Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.



Chapter Twenty-Four: With My Last Breath



It had been three days, and there was no improvement in Inuyasha’s condition. Kagome had left and returned more times than she could count, pretty much to go home and shower and spend time with the twins. Moriko was making astounding progress; she was the size of a six-month-old versus the three-month-old that she actually was, and she’d actually begun to crawl one night when Kagome was there. Kaji, however, was still a bit on the small side, and he seemed to be the more soft-spoken of the duo. Kagome feared that Moriko would be the ringleader of the pair in years to come.



Finally, when Kagome was returning to the hospital late in the evening on the third day, she stopped just before rounding the corner when she heard Minoru and another doctor arguing just outside Inuyasha’s door.



“There’s nothing else we can do?!” Minoru hissed. Kagome’s brow furrowed at his obviously troubled tone; he sounded angry and worried at the same time, quite possibly on the verge of a freak-out.



“Minoru, you know we’ve given it our all,” the other doctor responded in an equally low tone. “There’s just… Look, the resiliency of his body astounds us all – it’s amazing that he’s even made it this long! That kumo didn’t just inject him with venom; no, he fucking filled that hanyou with it! It’s eating away at his organs as we stand out here arguing!”



Kagome silently clapped her hand over her mouth, desperate to stifle the anguished sob threatening to escape her at the doctor’s words. Tears filled her widened eyes, and she sank down to the cool ground, her back pressed painfully against the wall. Inuyasha’s… going to die? The idea just seemed so absolutely ludicrous to Kagome – this was Inuyasha here! He just didn’t die, he never had! As far as she was concerned, he was too stubborn.



“Look, we can help filter it out-”



The other doctor cut off Minoru. “No, dammit! You know that’s not going to work! The venom is just too caustic and potent – and there’s just too damn much of it! He’s not going to last another day like this. Face it, Minoru… You just need to bite the bullet and tell his widow.”



Kagome swallowed hard as she listened keenly to the fading footsteps; hearing Minoru sigh and leave as well, she bit back another choked sob. Letting her face fall into her hands, Kagome was about to just let herself wallow in her despair.



And then it hit her… Her head shot up, her chest heaving with labored breaths as adrenaline turned her cold. She blinked away the tears and the sobs as a plan formed in her mind; pursing her lips, Kagome shoved herself to her feet, full of renewed determination. Leaving her purse where it sat, she hurried down the hall, trying not to run to Inuyasha’s closed door. Once she reached it, she took another look down the hall; no one was there. She swung it open and dashed inside, closing it quietly before locking it.



Kagome knew they’d try and stop her. It was dangerous, what she was doing… But she couldn’t let Inuyasha die when there was a possible way of saving him.



For a minute, she just stood there, staring at her sick and dying husband, still unconscious in the hospital bed; biting back more tears, she steeled her resolve and stepped forward. Breathing heavily and full of fear – for herself and Inuyasha – Kagome came to stand directly at his bedside, placing her palms gently on his torso.



The Miko squeezed her eyes shut tight, tensing her jaw as her chest filled so full of cold terror that she thought she might burst. “Moriko… Kaji… Mama loves you…” A single tear streamed down her cheek.



As she readied herself for the task at hand, she released a final, shaky breath, in the form of a hushed, horrified whisper:



“I don’t want you to grow up fatherless… like I did.”



Her eyes snapped open as her hands began to glow with their usual amethyst light. She was horrified when she used her powers to trace the poison coursing its way through Inuyasha’s entire body – the doctor had been absolutely right, she realized. There was no way her hanyou wasn’t in pain, as much venom that was still in his system. It had an evil, menacing aura to it, and Kagome’s heart fell a little when she realized that she’d been correct in her assumption – the kumo venom reeked of demonic energy.



Taking another deep breath, she began her assault, pouring her entire being into the purification.



A few corridors down, Minoru was leaning, heart heavy, against the counter at the nurses’ station; he was contemplating the best way of breaking the news to Kagome.



Suddenly, the lights flickered on and off; alarms started going off everywhere, and Minoru threw his head up, panic overwhelming him. Something in his gut told him that he knew exactly where all this mess was coming from. He broke off into a run down the hallway, reaching Inuyasha’s room in record time – only to be halted by the locked door. The doctor tugged and yanked on it, but it wouldn’t give. Peering inside, his violet eyes widened when he saw Kagome, her entire body glowing, standing over Inuyasha.



When she convulsed, spitting a good amount of blood onto Inuyasha’s stomach, Minoru started pounding frantically on the door.



“Kagome!” he shrieked. “Kagome! Stop! Don’t do this!”



Inside the room, Kagome’s breathing became harsher just as her knees began to buckle underneath her. Her throat felt slimy; she knew that more blood was going to come up if she didn’t quit soon. But she couldn’t quit… There was still so much damn venom…



As she started to feel lightheaded, she noticed the tickling sensation between her nose and her upper lip. Glancing up for a moment, she caught her reflection in the window across the room – a thin line of ruby-red blood streamed down from her nose to her lip, and she sighed, returning her focus to the task at hand.



Outside, Minoru was still banging on the door. “Dammit, Kagome! There’s nothing you can do – he’s going to die, and at this rate you’ll die with him! Please – open the door! Think of your children!”



When she continued to ignore him, Minoru turned and screamed at a panic-stricken nurse, “Call Sesshomaru – now!” When he turned back to the window, he watched, his heart sinking, as Kagome turned to the side and vomited more blood onto the sanitized floor. The doctor swore the woman was going to make him lose his mind if she survived this.



When Kagome straightened up, ready to focus on destroying the venom once more, she noticed the ebony hair that now replaced the silver. Her eyes widened as they trailed upward along her husband’s limp body to reach his face – his groggy expression and confused, violet eyes.



He swallowed as he stared up at her. “K-K’gome?” he murmured.



Tears began their freefall as she turned her head away, not daring to look down at her temporarily human husband. I need to finish this...



She listened silently as his breathing quickened – he’d caught sight of the blood, she knew. As his memory slowly pieced back together, he realized what she was doing.



“No…” he grunted, trying to lift his arms to stop her – he was too drugged, they were too heavy. It terrified him that she was going to kill herself trying to rid him of the venom, and he suddenly surged his strength. Reaching forward, he clasped her wrist as tightly as he could with one hand. “Kagome… stop, baby.”



“No, Inuyasha – there’s just a little more left…”



“Baby… Baby, I said stop.” He pulled on her wrist, trying to break its contact with his torso.



“No!” She surged her power suddenly, and it shocked his hand even in ningen form. He blinked, recoiling a little, and stared at her, shocked. More blood found its way past her lips as she poured more of her strength into purifying the kumo venom.



Suddenly, the glow disappeared, and Kagome’s head fell, hung low from obvious exhaustion. “There,” she whispered, fingers curling to tightly clench the bloody blanket covering Inuyasha. Raising her head, she gazed at him with half-lidded, dimmed eyes. “’S all gone…” She fell over suddenly, sprawling on her back; Inuyasha started, overpowered with emotion and worry. Pushing himself to his feet, he stumbled as quickly as he could to the locked door; unlocking it, he was nearly run over by a hysterical Minoru shoving the door open and flying straight over him, to Kagome’s prone form.



“Dammit!”



Inuyasha just sat against the wall, fully human and fully healed, and watched with wide eyes as Minoru and several nurses worked to bring Kagome back.



Next time:



Chapter Twenty-Five: Blue.