Doctor, doctor, gimme the news

[thepull_mods]

Who: Sick people and their well-wishers
When: May 13th-June 4th
Where: Hospitals and clinics all over the Port
Summary: A catch-all log for hospitalized people and their visitors all over the Port during the sickness plot. Everyone feel free to centralize your hospital visit threads here for convenience!
Warning: Please mark your threads if you'll need any.

Comments

[ibreakrules]

Frau turned his head slowly toward her. The deep black cowl only covered the upper part of his face. What was visible was enough to show it wasn't a human face. Or at least not a live one's. While no expression showed there, internally Frau was cursing his luck. Of course Hinamori would be able to see him in Zehel's form. Hitsugaya had been able to.

And Frau would have rather that they hadn't. Explaining what Zehel was, who he was, would take a long time. Plus it was a discussion Frau didn't really want to have. Nobody was supposed to know about the ghosts. If they happened to encounter one, their memories of it were erased. Here it didn't matter as much since nobody knew the Barsburg religion, but still, Frau wasn't used to sharing that detail. So, he remained quiet, just watching her.

[plum_that_snaps]

And she stared back. It occurred to her that maybe he couldn't hear her—skeletons don't have ears, right?—or maybe he couldn't talk. But maybe they could communicate anyway.

The important question had to be asked. "Y-you're"—she points at Frau—"not"—she shakes a finger back and forth—"here"—she points to the floor—"to..."—she hesitates, and makes a grabbing gesture—"take anyone, are you?" She indicates the two boys in their beds, and gives Frau a worried look. That's all she's worried about, really. Don't take them away from me. Please.

[ibreakrules]

Frau had to strain not to break out into a fit of laughter of that. He could understand Hinamori just fine, but her pantomime was hysterical. It took all of his willpower, but he managed not to laugh and instead watched her passively.

She would probably recognize his voice if he spoke. Even so, he wanted to reassure her somehow that he wasn't here to cause any harm to either of the patients. He did, however, find it incredibly amusing that Hitsugaya and Teito were sharing a room. Even better, they were in the kids' ward. Restraining his laughter yet again, he slowly reached out a hand for Hinamori, intending on resting it on her head if she'd let him.

[plum_that_snaps]

The hand on her head made her pause in surprise. It was something no one had dared to do in a long time. No one except... her captain. Her stomach turned at the familiarity of the gesture, but she looked up at Frau and smiled gratefully. She understood. Or at least she hoped she did. In fact, she wasn't sure she understood at all. If being a death god herself had taught her anything, it was that death could be kind at the same time it was cruel. She hoped, prayed that that wasn't why he was here.

"They're not getting better," she said, looking at the two boys. "They just stay the same, fade in and out, come back and go away again."

[ibreakrules]

Frau's gaze turned once more to Teito. The kid looked better to his eyes, but of course that didn't mean very much. When Kevin had taken Teito away, Teito had looked terrible. At least he had to Frau's own fevered eyes. Either he looked better now because he was actually better, or he looked better simply because Frau was seeing through eyes clear of illness.

In the end it didn't matter which was the right answer. He couldn't do anything to help Teito besides be here for him and hope the kid could pull through. Labrador was the healer. Frau was the destroyer.

[plum_that_snaps]

"I'm worried," Hinamori mused, stating the obvious. "I— I thought no one could die, here, not us, not from a disease. But then... Captain Kuchiki..." A captain, someone so strong she considered them on another level, one step away from gods, had fallen ill to a simple flu and died. And just like that, her worldview was shattered. Here, it seemed, all bets were off, and it would be all too easy to lose the last remnants of home she had left.

"And that boy—Teito—he was kind to me, and he doesn't deserve to die either. No one deserves to die from this. Someone should do something." There was no one to look up to, here. No one to ask the answers. After enough time living among souls who were thousands of years old, she had begun to assume that there would always be someone to explain things to her. It was comforting, that knowledge, but it no longer applied. And it made her feel helpless.

[ibreakrules]

Frau may have intended on staying quiet, but he couldn't anymore. He needed to make something very clear, very quickly.

"He's not going to die. I won't let him."

And he wouldn't. Teito would not die. Frau would do anything he had to do in order to make sure that was a reality. Whatever it took, it didn't matter. If Teito left him alone for good, Frau wasn't sure her could handle it. Even more importantly, Teito's path had just begun, and he had far too many important things to do in his life for it to end here.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori tensed her shoulders as the second voice broke into her musing. Convinced the skeleton was deaf and dumb, she had simply let herself speak to soothe her own worries. Having an audience changed her position considerably. But the words themselves were strangely familiar—like an echo of her own thoughts. "Yeah. Me neither," she promised.

She stood looking at Hitsugaya-kun for a moment, keeping her thoughts to herself this time. It occurred to her that if the skeleton could respond to her statements, that meant he had understood her earlier question—without the miming. She looked up. "You could understand me the whole time, couldn't you?' she said, lips curving into the start of an embarrassed smile.

[ibreakrules]

Maybe Frau would get a little bit of entertainment out of this visit. He hovered where he was and crossed his arms over his chest, rather satisfied with himself.

"Yes."

For now he would keep his answers short. Hopefully if he did she wouldn't have enough time to decipher his voice and pin it to who he really was. If she did, Frau would deal with it. It would be a hassle, but here it wouldn't be as terrible as it would have been at home.