When All Was Lost...
Chapter Fourteen
14
"Akarii, just hang on!"
She could feel her body being dragged and struggled to be lifted.
Crow...I hear you...
Suddenly she was being hoisted up and carried out on someone's back...she didn't know who...and she couldn't open her eyes to find out. She only heard the sound of multiple muffled voices bickering as she tried to decipher who they belonged to...
"Crow calm down and just focus-"
"Don't tell me to calm down, Yusei!"
There was panic in Crow's snapping voice,"God there's so much blood..."
"You better hold onto me tight, Girlie!"
Jack...I see.
This was Jack's back.
It made sense.
He was the tallest so carrying her was probably the easiest to leave to him.
"I swear if you die on me I will reach my hand in the pits of hell, drag you back out and kill you myself!"
"Jack! That isn't helping!"
"Yusei's right, stop talking like that!"
That one...That's Kalin...
"No one's going to die today. or any other day, not so long as we're around you got it!?" he huffed," We're gonna save her got that!?"
"God this is my fault..."
"Stop that Crow!"
"But Yusei-"
"That's enough!" Kalin snapped,"We made them pay...Taking care of our wounded member takes top priority..."
"I think we were way too soft!" snapped Jack. " She could feel his voice reverberating from inside him. Vibrating his back against her breasts, like a jump start to her heart beat. "I say we go back and give them the same fate-"
"If we did that Jack, we'd be no better than them."
"They messed with one of ours, Yusei...we can't let them get away with this." said Jack, "If they're gonna send one of ours to the Hospital- we should send one of theirs to the morgue!"
"We crushed a good number of them before hand..." said Kalin, "And after This...? You can bet that I took care of the rest!"
"G-Guys...I..." she tried to speak...but it hurt too much.
"Shhh...hush now." Crow whispered beside her. He must have been keeping pace with Jack.
"Don't talk now Girlie...We're gonna get you fixed up."
Unable to move or speak many words, She tried to open her swollen eyes. Surrunded by her friends...
Her Family.
Meanwhile here she was...broken and useless.
She had never felt more pathetic. Focusing her fading gaze on Crow who ran next to her.
His larger hand wraped around her far more tender wrist...trembling.
There was fear in his eyes...and the tears.
Crow...I'm sorry...
Her gaze fixated on him...She focused hard, burning every detail into her mind as her eyes grew heavier...and all of her surroundings faded away.
The last image she saw... was him...
XXXXX
Her body ached. It hurt to move.
Where am I?
It was a struggle to open her eyes...and more of one for her vision to focus again.
It was dark.
She couldn't tell if it was the late hours of night that was morning...or if it was still just dark in the evening.
How long have I been out...?
The pain was unbearable...She couldn't move anything other than her head and even that could barely tilt more than maybe a couple inches. She could hear the crickets outside.
It was night.
She tried to move, but between the pain and the heavy weight on her body, she couldn't move anything.
Wait...this weight...
She glanced over one more time and found a familar brush of wild hair against her shoulder.
Crow...
He layed asleep hunched over the side of the bed. His knees on the ground, both arms folded over to rest his head.
His breathing was weak and shaky...he had smudges on his skin and tear stained cheeks.
Did he spend all this time...taking care of me?
Though to be honest...she was unsure of how long that was.
She slowly pulled a trembling arm from beneath the blankets. He had her wrapped up like a mummy and bound in a sarcofocus of blankets.
"Crow...wake up..." she tried to nudge him which seemed to be enough to startle him, two sleepy onix colored eyes blinked in the moonlight that shone through the boarded window and he shifted his gaze to meet hers.
"Ah-Akarii!" He shot up frantic and apologeticly,"I-I'm sorry...was I hurting you!?"
She shook her head weakly to try and calm him and let him know he didn't do anything.
"You're...finally awake..." he spoke softly between sniffles and stroked her cheeks,"But it's late...you should sleep more..."
"Crow...how long was I asleep?"
"This is your third day...since then..."
"For three days...I was out!?"
She winced and could feel his hand cup her cheek as he shushed her to calm down.
"Sh-Sh-Shh...don't move so much...you're still recovering."
"...What happened...?"
She felt his body twitch as she watched a pained expression crease his tired tear stained face.
"You...fell into one of the enemy's traps at our last turf battle...they played dirty..." he sighed,"Don't worry...they were taken care of...but you got hurt pretty bad."
"Turf battle..." she huffed between the pain it took to speak,"...Did we win?"
She could see a weak smile curl on Crow's lips as he nodded.
"Yeah...of course we did..." he said softly, that smile then faded back into a trembling lip, he tried to hold back his tears...but he buried his face in his arms and broke into gentle sobbing.
"Akarii...I'm so sorry...!"
"Crow...what are you talking about?" she said in a painful chuckle,"You...didn't do anything wrong..."
"But this is my fault..." he squeaked,"You're like this now because of me..." she watched him tremble as he sobbed into the worn out blankets that he used to cover her with,"Because you tried to save me...when I decided to be a bird brain and make them trigger such a dangerous trap, I can't-"
"Crow...it's okay!" she said softly, laying her wrapped up hand on his shaking shoulder," I saved you by choice...!"
"B-But-"
"No buts." she shook her head weakly in denial.
"You're my friend, Crow...my best friend," she said softly."Of course I would do anything to save you...and I would do it again too..."
"Seriously? You would get yourself banged up like this again if it meant protecting me...?"
She gave him a weak smile and nodded.
"Damn right I would..." said softly,"In a wing-beat...you stupid bird-brain."
"Pff..haha...yeah." he chuckled back softly,"I really am...a stupid bird brain...I can't even protect you..." he sighed, averting his gaze from her.
She felt a twisting pain in her chest.
Crow, in her eyes, was always someone so bright...and strong.
She had never seen him really cry like this...nor shake.
"Crow..." she called out to him in a weak voice.
"...Yeah?"
"Why are you...still shaking...?"
"Because...Akarii..." he sighed," I was scared..."
Her eyes widened.
"You were...scared?"
This was a claim she wasn't used to hearing from him. He was generally hyper, hot tempered, and could even be more reckless than she... sometimes.
"Got a problem with that?" he huffed.'
"N-No...of course not...it's just..."
"...Just what?"
"...I dunno..." she sighed,"I guess I'm not used to it..." she blinked trying to focus on the shape of his mass in the darkness, he still hadn't changed his position.
"I've never really heard you say you were scared before..." she said softly," I've known you since we were little...you and me...together...we're both pretty reckless." she chuckled,"So I guess...seeing you now that we're older...after knowing how you were since we were younger I just..." she paused,"I have a hard time believing that you could be scared of anything."
This time Crow laughed. It wasn't a hardy laugh...more like an amused chuckle...but she knew this time it was genuine.
After all, she knew that laugh all too well.
"Well I was." he said softly,"Have been ever since..." he sighed,"You didn't wake up Akarii...not for days" he stated, "You were bruised, banged up, broken, battered and bleeding... and you didn't wake up..." he sighed, "My god...I was terrified...!"
Feeling his trembling body tense up as he gripped the blankets that covered her, she felt her heart rate increase.
"When I thought that I might lose you..." he spoke softly in a breaking whisper," For the first time...I was truly afraid..."
He sighed, loosening his grip.
"Not just me either..." he said," Kalin...Yusei...even Jack was freaking out." he chuckled,"He who fears nothing and no one...feared the thought of losing you that day just as much as I did..." he paused,"...We all did..."
She blinked, feeling the the heat raise to her cheeks...quickly looking away as though he could see her glowing in the dark.
"What...this?" she chuckled awkwardly," I get in scrapes like this all the time...this is nothing..."
"Heh...that so?" she could hear the smirk in Crow's voice as he slowly lifted himself.
It left her confused so she tried to turn back only to find herself plopped on under his weight.
"OOOOOOW!" she cried out laughing, "Okay I get it, shit!" She laughed even harder under the pain," All right I got the lesson now please get off...!" she chuckled between wimpers of pain.
She couldn't even move her body to retaliate or push him off...
Clearly this was unfair.
"I Understand...I'll be more careful, okay!?" she laughed,"But...don't worry so much...I'll heal up quickly...I promise!"
"...I sure hope you're right." Crow snickered on top of her, then suddenly his weight on her motionless body became a warmth, as he embraced her, gently in his arms.
"Promise me..." he whispered by her ear and she felt herself blush once more,"Promise me Akarii, that you will heal up quickly...and be okay."
"Y-yeah..." she said softly," I-I promise..."
"And more than that..." he said, holding her a little tighter to him, "Promise me...that from now on...you won't leave my side...and always stay close to me." he whispered,"Because this time...this time for sure...I will protect you."
She lay in silence beneath his body...taking in his warmth and genuine concern and care.
It washed over her and suddenly...it felt like the pain melted away, taken over by this soothing heat.
"Yeah...always." she whispered back, "...I promise..."
"Good..."
It was in that moment after he puffed those last words with his breath that his grip loosened...and his body became a dead weight.
He was sleeping.
And for the remainder of that night...while listening to his steady breathing as he sunk deeper and deeper into that sleep she was certain he needed, she remained awake in the night...alone with her thoughts as she tried to process the feelings he had just poured into her...while also trying to understand her own.
To Be Continued