A/N: Woooooooooooooooooow. I am so very sorry for the one month added to the waiting period. I'm inexcusable...yet I;ll list my esxuces anyway. I had much less time on my hands to write and what I did have, which wasn't little to be honest, I was too preoccupied with thinking about the manga and how it went there and how my scenes should match and how I should follow and my brain just melted each time. When I stopped thinking, I pumped it out immediately. I'm so bad...

Many many thanks to those who reviewed, faved and alerted but a million thanks to the wonderful bravewings who kept making an appearance and pushed me to write this. Thank you so much. You kept my motivation going when I thought it was all but spent.

So now on with the chapter. I do not own KHR etc etc.


There are only a handful of things in this world more horrid than visiting a room that you know is full of people that love and finding it closely resembling a scene out of an urban battlefield and one of those things are finding said people's bodies here and there, seemingly lifeless; but even worse is not finding them at all!

Her heart had literally stopped beating for more than five seconds when she heard the blast and felt the vibrations of it…but when she entered the penthouse, sometime later and found nothing, she could feel her insides squeeze and freeze. There was literally only floor and some furniture, no roof—no roof! What's happened to blow away the freaking roof? Where had everyone gone?

And just as she was about to hyperventilate a gruff "the hell you're here?" snapped her out of her worry-induced near-fit. But where had the voice come from? There was only rubble and absence…slowly, like she was in a desert and the heat had obscured her vision from something significant, she started making out the figures of people: her boss was right there at his chair, in the company of everyone else; they were all alive!

A huge, unlady-like, sigh of relief escaped her and she ran to their side. Her inspection commenced at the same time. Surprisingly Xanxus was unharmed and so was Squalo for the most part; it was the rest that were hurt but not in a life-threatening way, maybe a little beat-up. Mammon was nowhere to be seen though.

"Well, you gonna help us or what?"

She realised it was Squalo who had been complaining and with a chuckle of disbelief she made her way to him, medical supplies in hand. "I am so overjoyed you all look no more than a little rough housed. When the roof-!"

"I blew up the roof," the boss owned up to it immediately "it wasn't hostile activity."

"He went all out for this one, in comparison with other times; also, we beat one team…! In a way." She nodded as she was already tending to Lussuria. "Well, the opposing team lost anyway."

"That's a huge relief! How many are left now?"

Levi rushed to answer. "Six the most; we were seven in total."

"But don't forget Mammon ran off suddenly;" Lussuria reminded "Skull team was obliterated and another, with an Arcobaleno called Bermuda von Veckenschtein took their watches and replaced them. Also team Yuni lost."

Levi was stricken. "When did that happen?"

"You were out more or less," Bel informed him.

"Then five, huh? That's even better."

"No." Squalo was absolute. "It was an ugly thing; they were all nearly killed, way too much of an overkill. Something bad happened."

Her look of concern mixed with fear showed everyone exactly what she was thinking about; Lussuria glared at their commander as if to reprimand him, but he only shrugged unapologetically. "It's better for her to know than be blindsided if anything happens."

The stolen glance to the boss went unnoticed by most – maybe on purpose – but he still gave it; but if the boss didn't blow up, it meant he was in agreement.

She missed all of that though, because she was now fighting her own battle with her ointments. "Ugh, I had to have put the cream for the pain at the bottom, hadn't I? In my defence, bandages are at the top; thought you'd need them. Luckily, you don't!"

She never noticed the transition from battlefield to the room it once was when she rummaged through her case; she realised only after she had finished with the self-appointed mama of the squad. Oh; this must have meant Mammon was fixing things! That was extremely considerate of him.

"I see Mammon is helping so things will look normal, huh?"

"It's not Mammon," Squalo corrected immediately "we have a 10-man illusionist team at hand to help mask the destruction; they came here a little after we did."

"Whom did you fight anyway?"

"…Fon, Hibari Kyouya and Dino Chiavarone."

"Oh." She remembered Dino; she had liked him. "And I hear they are defeated; that must be the reason why you are all so…intact."

"Dino didn't lose his watch, he wasn't in the same team as the other two; he only came to stop Hibari from getting in over his head. Well, he tried at least."

"Is he alright? Are they all well?"

Xanxus started getting angry. "The hell you care? They are an opposing team."

"Exactly: team; not a real enemy. As I recall Hibari Kyouya was very young and Dino well, he isn't…an enemy…at all." She still felt she owed him for keeping Squalo alive. "He's even helped us in the past. He's simply on the opposing team."

Oh god, the glare she was receiving; Xanxus eyes were piercing! She couldn't see it because she was far too preoccupied with Levi's arm but Squalo was more than exposed to it. He felt a lump at his throat. Dino was actually a good friend of his, as far as friendships outside of his duties go but how could he even mention it in this environment?

"We ain't comrades though so don't get too comfortable."

"With what; him? I barely know he guy; I just think it's a waste to be killed. He's good people. He did save your life Squalo."

She said that with some double meaning.

"Anyway; if you hadn't imposed that ridiculous condition that I am to stay in my room until at least twenty minutes after the fray, I could have come to you much sooner. Things like this make me wonder if you want to stay alive."

Squalo snorted as audibly as he could. "Lines like these make me wonder if you do."

"Oh shut up…now you're barely injured but how do you fair if there's something graver than scratches and bruises? Didn't you just say the new team that replaced team Skull is dangerous?"

"If they are dangerous for us they most certainly are for you, too so you better stay away…"

Being protective was fine, but overprotection like this could drive her crazy; and it wasn't just the boss, it was freaking everyone! From Squalo to Belphegor—even Belphegor! But she knew this whole ordeal wasn't relevant to her, so she decided to just do as they want; once Mammon gotten what he wanted, she'd ask for explanations.

The rest of the ten minutes it took her to look at everyone else, no one said a word. It was a quick affair and in the end, they announced she was no longer needed; well, at least they didn't say "no longer desired" that was something. She looked at everyone pleadingly despite her orders, in case they felt sorry for her and allowed her to stay, but not even one person was swayed—not even Lussuria. She hadn't dared to look at Xanxus though.

.

It was such irony; the moment she entered her room downstairs and closed the door behind her that was when she felt it. Strong shock waves shook her to the core; shouts of pain and war cries – undoubtedly from Squalo – could be heard all over the place, from one side of the upstairs room to the other! Fear pierced her to the core but her first instinct was still to run back up.

Yet she stopped. She knew if she went there now…there would be danger. Danger she definitely could not handle. So she took big calming breaths, air shaking as she exhaled every time, forcing herself to sit down. And then she started counting. She counted in breaths: one breath three seconds; ten breaths and the clutter could still be heard; twenty breaths.

She'd reached fifty three breaths when she realised that everything had stopped, for no other reason than her door burst open and the Varia elite started pouring in one after another; she'd tried to block out all foreign sounds, listening to her own heartbeat instead. And then they finally came and oh dear lord, everyone was hurt! Mammon literally flew in, the only one untouched, while Squalo was helping the less fortunate ones such as Levi and Lussuria. He wasn't fine himself though: he was clearly limping and had bruises and an ugly cut on his face.

Belphegor followed suit, almost crawling, but somehow still on two legs; and then came Xanxus, last but not least, sporting a still bleeding trauma to the head and a very inflamed eye that must have been hurting like hell.

She sprang into action the moment she set eyes on the first wounded.

She knocked down everything there was on her king-sized bed and couches in an effort to be helpful and efficient; she missed the low-ranking Varia members who came in carrying beds, like those one usually saw in hospitals. She rushed to the make-shift medicine cabinet and tore through her supplies; the bandages and antiseptics were prominently placed but the 'sawing kit' was deep in.

"Please let them down gently" and "don't touch anything that appears broken sore or is actually bleeding" and "don't you dare" were the only things that would come out of her mouth for more than ten minutes. Until finally she had them all in beds and couches, seated or lying down.

After closer inspection, everyone was nowhere near the tragic state she feared when they first walked in, but, in her defence, the previous scene of the place completely blown up and the fact they all looked haggard gave her the wrong impression. After all, Xanxus was bleeding. If boss bled then something had gone bad.

Despite her initial relief at their obviously not life-threatening injuries, nothing else seemed convincing they were going to be alright: she felt like walking on eggshells the way people looked off into the distance or simply away from her and the expressions of irresolution on their faces. Lussuria was being uncharacteristically silent, though indeed exuberant when he did come to speak, Levi had lost his nerve and Belphegor was something close to not sulking about anything.

Mammon was fussing about, checking and double-checking information and facts over the phone and Squalo just wouldn't sit still, despite the fact he actually needed a crutch to support him! He was the only one who just never dis as he was told and actually tried to help her with healthcare.

And just as she was ready and everyone was finally settled in, Squalo made a triumphant exclamation.

"AHA! I can still take part in the Representatives Battle."

She was so absorbed with her tasks, she nearly dropped a scalpel!

"Really Captain Squ?"

"Of course! There's no rule saying that if your watch is destroyed you can't fight with a spare one!" Instead of using his crutch as a, well, crutch, he mostly used it as an extension of his hand. "In this case, since I'm the strongest and healthiest of the executives," how she held in the snide comment of 'why don't we change that, of course' "I'll have my comeback!"

She did spare time to glare at him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"You shouldn't overdo it though…you're a wreck as well."

Thank you Lussuria; finally someone who listens to reason, aka me.

"That fucker Bermuda!"

"This already is a big loss for the Varia though; can't you do anything about it Mammon?"

"I'm doing a lot," he complained. "I'm doing my best even now…!"

This was the first time Francesca had ever seen him so tenacious and passionate about anything; in fact, she couldn't remember another instance where he had to raise his voice. So this must have been truly serious. It was no wonder the boss decided to intervene with a less nonchalant than usual "Mammon."

Mammon had turned right away, almost as panicky as Francesca was. Yet Xanxus's face was nowhere near the exasperation or the anger they feared to face; he was simply…reassuring.

"It's not that bad. It's just a few more assholes to wipe out."

Something horrible happened inside her at that moment. If the boss went out of his way to try and be nice to Mammon…the most terrible gut-feeling she ever had lurched at her stomach. Where things only going downhill from here on out? And why did this feel like this was the last thing he should have said?

She finally mustered the courage to look at him and she noticed him turning his eyes away from her just as she was raising hers; why wouldn't he look at her? One more reason for her to assume something wasn't going to be quite as right as she'd wish.

She dared not linger behind, and disappeared behind the bedroom door and layers upon layers of blankets as soon as she was able.

The next day did nothing but fuel her worries because now they were warranted. When Xanxus agreed to speak and maybe cooperate with Tsunayoshi Sawada of all people then things had to be horribly tipped against them in the scale of power. That was never good because…she knew what sort of power Xanxus had—both raw and refined, his power levels were ridiculous. What sort of monster were they facing that they needed to unite in order to survive—if it wasn't a matter of survival Francesca knew Xanxus would be too proud to concern himself with alliances.

And when she found out she was not allowed to attend the meeting she was about to flip her switch!

Squalo expertly repurposed her though, by cleverly implying she wasn't left behind due to lack of tactical skills but rather due to an abundance of medical knowledge that'd be in much better use to everyone right where they left her than with them. After all, she had to prepare for a lot of people because one of the conditions would be that she'd provide first aid to everyone on their side – a thing she more than willingly would agree to – thus she had no real other reason to join them.

"I mean, really now Misses S," he'd said airily, finally without the crutch "there's no way you'll say no to taking care of someone and that aside you really have nothing else to contribute. Strategies and the like will be decided by the heads."

"I suppose that is true."

"So better start preparing for everyone cause everyone's a lot. I've brought you all of their medical files on a USB; check everyone for allergies or whatever, okay?"

"Oh you brought me prep-work! I love prep-work," she had to explain due to the confused look Squalo was shooting her.

"Right; get to it then. We'll need you ready by tomorrow."

She stood at attention. "Yes, vice-captain."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah; get to work." Rolling his eyes as he passed her, she snuck in a little nudge with her shoulder wherever she could reach. When he turned to show his displeasure, she simply stuck her tongue out.

The single thought that surfaced that moment was: I am surrounded by children. Yet, he still went to fight for a child and she simply went back to her duties, with more work than before, but oddly satisfied by it. And for the next two days, while everyone was prepping for war or fighting, she didn't even leave her hotel room.

.

.

.

When her phone rang, she was reading up on new techniques for stitching; it was in arm's reach so she didn't even have to get up from the armchair she had nestled in, with her blanket and her fragrant cup of delicious chocolate. She put the book in her lap and the dictionary on the floor – it was in Japanese, the damn thing, and since her Japanese were poor she had to rely heavily on the pictures and the dictionary – but held on to her cup because she had every intention of taking a sip just before she answered.

A thing she did and then promptly asked: "what the emergency may be, o Great Vice-Captain" for she saw the call was made from Squalo's cell. When she heard a different voice, one she did not recognise, politely begging her pardon, a horrible feeling, the same one as before spread throughout her body. She could feel her heart beat quicken. And when that small polite voice relayed to her the news of Varia's condition and Squalo's in particular, she knew her heart had completely stopped.

She was sure it happened but couldn't quite remember it; an entire minute of her life in fact shall remain forever unknown to her because that one minute she spent unaware and nearly catatonic. If it weren't for the constant screaming of her brain to get her act together and go equip the room you prepared yourself with the necessities for heart surgery NOW you dumb broad, why do you think they called you? Move your fucking feet already, useless lump of meat she wouldn't have gotten up before they arrived. But she did and thank god she was sitting down, or else she would have hit the floor like a brick.

As she scrambled out of the armchair, she heard the books fall from her lap but couldn't care less; what she should be paying more attention to though was the blanket that coiled around her feet and the broken mug because now, tangled, she was falling in the shards! She cut her hands and cheeks and she was sure her bare feet must have been riddled with porcelain, but she really couldn't feel it; she felt nothing: no pain, no discomfort, not even a hindrance as she took each feverish step. Concern, fear, determination and a mild taste of her own bile were the only things she had the capacity to experience at the moment and all in the correct doses: so concerned she was, the acid of her stomach rose to her throat because she was so afraid he wouldn't make it but she'd be damned if she didn't do her best and then some to keep him alive!

Besides a little bruise here and there and some scrapes were nothing compared to-

Ah hell, she couldn't even think about it. She only focused on the scalpels, the depressants and that chapter she just read on how to stitch someone up with minimum scarring. She doubted it would be too effective, but all she had to do was give it a try. After all, if she worried on how to minimise the scar it meant she was definite Squalo would survive the surgery…

The first person to enter the ER-like room was a man she had never met before, pushing a stretcher with a very unconscious white haired vice-captain lying on top of it; the second person was a breathless Lussuria. The third person was Xanxus, carted around in a wheelchair, not only conscious but also bloodied, incapacitated and enraged beyond belief. There was something that resembled sadness and—wait. Where was his arm? He had lost an arm!? How?

The acidic taste from before returned full throttle and she could not fathom how she managed to keep it down, or fight that fainting spell that came over her. She definitely swooned though because she went from standing next to the bed-turned-table, nearly on top of the counter. But she had to support herself, because Squalo wasn't there to catch her; because the boss wasn't there to grab her; they were both…

Those four followed a flood of people in white clothes, holding their hands high, palms facing their chest; there was a surgical mask covering half their faces and it was only then when Francesca realised these people must have been back-up or more accurately real professionals of the field, with degrees and everything with plenty of experience for the first thing they did was check her supplies and grab whatever was needed.

Her head was still spinning from before and somehow everything felt so surreal; what was she supposed to do? Squalo looked so…lifeless. Yet it felt like someone was calling her name; it was so surreal. And-and-

"FRANCESCA!"

She jumped! Someone was indeed calling her name. Was it Xanxus's voice…? She turned to him; indeed he was looking thunderous, eyes wide in exasperation; the moment she focused, really focused, with a curt nod of his head turned her attention to the team of surgical staff. They were all just standing there, hands raised, looking at her as if waiting for something. With a start, she made the connection: they were waiting for her! Her orders even…

And then one of them asked: "Doctor Tutsi, what's first?"

That's right; priorities. Wait, did they call her doctor Tutsi? No, this was not the time for sentimentalities. "You two treat Xanxus" she practically commanded the two people on the left "and the rest four will help me with Squalo; anyone who has no business being here please leave immediately."

She had noticed the rest of the Varia elite making their way inside and hadn't had the heart to tell them get out, seeing she was in such a state herself, but the more she thought about it the more she realised none was sterile like she had made the room and herself and they would only bring unneeded germs…

She made few but decisive steps, towards Squalo and getting her tools. She stood directly above him then and knew what she had to do; she started, along with the rest. She had to-she couldn't think. Why could she not think? She looked up and saw Levi, Bel and Lussuria literally abuzz, looking at her accusingly! When she simply looked away – she really had not time for this – the buzzing only increased! Ugh, she could feel the headache forming and adding to the fact somehow she couldn't see right, it only made everything. So. Much. wo—

"You heard he doctor" Xanxus's voice cut through all protests "leave."

"But boss, you and Vice-captain Squalo—!"

"You heard the doctor," he repeated absolutely, teeth greeted as someone cauterised his arm "leave."

There was no room for further argument; they all hang their heads and retreated outside.

"Thank you."

She couldn't recognise her own voice, deep and hoarse as it was. Why? Maybe because she hadn't used it for so long…but there was something else, just at the edge of her mind she couldn't quite pint point? Was it grief? Worry?

"Stop crying doctor; you look less reliable."

She dared not take her hands off of Squalo but she finally noticed what was clouding her vision and made her head spin: tears. Tears that gave her a wrapped image of her surroundings. She closed tight and opened wide her eyes twice; the tears were gone. Now she could concentrate. "You with the long blond hair, name?"

"Celeste."

"You are in charge of the bloodwork and the stats; if anything codes you must know why. You with the red hair"

"Agni."

"You are the extension of my hand from now on; stay close and help me with the little things. And you must be Hiroko from the previous time; you do whatever you did then. The one left, you do all that's left. Let's all do our best and make sure the boss doesn't lose a second right hand today."

Her voice trembled so much, she didn't bear look up or even glance at Xanxus with the edge of her eyes; calling everyone by first name, but not him, not out loud. She couldn't; if anything happened to Squalo, it would be her fault that's how she felt. She needed to depersonalise both him and the vice-captain if she were to save his life. And she'd be damned, damned for ever, if she didn't do every single thing in her power.

"The boss's legs seemed to have suffered major damage but due to Lussuria it seems he'll walk again so we're thinking of focusing on reattaching his own hand-"

"The boss will do just fine with a prosthetic," she countered immediately "so just make sure it won't turn septic and tend to the rest of the problems."

"But if we hurry, we can definitely-!"

"Making sure he'll walk as fast as possible and without any hitches is your first priority; the hand is not."

"But the boss-"

"The boss, the boss, have you asked the boss what he wants?"

"Well, no."

"Ask him then."

That was the only time she graced anyone with a look for the next ten hours: she looked straight at him, challenging yet incontestable; he was comprehensive of the silent terms she threw at him: no matter what, you're not coming out whole. And if Squalo makes it, you'll get the prosthetic. Or else, your right hand is lost to you forever; fair trade.

It was only seconds, but it felt like hours till he spoke, essentially repeating himself: "you heard the doctor."

The corner of her mouth twitched upward as she returned to her own task; as the others started complaining, he only needed to fix them with a particularly strict glare to stop them altogether. She had no idea why he was giving her such authority, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't wholeheartedly appreciate it. Because, not only did these two do exactly as she ordered from then on, the other four never dared dispute her. not even when she took the risqué decision of asking them to escort Xanxus out the room and come back once he was safely at his bed.

Oddly enough, Xanxus too respected her call; he let himself be carted away with his last image being that of Francesca wiping a bloodstained hand on her scrubs and using the other as a pointer for Agni.

It was two hours after Squalo was brought in that they managed to find a suitable heart for him; his own wasn't completely gone, the sole reason they managed to keep him alive for so long, but it was failing fast. She had no idea how they procured one so fast but she felt better not know; what had initially horrified her was the fact the hepatic portal vein, the one pumping blood from spleen to liver, had been severely damaged. That created all the wrong conditions for a heart transplant, because it eventually led to pulmonary hypertension…which meant they couldn't outright give him a new heart. They would have to combine the donor's with his own heart.

That, apparently, wasn't the orthodox way and she wasn't even an expert. She felt all the more pressure because of that. This procedure had major drawbacks but at least held a large, in her opinion, positive: if the donated heart started failing after some time, they could take it out and leave only Squalo's. after all, most hearts that don't fail immediately take a long time to, more than enough for his original heart to heal completely. So maybe, following the heterotopic procedure wasn't such a bad thing.

Maybe.

After the heart arrived, the surgery took seven full hours. Francesca felt incredibly lucky to be amongst such skilled and experienced surgeons and nurses because truly without their contribution, she wouldn't have succeeded.

Ten hours had passed when she took her first step out of the room; he was the last one to leave, checking and double-checking his vitals for over half an hour before she left him completely alone, despite knowing that Hiroko was bound to return within minutes from the moment she left him. It was so otherworldly; her beautiful, entire-floor hotel room had transformed in the most luxurious waiting room she had ever seen. Varia members spilled over from the couches, or stood ramrod straight next to furnishings. No one looked calm while everyone did their best not to appear too pessimistic.

It wasn't their fault completely, as she had instructed the people who left before her not to say anything conclusive to anyone—she wouldn't want to find some major issue in her last check up and destroy whatever hopes they would have if anyone said anything positive.

So it was only expected that the moment her presence was noticed for everyone to circle her and start asking questions. They sounded more than a million to her, but she couldn't answer so many; thus she opted to say "he's still alive; he hasn't rejected the heart. So far…so good."

The overstatement of the century.

She managed to break through the wall of people, Lussuria being the last block of bricks, and headed straight to the boss's room—her bedroom. She didn't have to do anything to capture his attention, even if he was facing away, lying instead of sitting. His eyes were closed, but she knew he could hear her perfectly because his breathing was laboured and it had nothing to do with his injuries. "Squalo has escaped with his life so far, but it will take more than two days to know if he's escaped the danger, too. Not to mention it will take seven days for him to get up again."

Of course, Lussuria, Levi and Bel had followed her inside. Mammon was already there though; by the looks of it she had just interrupted his report. As she examined him, Mammon looked…happy about something, yet openly worried about the vice-captain. There was some sort of glow he could not suppress.

She looked at him searching for something. "Finally some good news?" she inquired hopefully yet there was something very guarded in her tone.

"Yes!" Wow; Mammon sounded enthusiastic. "The curse is broken!" Curse? "I'm finally able to go back to my former self…little by little anyhow…I will age like everyone else."

She was on her feet for more than ten hours straight, it was night already and her head was already overflowing with information; she had to piece together what he told her to come up with a lame, and very tired "You mean you got what you wanted?"

"Yes."

"That's…that's wonderful! I'm happy for you; I'm so, so happy for you."

His goal was achieved; he reached it. What they've been fighting for, he got it. They didn't war in vain; they didn't get hurt in vain. If he-…he won't in vain. Her breathing became shallow and rugged. Her knees felt weak. She became weak and tears started spilling excessively and uncontrollably from her eyes. Before she knew it, she had slid on the ground, right through Lussuria's fingers, who had made a valiant even if futile attempt to support her.

"I'm happy for you I'm really happy for you. I know I'm crying and they don't look like tears of joy but I'm really," she stopped to manage a breath "honestly" another pause "most sincerely happy for you. I-" Panting, she couldn't take a proper breath; she felt her lungs burn. She had never cried so much in her life. "I'm, I'm so sorry…"

Levi could not say anything. Lussuria did. He leaned over the sobbing scientist, cradling her in his arms. "Is he…that bad?"

A whimper escaped her but none considered it an answer due to the fact she was such a mess. But it still felt like she couldn't answer due to the severity of the situation as well, so Bel came up with another tactic.

"On a scale from one to ten with one being dead and ten being healthy, where is Squalo? Five?" Silence. "Four?"

"Three."

"Three!?" She simply nodded.

"What does 'three' mean?"

"Not dying."

Mammon stared, dumbstruck. "But I was only…was it too long? Was I too late?"

"Yes" she replied after a long time "your illusions didn't reach him fast enough I'm afraid." She tried to stand but didn't have the strength necessary. "I'm tired…I'll just go back and…try to-sleep."

Another wasted effort later, Lussuria picked her up without even asking. "Franny-chan; if you're not at your best, who knows how well Squalo will recover? Sleep lots and have a big meal once you wake up."

She was already asleep. The man's smile was sad. "Boss; you don't mind if I leave her here, do you?" He took his lack of reaction as consent and gently positioned her some centimetres away from Xanxus on the bed. He took off her shoes for her and covered her. "If anything changes with Squalo or she's absolutely necessary for something, I'll tell them to come get her."

By now everyone had either left or was waiting at the threshold. "I hope she has a long, uninterrupted sleep."

With his last wish, Lussuria closed the door behind him, frowning and sombre.

.

.

"Wake up."

Xanxus's harsh tone tore through her semi-consciousness. She didn't know how long it'd been; she didn't know how much sleep she did manage to catch up on to in the end. Two things she was sure of though: Squalo hadn't had any out of the ordinary changes and she didn't get the rest she needed. Her bleary eyes didn't want to open but she willed them at least one crack up; she wanted to look at the boss.

Very, very difficultly, she managed to roll on her left side and face Xanxus. Maybe the verb face was too particular because honestly, she still couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to do that.

"Wake up doctor; you're needed."

So little words and yet she was in overdrive in an instant! She threw the covers off of her while her feet found her shoes; she rushed to the bathroom to throw cold water at her face. "Before you break a leg or something I'm the patient. Squalo has been stable since you fell asleep four hours ago."

"Oh." Her relief was palpable. "What's the matter? Does your hand hurt? Worse, does it sting?"

"No, it's my legs."

There was a significant amount of inflammation on his wounds. She stared so shocked; he thought her eyes grew two sizes. "Why in earth didn't you tell anyone sooner? Don't make more work for me!"

She stormed out of the room like thunder, scorching whatever she touched—his skin included. He was trying; he was trying to pretend things were better; he could afford teasing her; he wasn't going to be left one member short. Everything would be back to normal in no time…but he couldn't ignore her tears. She was sleeping yet still, she wept. Nightmares plagued her and she didn't stop tossing and turning for a moment.

Four hours and the only person who knew the condition of Squalo's health better than anyone cried like a baby. If that damn shark made it out alive after all, he would have a lot of things to answer for, making his caregiver cry one of them. Heh, he better make it out alive! Wasn't he the one who promised he'd see Xanxus become boss? That he'd help him? As long as he drew breath, he could potentially be the next boss so he wasn't allowed to kick the can before him!

Plain and simple really: Squalo had no right to die before him. if he dared pull a stunt like that…god help him.

Yet minutes had passed and Francesca hadn't returned. What could be taking her so long? He didn't want to try and walk on these legs of his, not to mention that would amount to even more work for her and god help him with her whining, so he simply waited for a piece of news…which came five minutes after his realisation in the form of a very nervous, young Japanese girl with pitch black hair. Hiroko, if he remembered correctly.

"Why isn't the doctor back?"

"She sent me in her place…"

"That wasn't my question."

Hence, the reason the girl was anxious; she visibly flinched at his tone. "Squalo…was coding. It was code blue."

"Which means?"

"Patient is in cardiac arrest; requires emergency medical attention."


A/N: Yes, Im evil; yes the next one will come very soon. Week-soon. Stay tuned.

Review if you would and bye bye~