When she woke it was full dark. The only illumination in the room was the city lights gleaming through the window and a strip of light that shone brightly under the door. She felt like she was wrapped in a fuzzy cocoon, everything seemed to be muted and slightly muffled.
Glancing at the side of the bed, she half expected to see Kouga there. The last few times she had woke up she could have swore he was sitting there but the drugs they gave her made it so that she couldn’t tell if seeing him was real or just part of one of her dreams. Instead she caught a blurry glimpse of long, silver hair. Shutting her eyes, she groaned, “Go away Inuyasha. I can’t deal with you right now,” she said softly, voice a bit rough and raspy.
“Hn…If you were anyone else I would be showing you how much of an insult it is to compare me to that half-breed.” Came the reply from a cultured, even voice she knew well.
Even though it took a real effort she opened her eyes again and tried to focus on the being sitting beside her bed. “Sess… Sesshomaru?”
“Yes Kagome.” he said softly, scooting his chair closer to the bed so she could see him better.
Squinting her eyes, she tried focusing on his face to determine if he was real or just another of the weird dreams she had been having. Swallowing, she heard a dry click from her throat. “Water,” she said softly, unable to think of anything beyond the arid feeling of her mouth and throat.
Lowering the railing on the side of the bed the way her mother had shown him earlier, he slid an arm under her shoulders and helped her to sit up a bit. Then he held the cup so she could sip through the straw.
With a sigh of relief after she finished, he laid her back down on the bed and she looked at him, “Where’s Kouga? Or wasn’t he here?”
“He left to return to Edo for a couple days so that I could come.” Sesshomaru said with a voice soft.
Rubbing her eyes, she tried focusing on his face again, her brow furrowed a bit. “Why? I thought you didn’t like me, or any human for that matter.”
Brushing a stray lock of her ebony hair off her forehead, he looked into her eyes. “You thought wrong.”
Even with the drug’s effects of making her sluggish and her thought process a bit off kilter as she started dozing off again she asked, “Can I hold your hand please?” Her voice was soft and bit uneven.
“Of course,” he replied, reaching out and taking her tiny hand in his. While he found it surprising that she would want that small gesture of comfort from him it still eased him greatly as he felt her tiny hand give his a squeeze. Leaning over, he kissed her softly on the forehead then said in a voice that was a bit gruff, “Promise me you’ll never hurt yourself like this again, Kagome.”
“I promise.” Her reply was breathless and her words slightly slurred as she drifted back into a hazy, drug-induced sleep.