A Walk in the Woods
Chapter 7
Porlyusica's presence both invigorated and subdued the writhing atmosphere of the guild in a paradoxical swell, then abatement. She strode into the hall, a scowl on her face and a heavy looking canvas satchel slung over her shoulder. She wore her age spots with dignity, her rose colored hair pinned neatly back into a practical bun, and her usual collared over coat pressed free of wrinkles. You'd never guess she'd just trekked through the forest. Erza strode into the guild at Porlyusica's heals.
"May I help you with your bag ma'am?" Macao asked hesitantly, trying to put on a show of welcome for the well respected healer.
"I think not. I don't want you to break anything inside it, or get dirt on my supplies with your filthy human hands."
Macoa laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, not particularly surprised by the healer's crusty response. Polyursica strode past him, her head held high, cutting a path through the busy guild as members parted ways to let her by.
"It's okay, Macao," Erza said to acknowledge the well intentioned man. She followed closely behind Polyursica, still in escort mode. "Did the others make it here yet? Where is Natsu?" She said aloud, the question directed to no one in particular. She figured the place was ripe with gossip over the matter already, including Natsu's whereabouts. Details of exciting situations such as this tended to spread like wild fire.
It was Mira who, once again, held face for the guild, slipping form behind the bar to greet them. "He is upstairs in the infirmary. Gray and Lucy brought him in about 2 hours ago," Mira bowed deeply to Polyursica who gave her a subtle nod in return. "I am so glad you have come, Miss Polyursica, Natsu really needs your help,"
"Thank you Mira, I will take her up," Erza said, leading the healer up the stairs and towards the infirmary. All eyes ascended with them until they disappeared to the second level. A hushed buzz of chatter returned soon after, clipped figments of scattered conversations drifted quietly amongst friends, each group consumed by this latest crisis revolving team Natsu.
"Wendy's not even here to help. Rotten luck she was out on another job when this happened,"
"Erza looked worried sick,"
"Does anyone even know what happened?"
"I heard he was injured out on a job-"
"No way, Max said he's got a bad case of the flu,"
"It ain't no flu. He was covered in bandages,"
"Must be pretty bad for them to have summoned Polyursica,"
"Didn't you get a look at Natsu when he came in?! He looked awful. Gray was carrying him, for goodness sake!"
"I'm sure it's nothing Polyursica can't handle,"
"Yeah, Natsu's unstoppable, I'm sure he'll be fine,"
Though Gray and Lucy were expecting an entrance, the creaking door ripped through the silence like a gun shot. They both startled at the sound, heads snapping up to see Erza and the master healer framed in the infirmary doorway.
"Erza," Lucy said softly, happy her friend had made it back safely.
"How is he doing?" Erza approached the three, forgetting formal greetings, her only thought being Natsu's prevailing condition. She came to hover closely behind Lucy, trying to get a good look at the fire mage who was tucked away beneath the sheets.
"He's doing better, I think. Mira gave him some kind of medicine to reduce his fever," Lucy said, giving her sleeping teammate a searching look, worried he would prove her tentatively optimistic update wrong. "He woke up for a little bit, earlier..."
Polyursica stepped forward and grabbed the empty glass medicine vial from the side table, studying the label and nodding in approval. "From what Erza told me during our travel, he has become very ill from an infected wound," She set the vial back onto the wooden surface with a resonant clink. "You were the one with him when he sustained the injury, I gather?" Polyursica turned to Lucy, her accusatory gaze like that of a harsh instructor, daring her student to answer incorrectly.
"Y-yeah, I was with him," She stuttered, feeling uncomfortable as all eyes settled on her, clearly waiting for a recount of events. She supposed Erza and Gray hadn't quite gotten the full story yet either...
"Pray tell, child, what happened?" Porlyusica said curtly.
"Oh -of course, well, Natsu and I, we were out on a job together. We were supposed to kill a jungle cat that had been terrorizing a village, but when we found it, it was stronger than we thought and it got Natsu-"
Should she tell them why the cat had been able to injure him? That it was because she hadn't been prepared? That she had carelessly lost her keys and become defenseless? She was suddenly reliving the crushing guilt Natsu had helped her dispel on their journey. She cleared her throat and continued, too embarrassed to admit the nature of the accident to her friends just yet.
"Teeth or claws?" Porlyusica prompted, setting her medical bag down on the side table.
"Claws. It swiped him across the chest. At first he was bleeding a ton but I sutured the wounds closed. I-I don't think I did a very good job though. It stopped the bleeding but while we were traveling back he just kept getting worse and worse. The wounds got infected. He couldn't keep his meals down and started running a really high fever. He...he hasn't been acting like himself either. He had a seizure while we were in the woods too. I think his fever got too high. Ever since then, he's hardly woken, just in and out..."
Porlyusica listened without interrupting, no obvious emotional response visible throughout the retelling -which unnerved Lucy to no end. She at least expected a scolding for not cleansing the wounds properly, or for her failure to get Natsu back sooner. Though none of these accusations came, Lucy still felt her chest tightening, all feelings of failure resurfacing. She could tell her cheeks were growing pink with emotion so she threw her eyes to the floor to avert her face, no longer able to look the unreadable healer in the eye.
"Very well. That's all I need to know," Porlyusica said after a breath's time.
Both Lucy and Gray rose from Natsu's side, making room for Porlyusica as she approached. The healer pulled the blankets back, revealing Natsu's upper torso and heavily bandaged chest. The snaking black lines of infection that crept up his neck were prominent against the unhealthy duskiness his skin had adopted.
"Step back, all the way!" Porlyusica said, shoeing them off further. The three followed her command obediently, stepping out of range so the healer could work. Gray found a nearby chair and sank into it.
With a weary eye on her observers, Porlyusica set about casting a series of complicated diagnostic spells on Natsu, each targeting a specific body system: respiratory, cardiac, musculoskeletal, etc. Most healers would only be capable of summoning one at a time, but her abilities allowed her not only to manage each spell simultaneously, but analyze their results with the same speed and accuracy. Numbers and colors danced into existence above the fire mage as she manipulated her hands in scripted gestures. The detailed information appeared in mid air like a disembodied lacrima screen. Lucy, Gray, and Erza watched silently in awe at the healer's unique ability.
Porlyusica could feel their impressed stares boring into her. Some might be flattered, but Porlyusica was only irked. She wondered why she had let the lot stay present at all.
Her regret in not evicting the three young wizards doubled as she let a curse slip without thinking, a gut reaction to the abysmal results of her diagnostics.
"What is it?" Erza asked, her prominent jaw set with concern.
"Is it bad?" Gray added, sitting forward towards the edge of his seat as if prepared to jump up at a moments notice. Lucy remained oddly quiet but a firm, tense expression had absorbed her face as she waited for Porlyusica to explain herself.
"You're reaction says it isn't good," Erza prodded, but Porlyusica remained quiet, continuing to weave her fingers through intricate patterns, warping the numbers and exploring deeper systems and values, hoping that somewhere she could find good news. Porlyusica cursed again, this time more quietly so the others could not hear her and ruffle further.
This was why she hated humans. So brash, and reactive.
The healer did not jump to respond to the baited bystanders as she finished playing with the numbers, dissatisfied with her inability to find anything optimistic. She stepped back slightly and caught her chin in a thoughtful, troubled stance, giving herself time to fully acknowledge the orange and red warning symbols flashing across her summoned screen.
Severe sepsis, progressive dehydration, acute kidney failure, metabolic acidosis, hypoxia, acute encephalopathy, abscessed lacerations to the anterior chest, oblique displaced fracture of the left humerus... These were but some of the most concerning diagnoses flaring in angry font before her. Natsu's vital signs, which were updated continuously to real time, hovered at near fatal levels.
How does this boy still have a pulse? She wondered.
"He is very sick," She finally said, deserting her posture and moving to the thick canvas travel bag she had carried in. It was filled to the brim with potions, herbs, medicines, and supplies. She searched through the assortment until she found what she was looking for: the dried leaves of a rare herb only native to the dense rain forests of the South. It was her only hope to eradicate the bacteria wreaking havoc to Natsu's system.
In truth, she'd never encountered this type of infection before, only heard of it in her studies and read of it in scrolls. It was caused by a dangerous bacteria with a magical source of its own that allowed it to multiple, infect, and kill double the rate any normal infection. Natsu was truly unlucky to have encountered it.
It must have lived beneath that cat's claws, She thought as she studied the black spiderwebs creeping from Natsu's wounds, the product of poisoned veins and arteries.
"Please, tell us what's going on," Erza's voice was urgent. "What did you see with your tests?" Though Porlyusica always wore a scowl, it had deepened since completing the assessment, that was plain enough.
"Leave me be to treat my patient. I do not want to waste any time with needless conversation," She waved her hand at them in vague dismissal.
"At least let us know if he's gonna be alright!" Gray rose from his seat heatedly.
"It's not that simple. I do not know if he is going to be alright," Porlyusica said with an exasperated sigh. Perhaps the only way to shut them up would be with the harsh explanation.
"His body is in shock because of his infected wounds. His blood pressure is critically low and his heart is beating twice the speed it should be," She said trying to work as she talked. She crushed the key magical herb with her stone mortar and pestle and mixed it in with some adjuvant ingredients, drizzling it with what looked like olive oil until it turned into a thick, sticky salve.
"That doesn't sound good," Gray said.
"Of course it's not, human!" She set that mixture down and produced a second mortar from her bag. She crushed up the same type of herb, only this time, she added a dropper of clear liquid to the mixture that sparkled like moon drip. It turned the green sludge to a pure white substance which she drew up with a glass syringe. Air bubbles burst from the tip of the needle as she flicked them free.
"His blood is saturated with infection and it's causing his organs to fail. His kidneys are the worst off at the moment but I've no doubt his lungs and liver are next if I don't hurry to intervene," She fell quiet to concentrate on palpating the side of Natsu's neck. She found the jugular vein a few fingers from the hard rings of his trachea and pierced it carefully. She injected the medicine and retracted the needle swiftly without even a flinch from the young fire wizard. She frowned at that. The fact that he was hardly reacting was not a good sign.
"You said he had a seizure and was not acting himself? It wasn't the fever that did those things, it's the encephalopathy. Even his brain has become inflamed. He's been delirious by the sounds of it,"
Lucy looked particularly upset at these words, Porlyusica noticed. A sliver of pity entered her awareness. Perhaps she'd gone too far into detail. The trio were speechless and pale, all frozen and clammed up by the looks of it. She sighed and glanced up from her work.
"There's more to it, but that the meat of the situation. Now, the treatments will only get worse from here. I advise that you all step out of the room for this next part,"
"We're not going anywhere," Erza said stoically after a hard swallow. "If it's as bad as you say, then of course we won't leave him. We're his friends, it's our duty to stay by his side!"
Gray nodded in agreement while Lucy looked like she were about to cry.
Porlyusica just shrugged and peeled away Natsu's dressings to reveal the lacerations beneath. She took note of which spots were swollen with pockets of infection. She pitied the boy.
"You've been warned. I've got to drain the abscessed areas of his wounds. This won't be easy to watch," Porlyusica said as she produced a scalpel from its case. Gray and Erza did avert their eyes as she began incising the first swollen pouch in the meat of his chest. She worked through each wound carefully, cutting and emptying the places that needed it. Lucy looked on with wide eye's but never once did she look way. They were silent throughout the long arduous process. Porlyusica cleansed the wounds a final time and spread the green salve she'd made and covering the area from site.
When she finally finished she turned to the three young wizards. "It's too soon to say how well -or if- he'll recover, but I will say that he's strong and has some dumb luck for how long he's survived in such dismal condition," She eased the covers back over Natsu's upper body, leaving just his neck and shoulders exposed.
"You're done?" Lucy asked, biting her lip and looking over Natsu with anxious eyes.
"I plan on giving him some medicine for the pain and tending his arm, but aside from that, yes. I've done all that I can. All we can do now is wait and pray, if you believe in that sort of stuff," Porlyusica said, folding her arms.
"What do you mean, wait and -and pray!" Lucy said, angry all of a sudden, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "You can't say something like that as if he's just going to die while we sit and do nothing! There's got to be something more we can do for him. He still looks so..so.." She trailed off, her eyes brimming with tears.
Porlyusica blinked in surprise. She had to give it to the girl. She had a brave edge to her tone, daring enough to speak up against her. Then again, Fairy Tail's fire dragon had also spoken up to her in the past. The two shared close similarities in their personalities, and liveliness. Porlyusica vaguely wondered if they were more than just friends, perhaps the reason the blonde was breaking more so than the other two. She was clearly coming apart at the seams.
The master healer sighed a weary sigh, and took a moment to study her patient's face. It had grown pinched over the past few moments and he was starting to murmur and shift in discomfort. The boy was still blistering with fever.
"I am doing the best I can, child," She said, the graveled age in her voice more pronounced as she softened her tone. Though she was a self confessed hermit wanting little to do with humans, she still possessed a heart underneath her mask.
"I've given him a powerful antibiotic specific to the bacteria infecting his wounds and I've coated them with it as well. We need to give it time to take effect,"
"But is that going to be enough?" Lucy asked, her face pained.
"I'm hopeful it will be, but I won't lie. It's possible that these measure are already too late. He easily could die from the infection before the days through," Her inability to sugar coat was both a blessing and a curse.
"There's no way he's gonna die! Thats bullshit!" Gray said in an outburst.
"Gray!" Erza scolded, reaching out an arm to encircle Lucy as she began to tremble.
"I'm just trying to prepare you all should things take a turn," Porlyusica said, tucking her hands into her sleeves.
"I can't believe..what you're saying.." Lucy could feel her self begin to swim through dizzying denial, worry, anger, and grief. Her world was almost darkening with the crushing emotions. She had just realized she liked the guy not even two days ago and now he was more than likely to be ripped away from her? He just couldn't die, it wasn't right! He was strong, and funny, and always there for everyone, if this silly illness, partially caused by her fault took him, she didn't know how she would cope. Not soon enough did Lucy realize it was not just her emotional state caving in on her, but her physical state as well. Lucy's legs became numb beneath her, melting like wax candles. Her world went dark just as she fainted, limp as a wet rag.
"Lucy!" Erza was able to hook the celestial wizard beneath her arms before she hit the ground.
Disclaimer: The medical pieces are very loosely accurate and there is plenty of dramatization added in. Also, I'm currently aware that Porlyusica does not have magic in the show/manga, but I didn't realize that until after I'd written the story -oops! Too late now! Hope it's still interesting!
Till next time!