Hurt Chapter 6:
Worry
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo went back to her room with the soup and chopsticks. Once there, she noticed Kisshu was still unconscious, and Taruto looked scared. "Taruto, I know you're worried, but the medicine will help Kisshu get better. Try to stay calm, okay?" Ichigo said. Normally Taruto would have made some hag-related comment, but instead he seemed to be trying not to cry. Worried by this, Ichigo put the bowl of soup down on her desk, and went over to Taruto. Then she hugged him. At first he stiffened, but then, to both of their surprise, he hugged her back and started crying.
At first Ichigo was shocked by this, but she quickly pushed that feeling away, and held Taruto tight. "You're scared for Kisshu, aren't you?" she asked him softly.
"Yeah," Taruto sniffed. "He's always been like my brother, and though at first I was more attached to Pai, Kisshu was always there for me. I don't know what I'll do if he dies."
Ichigo replied comfortingly, "He won't die, and we'll both be here for him, until he gets better and after, okay?" Taruto nodded.
Then the two of them heard a noise from the bed. Taruto wiped his eyes, and Ichigo went over to Kisshu, who was waking up. "Kisshu, we have some medicine for you, but you need to eat something first," Ichigo told him. She picked up the soup and chopsticks, and sat down next to him. Kisshu slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard and pillows. Ichigo started to hand him the chopsticks, but stopped as she noticed that he couldn't lift his right arm without pain.
Sighing softly, Ichigo said, "Open up." Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo started to feed him the noodles. When he had finished, Ichigo turned to Taruto and said, "What are the instructions for the medication?"
Taruto looked at the bottle and said, "One spoonful every six hours. We'll have to keep track of the time."
Ichigo said, "My cell phone alarm will help if we set it to go off every six hours." Then she got a spoon and took the bottle from Taruto. She poured some onto the spoon, and held it out to Kisshu, who looked at it like it was poison.
"I hate that stuff," he said.
"Everyone hates medicine, but you need to take it if you want to get better," Ichigo said firmly.
Kisshu grimaced, but opened his mouth and allowed Ichigo to feed him the medicine.
Kisshu's POV
Kisshu felt the medicine burn his throat and started coughing, hard. Dimly he was aware of Ichigo rubbing his back, trying to help him, but the pain was too much, and he felt himself passing out again.
Ichigo's POV
Ichigo rubbed Kisshu's back, trying to quiet the coughing, which worried her, but Kisshu soon passed out again, she assumed from the pain. She started to lie him back down, but noticed that his breathing became harsher when she did so. By this point she was getting tired anyways, it was getting kind of late. Making up her mind, she turned to Taruto. "Taruto, I'm going to have to help Kisshu sit up while he's sleeping. It's getting kind of late, so do you want to sleep in here, or the guest room?"
Taruto rubbed his eyes, and said, "Can I sleep in here?"
Ichigo smiled and said, "Sure, you can have the sleeping bag down there."
"Thanks, Ichigo," Taruto said. "But where will you sleep?"
Ichigo's smile softened, and she looked down at Kisshu, sleeping more peacefully now. "I'll just sleep with Kisshu," she said. "That way I'll be able to support him. I'll set my cell phone alarm for his next dose of medicine. If I don't hear it, will you come wake me up?"
Taruto nodded, and climbed sleepily into Ichigo's sleeping bag. He was asleep soon after. Ichigo set her cell phone to ring at 6 AM. Then she climbed behind Kisshu, and carefully rested his head in her lap. Soon after, she went to sleep as well.