Chapter 33

The courtyard of the building that was serving as the field hospital had been converted into a hangar. Three gummi ships sat there silently, unused since that last group of injured arrived almost 5 days ago. They had been mostly abandoned, their only visitors being healers that retrieved supplies from any one of them. Nobody seemed to notice there was a stowaway in the smallest ship.

A large, round creature pawed desperately at the window of that ship as it let out pleading whines, trying in vain to find an escape route. It had devoured anything edible it could find and was now hungry again.

It was lucky for the creature that a few healers had entered the courtyard to get more supplies, one of them noticing the movements of the creature and taking sympathy for it. She walked to the gummi ship and opened it, to immediately be leaped upon by a large Dream Eater. It was the meowjesty that had taken a liking to Kairi on the battlefield, and he had followed her onto the ship that day. Nobody noticed it as their focus was on Sora at the time.

It quickly bounded into the building, where it left a trail of chaos in it's wake. Every able body present tried to capture it, only to be quickly shaken off by it's size and strength.

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Kairi was running herself ragged in the meantime. She had agreed to take on the role of healer herself, on the condition of being able to see Sora whenever he needed her. The boy had been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since his sudden improvement a few days earlier, still extremely weakened by blood loss. He kept asking for Kairi during his brief moments of awakening, but he would often have drifted off to sleep again by the time she got to his side.

Riku had been having a rough time. The nerve damage in his right side often caused him enough pain to bring him screaming out of a deep sleep. Kairi was present during several these attacks, often driven close to tears as she watched him thrash around on his bed as several other healers struggled to hold him down long enough to sedate him.

He had been under the knife three times in an effort to repair the damage, and Yen Sid seemed to lose more hope with each attempt, certain that Riku was doomed to live with those excruciating nerve attacks for the rest of his life. He had only just come out of that third procedure and was sleeping peacefully for the time being as Kairi sat at his side holding a cool cloth against his face, remembering how she had done the same thing for him the night that Xigbar wounded him.

Yen Sid was the only other one in the room, keeping a close watch out for any complications as Riku recovered. He tried to keep a stoic face in Kairi's presence, but she could feel the tension radiating from him. He was beginning to have doubts.

"You mentioned the odds were high that the nerve damage might never be repaired. What could such a thing mean for him in the long run?" Kairi asked Yen Sid desperately. "How will he be able to cope?"

"If nothing improves for him in the coming days, he'll have to learn how to live with it. We can't keep him sedated like this for the rest of his life. I don't think that Riku himself would stand for it. Things can be done to ease his pain, but it may never completely disappear." He answered in a depressed but steady voice.

"Sora... Kairi... I- uhn!" Riku stirred slightly, disturbing the injured arm with his movements. Kairi was quick to still him, taking care not to disturb the injury further.

"Hush, try not to move too much!" She chided gently before turning back to Yen Sid. "How long do you think it'll be before Sora recovers? I think what these two need most right now is each other! Easy, easy!" She added as Riku stirred again, arching his back and whimpering in pain as his right side began to flare with pain. Whimpers quickly escalated to cries and within minutes he was thrashing on the bed again, letting out shrieks of agony.

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"Somebody stop that thing!" A healer shouted at anyone in the hall that could hear. The meowjesty had managed to escape into a nearby corridor and was making it's way down the hall in a series of leaps. The Dream Eater froze against a wall near a door, surrounded by people, and began to let out high pitched, chirping barks.

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"Come on Riku, breathe! I know it hurts, but you gotta calm down and breathe through it!" Kairi spoke those words to him like a mantra, trying in vain to get through to him, despite knowing he was too lost in his pain to listen. She looked to the other person in the room desperately, and Yen Sid rose with a speed that was unlike him, quickly but calmly walking to the door to go retrieve another healer to aid them.

Something large and round bounded through the door the instant it was opened, knocking Yen Sid off his feet and landing with a resounding flop on the bed.

"Get off of him! You'll hurt him!" Kairi shrieked at... whatever it was that just unceremoniously leaped into the room. She didn't try to take in details immediately, more concerned about how much damage that thing might have just inflicted on her friend. She was startled to see what it was- her Meowjesty, and it was spinning magic, a resounding blue-green glow forming around both it and Riku.

"What on earth just happened?" Kairi asked in shock when it was all over. Riku seemed to have calmed down, and the meowjesty was now perched on him, showering the sleeping boy with sloppy, loving kisses. Kairi didn't know whether to laugh or just stare at the bizarre sight before her.

"I think it heard him screaming and felt compelled to cast Curaga on him... but that alone couldn't possibly have set him completely right! You don't suppose... Dream Eaters are capable of stronger magic than we possess? And how did it get here?" Yen Sid said as he rose to his feet, still stunned at the prospect of being bowled over by a meowjesty.

"Am I still dreaming?" Came another voice. Riku too had been awoken by the sudden chaos, and the first thing he had seen was a Dream Eater- who was now perched at the foot of his bed, fast asleep.

"Riku?" Kairi had to take care not to jostle him too much as she cautiously approached him and took him in a warm embrace. "I've been so scared for you!" she said in a quavering voice. Riku let out a slight gasp as she grazed the open cut on his side, but quickly overlooked it and tried to return her hug.

Something was off. His left arm responded normally, but no matter how hard he tried, Riku's right arm would not budge. He turned around desperately, thinking he was probably just immobilized by something, but quickly flew into full blown panic as he saw nothing that would hinder his movement. His entire body started trembling as shock set in, yet his arm remained still.

"Oh no! Please No!" He exclaimed.

"Riku? What's wrong?" Kairi exclaimed as she released him from her embrace, alarmed at his show of panic.

"My arm!" Riku exclaimed as a hideous chill of terror ran across his entire body. "I can't move my arm!"

End of Chapter 33.