Goku's stiff body jolted once with the shock of the defibrillator, and the electricity that surged through him. After the second shock, Goku's body twitched for a moment, making them think he was out of harms way, but when Sanzo took a step towards the bed, the boy's body suddenly went into convulsions. His whole body shook, and Sanzo and the doctor tried their best to calm him, les his body give out again. They held him down and that only served to make the boy convulse more. Soon, blood was coming from his mouth, and his lips moved as if calling out to someone.
The room was deathly silent as Goku fell still and silent once more. Hakkai had long stopped looking, facing the far wall. Gojyo was right by him with a hand on his friend's shoulder and his head down. He was a strong guy, but this was too much even for the toughest man. He always fought with the little monkey, but he never wanted this.
After another moment of checking over Goku's vitals, the doctor shook his head and stood up. This action startled Sanzo, and he followed the doctor with his eyes as he walked towards one of the other beds and started packing up. Sanzo didn't understand. Why were they all silent? Why was the doctor giving up? He said Goku was gone, but no… Sanzo could still hear him. Sanzo could still hear that annoyingly high-pitched voice calling for him, screaming for him, begging him to save him.
The doctor was almost done packing when a hand slammed down in front of him. He looked up, startled, to see Sanzo pointing his gun at his head. Gojyo stared in disbelieve at the desperate look on the monk's face, and the poor doctor was scared out of his mind.
"What do you think you're doing? Shock him again!"
"S-Sanzo…"
"I-I'm sorry, sir, but there's nothing more we can do!"
"Do it."
"Sir-"
"DO IT!"
"Sanzo, stop!" Hakkai had to interject, looking and sounding quite distressed, himself.
"Sanzo, I'm sorry, but Goku is GONE! We can't do anything to bring him back!"
"No.. no, no, no. He's not dead! We can still help him!"
"What?"
"I can still hear him… his annoying voice is still in my head!"
Hakkai didn't know what to say. Either Sanzo was delusional, overcome with grief, or there really was another chance to save Goku…. But only ONE, and it was slim. Courteously, and with a weak voice, Hakkai begged the doctor to try just once more, and reluctantly, he did.
The air was heavy with worry and anticipation, and nobody took a breath as the doctor prepared the defibrillator once more, and slow as a snail in a puddle of molasses, brought it down. To see Goku's body jolt up, and his chest to move up and down for the first time in early fifteen minutes made almost all of them shed tears of relief and joy. The boy was breathing again… but what would happen next?
--
Sanzo….
Sanzo, can't see…
Hard to breathe…
Sanzo… W-where are you?
Slowly, Goku's eyes began to open, and the first thing he saw was a dark ceiling with a spinning fan above his head. Though, the fan wasn't spinning. It was just staying still, there, as if it were broken. Not having the strength to do anything else, he simply stared at the unmoving fan, trying to will it to move with his tired mind. After a long while, his eyes began moving, and he found a room all around him. He was in a room, not that he recognized it at all. But, he was glad to know it wasn't just a fan nearby him.
Searching his surroundings, he finally spotted something familiar; their travel-pack. ..That's right, he thought. They were on a journey West… one he almost missed out on. Though he couldn't quite remember what had happened at first, the moment he tried to sit up, he was reminded by a painful jab in his abdomen. Figuring that he didn't want to keep lying down, he once again tried to sit, making it this time. However, his success came at a price, as the pain in his lower torso was met with another one in his ribs.
Looking down, now dizzy and nauseous, Goku saw that his entire front was wrapped tightly with bandages, some now stained with his blood. That explained the difficulty breathing. His head was spinning, and his chest was still incredibly tight, but he knew something was amiss. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed, and the minute his head stopped spinning, his eyes widened. There were three other beds in the room, and two were occupied, covered with their blankets. Something dark was leaking through them in different places, and Goku forced himself to stand. He stumbled over to the nearest bed and just barely notice a patch of red hair sticking out over the top.
The dark liquid on the blanket startled him, and even before he reached out to touch it, he feared what it was. Blood. Gojyo…he was dead.
"G-Gojyo… Hakkai, look! He's-"
Just like the other… Hakkai was also covered, also bleeding, as was a smaller figure by his head, also covered, also bleeding, also dead. Goku's hands were shaking, and his face was paling. Just when he was about to crack, he heard footsteps by the door. Turning his head so quickly made him dizzy again, but eventually, his vision focused on the figure in the doorway. Sanzo.
Goku could not understand what he was seeing. Sanzo was standing in the doorway with a beer in hand, and his gun in the other. He was completely soaked in blood. And not just any blood, Goku hoped, as he slowly and shakily got up on his feet.
"S-Sanzo…"
"You…should be in bed."
Goku was speechless at first. What could he say? He looked back at the other two and took in a gulp of air.
"Sanzo… what happened to them…?What happened?"
"They're sleeping…"
"S-sleeping? No, Sanzo… look at them! They're not asleep! Sanzo…"
"…"
"Sanzo…"
Tears started to form in Goku's eyes. Reality was catching up to him, and he hated it. His heart ached in his damaged chest, and it all only hurt more as Sanzo took a step towards him, raising his gun.
"Sanzo… no, please… Sanzo…!"
"They're sleeping… and so you will be."
Goku shut his eyes tightly, hearing a gunshot ringing in his ears. It was so loud, it made his head throb…but… should it have?
--
Slowly, Goku's eyes opened, and he was suddenly staring up at an unmoving ceiling fan. He closed his eyes, then, not caring… until he remembered what he had just seen. In a panic, he sat right up in bed, almost not caring how much pain he was in. his torso was completely and tightly bandaged, only something was different… there was a bandage around his head, too.
Panic began to rise in the pit of Goku's stomach, and he almost got whiplash from turning his head so quickly to search the room. He still wasn't prepared for what was there. Two of his companions were, indeed in the room, and they were covered in blood. Only this time, they weren't under the blankets. Gojyo was lying on his side with an arm draped over the side of the bed, and Hakkai was sitting back against the wall, Hakuryuu lying in his lap.
On very shaky legs, he forced himself to stand, and walked over to Gojyo. He was smothered in blood… as was Hakkai. Goku wanted to weep… worse than the meadow with the hands tearing at him, seeing his friends…like that… Slowly, he reached out his hand, but a noise stopped him. Someone was standing at the door.
Goku was terrified, but he still could not help but look up. There, as he had feared, was Sanzo, staring down at him, first with surprised eyes, and then his head went down so that Goku could not see his face. In his hands was a gun, and a beer can… Swallowing his breath, Goku used the edge of Gojyo's bed to help him stand and he was crying by the time he was full-height before Sanzo.
"S-Sanzo…"
"Goku… you should be sleeping."
No… not again!
Goku couldn't stand to hear it happen all again! Though, this time, Sanzo walked towards him without another word, and Goku shut his eyes, fearing the next set of events. The last set…
Amazing how a dropping beer can could sounds like a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun. It was enough to convince Goku that Sanzo had fired on him, and he awaited the oncoming bullet. But, it wasn't death's grip that surrounded him… it was Sanzo. Feeling the warm, gentle hands around him, Goku gasped and opened his eyes. Sanzo had dropped both items he was carrying and was hugging Goku as tightly as he could. When Sanzo spoke, his voice was shaking, and that scared Goku almost as much as he was afraid, before.
"I swear, Goku… if you ever do that to me again, I'll kill you, myself!"
"S-Sanzo…"
Goku heard more shuffling behind him, and when Sanzo let him go, Goku saw happy faces smiling at him.
"Goku… welcome back!"
"It's a miracle… we thought we had lost you!"
"Guys… Y-you're all okay!"
"Mm? Oh, you mean this?" Gojyo picked at his bloody clothing.
"Nah… it isn't ours! Only a stubborn monkey could bleed this much and still get up afterwards!"
Goku looked to Hakkai for clarification, and the brunette smiled sweetly at him ad nodded. Goku's tears began falling again as he turned to Sanzo.
"Oh, Sanzo… they're alive! They're not… and you dind't…"
"Mm?"
"Oh, Sanzo…."
Goku threw his arms around Sanzo and cried into his robes again.
"! Goku-?"
"I promise, Sanzo… Never again!"
"Goku…"
Hakkai lookedat the two and wiped away his own tears.
"Sanzo… you knew all along he would be okay!"
"No.. all I did was listen."
Goku pulled himself away and looked up at his keeper.
"You were calling me, weren't you?"
Goku nodded.
"I wasn't ready… I didn't want to be where I was… so all I could do was call out to you! Sanzo… you really listened!"
"Of course…" He said, setting a hand on Goku's head.
"How could I EVER ignore a voice so noisy? You drive me nuts, Goku."
"Heh… yeah. ………………Sanzo?"
"What?"
"…I'm hungry."
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