Bait, Chapter 16
The sound of a gentle singing voice broke the silence throughout the castle, the tune was that of the same lullaby Kairi hummed to Riku earlier that day. She was singing it as much to ease her own racing mind as to soothe the mind of the sick boy beside her:
Though the day is nearly done,
and away has gone the sun,
Light still shines in our embrace,
and upon your peaceful face,
so sleep my love, dream my love...
Kairi sat at the bedside gently stroking Riku's hair. Night had fallen, moonlight shining brightly in through the windows, illuminating everything the light touched with a soft pale glow. It reflected off the boy's silver locks, rippling with each stroke, creating an effect that hypnotized Kairi. Riku slept quietly, the silence broken only by the sporadic choking fits. Kairi stilled her hand, causing the boy to whimper slightly.
"Shhh, I'm not going anywhere." Kairi planted a soft kiss on the boy's forehead, an action that served to both gauge his fever and ease his mind.
He was still very warm to the touch, even though he was shivering. Riku slept on, his whimper quieted by her kiss. Kairi turned her attention back to the figure in the doorway.
"How's he doing?" Sora had entered the room so quietly that Kairi would not have noticed until he spoke, had she not turned around and seen him. They had been taking turns- one keeping an eye on Riku so the other could rest. Sora was still injured himself, so Kairi had actually been giving him a bit longer to rest than he agreed to.
"No change- well, at least he hasn't had any more nightmares. I think the lavender Mickey gave him is helping..."
Mickey had left a small pouch of the dried flowers under Riku's pillow before he retired for the night, claiming the scent of lavender had properties that could soothe a troubled mind. Sora was grateful that the flowers were helping, remembering how difficult it was to pull Riku out of his last nightmare- he had started thrashing so hard that they had to restrain him so he wouldn't injure himself. He'd never get his strength up if the nightmares kept coming.
And due to Yen Sid's frightening revelation that evening, it was no wonder why Riku was having such a bad time. He must have lost the will to fight after he was raped, making his condition deteriorate so much faster than normal. He approached the bedside and took his friend's hand in his own.
"Sora?" Riku, knowing the touch, opened his eyes slightly. Even in the pale moonlight, the brilliant cyan eyes stood out. They were still slightly dimmed by his fever, but Sora noticed that some of their light was returning. He no longer doubted that Riku would survive whatever sickness he had contracted, but he still feared for him. Some things were irreversible, and Sora now had a personal score to settle with whoever violated his best friend.
I broke our rules! Even as recently as the span of time your precious Riku has been here!
The memory struck Sora like a stone, his eyes narrowed- he knew who his new target was.
Xigbar!
"What's wrong, Sora? Did someone hurt you? Why are you so mad?"
Sora looked down, half concerned, half amused, to see that Riku was awake and had seen the brief expression of rage.
Even when he was desperately ill, Riku could get too overprotective for his own good.
"Save your strength, Riku... get some sleep." Sora stroked his hair in the same way Kairi had been moments earlier, and Riku, still very weak from the harrowing procedure he endured hours earlier, returned to the deep, dreamless sleep fate had been merciful enough to give him, Kairi's lullaby still echoing in and out of his consciousness:
Sleep my love, Dream my love,
let it take you on the wings of a dove...
XXXXXXXX
Yen Sid was more thorough in examining Riku the following morning, making sure to see how well the wound was healing as well as trying to determine what was making him so sick now.
After giving an approving nod at the less angry-looking stitches on the boy's chest, he placed the tips of his fingers to the pulse point in his neck. He checked the boy's other vitals in an equally methodical manner, his face knit in concentration. His face showed no emotion when he finished examining him.
"He has pneumonia, but its only a mild case."
Sora's eyes widened at what Yen Sid said.
"I'm actually not surprised, considering the harsh conditions the Organization subjected him to. He's actually come through this ordeal with some luck- things could have been so much worse for him right now. This condition will not be a difficult one to treat." Yen Sid gave Sora and Kairi an encouraging smile.
"But I think the fact that he has such good friends to help him pull through also has something to do with it." The two of them beamed at the old man's praise.
Yen Sid left the room and returned moments later, clutching a vial containing a light purple liquid. It seemed to emit a steady, gentle glow. He held it up to the light, checking it for impurities.
"What is that?" Sora asked.
"Panacea, a potion that speeds recovery time and encourages sickness or poison to leave the body. They're not that uncommon, but since your missions often had you more likely to face injury instead of illness, you've not really had need to use them. To put it simply, its another make of healing potion."
"You mean... this was all he needed? Why didn't you give it to him sooner?"
"Its not that simple i'm afraid. The potion you're accustomed to using merely uses magic to speed the healing process, but this works a little differently. Disease is a completely different entity- no potion will touch it- you can heal whatever a disease has already damaged, but unless it is driven out, it will only damage the body again. This potion is one that will give him enough strength to drive the sickness out naturally while healing the damage that it already caused. It will speed up the process, but it will still take a couple days for the full effects to be seen."
Riku meanwhile had fallen into another choking fit. Sora and Yen Sid watched, feeling pity for the boy, but unable to do anything to break the fit. It was several minutes before the fit died down and Yen Sid spoke again, his voice holding a hint of warning to it.
"I should also warn you that the effects can be a bit...harsh. It will seem like he's getting worse at first, but don't panic, its normal. The panacea will give him the strength he needs to endure the symptoms."
Sora stared blankly at Yen Sid. Even in his normal state this lengthy description would be too much to take in, but he had taken a blow to the head mere days ago, so nothing got through to him.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to see its effects to understand." He lifted Riku into a sitting position, removed the stopper from the potion and somehow got the sleeping boy to drink the whole vial. Riku choked on the potion slightly- Sora understood, potions tasted awful- and slumped in Yen Sid's arms. The old man gently lowered him back to the pillows.
"He'll need a dose of that twice every day until he starts to improve. It should only be two or three days at most." Sora shuddered at the thought of drinking those vile potions twice daily. He only had to use them at most once every week during particularly rough missions, but he would sooner use curaga or Elixir if he could afford it. Elixir wasn't that bad, having a flavor similar to an unsweetened tea, but potions had a vile, oily taste that made you gag every time you drank it, and he imagined the ones Yen Sid had Riku taking were no better.
"So, is there anything else that should be done?" Sora asked.
"Just keep doing what helps, you know that best." He smiled at the two of them again and left the room.
End of Chapter 16.