Chapter Five: Snakes in the Grass

*Lunch was every bit as wonderful as Hiiro had expected it to be. Even on a hot day, the minestrone soup warmed him inside out. He had hoped Serena wouldn't be too mad about his display of 'chivalry', and indeed, after she had smacked him around a few times and told him to wash up her temper had been squelched. Of course, then he had had to take it a step farther and begin a small fight, but all in all it had been worth it.

Her eyes when she was angry lit up like lanterns, sparking with large flames as they danced in fury. He could see he had made her mad beyond belief, but he also knew she wouldn't kill him for it- she didn't have the skills or the heart. He supposed he had hurt her mildly when he had complained about her not washing, but she took it in stride and simply gave him the screaming of his life. As he remembered the fight, it brought a smirk to his face.

"Why do I have to wash?" He had wanted to know.

"Because I don't want you stinking up my nice clean house!" She had sighed, trying to explain it to him as she might a child.

"Yes mame." Just as he had started for the door, he turned around. "You going to wash too?"

"Me wash? Now? See here! I have to heat your lunch, and you want to know if I'm going to wash?"

"Why should I wash when you're grimier than me?" He reasoned. For some reason he felt like baiting her.

"Grimier than I!" She corrected

"Well then?"

"I'll tell you what. I'll wash and you cook! We'll see how good you do!"

"How well you do." He corrected her, smirking all the while.

"Boy, if I have to tell you to get out of my kitchen one more time, I'm going to knock you down so hard your head'll spin all the way back to Philadelphia!"

"I've missed that capital. Was thinking of taking a trip back that way." He knew he had pushed her too far, but he hadn't been able to resist the jab.

"Out!" She had screamed. "Out, out, out, out, out!" And Hiiro had run out of the kitchen so quickly that he was sure Serena hadn't noticed he was gone at first. As much as he liked to taunt her, he didn't want to stick around for her wrath.

Looking back at that incident, Hiiro smirked. The old proverb did have some truth to it- hell hath no fury like the scorn of a woman. And right after he had washed and returned to the kitchen, Serena's temper had faded. Still, just because that temper of hers had dissipated it didn't mean she hadn't been her same, bossy self.

"Hiiro Yui, you take the spoons and set them properly. This may not be a restaurant, but I would at least like it took look somewhat decent."

"Yes mame."

"Here now, we've been through this. Spoon goes on top of the napkin." She had shaken her head at him. "And here I thought you had been raised in the cities east of here- the civilized country."

"I was."

"Then you act like it!"

"Yes mame." And that had ended the conversation. Their meal had been eaten in silence, and then the dishes washed much in the same manner. Hiiro licked his lips again in remembrance of the food.

"Hiiro!" He stopped his thoughts when he heard his name being called. "Hiiro!" Serena again? Didn't that woman ever rest? He was already patching up the chicken coop. He couldn't do more than one thing at once! "Hiiro!" There it was again. Fine. He tossed his hammer aside.

"Coming." He answered, sighing inwardly. Now he knew why he stayed on the open road- it was simpler than settling down with a woman like her.

"Hiiro, now!"

"Coming!" He yelled again, and began jogging. She did make it sound as if it were urgent. He ran to the cornfield and through the rows towards where he could see she was standing.

"Hiiro, stay back!" She yelled at him when she saw him out of the corner of her eye.

"Why? You just…"

"Look down!" She ordered. Hiiro looked down and jumped back. At Serena's feet, not even three feet away, sat two giant rattlers.

"Hiiro, I can't move, or they'll strike for sure. Please…" He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Stay put and don't move." He ordered. Slowly he bent down and reached into his boot. Grasping tightly to the handle of his knife, he pulled it out. But he only had one knife, and there were two snakes…

"Please Hiiro!" Serena urged him again. The snake's rattles were becoming faster. Hiiro didn't respond right away, instead he readied his knife and aimed.

"When the knife leaves my hand, you need to run towards me as fast as you can, understand?" He asked her.

"But there's two snakes, and you only have…"

"Understand?" He watched as she deftly gave a slight nod. "On three then. One. Two. Three!" And he let the knife fly through the air just as the snake closest to him made a lunge for Serena's leg.

Serena screamed and quickly began her race towards Hiiro. As she ran past the first snake, the knife hit it dead center of its head and it dropped dead to the dusty ground. But the second snake was not to be deterred by its partner's death, and it too made its strike. Lunging as far as it could, the snake just barely reached its prey- but it did nonetheless.

As Serena limped away from the snake, Hiiro quickly reached out and grabbed her. He picked her up and lightly placed her behind him, then watched as the snake recoiled and began its rattle again. But rather than kill the snake, Hiiro had a bigger problem. The bite…

"Hiiro, it bit me!" Serena sobbed. Her hysterics were making it hard for him to decipher the rest of what she was saying. Gathering her up in his arms, he tried to calm her.

"Serena, stop crying." But she wouldn't stop. "Serena, stop!" He finally screamed. Her sobs quieted for a moment, and Hiiro took the opportunity to explain. "Serena, you have to stay calm. If the infected blood from the leg is pumped to the heart, you're sure to die. Stay calm, try to lower your heart rate by breathing deeply." He gruffly told her.

"But the bite…"

"It's not a certainty that you'll die. There are ways to prevent it."

"No…"

"Yes. Don't tell me no." He commanded. She shut her mouth and clenched her teeth. So much for a relaxing evening of weeding. All she had been doing was standing to move to the next row of corn, and then the rattling noise had reached her ears. Never had she even noticed that she had come so close to the two snakes- not until it was too late. And now she would pay for her carelessness with her life. But then, she thought, some things were worse than death…

"Come on, we need to get you inside; I need to get the venom out." He bent down and ripped his shirt off. Then ripping it into strips, he tied a tourniquet around her leg, just below the knee, but above the bite.

"What…"

"Cutting off blood flow will limit the amount of venom that goes through your bloodstream immediately." He answered before she could finish. Finally, Hiiro gently picked up the silently crying girl and carried her towards the house as quickly as he could.

Flinging open the door, he barged inside looked for a place to put her. Spying the dining table, he shoved off the vase and place settings, breaking them in the process.

"Hiiro Yui, that was some of my mother's good china!" Serena scolded.

"Nice to see you're feeling well enough to yell at me." He smirked. But as she groaned, he became serious once more. "Stay here, I'll be right back." He told her.

"Like I'm going anywhere." She muttered.

"And keep your temper down, or blood will flow faster!" He barked. He moved to the kitchen and filled an empty basin with cool water. Then he grabbed what Serena had once told him was her sharpest knife, and ran back to her.

"What are you going to-" Her question was cut off with a gasp of pain. Her leg was going blue, Hiiro realized. He didn't want her to loose the limb, so he was forced to remove the tourniquet. Then, with quick precision and no hesitation, he bent down to her leg and began to suck at the bite, trying to draw out the venom. As blood mingled with saliva and a nasty, fowl taste in his mouth, he spit it into the basin of water. Faster and faster he had to move, before too much poison could reach her heart. He could feel beneath him her petite body began to shake as she went into mild shock.

"God damnit!" He swore. "Come on!" When he felt he could do more simply sucking the venom out, Hiiro turned to more drastic measures. Taking the knife, he systematically slit Serena's leg in a cross pattern right over the bite. Then he began to lean on the leg, to put pressure on it. Pushing the blood down and out through the cut ensured that whatever was left of the venom would drip out. Though the bloodletting was a dangerous technique, Hiiro preformed it with sharp precision- knowing that if he didn't take enough out the poison would infect the girl, and if he took too much out, she wouldn't need the poison to kill her.

"Oh God, oh God…" He could hear soft murmuring coming from the woman who lay so helpless on the table. It ate away at his heart to hear her in so much pain that she would do the one thing that she hated the most; take the Lord's name in vain. Finally Hiiro decided he had done all that he could do for Serena. He once again tied a tourniquet around her leg, but only for a brief moment while her went to rinse out the basin that was now filled with blood, water, and venom.

With cool, clean water and a damp cloth Hiiro returned to Serena, who had passed out sometime while he was gone. Untying the tourniquet, he rinsed the wound as it stopped seeping blood. Lightly bandaging it, Hiiro decided it was time to move Serena to a more comfortable place. Picking up her prone body, Hiiro momentarily paused.

When he had first come to work for her, Serena had made him promise never to enter her room. Well, he needed to put her somewhere, and it didn't seem proper to place her in his room or her parent's ex-room. So her room it was. He made his way down the hall and gently pushed open her door. Laying her down on her bed, he pulled up a chair and sat beside her.

All through the night as the girl tossed and turned Hiiro stayed near her. He changed her bandages every other hour, trying to ward off any infection that may try to take hold of her already vulnerable body. When she shouted out in a mad fever, he had had to hold her to the bed to try to keep her calm. Even in her delirious state when she had rambled on for hours about death being better than some things did he stay, trying to keep her fever and heart rate down.

When dawn broke and her condition had not changed, Hiiro hesitated. For some reason he was worried about her. Any normal person would naturally have cause for concern over such a girl as Serena, but Hiiro wasn't the normal person. He stayed away from such worries, such attachments for this very reason. Now his stomach twisted and contorted in an unusual feeling, and his head ached from his long night of worrying over the girl. What had touched him, he wasn't too sure, but he knew it wouldn't suit him to allow it to follow him back on the road when he left.

But until that day when he did leave for the road again, he felt an obligation to help the girl, woman really, who had given him so much in such a short amount of time. Or had she given him much? Good food, good bed, good pay, annoying orders, and laughter. Yes, that was a lot considering all he had wanted to do was get an inside view into the odd town she was from. The town…

Surely there was a doctor in the town, one that could administer some form of medication to the feverish woman who lay on the bed beside him. Hiiro looked down at Serena, who tossed and turned in the bed, her cheeks flushed with unnatural color. Yes, he would get the doctor for her. But did he really want to leave her alone? No. So he would bring her to the doctor. Anything, as long as it helped her to live through this horrifying ordeal. *

~~~If you're reading this, PLEASE have pity on me and REVIEW! I really like writing this fic, but not near enough of you review to make it feel worth it! I've got seven other fics going right now, if you want this one to be finished, PLEASE REVIEW!!!! ~~~