[It had finally taken an embarrassingly dramatic fainting spell and a concussion at work to get Ichigo admitted into the hospital. He'd been running an increasingly high fever throughout the course of the day, thrown up twice before lunch, and was starting to feel like it might be time to maybe bite the bullet and go and see a doctor when he'd been utterly convinced he'd seen his mother walking towards him, soaked in rain water and blood.
Of course, it had been a hallucination, but Ichigo's fevered brain hadn't been able to make the distinction and down he'd gone, smacking his head hard enough on the floor when he landed from falling off the stepladder to knock him out.
The dreams only got worse from then on. The concussion and the fever had knocked him out cold.
But his dreams were worse. Sometimes he was stuck beneath his mother's body, paralysed by the weight of her, hands and clothes and everything stained with blood. Sometimes she'd just be there, soothing him and stroking his brow.
"It's not your fault sweetheart, it's not."
That just made it worse, and in his dreams he'd curl into a ball in the rain and cry.
Other dreams were filled with blood. Rukia with Grimmjow's fist plunging into her. Chad lying broken on the grass. Inoue and Ishida on the tower, battered and torn as he flung Zangetsu into his friend's torso. Ulquiorra fading away into dust. Tatsuki shoving him through a window with tears in his eyes.
When he finally wakes, he's disorientated, dehydrated, and quick to tire as the illness has sapped away his energy.]
25th Onwards
Of course, it had been a hallucination, but Ichigo's fevered brain hadn't been able to make the distinction and down he'd gone, smacking his head hard enough on the floor when he landed from falling off the stepladder to knock him out.
The dreams only got worse from then on. The concussion and the fever had knocked him out cold.
But his dreams were worse. Sometimes he was stuck beneath his mother's body, paralysed by the weight of her, hands and clothes and everything stained with blood. Sometimes she'd just be there, soothing him and stroking his brow.
"It's not your fault sweetheart, it's not."
That just made it worse, and in his dreams he'd curl into a ball in the rain and cry.
Other dreams were filled with blood. Rukia with Grimmjow's fist plunging into her. Chad lying broken on the grass. Inoue and Ishida on the tower, battered and torn as he flung Zangetsu into his friend's torso. Ulquiorra fading away into dust. Tatsuki shoving him through a window with tears in his eyes.
When he finally wakes, he's disorientated, dehydrated, and quick to tire as the illness has sapped away his energy.]