| [Jun. 3rd, 2009|08:04 pm] |
If Kakashi had given him three times that dose of morphine--enough to send him into a coma, maybe--Ginta might have got through it silently. As soon as he felt the clone's hands on him, he knew it was going to be bad. As soon as he saw that look on Kakashi's face, calculating, waiting...
The clone moved slightly, grating the fracture it was stabilizing, and Ginta gasped. Even with the morphine curling queasy fingers around his equilibrium, it felt like there was nothing but thin tissue paper holding the pain back.
His foot was rotated all the way in, and it was ice cold. If he was ever going to walk again, it had to be dealt with now.
He took a deep breath and set his jaw. Kakashi twisted.
He'd meant to keep silent, but the pain tore a string of curses from Ginta's chalk-white lips, then a scream that died into an eerie howl. He didn't see Kakashi and the clone, didn't feel them struggling to keep him still. There was a weight on his chest, then a soft brush of smoke-scented fur against his face and a wet tongue. Hoshika licking his jaw with frantic, worried swipes, her weight pressing him into the mattress.
It brought him around just long enough to look into Kakashi's face. Into one red-rimmed grey eye, and one whirling red one. Red black red black spinning into oblivion like prayers on a monk's wheel.
Pain dissolved. The world dissolved. Ginta fell softly into a dream of a koi pond, cool on a hot summer day. Nothing hurt. Nothing even moved but the fish below the surface of the water, circling lazily. Heat made the air shimmer. A few water insects skated on surface tension. A white koi slipped towards the surface, sending ripples spreading silently on the calm water. Cicada buzzed unseen in the trees. Ginta drowsed on the bank, utterly safe. At peace.
When he woke, he was lying on his back in an unfamiliar room. His right leg was splinted from hip to ankle, his left thigh throbbing and freshly bandaged. Tsuyako lay next to him, wrapped in bandages, too, deathly still. Only the faintest stir of breath against a tendril of her hair convinced Ginta she was alive.
Hoshika lay against him on the other side, bracing him in the bed as if he might fall out. When he opened his eyes and turned his head towards her with a groan, her tail swished slightly against his splinted leg, drawing a whimper from him before he could stop it. She stilled immediately, and dropped a cold nose against his bare shoulder.
He raised his head. Kakashi was sitting on the floor, back against the edge of the bed, head between his knees. Ginta reached a shaky hand out to touch his shoulder. He didn't trust his voice. |
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