Chapter 38

Too good for her own good
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"Crap." Mai cursed under her nose. Why those kind of things have to happen to her? And how could she be that stupid to be tricked by Ah-Un? The dragon was an animal, for god's sake! She took another peek inside the cave. Sesshomaru wasn't moving. Mai's instinct was screaming: run! Any reasonable person in her situation would get the hell out of here, leaving the demon to heal on his own. But… what if he would bleed to death? Rin won't ever forgive Mai for letting her beloved Sesshomaru-sama die. On the other hand… if he died, the kid wouldn't know.
Mai slapped her forehead. How could she even think like that? She wasn't a monster without conscience, who would let a wounded man… demon - technically speaking – bleed to death. She could just check if he was relatively okay and then run. Right – that was the plan. She stayed at the entrance of the cave.
"Sesshomaru." She called quietly, sure, that he'll hear her. However, there was only silence.
"Sesshomaru!" Mai shouted, but there was no response. Not good – the girl thought and decided to get closer to see what was wrong with the demon. Slowly, she approached the laying figure. She felt her shoe stepping on something wet and sticky. She glanced down. Mai lifted her hand to cover her mouth, not to scream. Blood. There was a huge pool of blood everywhere around Sesshomaru. Was all of that his? Was he even still alive? The girl quickly kneeled by his side. He had his eyes closed and wasn't responding to her presence. She pressed his artery on the neck with two fingers. Mai let out a breath, relieved. There was a pulse, although it was weak. His chest was lifting slightly too. The girl started examining him.
The demon was in a terrible shape. He lost a lot of blood and had minor wounds everywhere. Sesshomaru had his armor shattered and once white clothes were nearly completely red now. Mai leaned and gasped. He was slashed from the left shoulder to the right hip. The wound was deep and the flesh around it had strange color – it must be some kind of infection. The injuries showed no sign of healing.
With determination, Mai opened the first-aid kit. Maybe Sesshomaru was an ass and tried to kill her, but there was no way, that the girl would leave anyone in such state. She would just dress his wounds and leave when we'll start go get better. She removed the remnants of the armor, careful not to get any pieces into the wound and took out scissors. Swiftly, she cut his haori and removed it. Mai hissed, when she saw, that the injury was worse than she thought. The girl looked around for some water to cleanse the wound. Luckily, there was a stream flowing across the corner of the cave. She tore the pieces of haori, that were relatively clean and soaked them with water. Mai washed the flesh around the wound and disinfected the slash by pouring the whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide on the wound. A normal person would wake up and scream in pain, but Sesshomaru didn't even budge. Then, she put some gauze on the injury and did her best to wrap the bandage around the demon's torso, having some difficulties lifting his limp and heavy body. Mai sighed and wiped the sweat of her forehead. All right, the most work is done. She managed to stop the source of bleeding. Now were the minor wounds remaining – the biggest ones on Sesshomaru's cheek, arm, and also few here and there. She bandaged them quickly or used sticking plasters on them. Satisfied with herself, she searched in the kit for any useful items. Mai smiled, as she found a lighter. Great! Now she could make a fire – she could barely see anything in the dim light, that the rays of the setting sun cast.
The girl went to gather some firewood and built a fire at the entrance to the cave. Now that the cave was lit, Mai cleaned a bit around her patient - she wiped the cave floor with the remnants of the demon's haori and placed him comfortably on his white fur. She also washed the rags, just in case she would need them later, and let them dry by the fire. When she was done, Mai sat by the fire, observing the unconscious inu-youkai.
During all this time, she was dressing his wounds he didn't show any sign of regaining consciousness, what worried her. Hopefully now, when the bleeding was stopped, he'll begin to regain his strength. Mai knew, that Rin would be depressed, if he died and Jaken would probably commit seppuku. She had a hunch, that staying here and trying to save that arrogant jerk was a mistake, but she couldn't help it – she was too good and it was her curse. Mai shifted, as she heard Sesshomaru moving. Was he waking up? Hesitantly, she approached him. The demon was trembling. Right, he was dressed only in his hakama and bandages, but it wasn't that cold. She leaned over him and noticed, that he was sweating. Mai touched his forehead and cursed. Damn. He was burning from fever. It must be the infection – Kagome mentioned, that Naraku emitted some kind of miasma, so it must be it. She rushed to get the pieces of fabric and soaked them with cold water. She put those make-shift compresses on his forehead and everywhere, she could, careful not to wet the bandages. Sesshomaru kept trembling and began to moan, when she was looking for something to use against poison. Penicillin. It would be probably pointless, but she had to try something. She had him swallow it and stayed by his side, changing compresses from time to time. The demon still shivered and moaned. After few hours, Mai decided to take a break – she couldn't do more anyway and she had to get a nap. She laid next to him and closed her eyes.
"Mai." She heard Sesshomaru moaning. Her eyes snapped open and checked on him. Was he awake? However, the demon was unconscious. Mai frowned. She was sure, that he was dreaming of strangling her again. The girl sighed and went back to sleep.
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The first thing Sesshomaru felt was pain. Piercing, excruciating pain, that lit his every single nerve on fire. However the pain was a good sign – it meant that he was alive. Not opening his eyes, he took in surroundings. After the battle with Naraku, he managed to crawl into a cave, severely wounded. Everywhere around was the stench of his blood, it dominated over the other scents. Slowly, ignoring the pain in his chest as he breathed, he inhaled the air. He smelled his own scent, the animals in the woods – nothing out of ordinary. It seemed, that he was alone here. But something was not right. His nose was telling him one thing and the ears another. He heard light breaths and heartbeat… close, as if next to him. He cursed – in this state he might not be able to fight off an enemy. Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open, all red, and he frantically searched for the fiend.
As he shifted a little, the pain shot through his entire body. Then he glanced next to him and his eyes widened in surprise. Beside him was laying none other than the idiot woman, curled into the ball. She seemed to be soundly asleep. What was she doing here? Sesshomaru carefully sniffed the air, but felt irritated, because he did not sense her smell. Did she mask it somehow? The demon smirked, pleased, that he did not have to waste his time hunting for her – she came directly to him instead. How stupid could she be?
Sesshomaru tried to lift himself, but the pain was too great to ignore it - he must be seriously injured. The demon glanced downwards and discovered, that he was half-naked, dressed only in his hakama. His torso and arm were bandaged – the blood began already soaking through - and something damp was on his forehead. He carefully took it off and saw, that it was a cold compress. He looked at sleeping Mai again. Was she the one, who dressed his wounds? Sesshomaru became more and more confused. Finally, he decided, that it was safe enough to rest and closed his eyes.
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Mai stretched her limbs and yawned. Slowly, she sat up, looking around. The sun was already up, the rays of light seeping into the cave. She turned her head and saw Sesshomaru laying still in the same place, his chest rising rhythmically. Good. At least he was still alive. The girl noticed, that the bandages got stained with blood – it was time to change them. She sighed, grabbed the first-aid kit and leaned over the demon, reaching to rip off the sticking plaster of his face.
The girl shrieked in surprise, as the clawed hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and the lids covering golden eyes lifted slowly. She looked at the demon with wide-opened eyes and he glanced back at her.
"You're awake!" she mumbled, trying to free her hand, but Sesshomaru tightened his grip, nearly crushing her bones, not willing to let go.
"I am." He said calmly. "Why did you come here, woman?"
Mai stared at him for a while.
"Isn't it obvious? I was so worried for you, that I came here." She said with sarcasm. The demon furrowed his brows, clearly irritated by her response. Mai sighed. "Ah-Un tricked me into coming here. I thought, that Rin was hurt, but I found you instead."
Sesshomaru was looking into her eyes for a while and lessened the pressure of his fingers on her wrist, but didn't let go.
"Why you did not escape?" he inquired.
"Because you were dying!" Mai nearly shouted into her face. "If I didn't patch you up, today I would have to dig a grave for you! What would I tell Rin? And Jaken? What kind of person I am, according to you? I wouldn't leave anyone to bleed slowly to death, even if you tried to kill me!" Mai began to breath heavily, as she finished her tirade.
Sesshomaru clutched her wrist with more strength, causing the girl to wince from pain. His eyes turned red, as he bared his fangs at her. The demon jerked her hand and pulled her closer to him, so that their faces were only inches away.
"You were the one, that was trying to kill me with a knife!" he hissed, furious. Mai narrowed her eyes, angered. How dare he remind her that?
"It was self-defense! You were trying to strangle me that time!" she retorted. The demon growled at her.
"It was my intention to discipline you, not to kill you!" he yelled at her and averted his gaze from the girl, staring intently at the ceiling. Mai felt anger boiling in her. Discipline? How sadistic could he be?! She felt the urge to punch him with all her strength. On the other hand, she really tried to kill him, but it was his own fault, wasn't it? The girl sighed.
"All right. Let's not talk about it now. Anyway, thanks for saving me and Kagome from Naraku. How did you know, that we'll dodge Souryuuha in time?" Mai asked, deciding it was the best to change the topic and keep non-violent relations for the time being.
"I did not."
Mai took a deep breath, refraining from finishing, what Naraku started. Why must he be such an ass? Let's concentrate on patching him up and then she will run away.
"You need to have those bandages changed." She said to him. The demon glanced at her and averted his eyes again.
"Hn." He muttered. Mai took it for some kind of an agreement.
The silence lasted for a longer while and Mai coughed.

"Sesshomaru, you're still holding my hand." She said. The demon glanced at his own hand, gripping Mai's wrist and released it quickly, as if just burnt him. The girl took out scissors and started cutting the bandage on his torso. Sesshomaru was staring at the ceiling all the time. Delicately, Mai removed the gauzes and took a look on the wound. It didn't seem to inflamed anymore, but it wasn't healing as fast as she thought it would be. Inuyasha healed from his injury much faster. The girl figured out, that it must be because either Naraku's poison or the excessive blood loss.

"Could you sit up?" Mai asked the demon. Sesshomaru nodded and tried to lift himself, gritting his teeth. Although the youkai did his best to maintain stone façade, she could tell, that he was in pain. Mai made a move to help him, but decided against it – it would only hurt his pride and make him more unbearable. Finally, he managed to sit up on his own. Mai pressed the clean gauzes to the wound and began tightly wrapping the bandage around his torso. The girl felt a little uncomfortable, being so close to him and feeling his breath atop her head – she was practically embracing a naked man! Mai blushed at the thought.

"Done." she said after she finished dressing the biggest wound. "I think it will need much more time to heal, but it's better than yesterday."

Sesshomaru nodded and fell backwards on his fur, apparently having used all his strength on sitting up. Mai thought, that he must be really in a bad shape. The girl began bandaging the lesser injuries, noticing, that they began to heal. Some even disappeared completely overnight.

"Why did you escape me?" Sesshomaru asked abruptly, surprising the girl. Mai stared at him for a while. It wasn't like him to start a conversation. Maybe he had a head injury as well?

"I wanted to go home." She answered, ripping of a sticking plaster. Sesshomaru looked at Mai and closed his eyes.

"Will you stay now?" he asked quietly.