Ok guys, here it is. Hope you enjoyed.

I don't own Inuyasha

Inuyasha laid next to Kagome for what seemed like days, but the sun was just now setting. Kaede came in to examine Kagome and to change her bandages. Inuyasha stepped back allowing her more room to work. Kagome's brow was covered with beads of sweat and her clothes clung to her damp, clammy skin. Inuyasha assumed that she would have awoken by now, and could feel a slight panic rising in him.

He monitored her breathing and heartbeat through his sensitive ears. He heard every ragged breath she inhaled. In anticipation he held his own breath after she exhaled, praying for her next breath. Her perfect lips that were a usual rose colored had a gray tint to them and barely moved when she aspirated.

His ears perked when he heard her heart start to slow every so slightly. Almost immediately her breathes became shorter and happened less often. She was dieing. The woman that he loved was slipping away from him. Kaede risked a frightened glance at the hanyou and without any words spoken, Kagome was in Inuyashas arms and he was heading towards the well. His speed would have outmatched any youkai as he sped to the only place that could still save her.

"Come on Kagome. You can't give up now. That bastard is gone. He will never hurt you any more." He continued to plead with her to hold on.

She let loose a slight whimper in her restless sleep. Her face was contorted into a look of excruciating pain and this only spurred him to go faster. He felt the usual blue light engulf them, and was on the other side of the well in a matter of moments. Inuyasha leapt out of the well house, Kagome's limp body clutched possessively to him. Inuyasha pounded on the door to her home, but no one answered his hammering.

"Dammit! Where in the hell could they be? I have to get her somewhere quick." Inuyasha franticly searched the area hoping that a place would suddenly make itself known to him. He fled suddenly with the remembrance of the hospital where they had helped a poor girls spirit.

He busted through the doors of the hospital and the smell of rotting flesh and sickness hit him full force. He had to resist the urge to cover his face for he would have to put Kagome down. One of the nurses looked up at this strange man who looked to be in a costume, then he noticed the limp form in Inuyasha's arms. She rushed forward to help Kagome as she yelled for immediate assistance.

A doctor and another nurse appeared from a set of double doors, wheeling out a gurney with them. They tried to remove Kagome from his protective arms, but only succeeding in making Kagome unconsciously clutch closer to her savior's haori. Inuyasha reluctantly released his kenichii into the hands of those he had so desperately sought. He watched them wheel her away behind the double doors, suddenly becoming aware of how out of place he felt.

People in the waiting room were staring at him and that's when he remembered he didn't have his hat on. He tried to flatten his ears down as best that he could and sat down, releasing a long sigh. After a few moments, a nurse with a clipboard walked up to him and sat down next to him.

"Sir, I need to ask you a few questions about the young girl that you just brought in." Inuyasha merely nodded for her to continue. "What is her name?" Her pen was hovering slightly over the first line of many on a piece of paper.

"Higurashi Kagome."

"And how old is she?" The nurse looked up at him expectantly.

"17." He really wasn't in the mood to be dealing with this. He needed to be next to his love.

"How did this happen to her?" Inuyasha looked at the nurse and saw a bit of fear in her eyes.

'She thinks that I did this!' He could feel his blood boiling inside of him. He jumped out of his seat, successfully knocking it on the floor. "Are you trying to say that I did this?"

"No, no. Of course not. We just need to know what happened." The nurse tried to force a smile but he could smell the fear and anxiety flowing from her. Inuyasha reluctantly calmed, picked up his chair, and returned to sitting next to her.

"I don't really know. You should talk to her or her mother." Inuyasha crossed his arms and closed his eyes as a sign that he was finished with that conversation. He heard the nurse get up and the slight squeak of her shoes as she walked away from him. He released the breath that he was unknowingly holding.

Inuyasha impatiently sat waiting to hear some news. His legs bounced up and down, and then he commenced pacing. No more than twenty minutes after the annoying nurse left him alone Kagome's mother came rushing through the emergency room door. She flung herself into Inuyasha and he could smell the salt and sadness radiating from her. He stared at her with shocked eyes before he awkwardly took one hand and patted her shoulder.

'What the hell is she doing? Only Kagome gets to touch me like this!' He continued to stare until her crying quieted and she released him and took a slight step back.

"Oh Inuyasha! I was so worried about my baby. I thought she was dead." She patted her eyes with a handkerchief that she was clutching to like it was her one link to life. "I came home earlier today and saw Kenchi dead on the floor. I didn't hiccup know what happened." She started wailing again after her sentence and Inuyasha had to hold his hands over his ears to try to ease the pain. Eventually she calmed down enough for him to remove his hands.

She looked up at him expectantly, and then collapsed onto the cold, plastic emergency room chairs. She pulled a handkerchief from her purse and wiped her eyes. When she was done, Inuyasha took a seat next to her.
"What happened to her Inuyasha? Why is my baby girl here?" He looked into her pleading eyes and felt pity for her. She had just lost her husband, whom she assumed was the best man in the world, and is about to find out that not only wasn't he the best man, but he might have killed her daughter as well. He had to turn away from her grief stricken face. He wanted to be able to tell her that Kagome was safe and that he was positive that she would be fine, but he just couldn't do that for her.

"I think that Kagome is going to have to be the one to tell you that. I just don't know what was going through her mind, and it's driving me crazy." His voice grew slightly shaky as he continued to talk. He could feel himself losing his control. "I wasn't there for her. I didn't protect her." He was speaking more to himself and it was so quiet that Mrs. Higurashi could barely hear him. She was about to respond, when a Doctor walked to them interrupting their conversation.

"Mrs. Higurashi?" The doctor was in green scrubs and had his head covered with a cloth hat. He was slightly taller than Inuyasha in his hands clutched a clipboard.

"Yes." She quickly stood up, almost dropping her purse in the process. Hope and tears shined in her eyes.

He talked in an even tone, not faltering once. "We have her stabilized. She had much internal damage and bleeding. There were some older wounds that we had to tend to as well as those that occurred recently. A few ribs were broken and were pushing dangerously in her lungs. Her right arm was dislocated and she is extremely bruised. Who ever did this to her seemed to be acting out of malice. She was meant to be in pain. I need you to be prepared for what you are about to see. She has many machines connected to her easing the strain on her broken body."

She nodded her head slightly, and seemed to ponder if she could really stand to see her baby girl in such a position. Inuyasha had to restrain himself so he would not lose complete control over the demon raging to get out and extract revenge on the one that did this to his mate.

'My mate? Yes. I do want her as my mate. Kagome, you'd better make it out of this. I need you to know that I do love you and want to be with you.'

A very somber Mrs. Higurashi and a hanyou on the verge of losing it followed the doctor through a set of double doors and into a hallway that snaked around until they came to the room that Kagome occupied. Death clung in the air and he could hear beeping coming from several of the rooms surrounding them.

As the doctor opened the door, Inuyasha could hear a gasp come from the petite woman next to him. He tasted the bile start to rise up in his throat and fought to push it back down. Tubes seemed to grow out of his precious Kagome's body and were attached to machines. He hesitantly walked up to her bed and took her cold, slightly clammy hand into his own larger one. He could feel a prickle come from behind his eyes and a lump began to form in the back of his throat making it hard to swallow.

He looked upon her pale face and her hair that was slightly matted to her fevered brow. He gently wiped away the moist hair with a shaking hand.

'You can't leave me Kagome. I can't lose any more women in my life. I need you. Don't you know that by now?'

His focus was shifted as Mrs. Higurashi came around to the other side of the bed. She had a look of horror and sorrow etched in her features. Inuyasha was slightly broken from his reverie when he heard the door click, signaling the doctor taking his leave. Mrs. Higurashi pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat there holding Kagome's other limp hand. They stayed like that for what seemed like days.

Every once and a while Mrs. Higurashi would excuse herself and come back a little later having cried her tears for the time being. After the first day, and it was clear that Kagome was out of the worst part, she went home to inform Souta and jiichan what happened. Inuyasha clasped Kagome's hand for the umpteenth time. He took a chance and hesitantly lay next to her on the bed, careful not to cause her any discomfort, or for either to fall off the bed. He lifted a clawed hand up to her snow-white cheek and gently stroked it.

"Please Kagome, wake up. I need you to be all right." His attention was drawn to up her face slightly to her eyes, which were now fluttering open slightly. He watched as she looked up at the ceiling trying to figure out where she was, then as she slowly turned her head in the direction of Inuyasha. A small, rather weak smile caressed her lips and an almost silent "Hi." escaped her lips. Inuyasha smiled in return, truly happy that she was all right. He sat up on the bed carefully and looked at her intently. Her smile had disappeared, but she still looked at him.

"Kagome, what hap…"

"Inuyasha, not right now. Please." The low tone in her voice and the plea in her made him stop. "I just don't think that I can talk about it right now." He noticed the crystalline tears start to well in her eyes, and he knew she had won.

"Keh. Just know that I am here to listen…wench. And you will have to talk eventually." He got a slight smile out of her before her eyes slid shut again for more sleep.

Inuyasha stayed with her for the next three days, never leaving her side. The police came to speak with Kagome during her stay in the hospital and things were cleared up with the whole fiasco. She was finally cleared to leave the hospital and Inuyasha rode back with her and her mother to the shrine the in car. Through this whole time, Inuyasha was uncharacteristically patient and waited for her to talk to him about her ordeal. He could feel his patience wearing thin though and desperately wanted her to open up to him.

He helped her out of the car and immediately picked her up in his arms, smiling to himself when she released a slight squeal of surprise. He carried her to her room, all the while ignoring her attempts to make him release her.

"Inuyasha, I am fine now. I can walk you know. Please put me down." He could see her pouting, and secretly enjoyed it.

"No wench. You still need to rest. Now shut up and stop fighting it because you have no say in the matter." She crossed her arms and did a very good impression of his 'Keh'. He sat her gently on the bed and she gave him a quick smile.

"You know, it really does feel good to be home. It feels more like home now than it has in the last month or so." Inuyasha sat on the bed next to her, and looked intently at her. He could see her smile fade as she realized what he wanted. A sigh escaped from her pink lips and her eyes slid shut. He found himself aching to feel his lips pressed softly against hers.

"Kagome, I need to know what happened." He noticed droplets of tears starting to drip from her closed eyes. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes to look into his amber ones. He noticed the determination in her cerulean ones and was relieved to see a bit of the old Kagome returning.

"Ok, I'll tell you. But I need you to listen. You can't interrupt for anything. I am afraid if I stop, I might not want to continue." Inuyasha merely nodded and waited for her to continue. He was surprised when she crawled to him and sat between his legs, her back resting against his chest. She had a nice view out the window, and watched as birds flew in and out of the trees in front of her room. Inuyasha's hands protectively circled around the woman that was silently asking for strength.

She started at the beginning and spoke of how her father beat her as a child, and how was placed in prison. Then she retold the last month or so since her father had returned. Inuyasha could feel the youkai side trying to take hold every time the she told him of the beatings. He felt so utterly guilty when she revealed how she had felt in sengoku-jidaii because of him.

She stared out the window the entire time she spoke. He could smell the tears creeping into her eyes. His arms unconsciously tightened around her petite form, and he stayed true to his word of remaining silent, save a few growls that erupted every so often.

Kagome welcomed the strength from Inuyasha, and she could feel his protective aura surrounding her, trying to comfort her the best way that he could. It actually felt good to tell someone what had been happening. She finally made it through her tale of sorrow and helplessness and released a sob that wracked her whole body. She could no longer suppress it. Inuyasha turned her around to face himself and held her, letting her cry. He whispered words of encouragement and love into her ears as he gently stroked her hair. She clutched onto him like he was her life source. Her tears and sobs slowly ebbed away, and she leaned back lightly so that she could look into his eyes. She could see so many emotions flickering behind them, and she knew that he would always care for her and be there through anything.

"Thank you Inuyasha. I really needed that." He smiled at her and brushed a stray ebony lock from her face. She sighed and leaned back into his embrace, just letting herself enjoy the feeling of his protective arms surrounding her.

'Oh Inuyasha, you just don't realize how important you are to me.' They sat like that until she slipped into a peaceful sleep.

I thought this would be a good place to break. There will be one more chapter after this. I am sorry it took so freakin long. Hopefully the last chapter will not take as long. Please review.

Bbhm