It's a Long Life to Always be Longing by a

Chapter 2

The Jeep roared into the small town, kicking up dust as it flew down the main street. Gojyo stopped at the first inn he saw and jumped out. The others followed suit, though the tall redhead could feel Sanzo’s eyes burning holes into him. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge the gaze as he reached into the backseat and tenderly picked Hakkai up and strode through the front door.

He entered the small establishment and cast around for the innkeeper. Finding him standing behind a counter off to the left, he called out, “Oi! Where can I take him?” The unmistakable ring of command in his voice had the desired effect on the nervous proprietor, and an arm shot up instantly to point toward the stairs.

“Up the stairs, sir! We’re totally empty right now. Take whatever rooms you want, sir!”

“Perfect. The priest behind me will pay. Four separate rooms, got that?” Gojyo spat out as his long legs covered the ground to the stairs. He didn’t wait for a response.

Sanzo was still somewhat stunned at the speed Gojyo displayed during these tasks. Of course, his youkai blood lent him that, and Hakkai was seriously injured. Still, the leader of the party did not much care for being ignored and left behind. He looked dubiously up at the crumbling façade of the inn. It looked like a fabulous place to catch something disgusting.

Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Sanzo made to follow Gojyo, Goku in tow. Once inside, he glanced around. The place certainly needed some repairs, but it was warm and clean. An appetizing smell was drifting out from somewhere. It wasn’t perfect, but the Sanzo-ikkou had certainly survived much worse lodgings.

Catching sight of the innkeeper behind a desk on the left, he strode toward it. “What did the other man say to you?” he demanded without preamble. The man he addressed was, by this time, covered in a thin layer of sweat, and shaking badly. His rotund form was veritably jiggling with fear, and his balding head was incredibly shiny even in this dim light.

“He said f-four s-s-separate rooms, s-sir. We’re empty j-j-just now, sir. He s-said y-y-you would pay, sir.”

Sanzo ground his teeth in frustration. He didn’t like being so out of control. He considered unleashing his considerable irritation, but decided that he would rather have the innkeeper alive. From the look of him, he might keel over any minute now. Swallowing his anger, Sanzo pulled out his credit card and handed it to the short man.

“Put any charges on this card. We’ll take the four rooms, for at least three days. It might be longer. While we are here, no one else is to stay here. You will be amply compensated. We’ll need supper. The boy here will tell you what to send up. Don’t skimp on me. I’ll know, and I don’t take kindly to being cheated. Send up two bottles of your best whiskey with the food.” Sanzo turned on his heel and made for the stairs. Goku stayed behind to order enough food for a company twice their size.

Sanzo had thought about this situation for about three seconds between the innkeeper’s terrified response and his own declarations. The way he saw it, the three aspects had sent the four of them on this mission. That meant that it was their fault that the only living man in the world that he actually respected was currently unconscious and bleeding. As far as he was concerned, they were going to stay until Hakkai was fixed, damn it, and those arrogant bastards were going to foot whatever bill he felt like racking up while that happened.

*****

Gojyo managed to maneuver so that he could turn the doorknob without jostling Hakkai too much. When the latch was open, he kicked the door, and then quickly twisted to brace it open with his shoulder. He sidled into the room, careful not to knock the tall man’s head against the doorframe. Gojyo didn’t think it would be a good idea to add concussion to Hakkai’s list of wounds.

Once inside, Gojyo placed his companion in a sitting position on the end of the bed and sized up the situation. That shirt was going to have to go.

“Man, I’m glad you aren’t conscious right now, ‘cause this shit is going to hurt,” he said aloud, though he was certain Hakkai could not hear him. He placed his right foot up on the bed behind Hakkai, gingerly leaning him against it while Gojyo turned his attention to the clothing. It took some doing to figure out the strange fastenings on the shirt. Why the hell anyone would routinely wear clothing so difficult to remove was completely beyond him; it ought to be easy in case of ‘emergency’, he thought.

The shirt succumbed to Gojyo’s practiced fingers, opening to reveal the vivid scar, which angled across Hakkai’s abdomen. For a moment, Gojyo just stared at it. Since Sanzo had come to pick Hakkai up, when he had been in Gojyo’s care, he had never found a discreet chance to examine it. He took a good, hard look. It stretched all the way across Hakkai’s belly, wide and angry-looking. He remembered how he had had to push Hakkai’s guts back in before he could move him that night. The night they had ‘met’. The acquaintance had not become mutual until a week later, when Hakkai regained consciousness. If that didn’t kill him, this won’t either, he thought. He was surprised to feel the desperation in it.

After some very creative maneuvering, Gojyo managed to get the shirt off Hakkai’s arms, a task made infinitely more difficult by the way the sleeves suddenly got tight just below the elbow. While cursing the designer of that particular garment, he leaned Hakkai forward, supporting him with his left arm, and pulled at the shirt to remove it completely. The fabric was stuck to Hakkai’s back by congealed blood, and Gojyo needed to pull quite hard in order to detach it. Most of the blood came away with the shirt, which meant that the wound reopened, and fresh blood emerged. The undershirt was much simpler, since most of the old blood had already been removed, though the long sleeves were a bit of a problem.

Gojyo cradled Hakkai in his arms once more, and moved around to the side of the bed, tenderly laying Hakkai on his back. Moving quickly, carefully, he unfastened first Hakkai’s belt, then his pants, and slid the blood soaked clothing off. Last, he removed the monocle Hakkai always wore over his bad eye. Now that his patient was naked, Gojyo slid one hand under his shoulder, the other under his ass, and heaved upward, rolling Hakkai onto his stomach. One critical glance at the injury told Gojyo this was going to need a lot of care, if he was to keep infection from setting in. Moreover, the damned thing ran directly over his spine.

To avoid thinking about the ramifications of that, Gojyo made a quick inventory of the room. There was a small alcove in the back wall. Reflected in a mirror over a small bureau, he could see a door in the alcove. If that was what he thought it was, he was sure as hell glad that he stopped here. Gojyo crossed the room in three strides, opened the door, and heaved a sigh of relief. It was a bathroom, complete with shower stall and sink. Another short look around the room, and he found what he needed. He grabbed the pitcher and basin from their simple wooden stand and filled them both with warm water, then cast about for cloths and towels. He found them in a cupboard above the toilet, clean and soft. Perfect. He shoved a bunch under one arm and padded back into the main room.

He looked up to see Sanzo standing in the hallway, staring through the open door at Hakkai.

“What’s the damage?” he asked quietly.

“It’s pretty bad, man,” Gojyo replied, “I won’t know how deep it is until I get it cleaned up, but you can see where it is. That’s dangerous enough.” He gently put the basin on the bedside table, and then straightened before continuing, “His heartbeat is stronger, though. That’s a good sign. We’re going to have to stay here until we can be sure it won’t get infected.”

Sanzo nodded stiffly at that. “Does he need a doctor?”

Gojyo, somewhat bewildered by this unusually compliant Sanzo, shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I’ve nursed him through worse, though.”

The priest turned his head toward the end of the hall. “Yeah,” he agreed, then seemed to gather his more regular caustic personality and added, “Since you unilaterally decided we should take up the whole place, I’m taking the room at the end of the hall. Supper’s on the way. I’ll send Goku when it arrives.”

“Okay,” Gojyo said, wanting to get back to the job at hand. Sanzo glanced back at him for a second, some unspoken emotion hovering in his violet eyes. Gojyo held his gaze until the blond man dropped his eyelids and turned away. When he was gone, Gojyo looked down at Hakkai’s unconscious form. “What the hell was that about?” he asked, not expecting an answer.

The hanyou crossed the room and closed the door to prevent any further intrusion, turning his attention to the tending of one very nasty wound. Sitting on the side of the bed, he dunked a cloth into the warm water, wrung it out, and began to wipe away the blood crusted on Hakkai’s back. After several minutes, the skin around the wound was clean, and the water in the basin was almost exactly the shade of Gojyo’s eyes. Hakkai had seen blood in the color of his eyes and hair, he remembered; he said that seeing them “spurred the epiphany of my sin.” Gojyo had looked up epiphany on the sly, just to be sure what the hell the dude had meant. What a damn geek, Gojyo thought, and smiled.

He got up and grabbed the basin and cloths. In the bathroom, he dumped the water, then rinsed the bowl out and filled it with more water. Hotter this time, since he was going to clean the wound itself. Once again, he felt relief that Hakkai wouldn’t feel the pain.

Back at Hakkai’s side, he washed the cut as gently as he could. It was deep, but not as bad as Gojyo had expected. As it crossed his spine, it was a lot shallower, so that was going to hurt a lot, but he probably wouldn’t suffer permanent damage. Hakkai really was the luckiest son of a bitch he’d ever met. Feeling a little more at ease, Gojyo kept cleaning. Back and forth, he carried the basin, exchanging blood for water until the bleeding eventually slowed, then stopped. When he was satisfied that the worst was over, he pulled the covers out from under Hakkai and threw them over the naked man.

The redhead then crossed to the little table on the opposite wall, slumped into a chair, cradled his head on his crossed arms, and dozed off until Goku came to tell him the food had arrived.

*****