Ok, here is the latest chapter. Sorry for the wait everyone, I have been crazy busy. I hope you all enjoy!
Levy sat in the back of the taxi, looking to the right of her; monitoring his breathing. She knew from experience in working in the ER that when ribs were damaged, there could also be damage to the lungs; if punctured. Gajeel seemed to act fine, yet she knew he was far from it. When satisfied with his pace in breath, she looked out the window; passing by buildings she wasn't quite familiar with. Gajeel had said an address to the driver, assuming it was his own; her stomach turned with nervousness.
"Alright, we're here!" The driver said, pulling up to a rather large and luxurious looking house.
"Th-thank you…" Levy managed to say, stepping out of the cab.
She reached into her pocket to pull out some money for the man, but was bypassed by Gajeel quickly handing him cash instead.
"Thank you sir." The driver tipped his hat to him and then drove off.
Levy glared at him, then her expression changed when she noticed his appearance had changed dramatically. He seemed to hunch over and was now holding onto his left side harder than before; his breathing still seemed even. Yet she saw the sharp breaths he would take when pain became too much at times.
"Gajeel are you…" Levy then stopped abruptly noticing his facial expression.
"I'm fine…" Gajeel said sharply.
Levy turned her attention to the house, it stood on a hill overlooking Magnolia; what a view. It was a modern type house, with grey exterior walls and black exterior trim; followed by a dark grey door. Then she noticed the Iron beams that were in the front of the house, they arched together like a canopy. The way it all flowed together had taken her breath away, she would have never expected such an elegant home were his. Levy walked beside him, monitoring him as he walked to the front door; pulling the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. Inside, the house looked bigger than she could have ever imagined, the floors were hardwood and the furniture was black with steel framing. His coffee table alone looked like it cost her entire paycheck if it were to break. It was solid steel and on top was a thick plate of glass; the feet looked like a panthers paw carved out of steel.
He sat on the black leather couch, wincing in pain from his motions.
"Man, he sure did some damage!" Gajeel said, trying to make a joke out of the situation.
Levy rushed over to him, looking at his side.
"How's the pain? Does it hurt to breathe? How many ribs cracked?!" Levy pushed the words out faster than her brain could register.
Gajeel placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her, intently.
"Hey, I'll be fine…as for your sudden rambling…" Gajeel chuckled, than regretted it when the pain hit again.
Gajeel took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.
"Well you don't look fine to me." Levy protested, her hands on her hips.
"Well, this isn't one of my finest moments…I'll give you that." Gajeel smirked. "I can seem rather charming at times." His smirk lingered, his eyes still fixated on her. "Geez, a guy tries to be chivalrous and this happens."
Levy felt the blush start to rush over her cheeks, yet again; he seemed to always have that effect on her.
Levy turned to look at the wall opposite of her and then look back at him; the blush still prominent.
"I'll uh…go get some ice." Levy shuffled away, disappearing into the kitchen.
Once she walked inside, the sheer size took her by surprise; it was nearly as big as her living room and kitchen combined. With shock still plastered on her face, she walked to his stainless steel fridge; noticing the freezer was located on the bottom. She opened it and looked inside, noticing it was completely full with ice and nothing else; aside from a few frozen pieces of meat.
"He must do some pretty extreme workouts…" She whispered, remembering that an ice bath seemed to do the trick after intense workouts. She had remembered from her years in college that it helped to reduce swelling.
Levy pulled out a bag of ice and then saw a rag hanging on the refrigerators door handle; she pulled it off and wrapped the ice within it. Levy put the remaining ice back inside the freezer and carefully carried out the ice bundled inside of the rag. Once she approached the living room, she noticed he was no longer sitting on the couch; she sighed and started to look through his house.
"Gajeel!" Levy shouted scoping through the various rooms, still no sign of him.
Levy continued to scower through is rather large house, until she heard the sound of drawers being opened and shut; rather roughly. She followed the sound and approached a door that was slightly closed; the sound became louder. Levy opened the door, while knocking; looking inside to see Gajeel opening a drawer. His hand was clutching at his side rather desperately now, the pain must be getting worse.
"Gajeel, here you are!" Levy said, rather reluctantly; rushing over to him.
Gajeel shut up quickly, then hunching over from his abrupt shot of pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry if I startled you…" Levy said, feeling a little guilty.
"No worries…" Gajeel replied.
Levy watched as he slowly walked over to the bed on the right side of the room; next to a rather large window. She looked through the window to the magnificent view of Magnolia; it looked amazing from such a high view.
"Here, I brought this for you." Levy said, walking over to him.
Gajeel nodded and slowly pulled his shirt over his head, showing is beautifully sculpted chest; followed by the bulge in his arms when he flexed. She then looked down his side to see the dark bruising that had spread down his left side. Levy felt a lot worse about the whole situation, she felt like it was her fault; yet she seemed to feel that way about a lot of things. Levy gently placed the rag full of ice onto his side, she saw his face wince in pain; then subside.
"Thanks shrimp." Gajeel said, holding onto the ice.
Levy rolled her eyes at her new nickname, well it could be worse.
"Yeah, well it's the least I could do…" Levy then looked to the floor. "You're going to need someone to care for you until you are fully healed, since the broken ribs pretty much make it difficult for you to do much of anything."
"Yeah, kinda figured." He scoffed. "Good thing I don't have any matches booked yet."
Levy felt a little reluctant at his lack of fights coming up, she felt better knowing the sudden downtime wouldn't get in the way of him needing to work.
"I know you don't want to, but you're going to need to see a doctor; at least for what you can do for the pain." Levy stared at him, waiting for him to protest.
Gajeel looked at her amused, and then looked up at the ceiling; taking a deep breath.
"Listen, I don't need to see a doctor; pain doesn't bother me too much. Aside from personal care…well…" Gajeel turned his attention to her again and levy didn't like the new gleam in his eyes. "It sure is a good thing I got you around." He smirked.
Levy jolted to full attention, her face turning pale.
"What?!" Levy exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"
"Well let's see, I saved you from a drunken idiot…who was hell bent on taking you home might I add…" Gajeel said, his smirk still lingering. "So that means you owe me…big time."
Levy was speechless, she couldn't believe this man right now; she had her hands full working overtime. She couldn't imagine taking on another job of treating a professional fighter. They needed checkups at least twice a day, depending on just how bad the injury was; that didn't include the physical therapy before they resumed training again.
"No way….no!" Levy protested, and then was met with crimson red eyes again.
"Look shrimp…you owe me." Gajeel said. That sexy, yet mischievous smirk on his face. "Besides, I can't have a bunch of people finding out I got hurt. I'm unstoppable, remember?!" He chuckled, ignoring the pain.
Levy sighed and then looked at him, her lip pursed out in a pout.
"Fine, but I'm going to need supplies." Levy sighed.
Levy arrived back at Gajeel's carrying all the supplies needed for his recovery. She brought a nursing pillow, for cushioning when resting; along with a real icepack (no more ice filled rags). She scoped his living room, before heading into his room once again. She was pleased to see he also had a black leather recliner; also a god investment when dealing with broken ribs. She scurried through the hallway and into his room, she saw Gajeel; lying in bed watching a fighting match on TV (go figure).
She rolled her eyes in amusement, then walked over to him.
"Ok, let's readjust your sitting positon." Levy said, feeling like she was working at the hospital.
"Hmm…I see the nurse coming out, you always this bossy?" He chuckled.
"Well do you want my help or not?" She scoffed, unamused at his joke.
"Humph, well do I at least get to see you in a nurse's outfit, yeah know with the little hat and everything?" He smirked. "Oh, don't forget the knee high tights and heels…" He chuckled.
"Seriously?!" Levy sighed. "That's only for naughty Halloween costumes, I don't wear those things…" She looked away, her arms crossed.
"Fine, fine…" He looked out the window. "It would be nice to look at though…just sayin…"
Levy blushed, this was going to be a little difficult. Especially since she had a pretty vivid dream a few days prior, that included him in it; naughty nurse outfit and all.