The X Sickness X Within (KilluGon)

Chapter 2

When the doctor had told them his thoughts neither of them responded. They just sat in silence refusing to look anywhere but their shoes, or the floor, or the ceiling. The doctor left to get the screening ready and still they sat in silence. After a while the doctor returned and told Gon he had to stay in the waiting room while the tests were taken. Killua got his lungs screened and blood taken. It would be a few days before the results came in, so Gon and Killua made their way to their shared apartment in the light rain.

Lung Cancer

The words echoed around his skull ceaselessly. How could he, Killua Zoldyck, have cancer? That just didn't seem possible. He felt numb (When his lungs didn't feel like they were on fire.) Killua had known something was wrong but had been reluctant to acknowledge it. He felt that so long as nothing was said it would be like nothing was wrong. But now, with the thoughts hanging heavily in the air, it seemed as if the disease had taken him into its mouth and was slowly gnawing away at his bones.

"Maybe it won't be cancer." Gon stated without his usual grin. It was so odd seeing Gon this way. It made Killua want the cancer to go away all the more.

Killua was almost positive it was cancer because he had never been trained against something like that. How could he? Cancer, in simple terms, was the uncontrollable division of abnormal cells. It would make sense the former assassin would have abnormal cells. After all, his training had been cruel and unusual. He was overwhelmed and dragged down into the dark corners of his mind.

Gon was uncharacteristically silent the rest of the way home. Deep in thought. His best friend couldn't have cancer. He was Killua Zoldyck for crying out loud! No, it was something else. It wasn't the deadly killer cancer.

When they reached their temporary apartment they changed into their dry clothes and sat in the living room/kitchen. The apartment was two beds, and one bath, and a kitchen/ living room area. Gon and Killua had been living there for about three weeks. Gon was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Killua was much the same but sitting in a chair looking at the floor instead.

The fact of the matter is that even if it was cancer or whatever, they didn't have the money to fix it. They had barely scrounged up enough money to pay for the doctor and rent. They needed to take a job but work was hard to come by when your partner gave away their location each time he started hacking. Or when they pass out and you have to carry them back to the city before proceeding with the mission.

"It's okay Killua," Gon said. "We'll find the money to fix you up and then we'll be back to adventuring in no time."

Killua looked up to find Gon staring at him with a goofy grin on his face despite the situation. The smile was contagious and soon Killua had an easy smile resting on his face. His best friend always knew how to make him feel better.

But the smile was ripped off his face when a particularly bad fit of coughs exploded from his chest. It hurt his lungs terribly to so much as take a deep breath, but the coughing felt like small bombs had imploded in his chest.

Gon was beside Killua in an instant with some of his herb tea that had helped the cough far. Killua recovered enough to take a small sip of the warm drink and swallow it down. It left a soothing river down his throat and warmed him through and through. He gave a small sigh of relief and Gon smiled at the prospect of being able to help.

He offered Killua food but was turned down, which was okay because Gon wasn't really hungry either. For the longest time they sat there in companionable silence, thinking of ways to get some money or find a way to cure Killua.

Gon thought hard. He could go on missions by himself. No. Gon could never leave his friend behind wondering what was going on and if he was okay or not. They could work here in the city, but work was a bit scare at the moment. They needed money. Gon now understood Leorio's reasoning to become a hunter in a new depth.

Leorio

"Yes!" Gon shouted suddenly, ending the silence. "Leorio can help us if we can't help ourselves! He graduated his doctor school last year, remember?" Killua smiled again at his friend. He was like a lighthouse on a stormy night and Killua was a drowsy ship brought to shore with the help of the bright ray.

"You can be really smart when you want to be." He said and sunk down into the cushiony chair. "But don't call Leorio until we get the results back. Don't want him worrying over nothing." Gon nodded in confirmation and smiled a warm smile at the rare compliment.

Since it was only about 6 o' clock they watched random TV shows (occasionally interrupted by coughing) until it seemed a reasonable hour to head off to bed. Killua left first and entered the white door on the left quietly. Gon could hear the random coughing fit that overtook Killua's lungs.

Gon wanted to go in there and comfort his friend but knew Killua would turn him away with some line like 'stop babying me Gon,' so he stayed put until the coughing had stopped for an hour. That was how he knew that the friend he cared for most in the world had drifted into a restless sleep.

Gon didn't know if he would ever tell Killua how much he meant to him. More than just a best friend. Usually everything Gon thought went straight from his brain to his mouth without filter, but this thought had gotten stuck in his throat each time Killua was around. Each time anyone was around.

Gon turned off the TV, entered the white door on the right, and drifted into a light slumber.

Killua doubted he would get any sleep at all tonight, but he knew Gon wouldn't head off to bed until he thought Killua was sleeping so he suppressed his coughs like his life depended on it. He was tired but the coughing wouldn't cease so he resigned himself with quietly staring at the ceiling.

Killua had had a small hope that Gon might come in to check on him. But even if Gon did Killua would have told him to stop mothering him and go to bed. He just didn't know how to express his feelings towards Gon sometimes. Gon was one of the only people who had meant anything to him in a long time.

There was Alluka of course but his parents had locked her up a while ago. Gon was the only person other than Alluka that he actually cared deeply for. Kurapika and Leorio were his friends but Gon was really the only one who understood him. The only problem was that he had no idea how to tell Gon that he was the most important person in his life right now and that he was so grateful that he had rescued him from his horrendous family.

Killua suppressed a cough and turned on his side. Gon hadn't given up on him, even when the odds were stacked so tall against his favor when Killua went home after the hunter test. Then there was the time that.....

Killua, despite his previous prediction, drifted off into a fitful sleep. One of the first he had had in days.