Author's Notes:
RELATIONSHIP: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
RATING: Teen and Up Audiences
CONTENT WARNING: Blood and injuries.
Chapter 5: Hippocratic Oath
One evening, as Leorio is perusing the latest issue of the Yorknew Hippocratic Journal, he perks up at the sound of Kurapika's key turning in the lock. Leorio marks a page midway through an article written by his mentor, Dr. Cheadle Yorkshire, before rushing to greet his husband at the front door.
Leorio arrives just in time to watch Kurapika knock over the umbrella stand. Leorio sweeps Kurapika's buckling body into his arms before it can crumple down alongside the umbrellas toppling over the foyer.
Upon depositing Kurapika on the living room sofa, Leorio notes the characteristic rending of beastly claws all over the front of Kurapika's costume. Did Kurapika have an unintended encounter with Yorknew City's newest class of villains, the Chimera Ants? Welfin or Cheetu, perhaps?
More questions and even more complaints flood Leorio's brain. But there's no point raising a fuss when Kurapika appears to be drifting in and out of consciousness. His head is drooping forward, his eyes are rolling back, and his bleeding lips are muttering incoherently in his native Kurtan tongue. So Leorio bites his own tongue and concentrates on the familiar process of assessing and addressing Kurapika's wounds.
As Leorio palpates Kurapika's chest, ultrasonic waves radiate from his palm. Sonographic imagery of Kurapika's unseen anatomy materializes within Leorio's mind. Greenish aura surges out from Leorio's hand as he rapidly reverses any internal injuries Kurapika has sustained during his most recent mission.
Next, Leorio tears open the red smock so that he can better examine the external damage. Not even his years of training in the trauma surgery unit can prepare him for the sight of copious crimson bleeding from the fresh lacerations all over Kurapika's pallid torso. Leorio has to swallow back a scream. With trembling fingertips, he traces the paths of red slashing Kurapika's chest to stitch the ripped skin with invisible thread.
By this point, Kurapika's vision has refocused. The shade of his irises has shifted from the amaranth of agony to a neutral brown.
"Be back in a sec," Leorio mumbles before hurrying toward the kitchen.
Upon his return, Leorio beckons a full glass of water toward Kurapika. Washcloth in hand, Leorio then crouches down to mop up the excess blood trickling from Kurapika's chest to the sofa.
"Thank you, Leorio." Kurapika's voice is hoarse even after taking a sip.
"Don't mention it."
Leorio means what he says with every fiber of his being. He'd rather not recall ever seeing the love of his life on the brink of death if he can help it. But this isn't the first time this has happened, not by a long shot. And it certainly won't be the last.