【Re:Freezing】 | Gray Fullbuster x OC

19. Reprieve

Only a minute after Karissa had passed out, Gray had regained consciousness.

"Hey..." he got on his knees and cradled her face, he was shaking. He flinched when he stained her cheek with blood. He didn't even realize his palm was covered in it. Her blood.

It was a nightmare.

Her body? Injured.

Her blood? So much of it was spilled.

Her eyes? Closed.

He couldn't breathe.

His hand flew to her neck to check her pulse as he sealed her wound closed in the back. It was faint. In an attempt to wake her, he called a shattered version of her name while he felt his heart beating hard against his chest. There was no answer from the immobile girl.

The memories from moments ago flashed in his mind which made a wave of guilt crash into him. Gray grabbed his head with a pained expression as he recalled and felt every action he did to render his dear friend in this state.

The ground began to blur as he felt his tears building up.

He froze. What the hell was he doing?

Doctor. She needed to go to the hospital in Novera. Now.

He quickly wiped his tears.

Gray quickly scooped her up in his arms, ignoring the flare of pain coming from his injuries, and started running back to the town as fast as he can. But it was going to be a pretty long run despite the adrenaline rush he was feeling considering how far out they were in the forest. That fact alone only served to increase the fear inside of him; the fear of letting her life slip between his fingers.

He had to make it there fast. There was no way he was going to let her die.

He peered down at her face and grimaced.

"Come on," he looked ahead. "Stay with me. Please."

He didn't know after how long, but as he made it to the main path a bright light flashed behind him, causing him to halt in surprise. Behind him was a carriage that was occupied by military personnel that happened to be patrolling the forest for some reason.

Gray's eyes widened.

The person driving the carriage looked immensely shocked at the sight of them. "What on earth—"

"She needs a doctor!" Gray suddenly shouted. "She lost a lot of blood... we were—" he remembered about the children he left behind. "There are kids back there who were taken by traffickers... I- I just need—!"

Help me save her.

Upon seeing Gray's trepidation, the officer driving cut him off and quickly urged him to get inside the carriage while the other officers inside would check on the children that were still stuck in the forest. Gray could only thank his luck for running into help when he needed it most.

As the carriage took off fast towards Novera, Gray sat in silence. His elbows were on his knees and he had his hands in his hair, his eyes fixed on the ground while the horrific scene replayed in his mind. He clearly remembered the way her hands weakly touched him after he impaled her with an ice sword, the way her body fell to its knees when he pulled out it, the way her face twisted in pain, the way she weakly called his name.

Gray gritted his teeth in frustration and inhaled shakily. "Fuck..."

It was so fucked up.

He shifted his hands to look at her body as it laid on the other seat without a hint of movement.