24 Little Hours by watermarkit

Chapter 1

Pain filled his mind.

This could not be happening.

He rolled over and struggled to sense his surroundings. The room tilted and the floor raced towards his face. He caught himself but still collapsed on the floor. He shut his eyes to fight off a wave of nausea.

Youkai simply do not get sick. This youkai should not be sick.

Bracing himself on the bed, he pulled himself up and made his way to the window of his apartment. The entire university campus was blanketed with snow, with more steadily falling. His breath fogged up the glass. Why did he feel so warm? Why was it so goddamn quiet? He pressed his forehead against the cool window and tried to steady himself. At least his sense of smell was unaffected.

It was winter break, so thankfully he had nothing to do. Still, -this- would not do. He would still like to function properly. He made himself look at least half decent, which was a far cry from the prim and proper image he presented the world with. Scratch that - he looked like he was disguised as a sloppy high school student. Or worse. A sick bastard that didn't care how he looked. Grabbing his coat, he stepped out of his apartment and made his way to the elevator. His head was foggy and he almost didn't register that the elevator had opened right in front of him. He stumbled on.

He glared at his wobbling reflection in the elevator's reflective doors. His hair was a mess, so he had tied it back in a low ponytail and donned a beanie. He didn't even know he owned one. Chills suddenly went through his spine. He zipped his coat up high under his nose and regretted wearing only a tee shirt and sweat pants.

Trekking through the snow in sneakers was a bad idea. Having the clinic across campus was a bad idea. Dammit, this whole day was a bad idea. He shook snow off of himself as he rested under the shelter of a building along the way. He sneezed and immediately wanted to kill something. The pain in his sinuses and ears were throwing his balance off kilter. The white surroundings blended into each other and he forced himself to lean against a tree, resulting in a happy glomping from the pile of snow above his head. He sneezed again and cursed at the oblivious snow.

Finally, he made it to the clinic. It was a miracle that he had found it amongst all the other Shrine faculty buildings. He approached the front desk only to be greeted by an irritated receptionist.

"I'd like to see a doctor." Sesshomaru stated the obvious.

Ayame glanced up at him while on the phone. "Excuse me a moment," she told the other party on the phone. "Have you been here before?" she asked him, and reached for a clipboard and pen.

"No."

"Fill this out." she sighed exasperated, and continued her conversation on the phone. "Yes, Mrs. Higurashi, I'll make sure Kagome calls you once she gets here. I'm sure she'll be here soon." The front doors burst open, revealing a very wet and very late Kagome.

"In fact, she just came in. Would you like to speak with her?" Ayame raised her eyebrows at Kagome and held out the corded phone at her. Kagome made her way around Sesshomaru and the counter while shrugging off her coat. Giving Ayame a very apologetic look, she took the phone.

"Hi mom. Yes I'm fine. The bus just got stuck up the hill and I had to walk." She maneuvered herself behind the counter and waited as Ayame gathered her own things to leave. "Thanks Ayame," Kagome whispered, "I owe you one."

"That's a week's worth of coffees now." Ayame smiled tiredly at Kagome, "See you Tuesday!" Before leaving she motioned to Kagome that Sesshomaru was still filling out forms.

Kagome nodded and waved, then realized she was still tuning out her mother's lecture over the phone. She quickly said, "Mom, I have to go. I'll stay over at Sango's tonight, ok? I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you bye." and hung up. She sighed and looked over at Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru wasn't aware of much at the moment. The only thing that was on his mind was trying to focus on the paperwork in front of him. It wasn't helping that there was a wonderfully distracting scent invading his world. His head was spinning again, so he shut his eyes and put the clipboard down ungracefully.

"All done?" Kagome asked as she reached over for the clipboard and read it over. "So what are your symptoms?" she asked politely.

Sesshomaru gripped the counter, "Nausea," he paused and took a deep breath, "dizziness, perhaps a fever." He still had his eyes closed. When he opened them, he found the source of that enticing scent.

Kagome jotted down notes on the papers. Left handed, he noticed. No, she was highlighting with her right hand. He was so dizzy right now. He needed to sit down. But she smelled so good, he didn't want to leave her.

"Alright Ses-sho-maru," she read his name off the sheet, "if you'll have a seat, I'll call your name when it's your turn." she motioned to the chairs. Only then did Sesshomaru realize that it was going to be a very long wait. The room was filled with tired students; some obviously sick, others only apparently ill. At least the closest available chair was nearest to her wonderful scent. He dragged himself over and settled in. It wasn't very comfortable. This was going to be a long day. He closed his eyes and indulged in the scent of lavender and vanilla spice.