Taking A Chance

Velgatha

Allura strode down the corridor with Hunk hurrying behind her. It was unacceptable. She and Hunk had been left alone with the rebels while the others were off doing whatever.
She rounded the bend and saw Shiro and Adam in the corridor.
‘Why did everyone run off like that?’ she demanded. ‘We are doing this to save your would you know.'
'And we're trying to save Keith,’ Shiro snapped.
‘What are you talking about?' frowned Allura.
‘He was injected with a poison by the person who disappeared from the group Coran brought to the ballroom,’ Shiro said.
Allura frown deepened and made to go to Lance's and Keith's room. Adam stopped in front of her, and she looked at him in surprise.
‘Don't go near him,’ Adam said.
She blinked and stepped back.
‘Since we are on a neutral planet,’ said Shiro, ‘we need to stay here until we can find an antidote, and as Adam said, you're not to go near him, do you understand me?'
Coran came running down the corridor with Pidge and they went into the bedroom. The others quickly followed.
They came to a halt when they saw Lance holding Keith up as he continued to vomit blood into a bowl. Keith's t-shirt was socked with sweat and his body shook.
Hunk put his handover his mouth and backed out of the room heaving.
‘This is not good,' Coran said.
‘Is it what you think it is?' asked Pidge.
‘Yes, I'm afraid so,’ said Coran. ‘There's no known cure for this poison, and as far as I was aware, it no longer existed.'
‘I don't want to hear that,' snapped Lance, putting the bowl on the bedside table.
‘Coran, what is it?' asked Shiro.
‘Velgatha, a substance that is only poisonous to Galra,’ said Coran, ‘it's made from the root of the velgatha plant. All known sources of the plant were destroyed eons ago, or so we believed. To anyone not Galran it is harmless. Ingested, it takes weeks for the victim to die, but this was injected directly into the blood stream…’
‘How long,' Lance demanded.
‘Days,’ Coran muttered.
‘But he's only half Galra,’ said Pidge, ‘surely his human side…’
Coran sighed and looked at her. ‘The poison works by shutting down the internal organs, even a human can't fight that.’
‘We need to contact Krolia and see if she knows anything,’ Shiro said.
Coran nodded, but there was no hope in his eyes at the suggestion.
Everyone but Adam left. He took the bowl into the bathroom and emptied it's contents before rinsing it. Returning, he placed the bowl on the bedside table and sat on the bed.
Lance cradled Keith in his arms and sobbed, broken hearted at the thought of losing the man he loved.
Adam moved to sit next to Lance and rubbed his back as he fought his own emotions. Raising Keith had been a difficult with his trust and anger issues. Between his 8th and 9th birthday's he’d been placed with five different foster families, moved to five different schools. He was a broken mess when he came to live with them, but the moment Keith walked through their door, Adam knew he was never going to let him leave.
Reaching out, Adam took Keith's hand and rubbed circles over the back of it with his thumb. The angry young man he knew had come so far in the last few years, finally getting his life on track, only to have it snatched away from him.
Lance's sobs finally began to settle and he wiped the tears from his face.
Keith stirred in his arms. ‘Water,' he mumbled.
Lance turned to Adam. ‘Some straws were in the items from Earth…’
‘I'll get one,’ Adam said, hurrying from the room.
Piling the pillows back up, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and moved him until they were chest to chest. Keith weakly brought his knees up on either side of Lance's hips and buried his face in Lance's neck, and gave a contented sigh.
Adam returned with a cup of water and a straw which he held to Keith’s lips. Keith to a grateful sip of the cold liquid.
‘Shiro said they got in contact with Krolia,’ said Adam. ‘She doesn't know of any cure, but is on her way to see him. She'll be here in 3 hours.‘
Lance nodded. ‘Can you help me take off his t-shirt, it's soaked.’
Once that was done, Adam threw the t-shirt into the hamper and disappeared into the bathroom. He returned with a towel and a cold washer which he placed on the back of Keith's neck.
‘We need to bring his temperature down,’ said Adam. ‘I'm going to see if I can find some ice.’
He disappeared from the room only to be replaced by Pidge.
‘I need to take some blood,' she murmured.
‘Are you getting anywhere?’ asked Lance.
She didn't look him in the eye. 'There was very little residue in the syringe for us to work with,’ she said. ‘But we won't stop trying.' She frowned at Keith's arm.
‘What?' asked Lance.
‘I can't find a vein,’ she said, ‘he's lost a lot of blood and I'd say he's dehydrated.’
After a few more minutes she had to admit defeat and plopped down on the edge of the bed.
'I don't know what to do,’ she admitted. ‘There's nothing out there to give us any clues, I don't even know what planet the velgatha could possibly be growing on, and even If we did, how long would it take to get there, or how long would it take to find an answer…’
Lance put a hand on hers to stop her panicked ramble and she stared at him with watery eyes.
‘Thank you for trying,’ he said.
‘But it's not enough,’ she cried. 'For the first time in my life, my knowledge is useless, and I can't help save my friend, and I hate this feeling.’
She jumped up and ran out of the room.
Adam came back with a small bag of ice. He wrapped it in a towel and replaced the wet washer with the ice.
Behind him, Hunk came in with a glass and a straw.
‘Um...I made him a strawberry smoothie,’ he said, ‘extra sweet to keep his strength up.’
Lance smiled. ‘Thanks Hunk,’ Lance said, taking the cup from him.
‘No problem,’ Hunk replied.
‘Here, baby, have some of this,’ Lance murmured, holding the straw to Keith lips.
Keith took a small sip, then a longer one. 'Mmm,’ he said, weakly.
A happy smile pulled at Hunk's lips and he left.
Lance was pleased when Keith drank half the smoothie before falling asleep.
‘Do you need anything?’ asked Adam.
‘No, I'm good,’ Lance said.
When Adam left, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith as tears slipped down his cheeks. Soon he feIl into an exhausted sleep.