Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ For A Life Together ❯ Detective Work ( Chapter 12 )

Continuation of Episode 26.

~All Character's belong to their respective owners and I sadly don't own them except for the story their forced to act. *sadistic grin* hehehehe....~

Escaflowne

Detective Work

There was knocking at the door and Allen did not even bother looking over from the stack of paper work on his desk.

"Come in." He heard two people come into his office and he just wanted all these problems to go away. Everything was going so well, why now? Why does this have to happen now? ...He was going to try to get Van to be himself again.

"Sir, we have located five more bombs that were placed in various parts of the city and outside gates. They were disarmed by our specialist and we are still searching now that we know what to expect them to look like." Allen looked up at them and nodded.

"Good job but continue to thoroughly search the city and make sure that not one bomb remains. Make sure the city perimeters are secure and are fully alert and have them report to me if anything seems amiss, understood soldiers?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Then get to it. Report to me within one hour for status." They nodded and excused themselves from the room. Allen stayed immobile at his desk for a moment before lowering his head into his shaky hands.

Van became deadly ill. They don't know what is wrong with him. He has this terrible cough, his body temperature is high... so high it, his skin was burning to the touch. He seems like he can't get enough breath into his lungs and when he was with the doctor that was examining him, he wanted to curl up in the corner when he saw the other man's thin body. The rib cage showing through his skin and his hips were... Jeez, he didn't think it was that bad. Most of all, he saw that the bruise he left on the man was still there, bigger than he thought it would get. It is so hard. They don't know what to do. What would they do if Van died? Everything would crumble as how things are going now.

Van has been completely out since then, resting in his chambers with guards protecting the room with the castle's doctor and a few nurses by his side.

But Allen needed to get going with this problem. They had no clue where to start, only working with removing and disarming the bombs, trying to see if there is a special way they could have been constructed that could lead them in one direction of who's designs they could belong to. They were also questioning townsfolk and trying to calm them down.

Allen's eyes started to droop close and he snapped them opened. He cannot fall asleep, not when there are people who are still frightened to sleep in their own homes. He needed everyone to feel safe, like they did before and the only way that could ever be accomplished is if he did his job to the best of his ability and beyond.

~~*~~

The little youngster that Van had taken care of was by her mother's side. Her big brother told her to be strong and that is what she was going to do. She wanted to talk to her friends, but she didn't see any of them around. Only that there were many hurt people surrounding her and that they had to be moved to several different locations.

She wanted to play detective. She and her friends always loved to play that game but her mother always told her that it was dangerous to be climbing walls and peeking into people's private business.

"Momo, dear." She turned around as soon as she heard her mother's voice.

"Yes Mommy!" Momo's eyes were a deep baby blue with wondrous blonde locks that rested on her small shoulders.

"Can you ask a guard if there is any way that we could get some water? Just ask him to come to me if you want sweetie." The little blonde jumped up and nodded vigorously.

"I will! I can do it! I will find a sol... d... er" She paused as she thought of how to say the word and just retorted to what her mother had said. "I'll find a guard right away."

Her tiny legs shot her off in a direction toward the castle and she zigzagged throughout the people who were walking around. She noticed some tents that were put up and thought of her little detective buddies. Stealthily, Momo snuck to the edge of the tent and saw three guards talking to one another.

"Detective Momo! On the job!" She said quietly, excited to herself.

"So what's the news?" One guard asked.

"Well... not so good, I suppose, regarding the King. He's in worse shape than he was a few hours ago. He's sleeping but I caught a glance at him when they were checking him out and his skin was pale and he was covered in sweat. His breathing was erratic and he was just, I can't get the fact out of my head that he looks like he hasn't eaten for weeks, months even!" There was a silence.

"My God... that's awful. You sure this is the same healthy young man that had saved this world?" The older soldier spoke up.

Momo peeked around the corner and noticed all three of them were glancing away from each other.

"Are they talking about big brother? ...is he sick?" Her cute little face scrunched up in worry.

"Well, we have to hurry on now. There may still be more bombs that we have yet to find and these people need our protection more than ever." The last soldier replied as they nodded their agreement. "The plan is to continue a thorough search, keep an eye out for any suspicious activity or persons and attend to the folk's needs."

Momo stopped her listening and looked around as if she was going to ask anyone her sudden question.

"I'm a 'folk', right?" The girl shrugged her shoulders and walked out and a guard immediately spotted her.

"Hey there little one." The older man said nicely. "Whatcha doing all the way over here?" She smiled sweetly and requested some water for some of the people, especially her mother.

One of the guards smiled and crouched down to her leveled gaze and patted her tenderly on the top of her head.

"What's your name, darling?" The little girl put her hands behind her back and swayed childishly.

"Momo." All the guards smiled lightly at her cuteness.

"Well, come on Momo. I'll take you back to your mother and let her know that a gentleman with a lot of water will be coming through shortly. He will also have food for you to eat and to put into that little tummy of yours. Are you hungry?" She nodded and followed him back.

She'd have to tell mommy about big brother and all. She just wished she could get more juicy details. She would definitely have to find Toki and Ashiya. They would love to hear what she had to say.

"Mister?" She looked up with huge, adorable blue eyes.

"Yes, Momo."

"I wanna find my friends but I don't know where they are. Mommy said that I can't go back home to get them." The man frowned for a moment and stopped. He squatted to where he was level with the little girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, having her full attention.

"You should listen to your mother. I'm sure in no time that you will be able to see your friends and play with them again. Don't worry your little heart there, honey. Let's hurry and get to your mother."

"Okay!" Her little spirit was lifted but she was going to go around and do some searching for herself.

~~*~~

Hitomi sat exhausted in her bedroom. She stared intently on her card and the feather that appeared out of thin air. She tried everything she could think to try to get into contact with Van but nothing happened. She won't be able to get to him. She wouldn't be able to see him and help him with the proper medicines that she knew that world didn't offer. She needed to get ready for school... but Van was more important! He was going to die if he didn't get the proper treatment.

Her eyes scanned over the papers that she had printed out during the night. There, lying on her bed sat a small stack of information regarding the disease she knows he has or somewhat linked to. Something told her and she was confident that it was something following that disease. The blonde just did not know much about it.

'What is Pneumonia? Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of your lungs. The air sacs in the lungs fill with pus and other liquid. Oxygen has trouble reaching your blood. If there is too little oxygen in your blood, your body cells can't work properly. Because of this and spreading infection through the body pneumonia can cause death.'

Hitomi's worried green eyes lingered on the last word for a moment before she continued reading on...

'Causes of Pneumonia

Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have over 30 different causes. There are five main causes of pneumonia:

Bacteria

Viruses

Mycoplasmas

Other infectious agents, such as fungi - including pneumocystis

Various chemicals'

She sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Bacterial pneumonia... Viral pneumonia... Mycoplasma pneumonia..." Hitomi exhaled in frustration. She never realized that this would be so difficult but as she read the symptoms, they all seem to make it seem like he has a common cold but she knew it was more to that.

'Bacterial Symptoms: The onset of bacterial pneumonia can vary from gradual to sudden. In the most severe cases, the patient may experience shaking chills, chattering teeth, severe chest pain, and a cough that produces rust-colored or greenish mucus.

A person's temperature may rise as high as 105 degrees F. The patient sweats profusely, and breathing and pulse rate increase rapidly. Lips and nailbeds may have a bluish color due to lack of oxygen in the blood. A patient's mental state may be confused or delirious.'

Hitomi took a shaky breath as she continued to read on.

'Viral Symptoms: The initial symptoms of viral pneumonia are the same as influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Within 12 to 36 hours, there is increasing breathlessness; the cough becomes worse and produces a small amount of mucus. There is a high fever and there may be blueness of the lips.

In extreme cases, the patient has a desperate need for air and extreme breathlessness. Viral pneumonias may be complicated by an invasion of bacteria, with all the typical symptoms of bacterial pneumonia.

Mycoplasma Symptoms: The most prominent symptom of mycoplasma pneumonia is a cough that tends to come in violent attacks, but produces only sparse whitish mucus. Chills and fever are early symptoms, and some patients experience nausea or vomiting. Patients may experience profound weakness which lasts for a long time.'

She didn't want to read anymore. They all sounded horrible and to think that he has... may have one of these. She wasn't so sure but she could not take any chances. Hopefully they could treat it there on Van's world and she could probably go and bring supplies with her. Antibiotics usually do the trick with many illnesses. If only she knew which one it could be.

The blonde scanned the papers stopping at a section titled, Treating Pneumonia.

'If you develop pneumonia, your chances of a fast recovery are greatest under certain conditions: if you're young, if your pneumonia is caught early, if your defenses against disease are working well, if the infection hasn't spread, and if you're not suffering from other illnesses.'

"Van is young and it shouldn't have gone on for long. He did appear to be tired and not eating as much but he's strong and I know he can get through this."

The idea of this disease possibly killing him made the teen so distraught. He slew monsters, giant dragons and strong enemies and a stupid disease is going to kill him?!

'No!' She thought angrily. 'It's not and I will make sure of that!'

She continued her research and thought of a plan to collect some antibiotics to take them to him. Yeah, she couldn't figure out how to get to him but having the proper supplies on hand will definitely help if she can figure it out soon enough.

Hitomi thought long and hard of how to obtain these drugs and equipment to administer it. Is there anyone that she knew who could help her?

'Wait! Yukari has an older sister in the medical field. Oh God, how am I supposed to bring this up to her?'

Anxious emerald eyes strayed over to her telephone, knowing her best friend's number by heart. It was worth a try and she had nothing to loose... except for the girl asking a thousand questions, but it was worth it if Yukari could get her in better progress.

Settling herself with her decision, Hitomi stood and walked over to her phone that was sitting on her desk. She would be home... though Yukari was just going to have a cow when she realizes that she's going to ditch school... or that she wants to go back to Gaea... or that she needs a favor that would require illegal actions.

The phone started ringing and she just realized that someone was saying hello on the other end.

"Oh, um, sorry. It's Hitomi, Mrs. Kino. Is Yukari available?"

"Hitomi! I haven't seen you in some time! I miss you honey. Yukari is in her bedroom. Let me get her for you. Hold on one moment." The woman put the phone down and seconds later, another familiar voice came through.

"Hitomi? What's up, girl?" The blonde sighed before she spoke up.

"I need to talk to you and I need a huge favor."

~~*~~

AN: I remember someone asking what pneumonia was so I hope this piece helped clarify some of what it could be. I took the information from this site, www. lungusa. org/ diseases/ lungpneumoni. html#causes (there are no spaces, I just couldn't get the site on here) and yeah, I tried to figure out what it was myself too. I just learned a lot about it through here so I hope that you all liked this chapter. I know I take forever in updating but I appreciate all the reviews and wonderful responses and I hope to have the next chapter up within the next couple of weeks. Thank you all! *Sends everyone many hugs and kisses!!!*