CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Is that arm still giving you trouble?"

"Uh-huh."

Kagome peeled off the bandages again, and winced. That blackish blood was still oozing from the gash in Inuyasha's chest. But there was less of it, and the wound was starting to close up. Kagome sighed with relief, and then began to work her fingers gingerly over Inuyasha's shoulder and arm.

The half-demon lay still and silent as Kagome examined his left arm. His flesh wasn't cold anymore, although it wasn't warm either. The arm was still as limp and useless as a bundle of wet rags. It didn't feel as if it had died, but rather as if it were just... somehow broken inside.

"Does it hurt?" she asked again.

"No."

Kagome squeezed his fingers, but didn't feel them move in response. I did that, she thought, feeling her heart sink. Then a stab of fear -- what if his arm didn't go back to normal? He recovered from most injuries without even a scar to show for it. But a sacred arrow could have permanently wrecked his arm.

With a grunt, Inuyasha struggled to sit up. His arm still hung lifelessly at his arm, but he was able to move otherwise. "It's only my left arm," he said gruffly. "Ain't as big a deal."

He's just trying to make me feel better, Kagome thought. Inuyasha hated being sick or wounded. Once, according to Miroku, he and Kaede had had to tie him up and imprison him in a seal-covered hut, just so he wouldn't end up on a suicide run. He didn't tolerate any weakness in himself, but he was trying to act as if his arm didn't bother him. Just to spare her feelings.

Somehow it made Kagome feel worse than if he had screamed at her.

x.

Inuyasha rested for the next few days, as the wound closed up and the blackish blood went away. Now that he had woken up, he seemed to be on the mend. But Kagome still felt him flinch every time she changed his bandages, and his arm showed no signs of healing.

Miroku seemed to be all right, although he confessed that he still felt a little burning from time to time. Sango helped him set up barriers near the hut, just in case the illusion demon made an appearance. Inuyasha watched them out the window, grimacing. I hate it when they have to protect me, he thought darkly.

His body was still shaky and wobbly, but he longed to get out and get revenge on that damn demon. He and Kagome had been turned against one another, just as Naraku had done to him and Kikyo fifty years before -- that demon had tried to make sure that he would cut down Kagome with Tetsusaiga, as she pierced his heart with a sacred arrow.

Nobody does that to me and gets away with it, he thought furiously.

He clutched at the window with his working arm and staggered to his feet. The room spun around him, and he sat down heavily, clutching his head. "D-dammit," he whispered. "Ah, damn..." He heard Kagome coming back with her herbs, and thought about scooting back to his bed of straw. Why bother, though? She knew he was struggling to get out of there.

What made him especially upset was the feeling that went through him whenever she came near, and the feeling of his body shivering for no damn reason. And the fact that his arm upset her so much. He tried to act as if it were no big deal, but he knew she felt horribly guilty over what she had done to him.

I can live with it, he thought. If I have to. I don't blame her -- if I hadn't seen her first, she might be dead, blasted away by Tetsusaiga...

Kagome stepped inside with something in her hands. "Inuyasha?" she asked quietly.

"Yeh?" Inuyasha said roughly.

"Sango made this for you. She thought a sling might help..."

Inuyasha sat still as Kagome started wrapping the cloth around his limp arm. He forced himself to stay still, to not shiver. She wound the ends of the cloth under his long silver hair, and tied it around his neck. His limp arm was resting close against his chest, protected by the rough cloth. It felt a little weird, but Inuyasha knew he'd get used to it.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"It's no problem," Kagome said, tightening the sling.

TO BE CONTINUED