Up in the bell tower Gray gently laid Juvia on his bed and cut the ropes binding her. He hoped that he hadn't of been too late, that he had gotten to her in time. He checked her pulse, it was still there and she was still breathing. She was alive which was a huge relief to him.
Once he was sure that she was still living, he covered her with a blanket and left her to rest. Sometime later he heard her gasping, coughing, and screaming. He quickly ran into the other room to find that she had awakened with a terrible fright.
"Take it easy. It's alright." Gray told her gently.
"No! Don't! Please! I'm innocent!" She screamed. "I didn't do it!"
"It's okay Juvia. You're safe now, nobody is going to hurt you."
"Oh it's only you." She said when she realized who was with her. "I thought you were that awful judge or one of those soldiers."
She started to calm down a little.
"Where am I?" She asked.
"You're in my room." He answered.
"How did I get here?"
"I brought you here and in the nick of time too. A second later and you would have been a goner. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy."
As her mind cleared she began to remember what had happened before she blacked out. At once it came in an instant, her being led to her execution, Jellal desperately trying to stop them from hanging her, then watching him get shot and left for dead.
"Oh no! Jellal!" She cried.
She started to get up from the bed and Gray gently grasped her shoulders.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" He asked.
"Jellal was shot! I have to find him! I have to know if he's alright!"
"You can't go back out there. If you do they'll kill you."
"But I can't just stay here!"
"You have to! There are soldiers at every entrance watching for you. You set one foot outside and you die!"
"But Jellal-"
"I will go check on him and find out if he's...Still alive okay?"
"You will?"
"Yes but you need to stay here and rest. Understand?"
"I understand."
"Good." He stood up and pulled something from underneath his bed which he handed to Juvia. It was a small whistle. "If anything happens while I'm gone blow on this and I'll come back as soon as I can."
"Okay."
"Now get some rest. I won't be long."
He left after that while Juvia laid back down in bed but with everything that had happened, she was too anxious and frightened to sleep.
Meanwhile back in the town square, Erza was on her way to spend the evening with a client when she noticed a trail of blood on the ground. Concerned, she followed the trail and it led her to Jellal, who was lying on the ground with a bleeding gash on his shoulder.
"Oh no! Jellal!" In terror, she rushed to her former lover's side and listened for a pulse. It was weak but it was still there. If he didn't get proper treatment soon he would bleed to death. She quickly tore off a part of her dress and pressed it to his shoulder to stop the bleeding.
"Erza you forgot your purse." Her friend Cana said running toward her but was taken aback by the sight of the injured man. "Oh my God! What happened?!"
"This man is hurt and is dangerously close to bleeding to death! You have to help me get him back to the brothel!"
Using the lace from her bodice, Erza tied the scrap of cloth to Jellal's shoulder so he wouldn't bleed anymore than he already had. Then she and Cana carried him back to the brothel where they tended to his injuries.
Rags soaked in alcohol were used to clean the gash and his shoulder was bandaged up firmly. He had also spiked a high fever from being outside for so long, he was burning up like hot coals in furnace. Erza carefully spooned water into his mouth to keep him hydrated and covered his body in ice to bring his fever down. Through it all she never left his side once.
"His fever is down." Cana told her. "Why don't you get some rest? He'll be alright."
"I'll rest later."
"He's not going anywhere you know."
"I know but I...I just can't leave him. Not until he wakes up."
"Suit yourself."
Cana left them alone. Erza gently brushed her hand down the side of his cheek.
"Oh Jellal." She said. "You finally robbed the wrong person. It's funny, just when I think you're out of my life for good you fall right back into it. What am I gonna do with you?"
After awhile he finally started to stir.
"Erza?" He said when he saw her.
"Hi." She smiled.
"What happened?"
"I found you lying in the street bleeding so I brought you back here and fixed your wound. Though how you received that wound is a mystery to me."
"Right now it hurts to remember."
"Then wait awhile. For now just rest."
"Hmm...If I didn't know any better I would say that you were worried about me." He said with a teasing.
"You idiot, I'm always worried about you. I'm always thinking about you."
"I'm always thinking about you too and...I still love you. I never stopped."
"I think your fever is making you delirious. Go back to sleep, we'll talk in the morning." She stood up and went to bed. She headed for the doorway but stopped and turned back at him. "Goodnight Jellal."
"Goodnight Erza."
She was gone after that. Jellal smiled, of all the people who could've come to his rescue, he never thought that it would be Erza. He thought that she was too angry at him. He thought that she had hated him. One could not imagine the joy he felt in his heart upon learning that the woman he loved still cared about him. Still thought about him. How he wished that she still loved him as much as he still loved her.