Chapter 16: A Scare

Tai sets Summer down on the couch gently. "I'll get a new fire going. It's about dead."

I bite my lip as I kneel down beside her. "What the hell really happened, Tai?" He couldn't have told the whole story. She's basically in a coma, and there's nothing visibly wrong with her.

I hear him moving wood into the fire and striking the match. "I told you. There were Grimm, a blizzard, and then she passed out in the cave. I have no idea what could have happened during that time."

I stand up and face him, hands clenched at my side. "Think, Tai! There has to be something!" There's no way she just passed out for no reason. I look down at her form, nervous and worried that there's something terribly wrong with her. I bring my hand to her cheek, and as my hand passes over her cloak, I notice something. There, in the pristine white that her cloak should be, is dots of blood. Where is it from? Grimm bleed black and their blood disintegrates. Unless Tai bled on her, and from what I saw, he's not injured, there's no way that it should be there.

I carefully peel away the cloth to reveal her outfit. All along the gray and white of her combat attire is a blood stain that is too horrific for us not to have noticed earlier. I gasp at the sight and bite my lip. This is what's keeping her under. She slowly dying of blood loss. I turn to Tai and motion toward the ungodly amount of blood. "Get me a lot of rags. Resort to clothing if you have to. I have to stop the bleeding!" I tear open her corset, and when I do, the blood trickles from her clothing. There was only a small hole in her clothes, but the sheer amount of blood tells me that the wound is deep and could prove fatal if I'm not quick enough.

"Please don't die on me, Sum." I whisper it to her as I take her cloak and try to press it into the wound. "I can't lose you now, not when I just got you." I can feel the tears running down my face, but I don't care. The woman I love is lying here, bleeding to death, and there's hardly anything I can do. I can't even seem to keep my voice even anymore. Tai comes back with all kinds of rags and clothes. I give him a shaky smile before tearing the cloths from his arms and move to press the wound even more. The bleeding is slowing, but I can't tell if it's from blood loss or the compression. I'm really hoping it's from the latter.

Hours pass, and there's no true improvement. The blood flow is slowed to a trickle now, and it's not all that urgent, but I still keep my hand on it. I'd rather her not use up all of the blood that her Aura is slowly replenishing. It could kill her if I let go, and that's the best incentive I've got. I've got to keep her alive, for her sake and the sake of our team, for me, for the world. I can't lose her. The world can't lose such a shining light, such an optimistic soul. I can't let her last breath be for nothing. I can't let her go.

I lay my head on the couch beside her hip and take deep breaths. This is no time to get overly emotional. This is no time to have a breakdown. I have to keep it together, for her, for my team, for myself. I gulp. This has to end well. "I'm counting on you, Summer, to heal. Please, heal." I close my eyes, just to rest them. I can't have myself falling asleep when I need to keep pressure on her side. The next thing I know, I'm opening my eyes, and I know I fell asleep. I curse myself. It could have been a few seconds, a few minutes, or even a few hours. Shit! Then, I understand what woke me. Something bumped me. I sit up slowly, coming to full awareness.

I see her move, and I gasp. "Rae?" My heart stops. She's awake. I almost jump for joy, but I stop myself so that I can keep pressure on the wound.

I shush her and use my free hand, covered in blood that it is, and carefully wipe the hair from her face. "I'm here, Sum. I'm right here."

She grits her teeth every time she moves. "It hurts."

I bite my lip. "I know, babe, but it'll be okay. Your Aura will heal it no time. Just wait." I swallow a lump in my throat. I don't know why I'm saying this. Is it to comfort her or myself?

She smiles weakly. "Of course, Rae. I could never just leave you." She slowly lifts her arm, pale as it is, pale as her entire body is, and touches my cheek. "I'll be up and slicing Grimm before you know it." She winks before wincing.

I roll my eyes. "You really need to just calm down and worry about healing. I'd rather not have to go through you almost dying again, especially so soon." I take my hand away from the wound, and I see that no blood is leaking from it. It's not as scary as it was when I first saw it, but it's still a horribly jagged line of crimson. I look her in the eyes and raise my eyebrow. "How did this even happen?"

She swallows hard. "I, um, well, it was a passing Beowolf. When the snow started to fall, they all ran, but before they disappeared, one clipped me with their claw."

My brow furrows. "And you didn't tell Tai because?" How could she not tell him? How could he not even notice!?

She laughs nervously before coughing. It's a horribly grating sound, like a mix between sifting sand and a light bark. "I didn't want him to know. I thought that I could just get back here, but he changed the plan. He decided to hole up in a nearby cave, and I agreed at the time. It was more sensible."

I sigh. "That was reckless and irresponsible, Summer. You didn't even tell him that you were wounded."

She shrugs before hissing in pain. "I forgot about it. The adrenaline from outrunning the blizzard and the fight pushed the pain away until we were in the cave for a while. I just remember my vision flickering before i closed my eyes, then I woke up here." She lays back and closes her eyes. "In hindsight, I should have said something as soon as it happens, but you know what they say about hindsight."

I chuckle at that. "Well, we know now, so just rest. Heal." I bite my lip as I stand and look down at her. A small smile tugs at my lips. She's safe now. She's going to make it. I lean down and kiss her forehead before going to the bathroom to wash the blood off. I want all of the evidence from this incident off of me right now. I want only happiness, not the stains of the worry that I went through, not the taint of her impending death. Tomorrow, she'll be better, and I smile. Tomorrow.

A/N: And my writer's block is lifted! Yay! Okay, I like that. Now, this part gave me a little scare. I really started writing where she never woke up because I felt the writer's block creep back up, but I beat it back and am continuing the fic. I'm all for ideas for how this is going to play out. So, deal 'em out.

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