Never Let Me Go

♥️Chapter 8♥️

Hunter was terrified. He wanted Duna to be okay, and he was trying to be as optimistic as he could be. When he ran out of the cherry blossom forest, Droma, Gian, and Aria followed him, acting as protection so that Hunter could get Duna the help she needed.

~~~~~~~4 hours later~~~~~~

Hunter was still waiting to hear that Duna was alright. A nurse walked over to him and told him that Duna was ok, and that he was welcome to see her. He ran to her room and found her wide awake, almost as if she was waiting for him. "I see you've been waiting for someone," Hunter said. "I was, but now he's standing in front of me," Duna replied, a small smile on her face. "I love it when you smile." Hunter said, "I live to see your face, to hear your voice, and to see you smile," Duna said. "No wonder we're married," Hunter said. "I wholeheartedly agree with you, Hunter," Duna said. Hunter walked over and sat down next to Duna to be closer to her. "I love you, Hunter." Duna said, "I love you too, Duna." Hunter said. They shared a short kiss. Duna hugged Hunter, but she saw something that caused her to begin to growl. "Duna? What's wrong?" Hunter asked her. Duna pointed behind Hunter, who turned and saw Rosie standing there. "What're you doing here?" Hunter asked her angrily, and Duna continued to growl at Rosie. "I just wanted to see how you guys were doing, that's all." She said.

"Why do you care how we're doing?" Hunter said. "I'm afraid that I don't understand your question." Rosie said. "You've tried to ruin our lives for the majority of the past year, so why do you care about how we are?" Hunter asked. Rosie didn't answer, but instead, she turned around and left. "I can't believe her." Duna muttered. "I know." Hunter replied. "The doctor said that I could leave at anytime." Duna told him. "Ok, I'll stay with you until you want to leave." Hunter said. "I was just waiting for you to come in, that was the only reason why I didn't leave sooner. Oh, and I need to tell you, I can't use my battle form for at least a week." She replied. "That's fine with me. All that matters to me right now is that you're ok." Hunter replied.

Six days later

"Hunter, relax. I'll be fine." Duna said. "I'm just nervous that you're going to get hurt by trying this right now." Hunter said. "Hunter, don't you trust me?" Duna asked him. " I do trust you, but I also don't want something bad to happen to you." He replied. Duna had been trying to get Hunter to let her try to use her battle form for the past three days because she was positive that she would be fine. "Nothing bad will happen to me. I promise I'll be careful." She said. "Alright. Just don't do more than you can handle." Hunter said. Duna smiled at him and concentrated on switching to her battle form. She opened her eyes a few minutes later, and she knew that it had worked, as she was looking at the room from about a foot higher than normal, and her arms and legs felt more powerful. She moved to take a few laps around the room, but as soon as she tried to move any faster than a walking pace, she felt a sharp pain in her left leg, and she fell onto the bed, reverting to her dinaurian form. She grabbed her left leg and knew instantly that she shouldn't have tried to use her battle form so quickly.

Hunter had gone to relax on the couch and read a book. "HUNTER!" Duna shouted at him. He jumped up and went to see what Duna needed. "Are you ok?" He asked. "Hunter, do I look ok to you?!" Duna replied in frustration. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He said. "You're fine. Feel free to say I told you so, by the way. I shouldn't have tried to use my battle form so quickly." Duna replied, wincing in pain, clutching her left leg. "Are you going to be alright?" Hunter asked with concern. "Yeah. I think I just need to lay here for a while." Duna answered. "Ok. Do you need anything?" Hunter asked her. "A glass of water and some omelets." She said. "Ok, I'll be back soon." Hunter replied. "Thank you, Hunter." Duna said. "No problem, Duna." He replied.

After about a week, the situation had gotten worse. Duna was in constant pain, and Hunter stayed with her the entire time, only leaving to make the two of them something to eat three times a day. "Are you feeling any better?" Hunter asked Duna. "A bit." She replied. " I asked Droma if she could find out what's causing you to be in so much pain." Hunter said. "Ok." Duna said simply. Droma arrived five minutes later. "Hello." She said. "So, how long have you had this pain?" She asked Duna. "About a week." She answered, wincing slightly. After a short examination, Droma concluded that Duna had trace amounts of lead from Rosie's bullet in her left leg. Without warning, Duna passed out, causing Hunter to panic. Droma hurriedly brought Duna to the dinaurian medical center that had recently been established. Hunter went with her, his adrenaline running wild.

Droma quickly began performing tests to determine what had caused Duna to pass out. Hunter was begging to know if his wife was going to be ok, but he eventually gave up, and he sat down next to Duna, saying, "please be ok" over and over again. After an hour of testing, Droma looked at Hunter with a gloomy expression. "Is she going to be ok?" He asked. "She has a very slim chance of survival unless we attempt to prevent the lead poisoning from spreading through her body." Droma explained to him. "I don't care what you do, just please, save her life." Hunter said. Droma nodded. "We'll do everything we can." She said.

Droma had just finished getting the treatment for lead poisoning that the dinaurians had developed set up for Duna. Hunter had fallen asleep an hour earlier, and Droma looked at Hunter and Duna and smiled. If only I had what Duna has. I wish I had someone like Hunter in my life. She thought to herself. She was so deeply immersed in her thoughts that she ran right into a man wearing a yellow shirt and black pants with flames around the bottom. "Sorry." She said. "Ah, don't worry about it, it's happened to me many times before." He replied. "Who are you?" Droma asked him. "I'm Saurhead. And who might you be?" He asked. "I am Droma Saured." She said. Saurhead laughed. "My name is Saurhead, your last name is Saured. They sound very similar, to be honest." He said.

Hunter woke up with a start. He instinctively looked to his left and found an empty bed where Duna had been earlier. He stood up and went to look for her. He searched for nearly three hours before he found Duna wandering around aimlessly. He ran up to her, causing her to stop and look at him strangely, like she didn't know who he was. Suddenly, she lashed out at him, and Hunter screamed. He had no idea what had happened to Duna, but he didn't like it, whatever it was. Raptin sprinted around a corner and found Duna trying to kill Hunter. Realizing what was going on, he tackled Duna and attempted to sedate her so that she couldn't harm Hunter. Raptin and Hunter worked together to bring Duna back to her bed. "What happened to her?" Hunter asked. "Follow me. We need to discuss this in private." Raptin said. He led Hunter to an empty hallway before starting to explain what happened. "You see, the treatment that the dinaurians developed to combat lead poisoning has a major defect. Every dinaurian who has gotten the treatment has gone feral." Raptin explained. "So, how do we fix this, then?" Hunter asked.

"Well, she would have to see someone that she cares very much about. Someone like you, Hunter." Raptin said. "Ok then. I'll give it a try." Hunter said. "Good luck, Hunter." Raptin replied. Hunter entered Duna's room and sat down next to her and waited for her to wake up. After waiting for four hours, Duna finally woke up. She saw Hunter looking at her, and her expression went from murderous to soft and kind. "Hunter? What happened?" She asked him. "Well, Droma gave you a treatment to get rid of your lead poisoning, but it turned you feral in the process." Hunter said. "I'm going to kill her." Duna said angrily. "Duna, please don't do that. I know you, you're better than that." Hunter said. "You're right. I'm not a murderer." She said, calming down. "C'mon, let's go back to Renee, Holt, and Dr Diggins." Hunter said. "Who is Renee again?" Duna asked him. "She's our daughter." Hunter said. "Oh yeah. I guess my memory's a bit messed up." Duna said.

They returned home an hour later, where they were greeted by an excited Dr Diggins. "Hey guys!" He exclaimed. "Can you quiet down? I've got a really bad headache." Duna said. "Oh, I'm sorry." Diggins said. "So, what all has been happening, guys?" He asked. "Well, I was shot, tried and failed to use my battle form, contracted lead poisoning, and went feral briefly." Duna answered. "That sounds eventful." Diggins said. "Well, that's one way to put it," Hunter said, "but Duna's still here, so I'm happy." He added, giving Duna a kiss on the cheek. "Come here, dork." Duna said, giving Hunter a kiss. "On another note, how's Renee doing?" Duna asked. At that moment, Holt walked in, carrying Renee in his arms. "Renee's been doing great." He said, handing Renee to Duna, who picked her up from Holt and smiled. Renee shifted slightly and looked up at her mother. "Hi, Renee! It's me, mommy." Duna said in a baby voice. "I think that the two of you are going to be great parents." Diggins said. "Thanks Dr Diggins." Duna replied. "Anytime, Duna." Diggins replied. "I gotta get going, McJunker's probably wondering what happened to me." Holt said, walking out of the house. "Well, I should probably get back to the Fossil Center. I'll see you guys soon." Diggins said. Hunter and Duna waved to him, and he waved back.

Sorry for the abrupt ending of the chapter, I just ran out of ideas. See you in the next chapter!