Worth Is Measured In Love

Chapter 3

As soon as the snow storm cleared, Jellal went straight to the best physician he could afford to look over Juvia and to try to cure her blindness. The doctor was kind and did the best he could. But alas this was one of those tragic cases where a person's best efforts just weren't enough.

"There's got to be something else you can try." Jellal had pleaded with the doctor. "Please! I'll pay anything!"

"It's not a matter of money." The physician said with a tone of compassion. "There's just nothing that can be done. She's so young and she was out in the cold for so long, truthfully it's a miracle that she's even still alive. Though her heart is very weak."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that for now, she must not be overwhelmed. It could cause her to suffer a heart attack or worse. As she gets older though, her heart will become stronger."

"How strong?"

"If she's healthy, then by the time she matures the worst that could happen to her is a black out."

"What about her eye sight? Any chance of that getting better with time?"

"I'm afraid it's permanent. She'll never see again. I'm sorry."

"So what am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to tell her that she'll never see again? How am I going to tell her that she'll be in the dark forever?"

But that was the truth of it. Juvia would never see again. She cried for a week and maybe longer. She cried over losing her parents, she cried over losing her sight, it was cruel what happened to her.  It was cruel, it was unfair, but it was the truth, so Juvia and her brother would eventually have to accept it.  How painful the truth can be. Not only for Juvia but for her savior as well. Gray had lost everything in just one night. His home, his family, even part of his face. Jellal did not mind the scars but he knew others would not be so tolerant, so he gave the boy a scarf to cover that damaged part.

"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to." Jellal told him. "But I suggest you wear it whenever we're in public."

But it wasn't just Gray's face that was left horribly effected, his mind was scarred as well. It happened shortly after Jellal had taken him in and it was in the middle of the night when the young man suddenly awoke to hear screaming.

"Jellal?" Juvia had heard it too, they were sharing one bed while Gray slept in the other. "What is it?"

"Stay here Juvia."

Jellal slipped out of bed and followed the screaming to the room on the other side of the carriage. There he saw Gray screaming and crying and breaking things. 

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" He asked him.

But Gray didn't answer. He didn't seem to hear Jellal or even recognize that he was there. He looked as if he was somewhere else and that he was trying to get away from something. He must have been mortified beyond all reason because he literally broke open a window and tried to climb out. Jellal grabbed him and pulled him back inside.

"Stop that!" Jellal demanded.

"A demon!" Gray cried out. "A demon! Help! Help!"

"Demon? There's no demon here!"

"Mother! Father! Help me! Please help me!"

That's when Jellal realized that the boy was having a flashback. He grabbed hold of him, Gray struggled. He struggled, kicked, scratched, and even bit him. In his traumatized mind he was being held by the "Demon"

"It's alright Gray." Jellal told him. "It's alright. You're safe now. No one here is going to hurt you. I promise."

It was several hours but eventually Gray wore himself out. After this behavior continued for six more nights, Jellal decided to put a stop to it. His late father had been a chemist, brewing special ointments, medicines, and drugs to sell during their travels and Jellal had always studied how his father worked carefully. He knew every recipe by heart and could probably brew up anything just as well as his father had. The one he was fixing for Gray was a drug called Crimson Lethe.