survival ~ haikyuu zombie au

40 ~ The Sick

"Conny?" Natsu's soft voice rang out across the room. Conny immediately got up from the spot she had been sitting and approached the little girl's side.

"Hey there sunshine! How's it going?" she said in the most enthusiastic voice she could muster. But truthfully, she was exhausted, she had been running around the room taking care of people for over a day now and she felt like she could barely keep her eyes open at this point.

She would have asked for help, but all the others were much worse off than herself. Although the virus didn't seem to be affecting Natsu quite as much as the others, which Conny was more than thankful for. Also, Ukai had barely asked for anything since arriving, he was nice each time she had spoken to him and he was very insistent that she sit down instead of busying herself helping him.

"I want Shoyo," Natsu whispered. She seemed very upset.

"I know, you miss your brother, huh? I'll tell you what? We don't want Shoyo to get sick so how about I lay down and cuddle you for now. Then when you're feeling all better you can see Shoyo again. Sound good?" Conny suggested. She felt bad for the little girl.

Conny slipped into the bed, picking Natsu up to hold her in her arms. Natsu was quick to settle her head against Conny's chest, seeming to be a little happier than she was the prior minute.

"I have an idea, you know I used to be quite the artist always doodling on my notes. Why don't I draw a picture on your hand to remind you of Shoyo?" Conny suggested, reaching over to a desk beside the bed to grab a pen.

"A volleyball. He loves volleyball" she said weakly, seeming to be really pleased with the idea.

"What is it with these boys and volleyball?! You know my brother is way too obsessed with volleyball too?" Conny said as she began to draw on Natsu's tiny hand. She could practically feel Daichi's grin from the bed beside them.

"How's that?" Conny asked, letting go of the girl's hand when she was finished with her doodle.

"Thank you," Natsu whispered as she cuddled up in Conny's arms. Conny hugged the girl tight and allowed herself to close her eyes for just a moment. However, sleep took over her body almost instantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Conny opened her eyes again the room was significantly darker than it had been when she laid down with Natsu. The little girl was already fast asleep in her arms. Conny gently lifted herself up, then placed Natsu back in the bed and carefully tucked her in.

Conny made her way across the room to Ukai's bed, beginning to check on each person. "How's it going?" she asked when she got closer and noticed that the man was awake. She found herself asking that question over and over throughout the day, but she didn't know what else to say.

"I'm okay. Don't waste your time on this old man though. Go check on the other two," he said even though it was clear that he wasn't okay.

"Can I at least get you some water or something?" Conny asked, feeling bad that he was choosing to suffer alone.

"Maybe in a bit. Just take care of them first. And yourself too," Ukai answered, he was attempting to make his voice sound normal but Conny could tell that it was clearly off.

"Okay I'll check them. But don't worry about me, I'm not even sick," she said, but she wasn't entirely sure of how true that statement was. She was feeling crappier and crappier every moment. But she didn't want the others to know, especially Daichi.

She walked across the room to Daichi's bed. "You look like crap," she said as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Thanks, Conny. You don't look so great yourself, your eyes are red, and skin is getting paler," Daichi said, the way he struggled to speak nearly broke Conny's heart.

"It's just exhaustion. Come on let me help you drink some water," Conny said, completely brushing off his observation as she helped her brother sit up. She brought a bottle of water up to his lips and tried to help him drink as much as he could, but a good portion of it just ended up spilling down onto his shirt.

"Thanks," he said as he sat back down.

"It's only fair after you took care of me all these years," Conny replied, giving him a small smile.

Daichi smiled, a very small, painful smile, but it was still a smile. Conny grinned, knowing she had done her job.

Conny noticed Daichi's hand twitch slightly in an attempt to move it. She quickly moved her hand to his giving it a tight squeeze. "Everything will be fine," she whispered. She thought that if she said it enough times, she might begin to believe it herself.

The bed next to them began to erupt with violent coughs. Conny sprung to her feet and hurried over to the boy in the bed, helping him sit up so he could cough the blood into a bucket rather than all over himself.

Conny gently laid him back down when he was done.

"My hand," he mumbled when his cough attack ended. Conny looked at his hands, one was holding something silver. She gently opened his palm to reveal the necklace he was clinging to.

"That's your sister's necklace" she said, examining the familiar piece of jewelry.

"Can you take her to Tokyo?" he asked a question that must have been weighing on his mind since he had gotten sick. Conny couldn't tell if he was having a hard time speaking because of the condition he was in or because it was a difficult thing for him to ask.

"But you are going to do that," Conny responded, refusing to take the necklace from his hand.

"Please Conny. I know you're optimistic, but don't be stupid," Ennoshita begged, coughing a few times afterwards.

"How about I just hold onto it for you till you're better?" Conny suggested.

"Okay. But - but if I don't get better, take it to Tokyo for me," he pleaded as his body shook slightly with sobs.

"I don't wanna die Conny. I'm not ready," he cried out, breaking out into a fit of coughs. Conny didn't know what to say to that. How could she continue to lie to him about his condition if he already knew how bad it was?

"I believe when you die, you find those who have already left you," Conny said. It surprised her because she didn't even realize what she was saying until after she said it. She meant to attempt to convince him he would get better. But based off Ennoshita's expression those words were much better than anything she could have come up with as a 'you'll be okay'.

"My sister?" he asked.

Conny nodded. "I really do think you'll be with her again, maybe some other life. A normal one," Conny said. She could feel herself longing for that other life. Some life where she was going to high school running through the halls with Kageyama and stealing notes from Kimi. A life where she wasn't sitting on a bed beside a dying teenager.

"Thank you Conny. I think I'm going to sleep now," Ennoshita said, he drifted off almost immediately after the words left his mouth.

Conny glanced to the bed beside her. Daichi was staring at her. "You should sleep too," she said, standing up and moving towards the empty bed.

"Conny, I'm proud of you," Daichi said quickly. His words caused Conny to freeze in her tracks. That sentence sounded far too much like something someone on their death bed would say. She wasn't ready to accept Daichi's state. She wasn't ready to accept that she might lose her brother.

"Sleep Daichi," was all she said before continuing on her path to the empty bed where she laid down and let the hands of sleep grasp her once again.