Narumi hurried into the bathroom afraid to leave Natsume alone any more than he had been. The sight shocked him; Natsume was curled up on the floor, deathly pale. He had blood on the corner of his mouth and on his hand. He had closed his eyes and was breathing faintly.
"Natsume!" Narumi yelled fearing he was unconscious. The fear dimmed when he saw Natsume open his eyes. They were filled with so much pain that it shocked Narumi. He sat down next to Natsume, "Keep your eyes open for me please Natsume."
Natsume looked away from Narumi and into the wall, but kept his eyes open. His hand was gripping the healing alice stone that hung around his neck.
A few times Natsume's eyes started to close, but every time Narumi called his name. Each time it was harder for him to force them open. He felt like he was losing the battle. Narumi must have sensed it too, because he started talking sometimes asking Natsume questions to keep him awake. Desperately hoping Subaru would come back soon. The pain in Natsume's eyes didn't become smaller in the time Narumi was there with him.
After some time Subaru came back. They could tell that he had hurried because of his panting; he had his arms full of pill packages. By then Natsume was only half awake. Subaru immediately saw the change and literally dropped the pills on the floor and hurried over to him. He placed his hand on Natsume's chest and used his alice, frowning as he felt all the pain he absorbed. When he sensed Natsume was in no immediate danger he stopped and went back to gather the pills he had dropped. He got a glass of water and found the pills he needed.
"Natsume I need you to swallow these pills for me, okay? Then I'll let you sleep."
If he was in normal condition Natsume could have swallowed all the pills at once, but with his lungs working as poorly as they did now Subaru had to coax pills into him one at a time giving him a moment to catch his breath before swallowing the next pill.
"Sleep now Natsume." Subaru said after he had given him the last pill, "You can go to sleep now. Don't worry."
It took a moment for the message to make it through the veil of pain that clouded his senses, but as soon as it did Natsume lowered his guard and allowed his consciousness to fade. The hand that had tightly held onto the necklace around his neck now fell limply down to his side.
Subaru took a deep breath and allowed his mind to relax before he picked Natsume up and bore him to the bed. He put an oxygen mask over his head and pads on his chest to measure his heart rate.
Narumi had gone out from the bathroom at the same time as Subaru and now he sat in the chair beside Natsume's bed watching what he was doing. Natsume hadn't moved an inch since Subaru had laid him down on the bed. He hadn't moved about in his sleep at all. The only thing that showed Narumi that he wasn't dead was the faint movement of his chest when he breathed and the fog on the inside of the oxygen mask when he breathed out. Soon the beeping of the machine that measured Natsume's heart rate disturbed the quietness of the room.
Subaru went over to stand beside Natsume. He, once again, held his hands an inch over Natsume's chest trying to repair as much of the damage as possible.
"Did that happen because of the poison or because he has the lifespan-shortening alice type?" Narumi asked quietly.
Subaru didn't look up from what he was doing, but he answered him, "Mostly it's because of his alice type, but since the poison had already left his lungs in a weakened state it became more life-threatening than it would have been otherwise. The reason he's in this state now is of mixed reasons, his alice, wounds, exhaustion, and the poison he was given."
"I didn't know that his body was already in this state because of his alice." Narumi admitted.
"I don't blame you. I have never met anyone who has been as good at hiding pain as him. It has taken the hospital years to get Natsume to be honest and not mask his pain when he is here. I don't know what causes him to hide it… I wish I knew. It's amazing how he can carry on like this." Subaru said quietly.
They sat quietly for a while until Subaru lowered his hands from Natsume. Subaru sighed. Natsume's face, that had been as pale as the white pillow under his head, now had a little bit more color to it.
"I'm guessing he'll wake up some time tomorrow." Subaru said.
Narumi stood up from the chair and said, "I better get some work done. Keep me posted on Natsume's condition."
Subaru nodded, "Send in Tsubasa and Misaki if they are still in the hall. They're probably worried."
Narumi went out of the room and a second later Tsubasa and Misaki came inside.
Subaru walked down the halls towards Natsume's room. It had been a day since he had lost consciousness and he hadn't woken up yet. He had been checking on Natsume as often as he could, but it had been a couple of hours since last time.
He finally got to Natsume's room. It was night so there was almost quiet in the hospital. Subaru gently pushed the door open. His eyes immediately landed on the empty bed in the middle of the room.
Where is he? – Subaru thought worried.
But when he looked up he saw Natsume sitting on the windowsill, breathing the fresh air. He gazed up into the sky, but Subaru knew that Natsume was aware that he was here. He still looked pale, but his eyes were clearer than before. The thing that worried Subaru the most was Natsume's heavy breathing, it was a cool night so he could see the fog that was in front of his mouth when he breathed out.
He looked over at the bed and saw the oxygen mask and the heart rate measurer turned off. Something that Natsume had learned to do years ago, after all the times he had just disappeared from the hospital. They had stopped being surprised about it long ago. Subaru was relieved that Natsume had stayed this time.
Natsume finally looked over at Subaru.
"How long have you been awake?" Subaru asked him.
Natsume swung his legs back into the room and faced Subaru. He was still sitting on the windowsill, "An hour, maybe."
Subaru walked over to him and said, "You're having trouble breathing." It was a statement not a question so Natsume didn't answer it.
Now that he had gotten closer, Subaru could see perspiration on Natsume's forehead. He also felt the heat that radiated from him when he placed his hand on Natsume's brow.
"And you have a fever." Subaru stated and looked into Natsume's crimson red eyes. He could read absolutely nothing from them, but as always it felt like he could see right through you. Subaru frowned at Natsume, "There is something you're not telling me."
Natsume just continued to stare at him. He could hear Natsume's heavy breathing, feel it on his face… it carried the faint scent of blood.
Natsume closed his eyes and broke the contact between them.
"You've…" Subaru started. He didn't get to finish his sentence because at that exact moment Natsume hunched forward and started coughing. Natsume's hands immediately took action, one of them flying up to cover his mouth and the other grabbing hold of the window frame to keep him from falling forward.
Subaru quickly overcame the shock and put one of his hands on Natsume's chest trying to heal whatever was making him cough. The other hand held Natsume's shoulder, steadying him. Subaru could feel Natsume's whole body shake. Even as the coughing subsided Natsume continued to tremble.
When the coughing finally stopped Natsume leaned forward and rested his head on Subaru's shoulder. The hand he had covered his mouth with fell down into his lap. Subaru saw with relief that there wasn't any blood on it. But still the pain he absorbed from Natsume was immense. Subaru pitied him; a child should never have to bear that much pain. He could hear Natsume's shaking breath come from his shoulder. It was gradually becoming steadier as Subaru continued to heal him.
He lowered his hand from Natsume's chest when he heard Natsume breathing almost normally.
"Natsume?"
Natsume slowly pulled himself upright using the hand that still held the window frame. He ran his hand over his face tiredly. Tired of always hurting… of always being in pain. He had always been relieved of most of it when Subaru healed him, but it was still there, growing stronger. Sometimes it was a task to even stand up… days when the pain was so bad that he didn't know if he could take it. He feared sometimes that if someone bumped into him, he would go down… and stay there. Since the pain was always there he had learned to control it to a certain degree were other people couldn't see it. But that also meant that he could never let his guard down, he could never relax. Of course there were some times when he would slip… when the pain suddenly becomes so strong that he can't hide it under a mask.
Like, the time when he had coughed up blood in front of Tsubasa. There was nothing he could have done about it, but still after that Tsubasa had entitled himself as someone who had to look after him. Ruka was probably also suspicious… and Mikan…
Subaru looked startled into Natsume's eyes he saw deep levels of pain and exhaustion in the ruby pools. He felt guilty for not having the knowledge or skill to draw to pain out of his eyes forever. It was hard for him to see someone in so much suffering and not having anything to do about it. His healers instinct told him he needed to get him to rest some more. All the wounds on Natsume's body were a long way from healed. It would probably take more than a month for him to be back into shape. But he knew from experience that Natsume would be overexerting his body after no more than a week.
Subaru reached up and touched Natsume's arm. Instantly he felt Natsume jerk beneath his grip. It was like something snapped inside Natsume's head that pulled him out of his stupor and throw up his barriers. All emotion fled from Natsume's eyes, as they once again became the unreadable orbs. He looked at Subaru. Sweat rolled down the side of his face and his cheeks were flushed red from the fewer.
"Come on." Subaru said and guided Natsume over towards the bed. Natsume sat down on the edge of the bed. "I need to change the bandage around your chest. Wait here."
Subaru went over to the other side of the room and got the emergency kit. When he got back to Natsume, Natsume had taken his shirt off revealing the white bandage that wrapped itself around his chest and back. There was also bandage around his arm where it had been cut. Subaru untied the knots and unwrapped the bandage. He gulped as he again saw all the wounds that covered Natsume's body. He had a bruise over the place were he had broken two of his ribs. There were also older scars behind the new ones.
Subaru began cleaning the wounds. He could feel Natsume shaking under his hands and worked quicker knowing that Natsume was straining himself to sit up and not lay down. His exhaustion was finally catching up with him. He looked up and saw Natsume's face drawn and his eyes were closed. Subaru didn't notice that he had just been sitting there staring at Natsume, until Natsume opened his eyes and stared squarely into Subaru's.
He jerked and then began wrapping bandage around Natsume's chest and arm. When Subaru finished, Natsume sighed and lowered himself down onto the bed. He flinched slightly when his ribs made contact with the mattress. His body shook with exhaustion as he finally succumbed to sleep.
Subaru smiled and pulled the comforter over him. He decided to stay there for a while, since he wasn't needed anywhere.