Sunday, October 17, 2004

inuyasha19
"Inuyasha, you have to let go of Kagome-sama so we can see to her injuries properly," Miroku tried again, speaking in his most calm, reasonable tone to the panting hanyou propped up against the wall of Kaede's hut.

Inuyasha had burst through the doorway a short time ago, the loud entrance easily rousing the human occupants in time to see the hanyou, looking unbelievably pale and drawn, stumble across the floor and all but collapse when he reached the far corner of the room. Inuyasha was soaked with blood, a thick trail marking his passage on the floor, but it wasn't the hanyou who seemed to be bleeding.

Kagome lay limply in his tight embrace, her skin gray and her breathing shallow. She was the one who looked like she'd been through hell... cut, bruised and filthy, but it was the blood that caused major concern. It was in her hair, on her face, tracking down her arms, darkening her clothes...

Inuyasha had one hand clamped hard on her shoulder and the other on her stomach, blood oozing slowly from between his fingers. Whatever had happened to Kagome, it had been serious, but Inuyasha wasn't letting anyone close.

The moment the others had tried to approach them, he'd let out a snarl so primal and violent that it froze them in their tracks while he clutched Kagome's form closer to his chest. His eyes were glowing angrily, teeth bared in a threatening snarl while the look on his face changed to something fierce and wild. He watched them with predatory caution, the growl never letting up as they attempted to cajole the hanyou into letting them near enough to treat the wounded girl.

Inuyasha was completely exhausted and Kagome was horribly injured.

It was a dangerous combination.

"You're not laying a fucking hand on her, monk," Inuyasha growled out, low and deadly as his eyes swept the room. "Where's the old hag? She can heal Kagome."

"Kaede's right here, Inuyasha," Sango all but wrenched the poor woman's arm out of its socket in her haste to pull her forward. "If you just let go of Kagome-"

"NO!" Inuyasha roared the denial, his eyes locking onto Kaede's in an unmistakable command. "You can treat her right here. I'm not putting her down."

Kaede nodded and walked forward warily, uncertain of whether or not the hanyou could be trusted in this state. She motioned quickly for Sango to get her healing supplies as she knelt in front of Inuyasha, "You will need to move your hands at least."

He glared at her as though debating if he could refuse her request, but he finally nodded and slid his hand away while still cradling her close, "She's losing too much blood, baba. Make it stop. Now."

Miroku sucked in breath sharply when he got a clear look at Kagome's condition, his face paling as he involuntarily fell back a step, "No... Kagome-sama..."

Kaede shook her head grimly and reached for Kagome's hand to feel for a pulse. There was too much blood and she feared that nothing she could do would be able to keep the girl from dying. Her fingers tentatively found the pulse point and she pressed down hard, brow furrowed in concern.

"Quit fucking wasting time, baba!" Inuyasha snarled when the old miko simply sat silently holding Kagome's wrist. "Seal her wounds, damn you!"

Kaede frowned in confusion, "It's...not possible."

"She's still alive!" he released Kagome to grab Kaede's wrist and force her to look at him. "Fucking do it!"

"Inuyasha, you must calm yourself," Miroku cast a nervous glance back to the pallet where Shippo miraculously slept on. The last thing they needed was the baby kitsune to wake to the sight of Kagome dying in Inuyasha's arms. Bad enough that his little nose was already wrinkling as he registered the blood smell and buried his face deeper in her shirt. Miroku only prayed the kit would sleep through this mess.

Kaede shook off Inuyasha's hold and felt Kagome's wrist again, "She has two heartbeats."

"What?" Miroku frowned in confusion, taking a step closer until Inuyasha's growl again deepened and stopped him. He scowled at the hanyou in irritation, "Dammit, Inuyasha, I am not attempting to threaten Kagome-sama!"

Sango caught the monk's arm and shook her head in a silent plea to be more patient until they figured out just what was wrong. She had returned, her own face paling rapidly when she saw Kagome's condition, but she swallowed her fear and revulsion, telling herself over and over to trust Inuyasha's snarl that she was alive.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Inuyasha shot Miroku another warning scowl before turning his attention back to Kaede.

"Her heartbeat... it's strong," she murmured, holding out a hand to Sango and motioning her to join her quickly. "But there is a second that beats in her that's stronger. It... it beats and then there's a second one directly after it. I don't know how to describe this, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's brows lowered dangerous, if that fucking voice was back in her head somehow... He brushed Kaede's hand aside to press fingers wet with her own blood to her wrist and feel for what the miko was talking about. He frowned at her and shook his head, all he felt was Kagome's heartbeat, strong like she said and his own thundering through his veins, "There's only one, baba. Stop this fucking bleeding before you kill her with your hesitation."

Deciding it would be easier to ignore the phenomenon for now in favor of healing the battered girl, she sent Miroku to stoke a fire. "How she has survived this blood loss is beyond me, Inuyasha. What happened to her?"

Inuyasha's scowl grew even darker and he shifted her protectively closer before he answered, his voice tight with pain and sorrow, "Kikyou."

Sango's face filled with anger even as Kaede's mimicked Inuyasha's sorrow, "What?!"

"She...attacked Kagome," he responded dully, his ears flattening back. "At the well. She was trying to kill her."

"Oh my God," Sango whispered, her lips curling in response to her disgust at the undead miko. "Where the hell were you during all this?!"

Inuyasha's head snapped up, the pain and sorrow immediately replaced with defensive rage, "I was fucking asleep, bitch! Kagome went into the woods without telling me she was going!"

Now it was Miroku who set a calming hand on the exterminator even as he queried softly, "What happened?"

Inuyasha snarled, shaking his head even as his hand lifted to tenderly brush over Kagome's cheek, "The same fucking thing that happened with those youkai. Except it was worse... Someone was speaking to her, in her own mind. She was answering it as though it was talking to her instead of in her head. It... it was trying to get her to attack us. To kill me..."

"Miroku-sama, put a knife or a some sort of metal on the fire. Quickly," Kaede instructed, cutting off the explanations impatiently as she gingerly lifted the remains of Kagome's shirt away from her skin and got a clear look at the seeping wounds. "Sango, get water and heat some but bring me a basin of cool water as well. Inuyasha, can you get her clothing out of the way?"

Inuyasha's hand moved away from Kagome's face, running down her chest to slice away the shirt and down into her blood-dampened jeans as the other two jumped to the miko's bidding. He didn't want her pants gone yet, just open enough for Kaede to have easy access to her injuries. The shirt was just in the way, "What are you thinking of doing with the knife, baba?"

"I'm going to sear the injuries closed to stop the bleeding," she responded matter-of-factly as she eased the remains of the shirt off Kagome completely.

"The HELL you are!" Inuyasha snapped out in denial, his eyes once again fierce and threatening.

"Inuyasha, it is the fastest way to stop the blood," Kaede frowned at him. "If she loses any more she WILL die. I don't know how she is alive even now. There is so little blood left that she doesn't even have color."

He growled, not wanting to acknowledge what he feared as well, but Kaede was correct. Kagome had lost more blood than a human should be able to lose and still live, but he could still feel her heart beating strongly wherever they touched. Despite the steady pulse, he couldn't risk her losing more blood, "Fine. Do it then, but make it fast and don't even think I'm letting go of her when you do it."

Kaede nodded, hoping to placate Inuyasha as she silently selected the herbs she would need. As soon as Sango returned with cold water and cloths she had anticipated being a necessity, the aged miko set to work, watching for Miroku to finish heating the knife and the water, "Make sure the water boils."

Miroku nodded, catching Sango's hand and giving her an encouraging squeeze as their eyes were drawn to Kagome's still form. The girl looked impossibly fragile, her chest barely rising with each breath and her skin nearly as white as Inuyasha's hair. The black of her hair was a stark contrast to her pale skin, the only other color the dark scarlet of her blood coating her in disturbing quantities.

Yet for his lack of injuries, Inuyasha didn't look as though he was in much better shape. He was just as pale as Kagome, his breathing shallow as he panted as though from great exertion. He sat almost perfectly still, his robes dark and stiff with Kagome's blood, only moving his hands to stroke Kagome or press light kisses to her forehead and temple. Miroku doubted he was even fully conscious of those telling actions, so intent were the hanyou's glowing eyes as they followed Kaede's every move with frightening intensity. Sweat beaded on the hanyou's face, running down his skin in rivulets, but he ignored it stoically as he waited impatiently for Kaede to heal the girl in his arms.

It seemed like a painfully long stretch of time before the blade of the knife began to glow orange and then white with heat. Carefully, Miroku picked it up by the handle and carried it to Kaede, passing it to her and stepping back when Inuyasha began to growl low in his throat again.

"Youkai instincts," Sango whispered to Miroku, her face tense as Kaede instructed Inuyasha to hold Kagome still.

Miroku sighed, clenching his fists at his sides, "So I gathered. Inuyasha doesn't want another male near her when she is like this."

Inuyasha was so intent on the blade that he didn't hear the exchange, growling as he supressed the urge to wrap his arms around Kagome and knock the glowing weapon away. Instead, he moved the arm around her back up so he could wrap his hand around the lower half of her face, insinuating his hand between her teeth to keep her from screaming and holding her still.

Kaede grimly leaned forward, pressing her hand to Kagome's darkly bruised chest as she set the blade lightly, briefly to the wound at her shoulder. Kagome flinched, biting down hard on Inuyasha's hand as she whimpered in pained distress and pressed herself into him. Inuyasha grunted, his nose protesting severely at the smell of burned flesh as he tightened his hold on her. The growling grew louder, an instinctive threat to what caused Kagome pain, but he remained silent as Kaede removed the knife and lowered it to the more severe wound in her side.

Sango reached out, clenching Miroku's hand so tightly he could almost feel the bones in his hand separating, but he only squeezed back, forcing himself to watch as Kaede pressed the blade to the second wound.

A hint of scarlet bled into Inuyasha's golden eyes when tears slipped silently from beneath Kagome's tightly closed eyelids, her face twisting to press against his neck. Unconsciously she was seeking comfort, release from this new pain and turning to him and he had never felt more useless. The only way to help her was to force her to do this.

"What about her back, Inuyasha?" Kaede's voice was strained, the only sign of how distasteful and draining she found this task.

His brows lowered dangerously, but he somehow managed to turn her in his lap to give the old woman access to the single exit wound at her side. Luckily, the arrow that had struck her shoulder hadn't pierced all the way through. That meant this was the last injury that needed to be seared, "It's almost over, Kagome."

Inuyasha felt her hand clench in his haori and he closed his eyes, swearing mentally and praying that she wasn't awake, 'Kami-sama, please let her still be unconscious!'

Mercifully, Kagome didn't rouse.

Kaede finished the last quickly, still holding the cooling knife as she looked over the wounds critically to make sure the bleeding had indeed stopped. Satisfied that the girl was no longer losing blood, she wordlessly handed the knife back to Miroku and bent to the water.

Inuyasha's hand on her arm stopped her, lifting her gaze, "Inuyasha, the wounds have to be cleaned and treated."

"Give me a room and tell me what to do," he instructed in a low growl, nostrils flaring from the thick scents in the room.

Kaede opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself when she saw the look in the hanyou's eyes. Instead she nodded, and wearily stood, motioning for him to follow even as she looked at Miroku and Sango, "Bring those and follow me."

Inuyasha ignored them as he trailed after the miko, stepping into the room she indicated and standing aside as the water and herbal mixtures were laid out. Sango and Miroku left just as quietly as they had entered, hoping to clean the signs of Kagome's injuries from the main room of the hut. If the smells were offensive to their noses, they could only imagine the hell it would be for Inuyasha and Shippo if the kit caught wind of it.

"Call me if anything changes, Inuyasha," Kaede intoned gravely after she'd given him a clipped set of instructions, waiting for his nod of assent before she too left him to privately tend to Kagome.

Once they were gone, he dropped to his knees, removing the rest of Kagome's clothes and reaching for a cloth. Dipping it in the hot water, he drew it carefully over her face, his own filled with pain at the sight of her, "Damn you, Kagome, what were you thinking?"

Inuyasha took great pains in washing the dirt and blood from her body, wincing at the multiple bruises darkening her skin in addition to the smaller cuts and abrasions attesting to her fight against Kikyou. His hand was shaking by the time he was satisfied that her body was clean and he reached for the healing herbs.

It was awkward work, slathering on the salves and crushed powder when refusing to take her out of his lap, but he had a horrible feeling that if he stopped touching her she would slip away from him. It was even more difficult when it came to binding her injuries, but he somehow managed and then even coaxed water down her throat to rinse away the blood she'd drawn when she bit him.

Funny, he hadn't even really noticed that, he thought, looking at the deep, half circle punctures in the web of his right hand. The wounds had already closed, healing with the speed his youkai blood bestowed on him, and for once he felt guilty that he healed at such an increased rate.

With the task of cleaning and treating the wounds finished, Inuyasha sat back, a wave of weariness sweeping through him that rivaled any other such feelings he'd ever had in his long life. Balancing Kagome with one arm, he wrestled with his blood-stained robes, pulling them off and throwing them aside carelessly before he searched the dark room for the futon.

His muscles screaming in protest, he carried her to simple bed and lay down, settling her on top of him. Kagome's arms lay limply on either side of his chest, her head turned so that her ear rested over his heart almost the same way Shippo had snuggled against her earlier that evening. Gently, he shifted, pinning her legs between his own as he wrapped his arms around her back and stroked her hair in long, slow motions.

The silence settled heavily around him, making his thoughts impossible to push aside as they pounded in his ears. If he hadn't fallen asleep this wouldn't have happened, Kagome would never have left or even if she had he would have been with her. He would have been able to protect her and she wouldn't be here, in his arms, possibly dying from blood loss. Her body was cold, the breath against his bare chest and her heartbeat the only lifeline his sanity had at the moment.

His eyes squeezed closed as he bit down hard on his lower lip and slammed his head back into the bedding, trying to force the torturous thoughts out of his head. It wouldn't do him any good now. He had to focus on Kagome and healing her wounds and when she was back on her feet and arguing with him, THEN he could let himself give in to his guilt for failing her again.

He tucked the blankets tightly around them with one hand before wrapping his arms around her again and pressing his face to her hair. He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent and letting it ease the pain in his chest. The poultices he'd applied to her wounds had almost covered the scent of her burned flesh, leaving her own scent with a heavy "medicine" twinge. It wasn't his favorite smell in the world, but he'd take it over the others any day and be glad for it.

"You have to survive this, Kagome, do you hear me?" Inuyasha's arms tightened as he opened his eyes to glare down at her. "Don't you dare disobey me this time... You aren't going to fucking die on me. I won't allow it."


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