Meant To Be

Chapter Nineteen

Artificer sat next to Hunter's bedside, stroking her forehead as she breathed heavily. Apparently she was going to wake up within the next few minutes. She had started tossing and turning almost half an hour ago and her breathing had begun to speed up. Artificer had been with her for the past few hours and was unwilling to leave her side until she was sure that Hunter was alright. Hunter's eyelids began to twitch as she woke up, gasping for air and seemingly struggling to breathe. "It's okay. You're okay. Deep breaths, okay?" Artificer soothed her as she tried to open her eyes, mumbling slightly. "Arti...?" Hunter said in a croaky voice as she looked up at Artificer, unable to completely see just yet. "It's okay hun, just take it slow."

It had been almost fifteen minutes but Hunter had fully returned to her senses. "I don't feel it anymore! I think it's really gone...!" She no longer felt the rot writhing around inside of her chest. It no longer threatened to end her life forever or burned every time she breathed. She was finally free of the rot. "You really think so? It's really gone?!" Artificer said, her remaining eye shining with excitement at the prospect that Hunter was finally free of the rot. She just nodded, still barely believing it herself that it was actually gone. No Significant Harassment entered the room at that moment, looking a bit ashamed and refusing to make eye contact. They could immediately tell that something was wrong. "Actually, you aren't entirely cured... There's still a little bit of rot left that would be far too dangerous to even try removing." Hunter's jaw dropped in shock at that, unwilling to believe the entire operation had been for nothing. However, No Significant Harassment was quick to repair the damage he had done. "But the rot isn't lethal anymore! It will still make you sick occasionally but there's no danger of permanent death anymore." She couldn't believe it. All of this just so that there was one tiny bit of rot that couldn't be removed. Hunter put on a fake smile and tried to hold back her tears as Artificer's face turned from happiness to worry. "You're sure it's not going to kill her?" Artificer asked, fidgeting nervously as Hunter just kept trying to hold it together despite everything. "I managed to remove enough that as long as she takes her medication to stop what's left from growing, she'll be fine."

As No Significant Harassment and Artificer discussed how long it would take before Hunter would fully recover, she lay in bed staring up at the metal ceiling simply trying to resist the urge to cry. "Dad, could I talk to Arti in private for a minute?" Without a word, the iterator left the room, leaving the two of them together all alone. Artificer came to sit next to her in bed, a worried expression shrouding her face. Hunter grabbed Artificer's arm, pulling her in closer as her eyes began to tear up. Hunter buried her face in the slugcat's shoulder and cried until the shoulder of the sweater was wet with tears. "You're gonna be okay. We'll figure this out together, alright? Just one step at a time." Hunter knew that the words were the logical thing to say, yet she could barely understand them because she had already spiralled so far down into panic. Artificer tried other comforting sentences, but none of them seemed to work and it quickly became apparent that her words weren't reaching Hunter. In a desperate attempt to calm her down, Artificer began to quietly hum a soft tune in hopes it would soothe her. The song was the only one she really remembered since a lot of her memories had become almost incomprehensible after the trauma of losing her pups. Though, this one had been permanently etched into her mind since it was her pups favourite lullaby. It had always comforted her pups whenever they had nightmares and now she hoped it would have the same effect on Hunter. The sound was gentle and sweet, far too melodic to be coming from someone who had been on a murderous rampage less than a month prior.

Hunter sat at the edge of her bed, looking down as not to make eye contact. She felt embarrassed since she had cried so much in front of Artificer. "I wanted to seem tough, but I guess that won't be how you see me now." She frowned at Hunter, trying to think of how to comfort her. The panic attack may be over, but she was clearly still feeling awful. "That's not true at all. The strongest thing you can ever do is show your emotions even when you are afraid to."

This is one of the last chapters! This might be too much hurt & comfort but I'll never get tired of writing it sooooooooooo... Anyway, the cover art for this chapter is not by me. Hopefully you enjoyed!