Bound By Hate (Gale) {Book 1 of the "Bound" Series}

17: Never Give Up

A couple of announcements(I'm just full of these lately XD):

FIrst of all, wow! The feedback on the last chapter blew up! Thank you so much for the support, it really means so much! <3 Secondly, I already have this completely finished. XD I've been negleting night-time sleep, and I finished it last night. I was going to space out the next three chapters, but I don't think I'm going to now. Instead, I'm going to post chapters 17 and 18(wish will be another MA chapter!) now, and then I'll let you simmer for a few hours before I post the epilogue. ^_^ Ok, that's all!

Happy reading! And, thanks so much! <3

Three months, I thought as my eyes opened. Levy had been in a coma for three months.

About a week after I had woken up, Jet and Droy had both recovered. They had been a mess the first two weeks, but, like everyone else in the organization, they had slowly given up hope of her ever waking up.

I sat with her every day, refusing to leave her side until I was kicked out by Master Makarov at night. The entire first month I slept in the infirmary, but Makarov had put a stop to that, saying it wouldn't help her any.

I had even stopped taking jobs so I could be with her. Two months after she had gone into a coma, I went on a two-day job with Lily. When I returned, her condition had worsened greatly, so I vowed never to leave her side again.

I ignored the pitying looks from my fellow hunters as I made my way to the infirmary. This morning, Lucy was sitting beside Levy's bed, feeding her some kind of porridge. “Morning,” I said, sitting beside her.

“Good morning,” she greeted me. We were pretty much the only two who hadn't given up hope.

She handed the bowl over to me as I sat down, and put her hands over her stomach. It was already swelled considerably, even though she was only about four months along. It made sense, I guessed, since she was having Salamander's baby. Demons developed a lot faster in the womb than humans did, and since dragon slayers were half demon, I supposed that meant Salamander's kid would get here sooner than they had planned.

“Did Porlyusica say how many weeks you had left?” I asked.

“About ten, she thinks,” Lucy said as she smiled at me. “We're just taking this week by week for now.”

I grunted, nodding. The pink-haired old woman had come to look at Levy after Wendy had done all she could do for her. Not even she could help her. That was the point when most of the others had lost all hope. If Porlyusica had said she wouldn't wake up, then they believed she really wouldn't.

I knew she was wrong. Levy will wake up. Once she's ready, she'll come back.

“I'm going to join the others in the cafeteria,” Lucy told me, getting out of her chair. “You should come, too. It isn't healthy to sit in here all day.”

“No thanks,” I said, placing the empty bowl on the stand beside Levy's bed.

“Make sure to eat something, okay?” She said.

I grunted, taking Levy's hand in mine. Lucy put the oxygen mask back over Levy's face before she left. Wendy had completely healed her body, and even her hair had recovered from the burns, but she still needed the oxygen to breathe. From time to time, she would stop breathing completely, so the oxygen was her lifeline. Until she wakes up. I kept reminding myself that Levy was still alive in there. That she would wake up one day. “I love you, Shrimp, so don't die.”