miss Lucy feeling?"
She uses the phone to type a response and holds it out when she finishes.
'I've been better. And thank you for the roses. They're so pretty!'
It does make the blonde happy Juvia remembered her favorite color.
There's another knock on the door and her current registered nurse strolls into the room. "It's time for me to check your vitals. Then later somebody will change out your gauze."
Lucy is used to it by now and lets the woman do her thing. The dark-haired guy steps around to where Juvia is so she has room to work.
"So how long are you going to be here?" Gray inquires.
The blonde ignores the sensation of the thermometer in her right ear.
"Juvia isn't sure," she replies. "Juvia at least wants to spend some time with Miss Lucy before Juvia leaves."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
"Juvia is surprised Mr. Natsu isn't here," the long-haired bluenette comments. "Juvia thought for sure he would be with Miss Lucy."
"I'm giving him a break," the dark-haired guy explains. "He's been here since Sunday."
Juvia clasps her hands together. "That is so romantic! Mr. Natsu must care deeply for Miss Lucy!"
When the nurse pulls the thermometer away, the blonde notices her reaction. It's different from all the other times someone has checked her vitals. The woman glances at the digital instrument before look at her and back again at the thermometer. "Let me check one more time…" Sure enough, it's back in her ear.
"Flame Brain is still head over heels for her," Gray chuckles.
Now the duo are talking like Lucy isn't even in the room, but she doesn't mind. She's actually enjoying their conversation.
"Mr. Natsu was very protective of Miss Lucy when Juvia first saw him. It was very precious. Juvia wants to have that some day!"
"You can handle yourself though," the dark-haired guy points out. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask–" He stops talking when the nurse sets down the digital instrument abruptly. "Something wrong?"
She begins removing the sheets off of the blonde.
"Okay, what's going on?" he inquires, feeling uneasy.
"She's spiking a fever," the woman replies, taking off the hospital socks from her feet.
Fever? Lucy feels fine. If anything, she feels cold now because the sheets and socks were removed.
"I'll be back with ice packs." Then the nurse hurries out of the room.
"Why didn't Miss Lucy say something was wrong?" the long-haired bluenette asks.
She starts typing on her phone to reply.
"Because she's mute," Gray jokes, attempting to lighten the mood.
The blonde smiles at his sense of humor and holds out her phone for them to read.
'I feel fine. I don't even feel any fever.'
When the woman returns, she packs Lucy with frozen gel packs from under her armpits to other regions. "I'll be back in a bit," she says before leaving once again.
The dark-haired guy cracks up at the scene. "You look so pathetic!"
Juvia gasps. "That is not a nice thing to say about Miss Lucy!"
The blonde merely sends a warning look his way.
Now it's Gray's turn to gasp and he pulls out his phone to check the time. "Ah shit."
"What is it, Mr. Gray?" the long-haired bluenette inquires.
"It's on the hour. Flame Brain will be expecting a photo update." He looks at Lucy. "And if he sees her like this…"
"Oh, what if Mr. Gray resent another photo?"
He shakes his head. "He'll notice."
"What about waiting until Miss Lucy's fever had gone down?"
"It could be too long–"
The dark-haired guy's phone goes off because of a text.
His eyes grow wide with fear. "Shit, he knows! He's got a sixth sense or something!"
The blonde thinks back to when the pinkette mentioned his Natsu sense tingles when he feels something is wrong with his girlfriend. Now she's starting to wonder if it's a real thing after all.
"Just send him a photo, Mr. Gray!" Juvia encourages.
Lucy stars laughing, hugging the pillow against her torso to apply pressure like she was told to do. She needs to press it against her stomach when she coughs, sneezes, or even laughs. The scene in front of her is all too funny. He's panicking and she's telling him what to do. To add to things, her bed is squeaking because she's laughing. That makes her laugh, not to mention hurt, even more.
Gray takes a picture of her. She may be covered in ice packs, but she's smiling. "Annnd send…"
"That should be good enough, right?" the long-haired bluenette asks.
Sure enough, his phone starts ringing.
"Ahhh fuck." The dark-haired guy holds it up to his ear. "Hey, Flame Brain–" He holds it away from his ear and presses speaker so the yelling isn't next to his ear.
"–is wrong with Luce?! What's with all of those damn ice packs?! Is this some kinda prank?!" Natsu speaks in a calmer voice. "She's laughing at least, which is good and bad all at the same time."
"She has a fever, Mr. Natsu," Juvia says.
Lucy busies herself with writing a message on her phone.
The pinkette is quiet for a moment before bursting out. "A FEVER? I LEAVE HER ALONE WITH FROSTBITE AND SHE SPIKES A DAMN FEVER?!"
Gray has multiple nicknames depending on Natsu's mood. Ice Princess is always a go-to one. When it's Frostbite, Natsu isn't happy with him. And when he actually uses Gray's name, things are deadly serious.
"It's not my fault she did," the dark-haired guy bickers. "No way you can place the blame on me!"
"I left her in your hands! Ya had one job and blew it!"
The blonde gets her body guard's attention and holds out her phone.
"Mr. Natsu, listen to this," the long-haired bluenette says, taking the phone in her hands. "Miss Lucy has a message for you." So she starts reading the words.
'Natsu, I feel fine. Really. I don't even feel the least bit sick. So don't worry about me! And don't blame Gray! He's been doing a good job watching over me and keeping me company.'
Silence falls over the room.
Gray stares at his phone and glances at Lucy before looking back at his phone.
"Just sit tight, Luce," the pinkette says. "I'll be there soon."
A/N Part 1: I'm sorry for the delay! I've been working on other fics and work has been busy. Anyways. Guys! This is the 25th chapter I have posted for RPRT! Like woooooow! I can't believe the story has come this far (so far) and has received such positiveness :) I had no clue things would be the way they are on because this was supposed to be a one-shot. The fact that this is the first fic I have published makes it even more special! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH :D
A/N Part 2: Omgggg. In this fic, it's a Tuesday in September. It's actually the 15th according to the timeline I have for RPRT. That's what today actually is! Oh wow! That's awesome haha XD
FireShifter: Thanks :) I enjoy NaLu very much so! :3
Rainbowpoptartcat: Cupcakes are awesome :3
Gh0st's buddy: Wooooooo :D And now it's Chapter 25 ^-^ Haha, I thought that was nice touch XD
Yuyui Hime: Only Natsu XD He's a good kid. And a great boyfriend for Lucy!
Estella Hughes: Yay, makes me happy that you do! The originally idea (the first chapter) just popped up outta nowhere. Because it received positive attention, I continued it a couple more chapters. After that, little "arcs" came to me. In this current arc with appendicitis, I'm basically basing it off of my own experience. After this arc, I'm not quite sure what'll happen! Having an imagination helps too ^-^