Dead End(Erwin x Levi)

Chapter 7: Numb

The ache in Erwin's arm didn't go away.

It continued and the numbness went up his arm to settle at his mid forearm, tingling and lifeless. It hung uselessly at his side as he walked, swaying. He had lifted his left hand to wipe off his face of the drool and blood that had started to dry. It looked slightly odd; lifting a left hand to wipe off something on your right and Levi seemed to notice.

"You okay?" Levi asked.

"I'm fine." He dismissed. The statement did nothing to dissolve Levi's worry. Probably nothing would.

He had started to feel slightly dizzy as he walked, a pounding starting in the back of his head. The light from their flashlights seemed to blind him and he had no way of balancing himself as he stepped over logs and bushes and branches, his equilibrium thrown off. Every sound around him seemed to be ten times louder than usual; the crunching of branches beneath his feet sounding like cracking bones, the owl that hooted overhead seemed to be right in his ear, his heart beat pounding, and his breathing heavy and laboured. Levi was casting him odd and worried looks as they walked on the trail.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Levi asked again, his tone laced with his doubt and his worry for his partner.

"I'm...fine." Erwin breathed. "Just a little out of breath." But Levi still didn't believe him. It was just like Erwin to push away his troubles so he wouldn't worry and if anything it just made him worry even more.

Erwin's vision had started to dance and blur around the edges, he couldn't focus on anything, and the pounding in his head had become more noticeable. It almost stung. Levi was giving him side glances and eyeing him carefully as they walked, the moon casting a bright grey glow over them and the path.

Erwin felt that with every step he took he was sinking further into the muddy ground beneath his feet, like quicksand. Yet some steps felt like he was walking on the hardest stone and it rang through his body and shook his bones. His lifeless hand had started to twitch and his fingers tingled in the oddest way. His mind was going fuzzy and his breathing was raged and uneven. His chest started to burn with every pump of blood, fire in his veins. The bag on his back felt increasingly heavy and the light breeze that flowed through felt like that of a tornado or a hurricane. His steps had faltered and he almost fell over, his shoulder colliding with a tree that he leaned against for support. Levi had stopped and faced him, leaning down to get a look at Erwin's head which was hanging lowly on his shoulders.

"You have to tell me what's wrong." Levi demanded.

"It's nothing, I promise." His voice sounded foreign to his own ears when he spoke.

"No, it's not nothing Erwin, now tell me what's wrong." Levi snapped. He was tired of Erwin's games.

Erwin was about to answer him but as he inhaled his throat burned and he started to cough violently, the coughs racking and shaking his body as he doubled over. It felt like every breath was tearing his throat apart and stabbing his neck and lungs. It burned and it hurt. Levi had placed a hand on his right bicep and was rubbing it soothingly. Levi could feel the heat emanating off Erwin's body through his clothes.

He moved his hand and placed it on Erwin's forehead that was clammy and drenched in sweat. "You have a fever." Levi concluded.

He knew that a common cold could mean life or death and that whatever was plaguing Erwin so suddenly needed to be taken seriously. He just had no clue what to do. It's not like there was a local pharmacy he could go to to get medicine and he would be cursing himself if he went back to the city to get medicine and left Erwin alone only to find him as a corpse when he got back. He'd never forgive himself if that happened.