Chapter 63

A gentle breeze rustled the ghostly white sheets that hung down from the tight clothesline. Kagome's mother smoothed her hands over the billowing cloths before stooping to gather a few more into her thin arms. Her brown eyes, so much like the young miko's, scanned over the spotlessly white fabric with a pleased smiled. She stepped back for a moment to admire her motherly handiwork.

Suddenly, an eerie shadow cast over the pure white sheet in front of her. The woman could feel her heart shiver and the smile slowly fade from her delicate lips. She stepped forward cautiously, raising a suddenly shaking had up to unclip the sheet. As it withered down to the ground, the bundle of sheets the mother had been holding came down along with it and a choking noise caught in her throat as her wide eyes rest upon her lifeless daughter, unmoving in Inuyasha's trembling arms.

"She…She won't start breathing right. I-I don't…I don't know what to do." The frantic hanyou stammered. For the first time, he looked completely dumbstruck, like he truly didn't know what to do. He was lost, confused, traumatized and afraid. He couldn't save her this time, so he forced himself against his pride and asked for help. Anything to just see Kagome's eyes open once more and see her smile shine.

He was scared. More scared than he had ever been in his entire life. More than the first time Kagome had been injured badly, thrust against that hard rock. More than when she nearly toppled off the edge of that building. More than when he had nearly clawed her to death the night he was supposed to make her his mate, as destined by Naraku and his sick plans. He was scared.

The smell of medicine, blood, and saline was thick in the air. Inuyasha wanted to rip his own nose from his face, just to rid himself of the stinging smells. If only it could be replaced by the heavenly smell of Strawberries and Sakura blossoms that shrouded his lover's body. But the scent was ever fading with each moment that passed by without a single breath.

People in long white coats dashed in front of the hanyou's watchful amber eyes. They crowded inside that tiny, sterile, room with the pure white walls. The whole place seemed the color of snow. Every inch was covered with it, and it just hurt Inuyasha's eyes. They settled gently on the frail form that lay motionless on the ivory bed where the doctors and nurses clustered around.

His forehead pressed lazily to the glass pane. He licked a drop of blood from his lower lip were his fangs had pierced. He hadn't even noticed how hard he had been biting his lip. Why, he wondered, did he have to stay in this stupid hallway, provided only with a glass window to watch over his love. Tiny growls worked their way up from the hanyou's throat. He hated to watch those strangers touch his Kagome, even if they were helping.

An annoying machine buzzed on end. It didn't stop, and the line that ran across it's screen wasn't helping clear his mind. When the doctor pulled out two clothes iron looking devices and pressed them to Kagome's chest, Inuyasha's ears perked. He watched a sudden jolt shake her body and a faint beep started on the monitor by her bedside. It wasn't long before the line when still again and those contraptions were placed back to the girl's chest.

The hanyou stiffened, eyes widening and jaw dropping a bit as he readied to call out for them to stop. He started to move towards the doorway but a withered hand on his arm stopped him dead. Amber eyes turned down to Kagome's grandpa as he looked up at him with teary eyes.

"No. They're helping her. They do that…when they're trying to get her heart beating again after it's stopped." The old man explained, stopping to swipe a tear from a wrinkle on his face.

It didn't lighten the hanyou's heart a bit. Her heart had stopped beating? He could feel tears prickling in the back of his eyes but he refused to cry again. Not in front of people. Not again. But the thought of her dying tugged the tears to the rims of his eyes and he turned away, quickly blinking the salty tears back.

"Higurashi? Are you all the Higurashi family?" A woman called out to them, stepping up behind Kagome's tear streaked mother. Inuyasha didn't even spare a golden eyed glance at the nurse as she gripped her clipboard tightly in her hands and whispered a few words to the woman who held her crying son tightly in her arms. Moments later, Grandpa and all had filed out of the hallway at the nurse's demand.

When a gentle hand rested on Inuyasha's back, he instantly jerked away. He sent a harsh glare at the little nurse that stood behind him, her face stricken with what looked like fear. She stammered a few mumbles, her blue eyes roaming over the blue bandana that was wrapped carelessly over Inuyasha's canine ears.

"I'm going to have to ask you to step away from there. The rest of your family is in the waiting room. Please wait there until we can get some news back to you on…." She hesitated a moment, glancing down at her clipboard for a name. "Kagome Higurashi."

Just as Inuyasha parted his lips to refuse, Souta and Kagome's mother waved him over. For a moment, he just stood there, his eyes clouded over with pain and confusion. A sudden wave of guilt washed over him as he watched Kagome's little brother huddle helplessly in his mother's arms. This was his fault, and he knew it. It had been his very nails that had raked through her flesh, and now her heart was no longer beating on it's own. Those gruesome looking machine beeped wildly around her, so many of those little wires jabbed into her perfect skin. It pained him to look but he couldn't keep his eyes away from where they had wandered back to his dying lover.

"Mr…" The nurse cooed softly, hesitating to touch him again. Finally, she lowered her hand and walked off, shaken.

It took awhile for Inuyasha to move away from the glass pane where he could easily watch over his love. He retreated to the pale walled waiting room where the rest of Kagome's family sat to grieve quietly. He took a seat by mama, tucking his legs in under him and staring down at the light blue carpet with unseeing golden eyes.

The minutes ticked by like hours. Sota had left the room, followed by his grandfather to go wait in the bathroom and splash water on his face. As awkward as it was to sit there with Kagome's mother, the one who had clearly seen the bloody trails of claws all over her daughter's body, the pain overpowered it.

The door finally cracked open and Inuyasha's ears flickered instantly, eyes shooting up to the doctor who stepped through the doorway. The hanyou's heart pounded and he could see Kagome's mother wringing her hands nervously beside him. Was this it? Was this man going to tell them what had become of their Kagome?

"Sir?" The gray haired doctor questioned, brown eyes glancing towards Inuyasha. He glared back without a word. What could he want now? He had already taken particles of his nails and saliva for testing. He had refused, with the help of the rest of the family, to let them take a sample of his blood. They had tried to treat his wounds, amazed at how he could possibly live through having his chest pierced deeply and having lost so much blood. He had refused them completely.

The doctor sighed and glanced down at his clipboard as the other nurse had done earlier. Inuyasha's heart nearly lept out of his chest. He needed to know what had happened- now.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" He asked firmly.

The inu half demon's eyes narrowed threateningly. They hadn't even spoken a word about that girl in the other room. They hadn't told them one damn thing and Inuyasha had to dig his fangs deeper into his bottom lip to keep from jumping up and talking some sense into that doctor with his fists.

"Why? What for?" He demanded.

"Inuyasha…right? Well. We ran some tests on Kagome and we found some…odd results." The doctor hesitated, and Inuyasha let out a low growl. "We found particles of your nails in Miss Kagome's cuts. They were everywhere, even in places she couldn't have possibly reached with her own hands. As if that wasn't enough, we found your saliva on her neck and in her mouth."

Inuyasha felt a stone hand clench tightly around his heart and his shoulders slump with a heavy weight. His lips peeled back in a sneer, revealing his pearly white fangs. His long, still blood tinged claws dug into his knees as he clenched his hands around them. How could they had found that out? How did they know it was him. But it was an accident! Just a horrible accident…

"S-So!" He barked back. "I didn't do nothin' to her! Dammit!"

The hanyou turned away, jaw clenching tightly. He knew they could all see the red rims of his eyes by now. He dropped his face into his hands, covering his pained features completely. How was he supposed to explain that he really hadn't meant to?

Finally, he heard the doctor turn on his heels and exit the room. His ears relaxed, his breathing heavy and strained as he tried to keep back the tears that he didn't dare want to show in public. That would be the third time he had cried in front of people. He felt weak, useless, like the crybaby he used to be as a pup. The sound of Kagome's mama's voice didn't help soothe his thoughts.

"Inuyasha…tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me the truth. Please. I just need to know. Could Kagome be….pregnant?"

Inuyasha jolted upright, shocked amber eyes suddenly piercing questionably into the woman's. For awhile he couldn't answer, too shocked to even think for a moment. His canine ears twitched, his golden irises trembled as he played over that last word in his head. Just as Kikyou had been the day she had died. Could Kagome carry his child? Had he actually made her his mate late that night?

"W-What? I-I-! You don't honestly believe…!" He stammered, choking on his words as he struggled to find something to reply with. He couldn't. He just couldn't swallow the thought that she thought he had given those deathly wounds to her daughter as he made her his own.

"You're nail marks are all over her body! Down her back, on her legs and chest! I just want to know what has gone on in that realm of yours…" She explained, a few silent tears streaking down her rosy cheeks. She looked so much like her daughter. Inuyasha had to look away from her as she spoke.

"I never…..I never got the chance to make her my mate. No. Kagome couldn't possibly be pregnant. She still has her innocence."

The worried mother slowly turned her eyes back down to her shaking hands. She nodded solemnly, her lips never parting until the creak of the door caught both their attention. Frustrated sighs pierced the air as Souta and his grandpa stumbled out of the bathroom, their eyes red and glued to the ground.

"Inuyasha?"

The hanyou looked up at Kagome's little brother, watching quiet tears streak his face. His snow white ears drooped, a wave of cold guilt washing over him and stinging fiercely at his unattended wounds. The little boy really did mean a lot to him, even if he was just a kid, just Kagome's brother.

"What is it, kid?" He replied, his voice low and calm, on the verge of cracking with tears. His own amber eyes were starting to prickle and it was getting harder to hold it all back.

"Is Sis gonna die?" Souta asked, and Inuyasha's arms fell away from where he had crossed them over his chest. The kid let out a sharp sniffle and the hanyou's ears twitching at the sad sound. Without another thought, he opened his arms, and Souta accepted them, crawling up onto Inuyasha's chair and into his lap where he buried his red face against the half demon's bloody Yukata.

"Nah. Don't you think like that. Kagome's not gonna die. She'll be fine, you'll see…you'll see." Inuyasha replied, trying his best to comfort the little boy as his long arms closed around his fragile frame. He wasn't sure what else he could say so assure the kid that his big sister would survive when, truly, he had no clue. He had to trust her this time, her will to live. They all had to.

The sound of another opening door snapped away their attention. Red rimmed amber eyes settled on the man with the long white coat that stood in the open doorway. It was the same one from before and Inuyasha simply glared at him, wondering if he was just going to try to drag him away again to question over Kagome's odd looking injuries.

"Higurashi family?"

"Yes. Yes, that's us! How's Kagome? Is she okay?" Mama asked frantically, voice cracking gently from crying to endlessly. She tugged her son back into her own arms as Inuyasha began to growl threateningly. His heart hammered, his eyes pierced into the doctor's. Saliva formed on his tongue and he gulped it down loudly in anticipation. The seconds seemed to pass like hours now.

"Yes…about miss Kagome…" The doctor replied, his pale skin creased with elderly wrinkles. His features were grim and dark and the family could already predict the news. Inuyasha didn't dare except it.

"Spit it out, dammit!" The impatient hanyou cursed, jumping straight to his feet. He shot forward, grasping the doctor my the shoulders, shaking them violently. "What happened to her? What happened to my Kagome?" He demanded loudly.

"We…We did everything we could." The shaken man replied, his voice leveling up and down as Inuyasha shook him wildly. Suddenly, the hanyou stopped dead, his sneer fading quickly into a look of pure shock and horror. His hands unclenched from the doctor's shoulders, his amber eyes becoming blank and unresponsive. The sounds of heavy sobs behind him grew deafening in his ears, trapped beneath the blue bandana.

Dead. She was dead? Had Kagome died just down the hallway as he was forced to wait in that stuffy little room? No. He refused to believe it. Kagome wouldn't let go so easily. She was a fighter, and Inuyasha just wouldn't let that feeling sink in as he tossed the doctor quickly aside and rushed out the open door. He regarded the shouts of the man behind him as he told the hanyou not to disturb the girl. He didn't give a damn about what anyone else said anymore.

The faint sound of the doctor speaking once more to the sobbing three picked up in his ears. He only managed to catch a few whispered words. 'It's up to her'.

Inuyasha quickly bust through the pure white door, nearly knocking a thick folder from the plastic bin attached to the door. He threw aside the wooden door, and sent his eyes straight to the bed. His heart stopped dead at the side of the pure white bedspread, neatly made and untouched.

Slowly, the breath returned as his eyes scanned over the small and thin lump on the farthest side of the bed and the wisp of raven hair that stuck out from the blanket. She was still there….they hadn't taken her away from him just yet.

Silently, Inuyasha crept across the room, tear rimmed golden eyes planting firmly on the waves of ebony locks that spread over the ivory pillow. How could he have missed that before? How could he have not seen that distinct shine of his lover's tresses that he constantly longed to comb his clawed fingers through?

He peered down at her, his body going numb, every inch of his tingling with fear and sorrow. His feet felt unstable and cold as he curved around the edge of her bed to stand at her bedside. This wasn't happening.

She was pale. So deadly pale. Her skin was a pasty white, the veins on her eyelids nearly visible. Heavy purple bags dragged low under her eyes, her cheeks sunken and white as stone. Her lips were plump and cracked, bruised and dried and nearly blue. She looked ill and empty, like every drop of life and color had been drained from her pretty features and left her an empty shell. But….She looked beautiful, in a sick kind of way.

Thousands of little wires were connected to her frail and sickly thin arms. They stabbed into her flesh, running the blood of complete strangers into her needy veins, clearly visible through her alabaster skin. The machines beeped loudly, but never reached the boy's ears as he watched the world crumble at his feet. The only thing he heard was the rapid beating of his heavy heart. He'd killed her, hadn't he?

Inuyasha stared down at her, amber irises trembling faintly. Was she really gone this time? Somehow, he had trouble believing it. He wouldn't dare let it sink in, though the stinging in the back of his eyes, urging him to cry, told him that it was all real. He just couldn't believe it. Not his Kagome. Why her?

He leaned down, breaths streaming out across the lifeless looking girl's lips. She looked unreal, like a plastic mannequin, like a frozen statue. Like snow white. He could remember when she used to come back to the warring era, bursting with stories of old fairy tales of maids in glass slippers and girls in red hoods. Not to mention the one of the apple loving maiden, Snow White. The story stuck in his mind, playing over the unrealistically blissful events as he leaned down further to brush his lips over Kagome's. He recoiled at the feel of freezing skin.

Inuyasha whirled away, placing the balls of his hands against his closed eyes. Why was she so cold? Why was she so thin and motionless? It just wasn't fair, it wasn't right. His nails had been the ones to rake through her silken skin, abruptly sending her into this state. It was his fault, so why did she have to suffer?

The hanyou turned again, nails perched threatening by his face. Those wires and tubes the connected to his love were starting to get to him. What did they do? What could help her now? All they did was show how pitiful and helpless she was, how she needed a thousand little lifelines just to tie her down to her very existence. Why did it matter if she was already gone?

He lashed out at them, and with a spurt of blood and horrible smelling medicine, the wires and tubes cut instantly away from Kagome's body. The angered boy shook his nails to rid of the liquids, other hand moving up to rub his nose with an irritated expression. It smelled like death in that tiny room and he wondered, how many other people had died in here?

He breathed out, reaching out slowly to curl his sharp nailed fingers around her thin arm. He kneeled down, leaning over her to press his lips to hers again, this time, long and meaningful so that the warmth of his kiss could touch her to the core. Just like in the story. When she didn't wake up, he pulled back. No. Not like Snow White. This was for real. How could he have been so childish, so stupid.

"Don't quit! Don't you quit on me!" The hanyou suddenly shouted loudly, tears appearing at the rims of his eyes, threatening to spill over. He buried his face against the curve of the girl's body. She felt cold and limp underneath his touch. This was driving him mad, driving his pointed fangs into his bottom lip as he clenched his jaw until the taste of blood trailed down his lip. His fingers tightened over her wrist, low growls tumbling endlessly from the pit of his stomach.

His eyes shut tightly, his shoulders heaving gently as he held back the tears. His jaw clenched tightly, the doctor's fateful words running through his head like rocket ships bursting into the air. He hadn't stayed to hear the rest of the news before darting into that little room. Now he wished he hadn't. He wished he hadn't done a lot of things. He wished he had never leaned in to press his mouth to hers that night, just if it would prevent this moment from happening.

Inuyasha pulled back, bloodshot eyes scanning over the girl's pale features. It was truly amazing how she could be so beautiful in the sickest of times. The saddened hanyou swept a charcoal strand of silken hair from her pretty features. He sucked in a shaky breath, closing his eyes, and finally letting a single tear slide down his hot cheek.

"Wake up." He demanded, softly at first. "Wake up! I know you're not dead!"

The hanyou slid one knee onto the bed, softly cupping his unmoving lover's face in his hands. Her skin felt cold and unnaturally soft under his trembling fingers. He watched her so intently, eyes searching her pale face for any breath that could have passed through without him noticing.

Was that just one now?

Inuyasha stiffened, watching her honey brown eyes shift beneath her closed lids. Her curled lashes began to part to reveal bleary hazel eyes. Her lips quivered, her fingers twitched. Life. She was showing signs of life she hadn't been before. The hanyou felt his whole body go numb, the flock of wild butterflies wage a war in his stomach to get out. His heart gave a joyous, painful leap and pounded harshly against his ribs. She was alive.

He could barely control his emotions as his love raised a weak hand to touch the salty trail that had dried on his cheek. The feel of her baby soft skin was overpowering, the sight of her chocolaty eyes. But her smell. It had been smothered with the sickening scent of medicine and blood. The hanyou nearly melted at the side of the rosiness coloring her cheeks at the sight of him. She was coming alive again, just for him.

Maybe he should have stayed behind, listened as that doctor explained to them the condition of their dearly nearly departed. But the thoughts of the past, of what should have happened or what he could have done to change it just all disappeared as Kagome parted her lips to mutter a few weak words.

"I'm cold."

Inuyasha felt his heart sink lower at the sound of her broken voice, how strained and pained it sounded just to utter two mere words. He touched her lips with his trembling fingertips, dipping slowly to kiss them softly. As he pulled back, he forced a phony smile. "I'll fix that."

He pulled back the sterile, ivory blankets, sliding into the warmth of the bed. How could she be cold? Was there something wrong? Of course. She had been so still, so sick, Inuyasha had mistaken her for dead once again. But the strain in her voice, the weakness in her frail touch told him that it was for real this time. She wasn't completely healed and she wasn't going to be completely fine. That wound had killed a woman years back. It didn't look like even the doctoring of this time could save such a gruesome wound from taking another life.

No. He wouldn't allow it. Not his precious Kagome. Inuyasha gently tugged the fragile girl against him, running his hand slowly down her back, over the scratchy fabric of bandages that wound around her entire body. He leaned over her, one hand still placed over her cheek as the other trailed back up her side and began to thread through her ebony colored hair. The silken strands came easily through his fingers despite the blood and sweat that streaked her hair.

The feel of her solid body beneath his roaming hands, his fingers in her silken hair, was just amazing. For moments on end, he thought he'd never get the chance to do that again, to lay so close or touch her beautiful hair. This was just a little piece of heaven mixed with hell as his lover lay weak and fading in his arms.

"I'm sorry." Inuyasha whispered. Those words had been struggling in the back of his throat for so long. How many times had he ever said sorry to her face, despite his pride and ego, despite his shameless ways?

"Don't be." Kagome replied in that same heart-wrenching voice that made the hanyou flinch. "You didn't think I'd…leave…you, did you?"

"Not even for a second." He said. That was a lie, and they both knew it as all emotion drained from their faces, their eyes connecting deeply.

He let his fingers fall limp in her hair, his lips dipping down cover his lips over Kagome's pale mouth. He kissed her slowly and deeply, making sure to warm her with his eager lips. If he could just take all the pain away with his kiss, he would. If he could cure every cut or gash on her goddess body, he would. If he could change the past and future, he would.

Inuyasha gently clenched the girl's shoulder as her hands circled his hips. He pressed tighter to her until he could feel her frozen skin beneath the bandages. How could she have such an effect on him when she was so frail and weak? How could she have the strength to continue to drag on that passionate kiss?

When the feel of thick, hot liquid drenched the hanyou's fingertips, he broke the everlasting kiss, daring to run his tongue over the girl's lower lip, licking away the drop of blood he had left there from the cut in his lip. He felt Kagome tense against him and her eyes searched him to find out what had happened. She couldn't help but wonder if she had done anything wrong, touched him the wrong way. The look on his handsome features stung her already bleeding heart.

Inuyasha froze as his amber eyes met the crimson color of blood on his hands. Perhaps he had squeezed her shoulder a little too hard, forcing the blood to stain through the bandages. Just the sight of it weakened him. He couldn't be so rough. He had to treat her as if she were a thin sheet of gold as he leaned low and pressed his lips onto the rough bandages that covered her shoulder.

The sound of footsteps pricked in their ears, alerting the two lovers of Kagome's family looking in on them. Inuyasha didn't stop for a second as his gentle kisses trailed slowly up the miko's neck and back down across her shoulder. He could feel Kagome limp under his lips, her hands griping gently at his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice barely audible over the soft mumbling whispers outside the door. Inuyasha picked out one of them as Kagome's mother's. He simply smiled in reply to her, raising his face level to hers were he plucked a few sweet kisses on her lips. He was pleased to feel the warmth as he did so.

"If you kiss a cut…it'll heal faster." He replied, basking in the warmth of her smile. They melted slowly against each other, their mouths pressing gently together in another blissful kiss. The hanyou shivered at her touch as she ran her fingers through his hair. She touched him, and it felt like coming home.

...-.-..-.-.-.-.-.-.-----..-...

GoingGhost-FWEEEEEE-yay! huggle

little-miss-inu- Geez? You're in college, too? My, my...I feel so young now. Ah, well. As long as you guy still like and read my work!

bluefoxfaerie- Yeah! Neither did I! It just kept rolling on and on...and on and on. Geez. That's why I have to break it off into a sequel, which shall come out not long after this one ends! But we gotta wait awhile, just to get you hyped up and stuff, right? Eager and just on the edge of your seat, waiting to see the new addition!

Alexa- Haha! Yeah, well, I like your long reviews anyway! Some people can get their wonderful points through in one sentence, but it's always a joy just to keep reading and smiling. For me, at least. Kagome? Die? Hmmm... Trusting that you've already read this chapter...Well, I think you'll just have to wait and see, huh!

Akina315- Sploosh! Yaya! Thank you, you're too kind. Yup, Sanraku, that dirty beast, is finally dead. So, he's not a bad madeup? Usually, I don't read fics with madeup characters just because a lot of people just stick them in there and it kinda ruins the whole story. But, I just wanted to make this plot work and it just wouldn't if the enemy was Naraku himself.

Hanako Horigome- A good wow? That was a suggest from...who was it? little-miss-inu? Geez, I forgot. Argh. Well, yeah. So you read it all already? Coolio! I'm trusting you liked it? Oh, and, yeah...Kagome should be...but you know her, she's quick to get over things like that. Though this was a bit much.

Antilove006- Pshhhhhhhshshshshshhh! It's all because of Inuyasha's lack of...being able to tell if she's alive or not. I mean, this is the second or third time...come on...

rika- ...-watches fade-...should I be scared? Well. I hope you liked this one! It would have been better...but...well, I wrote three whole pages of pure gold and then my microsoft word crashed! JEEPERS! So, it's never gonna be as good as the first.

im a retard- ...Eeeeerrrrmmmmm...-points to Kagome and Inuyasha making out in a hospital bed-...I think it went right there...

BlackParade- Cuuuuuu! Inside joke? ...I wanna hear... -shifty eyes-

xcurlyinuyashax- Really? Anther picture? AWWW! FO MEH? -is happy- I love it when people draw things for me. I lobe you! Oh! This isn't the last chapter...the next one is -sniffle- Hold on...announcment time.

THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE VERY LAST CHAPTER OF THIS FANFICTION! AWWWWWWW!