AN: Thank you all for the kind reviews so far, it means so much to me!
Chapter Nine: Rivalry
Shion moaned slightly as her body moved underneath the sheets, sweat gleaming on her forehead.
"What do you mean you can't do anything for her?!" Jr. bellowed. The doctor cringed at the redhead's temper, but held his ground.
"All we can do is give her some medication, but we can't heal her completely. There's an overabundance of nanomachines in her body…"
"That's from us fighting! Just remove them and cure her already!"
"We can't, sir!" Jr. snarled and crossed his arms. "Little Master, Miss Uzuki is listed as a Level One medic. Unfortunately, one of the requirements needed for Level One healers is that they must occasionally, when they do get sick, heal naturally. This helps…for lack of a better word, upgrade their immune systems." Jr. closed his eyes, mentally cursing the health system. People with strong healing Ether abilities like Shion, if they wanted to, could be required by law to donate their blood, bone marrows, and Ether nanomachines for the benefit of ill people in hospitals. The idea behind this was those with innate healing abilities could donate their…for lack of a better word once again, better blood cells and nanomachines to the less fortunate, saving more lives.
"This looks only to be a 24 hour bug. The fever will come and go, but if it goes above 101 degrees, bring her back here." The doctor said, jolting Jr. out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Little Master, there's nothing I can do." Jr. sighed.
"Alright." A grimace crossed his face. All hell was going to break loose when Jin and the others got back…Jin in particular was going to go ballistic. During the past several weeks, he and Shion had been able to reach some sort of truce…Jin in particular wanted desperately to reforge the relationship between him and his younger sister. Shion in return had more or less started tolerating Jin a bit more…they were able to speak normally and even joke with each other occasionally now.
Of course that swimsuit episode may have pushed him a couple of points back… Jr. thought. Sighing, he entered Shion's room, moving over to stand by the bed.
"Shion?" Green eyes opened, glazed over with fever.
"Jr…?"
"Hey, how are you feeling?" The redhead asked, covering one of Shion's hands with his own.
"Horrible…"
"I can imagine." Jr. muttered. "The doc says that this is only a 24 hour bug…you should be okay by tomorrow."
"They…they're not going to give me anything?"
Damnit. "No…they said there are too many nanomachines in your body. And since you're a Level One medic…" The brunette moaned and closed her eyes.
"Ohh, I forgot about that…" She opened her eyes again, a weak smile on her face. "Guess I have to go through this naturally, huh?"
"You don't have to; I'll make them give you something!" Fear crept into Jr.'s stomach. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Shion was suffering…one of the major downsides of rarely getting ill was that when you did get sick, it hit you much harder.
"No, no…it's one of my responsibilities. I'll…be…" The U.R.T.V. gasped as Shion struggled to get out of the bed.
"No! Stay! You need the rest!"
"But I've got a report…"
"Screw the report! Overworking yourself is what made you get sick in the first place!" Grunting, Jr. reached up to try and push Shion back on the bed. "You need to let your body heal!"
"Jr., please! I…ugghh…" A shiver racked Shion's body, and she fell weakly back onto the bed. "Ooohhh…" The redhead quickly pulled the sheets about her body before running outside.
"Doctor!"
----
To say Jin went ballistic was an understatement. Possibly the biggest one of the year. Of course, one could argue that Ziggy's declaration when confronted with the up-close and personal view of Shion in a swimsuit while becoming the foundation of a sandcastle could also be considered as the understatement of the year. Regardless, it is safe to say that Jin did not go ballistic.
Rather, he went nuclear.
"WHAT?!" Mentally, Jr. winced and wondered if he'd have to get his hearing checked afterwards. He shot a look at the very angry man in front of him, calculating how fast he could sprint towards the door lest Jin get the urge to slice something…
"Will she be alright?" chaos asked, a look of worry on his features.
"The doctor says she'll be fine by tomorrow, it's just that…" A glare from Jin had him stumbling over his next words, damn, he could give Gaignun, king of the "I'm-going-to-kill-you-look" lessons! "They…they want her to heal naturally…which means they won't give her anything to get rid of the fever, it has to break on it's own."
Silence.
The glare… (God, was it even possible?!) increased.
"Why?!" MOMO cried, hands flying up to her face.
"Well…Shion's listed in their registry as a Level One healer…and I guess they think she should pull though this one on her own." Jr. finished lamely. The look in Jin's eyes had only worsened, and the redhead sighed.
Oh man, he's going to be a handful…
----
He was doing his best to focus on the papers and computer screens in front of him, but his mind kept wandering, seeing Tony hurry off the Elsa carrying a limp brown-haired form in a blanket to the awaiting medical Realians, mixed with leftover images of his most recent nightmare…
"Damnit!" A hand lashed out violently, sending papers and computer disks everywhere. He couldn't focus, couldn't think…nor did he have anybody to talk to, barely an hour after Jin and the others had returned from Second Miltia, a U-TIC craft had been sighted materializing out of the Zeus hyperspace column not too far from the planet. His brother and the others had gone out to intercept with the ES mechs, nothing had been heard from them as yet. Swearing, he suddenly stood up from his desk. Maybe if he went and checked on her, it would soothe the icy ball of fear that seemed permanently lodged in his stomach….
Or not. Upon entering her hospital room, his heart leapt into his throat as he saw her underneath the sterile sheets, moaning softly and thrashing about. Her face was flushed, the nightgown that she wore sticking to her small body because of the sweat.
"Uhhh…" Immediately Gaignun strode over, dropping the bed guard and sitting next to Shion, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket.
"Ssshh…" He murmured, gently moving the cloth over her face. "There there…" Green eyes opened.
"Gai…gnun?"
"Yes, it's me." Tears swam into Shion's eyes.
"My head hurts…so…bad…" She moved restlessly. "So hot…" Gaignun's eyes fell on the discarded ice pack on the dresser next to Shion's bed.
"Here." He placed the still-cold pad on the younger woman's head. "Any better?"
"N…no..." The tears trickled down her cheeks. "Still…hurts…"
"Don't cry, please." The raven-haired man begged softly. "You'll only make yourself sicker." And I can't bear to see you cry…
"Make it go away…please…" Snarling softly, Gaignun suddenly stood up. He couldn't bear to see her like this any more. Sliding his arms underneathShion's slender frame, he stood up.
"Just take it easy. I'll take you someplace where it's much cooler."
Jr. often yelled at him for how chilly his bedroom was, but Gaignun liked the temperature to be cold at night when he slept. Shion had dropped off into a light doze as he carried her through the hallways, the U.R.T.V. prayed that she'd stay that way, her body and mind needed the rest. Turning down the covers on the bed, he placed Shion on it, pulling the sheets up to her chin and tucking them around her body securely. Straightening, he strode over to his desk, pulling off his jacket and dropping it on the chair.
This is going to be a long night… He picked up the Communication Gear and moved back over to the bed, pulling a chair close to Shion's side. Checking over her once more to make sure she was asleep, he activated the screen.
----
Anger rose up in him, a beast with red-tipped claws, hazing his vision. It took nearly all his self-control not to reach out and attack his younger brother mentally.
What is he doing with her?! His answer came as Shion turned over in the bed, moaning softly. Gaignun immediately got up, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead, and then picking up a thermometer on the nightstand.
"Let's see…" He slipped the small glass tube in-between Shion's lips for a minute before pulling it back out. "99.1. You're getting there." Shion moved again, and he put his hand on her forehead, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Don't." His eyes glowed, and Shion stopped moving. "Just rest…don't wake up."
Of course. He's only taking care of her because she's sick… The anger disappeared as rapidly as it had arrived, leaving only suppressed giggles. The thread of envy couldn't be squelched as quickly though, a familiar green-eyed monster… The irony of this struck him, now he had two green-eyed monsters in his life! He dissolved into hysterical laughter. However, the hysteria stopped when he looked upon the two once again. Gaignun's eyes were shadowed, his fingers lightly stroking Shion's jaw.
"You need to take better care of yourself. If you only knew how special you are to everybody…yet you don't believe that you're special." He murmured. "You need to let yourself be protected, to be cared for…though if you were awake, you'd probably slap me for making that remark." The fingers moved to push several stray tresses off her face. "You have a serious knack for attracting trouble…I'll bet you anything you gave your late boyfriend some serious gray hairs." As if in reply, the brunette turned over on her side to face him, curling up into a little ball. A gentle smile crossed Gaignun's face.
"You…" He whispered, tapping the tip of a finger on Shion's nose. "are a menace, woman. My species sees you, all that innocence shining through…and we immediately turn into sharks…with you being the tasty little fish we're all after."
So true, brother. Albedo thought. Gaignun bent even closer to the sleeping Shion's face.
"I wish…" He closed his eyes, leaning back. "No." Sighing, he moved back into his seat, picking up a book. Albedo pulled back, his fingers relaxing on the controls of Simeon.
"You can't have her, baby brother…" He sang softly. "Between the both of us, I found out who she truly was first. You think you know, but you don't…she's mine!"