Everything Is Wonderful
By. Fanficer21
Chapter 13
o0o
Author's note: Hey y'all, I'm really sorry for the long delay. All the COVID crap going on has made things difficult to have time to sit down and work on my stories. And on top of it, my Grandmother just passed away during open heart surgery last week. I'm still in the depression stage of grieving. I've been having some difficulty in keeping up with this particular story at this time because of the hospital aspect, but it will get better. It may be a little longer before I get the sequel up and going. I wanted to give you guys and ending to the story, though it's not really an ending. It's more like a transition into the sequel. I wanted to finish this story, so I could begin the sequel, in which Lucy comes into the story.
o0o
As soon as Grandine stopped the car, Igneel opened the door, cradling Natsu in his arms before running to the front doors of the hospital. Grandine was right behind him. Ignoring the startled screams and gasps, they ran for the front desk, where a group of nurses were talking. "Please, help them! Help my son and his mother!" Igneel wailed, startling said nurses. Their eyes grew big, hands moving to their mouths at the sight of the bruised and bloody bodies.
Two nurses ran to find help, the receptionist called for immediate assistance, and the last one stared at the boy's chest and neck, almost completely covered in blood. Taking action, she grabbed a piece of cloth from behind the counter, rushing to press it over the bloody bandage. She put as much pressure as she could on the wound without suffocating the boy. She then looked at the father's panicked face, talking to him in a calm voice.
"Sir. We will do everything we can for them. While help is on the way, could you please tell us what happened?" She said through the look of horror on her face. "...T-They were...a-attacked...step-father..." Igneel whimpered, unable to finish. Before Grandine could say anything, more nurses came running with two gurneys. A male nurse tried to take Natsu from Igneel's arms, but the man was too panicked to release his child. Emma had already been placed on one gurney.
"Igneel, you have to let him go!" Grandine shouted, putting her hands on his shoulder and cheek. "Let him go!" She whispered as she brought his head down to rest against hers, calming him enough for the nurse to gently take Natsu into his arms and placed him on the gurney, wheeling him away . With the weight of his son's body gone, Igneel dropped to the floor, his desperate wails filling the area. Several parents in the waiting area watched with saddened eyes, some holding their children close to them.
"Igneel? Grandine? What happened! Why are you covered in blood?" A voice asked nearby, breaking Igneel from his mourning. Looking up from his bloody hands, he saw his friend, and co-worker, Silver Fullbuster, who had just returned from the restroom. He was at the hospital because his youngest son, Gray, had gotten into a sports accident during practice just a few hours ago, causing him to break his leg.
"S-S-Silver..." Igneel cried out, before he choked on more sobs. "Our son is hurt bad." Grandine said, tears streaming down her face. She watched as Silver's face grew confused. "I didn't know you had a son." The ebony said as he helped Igneel to his feet, bringing his friend to sit on a chair. He listened with baited breath to Grandine's rushed story of how they met, and found out about Natsu's identity. Silver growled when he was told what the boy's step-father had done to him and his mother.
Some minutes later, both the doctor and a police officer arrived to talk with them. Seeing the urgency in the doctor's eyes, the police officer let him speak first.
"Mr. Dragneel, your son is in surgery now. We slowed his heart down to lessen the blood flow during the operation, but he is in desperate need of a blood transfusion. We need your consent to move forward with it." The doctor said calmly, watch Igneel and Grandine share
a look. Before the doctor could say anything else, Igneel stepped forward, eyes filled with determination. No longer self-conscious of the blood all over him. "Take my blood! Please!"
The doctor quickly nodded, motioning for the two of them to follow. Bidding a quick farewell to Silver, they made their way to their son, the police officer following them. Once outside the room, it took everything in Igneel's willpower to not drop to his knees at the sight of Natsu on a bed as he glanced through the window. His skin was extremely pale in the light, dark rings beneath his eyes. The boy wore a mask, providing him with precious oxygen. Unable to move on his own, Igneel was guided to a chair beside the door, not feeling the hands on him as his eyes remained on his son. Doctors were in the process of cleaning and stitching the wounds together to prevent any transfused blood from escaping.
Igneel was asked to quickly wash up and then was given a mask, gloves, a cap, and sterilized clothes to put on, to keep any possibilities for infection at bay before entering the room. While the nurses prepared his right arm for the transfusion, Igneel wrapped his other gloved hand around his son's smaller one, watching as another nurse placed the transfusion needle into the vein at Natsu's elbow. Rubbing the knuckles with his thumb, Igneel gave a silent prayer that his son would be okay, tears sliding down his cheeks. He barely paid attention to one of the nurses talking with Grandine and the police officer about having taken photos of the patient right before fixing him up.
When the nurses finished, Igneel watched as his blood flowed from his body to Natsu, happy that the boy was getting the needed blood. Thank goodness his own blood was O+. He could soon feel himself get tired, and dizzy, causing him to drop into the chair beside Grandine when the nurses escorted him out of the room. Grandine made sure to keep her husband's arm bent around the bandage for a while to make sure the vein sealed properly when the man fell against her side, passing out.
The nurses gave them time for Igneel to rest, giving the police officer time to speak with Grandine about the situation with Ian. A pair of officers had arrived at the house in time to take pictures of the house and scene after arresting the man that had been attempting to crawl out the window, but moved slowly from Igneel's beating. Before leaving, he wrote down Grandine's statement about the events of the night, promising to return later for Igneel's statement once the man woke up.
Several hours had passed before Igneel woke up in a different room. Opening his eyes to the sound of the heart monitor, he realized his head was on his wife's lap. Looking towards the bed, he saw Natsu laying in the hospital bed, covered in wires and a different breathing mask.
Jumping into a sitting position, he started at Grandine's hand brushing through his hair. "He will be alright, my love." She spoke softly, pulling him into an embrace as he whimpered at the sight of Natsu swallowed up in the large bed. A cast was wrapped securely around his broken arm and shoulder, handing from the ceiling net. "The doctor was pleased with his surgery, but said it may take some time for him to wake up."
"Have you heard about Emma?" Igneel asked, wiping his face tiredly with a hand, watching Grandine frown sadly while shaking her head with wet eyes. "She's still in surgery, from what the nurse said. She said the doctor's hopes weren't too strong about her possible recovery chances. Igneel, she was hurt really bad. She has internal bleeding from the kicks to her stomach, broken ribs, and even a punctured lung." She listed, tears sliding down her face, watching Igneel's eyes widen as the man shook his head in disbelief.
"No. She has to make it...Natsu-"
"Will be alright. If Emma doesn't make it, he will have us to support him and guide him through his grief." Grandine interrupted, cupping his face in her gentle hands. "I know, Sweetheart. I want her to make it through as well, but we also have to be prepared for the worst." She wrapped her arms around her husband's shaking shoulders as he leaned into her, sobbing. She hummed softly as she rubbed his back tenderly, her own tears falling at a more rapid pace.
o0o
Wendy sat at Natsu's bedside, holding his hand in hers as she watched him breathe with the help of the mask. Igneel and Grandine were currently in Emma's room, often switching between seeing her and Natsu. Wendy's grip tightened at the memory of her mother telling her that Natsu had been attacked by his step-father and was in the hospital, her eyes growing wet. She had known for some time that something was going on with Natsu, that him, and even her parents remained hushed about. She had seen the way Natsu had walked, or hidden his face on certain occasions, indicating that he had been hurt. She had even asked her friends hypothetical questions about abuse,
getting a little better understanding of what had been going on. She really began to pay attention at the times when Natsu and Emma hadn't wanted to go home when they often visited.
"I know you didn't want to scare me with everything that was going on, but I wish you would have told me." She whispered to her brother, squeezing his hand again. "I could have been a better comfort to you." She looked at his still face, watching the mask fog up. "Please, brother. When you wake up, please don't keep things from me. I want you to be able to trust me with what is bothering you." She continued, tears slipping from her eyes, wiping them away with the palm of her hand. "I'm not a child, so please don't treat me like one." She whispered in frustration, squeezing her brother's hand tighter as she wept.
o0o
Three Days Later:
Silver and Gray stood in the room, watching as Igneel sat on the hospital bed where his son lay. They remained silent as the man buried his arms beneath the boy's back, gently lifting his son's body just beneath the shoulders. He pulled Natsu up further, careful of the various tubes and wires, until the boy's arms hung limply and head lulled back towards the bed. Igneel brought one hand to his son's head, bringing it up to kiss his forehead and temple. Pressing the boy's chest against his own, he rested his cheek on the top of Natsu's head, rocking back and forth gently as silent tears slipped from his eyes.
"Dad, I've seen this kid before. At school, I mean. He's a little weird, because he never talks or hangs out with anyone, besides Erza and Jellal." Gray whispered to his father. The man looked to his son, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And there's good reason for that, son. Don't judge him before you get to know him, Gray. You don't know what that boy has been through." Silver answered calmly, yet sternly, gently squeezing the boy's shoulder, causing Gray to shift his attention to the unconscious boy.
"Gray?" Silver asked, looking into his son's eyes. "Would you be friends with him when he wakes up? He needs all the support he can get, and you will understand more than others at school. Natsu might lose his mother, because his step-fath-" Silver cut himself off, not wanting Gray to know what else happened. He watched as his son's eyes widened, turning his head to look at Natsu again, understanding apparent in the dark orbs. The man smiled with a breath when his son nodded silently.
"Thank you, my boy." He gently patted Gray's back, before helping his son turn around with his crutches to leave the room and give Igneel some space.