A Walk in the Woods

Chapter 8

"Lucy!" Erza's urgent voice did nothing to rouse the limp celestial wizard in her arms. "Not you too!"

Porlyusica shuffled forward and knelt by Lucy and Erza's side, casting the same diagnostic spells she had used to assess Natsu. The air lit with numbers only decipherable to the trained medic. She ran through them quickly and shook her head, frowning. "Damn humans, always over exerting themselves for silly reasons,"

As soon as the spells dissipated, Erza hooked her arm beneath Lucy's knees and carried her to the bed aside Natsu's. She set her down and arranged her limbs carefully, only then noticing the off color to the blonde's skin and the way her body was covered in scrapes and bruises.

"Is she okay!? Why did she pass out!?" Gray asked, raking through his hair anxiously.

"You ask too many questions, naked one," Porlyusica said, drawing attention to Gray's sudden state of undress.

"AH heck! Not again!" The ice wizard shook his head while Erza scolded him for becoming bare in front of the master healer and grabbed a nearby sheet to cover his essentials. Porlyusica had to fight to keep the slight upturn of her lips from being noticeable as the two bickered, Erza trying to tie the sheet into a makeshift toga while Gray attempted to struggle free of her grip. The two froze in their awkward position when Porlyusica cleared her throat.

"None the less, she will be fine. She simply wore herself ragged. She was running on nothing but magic energy. This girl hasn't had proper sleep in days and likely the situation overwhelmed her,"

"Poor Lucy," Erza said, her fist still knotted in the sheet she had cocooned Gray with. How Erza could remain so stoic while posed so comically was beyond the healer.

"Yes. Now, she is simply in need of rest, and quiet." Porlyursica sent a stern look towards Gray and Erza who blanched at the direct attack.

"We aren't leaving them!" Erza released Gray so she could plant her feet in demonstration. "What if something happens!?"

"I need space to work, and your friends need space to rest."

"But we aren't even being loud-" Gray said as he gathered the bits of clothing that had somehow ended up on the other side of the room, holding the sheet around his body like a bath towel.

"Your rowdy presence is hindering their healing process," Porlyusica barked. Scare tactics were likely the only thing that would convince the two steadfast wizards to leave the room and allow her and her patient, or patients as of the last few minutes, some peace and quiet.

"I said OUT!" Porlyusica all but growled, puffing out her chest and glowering at Gray and Erza who shrunk from her. After a few more futile arguments, the two younger wizards reluctantly left with tucked tails and heavy feet. Porlyusica sighed when she shut the door a bit loudly behind them, finally alone. She wasn't one for entertaining, and her patients truly did need a peaceful environment.

She frowned as a moan sounded from Natsu's bed. The growing restlessness to Natsu's form was getting worse. Unfortunately, Porlyusica knew these movements were not predictors that Natsu would waker, rather a delirious expression of unhindered pain. It was good she had forced his friends to leave when she did. This new development would have been difficult for them to watch.

She moved to Natsu's side and summoned his vitals once more, allowing them to stay present in mid air. His heart rate was still out of control, but thankfully his blood pressure had already risen a few points since she'd administered the antibiotic. It gave her hope that he was responding well to the antibiotic. If his blood pressure continued to rise, she was sure the damage his organs had undergone would begin to reverse.

"nnghh" Natsu moaned, twisting his head slightly to the side, his brow creased.

"Hush child," Porlyusica murmured, automatically reaching out and placing a hand to Natsu's fevered forehead, stroking back his hair until she had complete contact with his skin. "There is no need for this pain," She closed her eyes in concentration and mumbled a series of unintelligible words under her breath until a warm golden light seeped through the cracks of her fingers. Slowly Natsu calmed, the tensed muscles throughout his body releasing as the palliative incantation took effect. "Pain is necessary for the knowledgeable body, but in times of stress and known injury it serves no purpose,"

The spell she cast was weak and temporary, but for a quick fix, it did the trick. She valued pain control more than most would imagine. She may come off as callous and sharp, but when it came to those in physical distress, she would not sit idle. "I will not tolerate unneeded suffering," She said aloud, her voice soft.

"Now for some house keeping. How you managed to fracture your arm so severely eludes me," Porlyusica dug through her canvas bag until she came upon her strongest pain medicine, a little syringe of clear liquid. "I suppose it goes along with your reckless nature, smelly human," She injected the entire little vial into Natsu's deltoid before removing the needle.

She next turned to check on Lucy, who was laying still, her breaths even, but when Porlyusica looked to her face she could have sworn she saw the blonde's eyes close suddenly. Was the girl awake? Porlyusica stared at her intently but Lucy seemed to remain quietly unconscious. My imagination. Porlyusica thought, turning back to finish her work with Natsu.

From then on, she proceeded in silence, her focus on the broken arm. Only until she was sure the pain medication had kicked in did she realign the fracture and set the bone in a tight splint.

She kept a steady eye on Lucy throughout, partially making sure the girl was stable, but also checking her consciousness. She could have sworn she felt eyes on her back while she worked, but every time she glanced over her shoulder, Lucy seemed peacefully asleep.

Some hours later, Lucy woke with a start, her eyes opening wide as she realized she'd fallen asleep during her possum act. She sat up cautiously. Porlyusica was nowhere to be found.

Damnit, Lucy, you weren't actually supposed to fall asleep! She thought. She'd woken almost instantly after fainting and overheard the way Gray and Erza were booted from the room. Afraid she would face the same fate, Lucy had feigned sleep. She was sure Porlyusica had caught her at one point but the healer had not voiced suspicion so Lucy had continued the ruse.

She'd laid silently as Porlyuisca worked on Natsu's arm. It had bee difficult to stay idle, listening to Natsu moan in pain, but to her surprise, Porlyusica had been nothing but compassionate. She'd had no idea the old healer could be so kind. It made her heart swell thinking back on it. Once Porlyusica had finished, Lucy must have dozed off while waiting for the coast to clear.

She cursed herself for that. She was supposed to stay awake and keep watch over Natsu!

Lucy swung her legs over the side of the bed when she was sure Porlyusica was nowhere nearby. She felt a little dizzy but just used the side table to steady her movements, guiding her feet to the ground and slowly coming to stand. She needed to check on Natsu.

She closed the small gap between their beds with just a couple steps.

"Oh Natsu," Lucy said, letting out a sigh of relief. He still looked terrible, sicker than she had ever seen him before, but the terrifying black vines that had grown from his wound and marred his skin were already fading. They were still visible, but they had changed from the deadly dark color to a mild purple outline -a huge improvement. His arm no longer sat at an unnatural angle and was splinted and wrapped neatly.

She found his limp hand beneath the covers and griped it firmly.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Porlyusica's voice sounded suddenly behind her, causing Lucy to stiffen. She had been caught. Lucy didn't turn to face the healer, determined not to take her eyes off of Natsu. It didn't matter what Porlyusica told her, she wouldn't leave. She would have to be dragged out of the room by force.

"How is he doing?" Lucy tried, hoping to keep the subject away from herself.

"Better than before. Like I said, he is strong and lucky. His body took well to the antibiotic -you see how much he's improved in just a few short hours. I will need to give him another dose to completely resolve the blood poisoning, but given how well he's done so far, I can say with fair certainty that he should make a complete recovery,"

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut tightly in a silent prayer of thanks. Hearing those words from Porlyusica was so important.

"I heard you while you were taking care of Natsu..." Lucy began, not looking away from her friend's now peaceful expression, "You were so passionate and kind. You really care about your patients,"

Lucy didn't expect Porlyusica to respond, so she was not offended when the healer remained silent. Lucy knew it wasn't often that others caught a glimpse of the gentle soul beneath the leathered appearance. Neither of them said a word for a long while, but Lucy didn't mind. The quiet allowed her to hear the way Natsu's breaths passed easily through his parted lips, no raggedness or labor to them.

"Thank you for everything," Lucy said, clearing her throat when it hitched with emotion. Would she ever stop crying? "You saved him,"

"I was not the only one to save him child. Those wounds were fatally deep. If you had not tended them immediately like you did, he would have died of blood loss in that moment. He was fortunate to have you there when they occurred." Lucy frowned as Porlyusica's words prompted her eyes to shift down to Natsu's heavily wrapped chest.

"But it wasn't enough. He still suffered because of me. It was my fault he was injured in the first place,"

"So it was you who struck him down with massive claws, then?"

"No, of course not, I didn't mean- he was trying to protect me-"

"Then it was his own fault for getting sloppy in battle, and from what I can see, he succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish. You walked away unscathed, did you not?"

"I did, but that's not-"

"Would you rather have died in his place and left him to suffer the loss of a friend?" Porlyusica cut her off again, a sharpness to her words. "At least in this situation you both survived, though admittedly he barely skated by,"

Lucy paused. That had been the exact argument Natsu had used to reason with her. She looked to his still form on the bed that still quivered from time to time with chills.

"It does no one any good to carry guilt, especially when it is unwarranted," Porlyusica continued. Lucy didn't know what to say. Never in a million years had she expected Porlyusica to be giving her this type of advice. Lucy finally detached her gaze from Natsu to turn questioning eyes towards this strange, contradiction of a person. Social recluse at one moment, emotionally intelligent the next.

The old woman smiled. "Despite my hatred of people I find I am able to read them sufficiently. Enough to notice your guilt about your friend's injuries as well as your growing feelings for him,"

Lucy blanched as what Porlyusica said hit her. How did she know anything about her 'growing feelings!?' Lucy blushed furiously, caught in a mix of disbelief, embarrassment, and soon to be voiced denial of the fact. She tried to form a coherent sentence to disclaim the healer's assumptions but Porlyusica's wise crinkly eyes caught hers with what could only be described as an expression of warmth and reminiscence. The strange fleeting emotion on the healer's face was masked quickly as she turned away from Lucy, breaking the encounter and leaving Lucy just as speechless as before. Her frazzled rebuttal died on her lips as she stared at the hunched shoulders of the taller woman.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. It's a mistake most people make,"

"Thank you, Miss Polyursica," Lucy smiled warmly, a strong urge to hug the woman overwhelming her, though she refrained. That would likely be her last mistake.

"If you are going to stay by him, at least sit," The healer grabbed a folding chair nearby and provided it for Lucy, then, to make up for her kind gesture, she sternly cast a few probing spells, and checked her vital signs before turning to Natsu and doing the same, all remnants of her gentle connectedness gone.

"Your vital signs are fine and his are improving. If anything changes, let me know immediately. I am going to go inform Markarov of the good news. He's aware of the situation and has asked I keep him up to date," She turned briskly and exited the room. Lucy smiled after her, a new warmth in her heart towards the pink haired woman.

Porlyusica must have evaded Gray and Erza, who still believed themselves exiled form the room, because Lucy sat alone with Natsu for a long while with no interruptions. She took Porlyusica's orders to watch for changes as an oath, observing every small detail about the dragon slayer, vigilant for any signs of distress. Thankfully, Natsu's face remained peaceful all the while, every crease of expression gone, leaving his face with a smooth, innocent appearance. Lucy didn't like the way his fevered flush remained unrelenting, but she hadn't noticed it getting any worse.

"Natsu.." Lucy said, her thoughts drifting back to the time they had spent together on this latest mission. Things had definitely changed between them. In fact, Lucy was sure that their relationship would never be the same again. Even if Natsu didn't remember his delirious confession, Lucy would certainly never forget it, nor would she be able to turn off her new found affection for the fire mage. The only way she would be able to suppress her urges would be to avoid Natsu completely but that really wasn't an option seeing as they were teammates and all. They were practically family.

"What are we going to do.." Lucy said, resting her elbow on the bed and her chin subsequently on her palm, holding her head up in a tired stance. "I guess we'll just have to see what happens when you wake up," With her free hand, she reached out and twirled an unruly tuft of Natsu's pink hair in her fingers, enjoying the soft texture.

Time continued to pass in the quiet infirmary, and Lucy continued to keep watch over Natsu, but he began to swim in and out of her vision as her eye lids became heavy with fatigue. She dreamed of crawling back onto her own cot she felt obligated to keep watch.

She sighed and ceased her mindless fidgeting, stroking Natsu's hair back into place before taking hold of his hand once more. Did his hand just move? Lucy thought as she felt a twitch within her grasp. "Natsu?" Lucy asked, but his face remained slack. Lucy's hopeful spark fizzled out quickly when he didn't respond. Discouraged, she sunk back into her own thoughts and fiddled with Natsu's fingers absently.

It definitely wasn't a bad thing being by Natsu's side. She could feel the familiar magical presence that always accompanied the fire dragon gradually becoming more noticeable. It had all but faded to nothing over the past few days, but now she could feel it begin to flicker and swell like a growing flame, returning to its normal happy kindle. She smiled at the thought of Natsu's magical energy popping and crackling like a midnight campfire and imagined the comforting smell of pine and smoke that accompanied her day dream "Mhmm" she hummed contently, allowing her eyes to slide shut.

"Wha-" Lucy started, the sensation of falling causing her to jerk back into awareness as her head fell forward in a doze. "I guess I really am tired.." Lucy admitted to herself aloud, reluctantly setting Natsu's hand onto the bed and stretching her arms in front of her.

"Then you should get some sleep,"

Lucy nearly fell backward in her chair at the unexpected reply, startling for a second time. "Natsu!" Lucy cried, finding the fire mage's eyes open and trained on her, a perplexed look on his face. He was pale and dark circles rimmed his eyes but he was awake!

"Oh my gosh Natsu, you're..you're," Lucy stuttered too happy, overjoyed, relieved, ecstatic, and overwhelmed to even finish a damn sentence.

"Awesome?" Natsu asked, feigning seriousness in his highly unlikely guess. She could have cried at the joke. It was so good to hear him acting like himself.

"Yes!" She said, falling forward and embracing him in a bear hug -a gentle bear hug anyway. "Oh Natsu! I was so worried you weren't going to wake up. Porlyusica said it was a miracle you had even survived when we brought you back to the guild and Wendy wasn't here to heal you either and your organs were shutting down and...and" Lucy said, tears suddenly filling her eyes. She felt like an emotional school girl. Natsu's face had quickly morphed into one of horror at the emotional roller coaster he'd just witnessed.

"Hey, chill out, it's okay now! I've been better, but more or less I think I'm alright," Natsu patted Lucy on the back awkwardly with his good arm. "No need to worry!"

"Don't EVER scare me like that again, Natsu Dragneel," Lucy said, raising her head to reveal that her tears had not fallen, but been replaced by determined anger. "If you ever do you're DEAD!"

"Aye sir," Natsu said, freezing in fear at the volatile Lucy that had him pinned to the bed, knowing full well he was in no position to evade a Lucy kick if she chose to use one.

"These has been some of the worst few days of my life," Lucy complained, losing some of her spunk and wearily setting her head onto Natsu's stomach, which substituted nicely as a pillow. It rose and fell gently with each of his breaths, the rhythmic movements rocking her senses into a relaxed lull.

"You should go lay down, then. You need a break,"

"It's too far away," Lucy whined, not making any moves to stand.

"Then lay down here," Lucy grudgingly lifted her head as Natsu moved his hips, making room for another body. He pat the open spot on the bed with a serious expression, motioning for her to climb in.

"Natsu I can't just-hey!" Lucy blanched as she felt Natsu's uninjured arm wrap around her torso and give her a tug, dragging half her body successfully onto the mattress before he petered out and groaned in pain.

"You're gonna have to do the rest, you're just too heavy," Natsu gasped.

"Excuse me, jerk! I'm not heavy!" Lucy wiggled partially back to her seat, but Natsu maintained a firm enough grip to prevent her from completely escaping, and when she made no further attempts to distance herself, Natsu rallied and grabbed the crease below her knees to hoist her fully onto the bed.

"Hey, cut it out you're going to hurt yourself-NATSU!" Lucy squealed, finding her body pressed very close the fire wizard's. The hospital cot was only twin sized, so it wasn't meant for two people to begin with, making their proximity unavoidable. Lucy was blushing furiously at that point, Natsu's muscled arm wrapped loosely around her shoulders, pillowing her head and engulfing her in his radiant warmth.

"Well if you had helped, it would have been easier.." Natsu panted.

"Well this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought of getting some rest," From her angle, Natsu's washboard abs looked amazing. She wanted nothing more than to run her hands down them and feel each crease beneath the pads of her fingers. Woah! Totally inappropriate! Lucy averted her eyes and kept her hands as much to herself as she could.

"What? We have sleep overs all the time?" Natsu said, noting her discomfort with confusion.

"You're right-HEY! Wait a minute, they aren't sleep overs, you goon- more like breaking and entering, and sneaking into my bed without my permission" Lucy pushed away, fully intending to leave.

"Ah-" Natsu yelped as Lucy accidentally jostled his chest in her course movements.

"Natsu! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," She instantly stilled, regretting being so reckless when Natsu was still so injured.

"It's alright," Natsu said, huffing painfully. He had become so instantly pale, Lucy was afraid he would pass out again.

"Just, stay...please?"

"Fine," Lucy hesitantly settled into place, her body curling around Natsu's side easily.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far! :)