Musterion (A Zelda AU)

Infection Detection - Chapter 14

"Gan-Man, dude, c'mon, wake up. We're here, you lazy bum!" Link rolls his eyes, jabbing my side, waking me up with a startle. 

"I- I'm awake..." I mumble, rubbing my eyes as I look around. When did we get on top of a cliff? Why is there blue fire in an oven? Why does this place look super run down?

Speaking of place, I can't tell what building this is supposed to be. A small, wooden shack, and a terracotta tower? I get off of Epona, grabbing Link by the arm to keep my balance. He helps guide me inside, my head pounding. It felt worse than it did yesterday. The lights on the inside of the building made my headache much worse, but the excited yelling from a new person was what got me. 

"Is that Link? Oh, and you brought a friend! Hello, you must be Ganon!" A girl with white hair and a red streak of it sticks a soot-covered hand in my direction. "You can call me Purah! I'm Hateno's Sheikah expert."

I force a smile and shake her hand, rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh, I heard all about your concussion, too. Here. This'll make it go away," Purah chirps, handing me a bottle with red liquid in it. I don't hesitate at all, drinking it all at once. I was thirsty. The taste of... lizard(?) filled my mouth, but I didn't gag. I couldn't care enough to. "Weeellll?" Purah moves from side to side, waiting for a response. My head still hurt, but I could feel the pain dull.

"I feel better, but not like... 100%, I guess."

"It'll take some time for the full effect to set in, but at least you're feeling better!"

I nod, looking around to see Link already missing. 

"Link went upstairs. Ladder's right over there, by the door you came in. I'll come up in a jiffy. Gotta wash my hands, y'know?"

"Take your time." I smile before heading up the ladder, seeing Zelda and Link sitting in front of a bed. 

I walk over, Link patting an empty chair next to him. I thank him, taking a seat. Ali, asleep under the bedsheets, has a flushed face and a bag of melted ice on her forehead. Zelda reaches across the bed and takes the bag, heading downstairs, to presumably get a new one. Ali's hand twitches slightly as she shifts, and I hold her hand in mine, hoping she might wake up. Her fingers loosely lace around mine, her head rolling in my direction as she barely opens her emerald-green eyes. 

"Hey, Gan," she weakly mumbles, smiling a bit as my thumb rubs over hers. 

I return her smile, my heart hurting. "Hey."

"Hey, hey, hey! The party's about to start!" Purah exclaims, coming up the ladder with Zelda, whose holding a fresh bag of ice. Zelda sets the ice bag on Ali's forehead again, then sits on the other side of the bed, where she had been, not saying anything. Purah continues, hoping to break the awkward silence. "Ali, girlie, how are you feeling? I know that potion didn't do much for you other than patch up those wounds."

"Tired... cold... can't... breathe too well," Ali sighs, closing her eyes again. "My side still hurts..."

"Still?" Purah stands by Zelda, pulling the covers up and prodding at Ali's bad side. Her hand tightens around mine, face scrunching up. Purah doesn't say anything for a moment, before the look of defeat I knew so well after losing home, crossed her face. "It looks like your body isn't a big fan of that potion stuff. I can't do anything more for you than quarantine you here for the next few months, Alibi'eh. You've lost too much blood to go anywhere, and you'll get a worse infection if you leave this bed to go outside. Heck, downstairs, might be too dirty. You're not leaving this room for a while."

Zelda glances at Link for a moment, twiddling her thumbs as she looks down. For a moment, the stupidest thought crossed my mind, but I ignore it. Zelda finally speaks up, sounding unsure of herself. "I can stay with you if you want, Ali. You might feel more comfortable with another girl."

"I want..." Ali trails off, gasping for air. I don't want to know how she went from able to move and talk to bedridden in just a day's time. "... Gan... to stay too..."

Link nudges my side, but I don't look at him. I don't feel like joking around with him right now. This is real. I don't want to ignore it. "I can stay."

"I don't think you should, Ganon," Purah states, putting it simply. Was she purposefully trying to get me to leave or something? "She needs dressing changes. A lot. This infection is really bad. You've already got everything from losing a home and your people on your hands, you shouldn't have to worry yourself more."

"I can handle it, Purah."

"I think you should focus on yourself right now. Have you even looked in a mirror? Not only are you beyond dirty, you stick out like a sore thumb in that outfit, and you're skin and bones! When was the last time you ate a good meal?"

"He's... always been skinny... hehe..." Ali smirks, quietly giggling.

"Ugh... I can't win, can I? Well... Zelda, can you disinfect the wound again? I need to finish this outfit for her. And start one for boney boy over here."

"Yeah." Zelda nods, reaching into one of the bedside nightstands, pulling out a dark brown bottle and some cotton pads. Purah waves, sliding back down the ladder. "You good to go right now Ali?"

Ali nods, squeezing my hand again. Her grip tightens as Zelda pours whatever is in the bottle onto the cotton pad, pushing it onto her wound. She does this a few times, a fizzing sound growing louder each time.

"It's a lot worse than earlier..."

"It hurts..." 

"I know. I'm sorry, I just can't let it spread. If it does, we might not be able to do much else." Zelda starts wrapping Ali's stomach once more to keep her side sanitary, holding her other hand. Once Zelda finishes, she gets up, grabbing Link by the arm. "We'll leave you guys be for now. Don't do anything stupid, Ganon. Or else."

"Yeah, Gan-Man. Or else Zelda will hit you with the heaviest book she can find," Link says mockingly, getting up and following her to the ladder.

Once they leave, Ali reaches out with her free hand. "... Will... you lay... with me?"

I hold her other hand, shaking my head. "No." 

As much as I found myself wanting to stay by her side, I was filthy. Purah was right. I needed a bath. Not just for my sake, but so Ali wouldn't get more sick. 

She groans, making grabby hands at me. "Pleaaaase?"

"No, Ali."

Ali, not wanting to take no for an answer, grabs onto my sleeve and pulls me close to her. My cheeks burn up as she puts a hand on my face. "Lay with meeee..."

I find her stare hard to say no to. Anyone would. But I muster up the strength to just stand up, shaking my head once more. "Let me get clean first."

Ali doesn't say anything, looking away. I know she understands why I won't, but she's too stubborn to admit she's wrong. Sighing, I kiss her cheek before going downstairs. I was gonna find whoever did this to not only me and Ali, but my entire town. But first I needed to bathe.