Medical Emergency

-Medical Emergency-

-From Satoru Gojo's Perspective-

Smirking, I looked down at my phone.

At the messages I had exchanged with Megumi while Mayu was dealing with the curse behind me in the department store. Whatever those two had talked about, it was damn brilliant.

Somehow, they had managed to have Megumi help Mayu from the outside. That was incredibly clever.

Especially considering Megumi—I honestly hadn't thought him capable of that. He'd have to tell me later exactly how he pulled it off.

In the meantime, I listened uneasily to the surrounding silence. Occasionally, I could still hear the chirping of birds, the sound of engines drifting over from the distant main road—but no sounds or calls from Mayu.

I had secretly been waiting for my agreed-upon "cherry." My little reference to her cherry-red cheeks she liked to wear so often.

That worried me a little, and I caught myself more than once almost peeking in to check how she was doing, but I wanted her to handle this completely on her own. Surely it had to be possible that she could tap into her cursed energy today. I had even considered giving her a good scare—but I refrained from that too.

Back in the car, I'd already noticed how tense she was, and that probably would have caused cardiac arrest in someone as jumpy as her.

I smirked again.

In her position, I would've felt the same way, but she had bravely faced her task. Not that she'd had a choice.

With rising nervousness, I stared at my phone again. No new messages. Certainly not from Mayu.

Should I check after all?

I turned toward the entrance of the department store, placed my hand on the door and… took it off again. Patience wasn't exactly my strong suit. Still, I placed my hand on the door once more and gave a quick, concise look inside. "Wrecked" was only a partial description of what I could see. But no Mayu. I didn't hear any cries for help, footsteps, or anything suspicious either. So I silently withdrew and kept waiting.

Minute after minute passed.

Still no warning signs.

If she ends up dying in there, I'll kill her again myself!

Standing still in one place wasn't an option for me right now, so I paced a few steps back and forth. Secretly, I really hoped nothing would happen to her. Because slowly, a quiet feeling crept in that maybe it had been a mistake to let her loose on a cursed spirit so recklessly.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open with force and noise.

I turned hastily toward Mayu, who was just coming out, and was startled at first glance.

The sight before me deeply displeased me, and I quickly closed the few steps between us.

She sank to the ground, leaning weakly against the door, and carelessly placed the blood-smeared scythe on the floor.

"Mayu!" I let my panic out on her, knelt down beside her, and pulled my blindfold down to my neck. "What happened?!"

Immediately, the large and gaping wound on her leg caught my eye.

"…! Why didn't you call out?!" I scolded her, almost angrily and upset.

"I-I… didn't… think of it anymore," she replied weakly and slumped against me, exhausted. "The cursed spirit… got me with its… claws."

I didn't hesitate any longer, quickly pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Kiyotaka's number.

As I listened to the brief ringing, I was shocked to notice the immense number of cursed spirits floating through the air of the department store hall. Big ones. Small ones. Angry ones. Terrifying ones. Colorful cursed spirits.

"I'll be there in two minutes," I heard Kiyotaka say firmly in my ear.

"One!" I countered threateningly, hung up, and stowed the phone back away quickly without taking my eyes off the chaos.

I gathered my cursed energy in the blink of an eye—but paused briefly.

Some of them seemed to be approaching us, but then immediately… fled?!

Why weren't they attacking?

It almost seemed as if they were afraid of us.

I must have imagined that—cursed spirits attacked at every opportunity.

But they didn't come closer.

With furrowed brows, I tightened my arm around Mayu, included her in my Infinity, and finally released my gathered cursed energy on those bastards.

They dissolved within seconds, and the shopping center could finally take a breath.

Having just brought a hint of order into this chaos, I clearly noticed that the little bundle of nerves in my arms was unnaturally warm. More like glowing.

I placed my hand on her forehead, which immediately confirmed my suspicion.

"You're burning up! Are you feverish, Mayu?"

She didn't respond right away, so I looked down at her and laid my hand on her flushed cheek.

"I don't… know," she stammered, looking up at me with glassy eyes, "but yeah… I feel hot… and dizzy."

What in the devil's name had happened?!

"It must be from your open leg. Damn it, you silly goose. I told you to call out. … I should've just gone in to check on you!"

Carefully, I slid my arm under her legs and lifted the dazed featherweight, who weakly nestled against me and barely clung to my uniform.

Just then, the sound of an approaching car engine reached my ears. It came to a quick stop beside us, and Kiyotaka got out.

He took a quick and suspicious glance around before we got into the car.

Meanwhile, Kiyotaka stowed the cursed tool in the trunk and hurried back behind the wheel.

Wordlessly, he understood what needed to be done and revved the engine again.

"Should I contact Ms. Ieiri?" he offered, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

In response, I was already shaking my head with the phone at my ear.

"Hello Satoru, what's up?" came Shoko's still cheerful voice through my smartphone.

"Prep your OR. Mayu's badly injured."

"Mayu? Isn't she the new one I saw briefly?"

"Yeah, that's her," I replied, more forcefully than I meant to.

"Very serious?"

"Worse."

"I'll wait for you!" she instructed me firmly and ended the call.

I briefly closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against Mayu's head before pressing my lips to her forehead. My brow furrowed in disbelief.

Was I imagining it, or was she actually getting even hotter?! I placed my hand on her burning and slightly damp forehead again.

She no longer responded to my touch. Not in the slightest. Her eyes remained closed, her body motionless against mine. Her breathing seemed to grow shallower and more erratic.

"What happened?" came Kiyotaka's concerned voice from the driver's seat.

"She got hit by the cursed spirit. But what worries me more is her rising body temperature."

While murmuring against her overheated skin, I looked down at her leg, battered from the fight. It looked unbearably deep and painful. Without hesitation, I took off my uniform jacket, gently placed it under her leg, and wrapped it around a part of it.

"I-it's s-o … hot," she let out, barely audible and swallowing her words.

She weakly unbuttoned the top of her uniform, so I rolled down the window and reached for a water bottle lying beside us on the backseat. Carefully, I held the bottle to her lips—she took only a sip before indicating she didn't want more.

Far too little, in my opinion, but at least something.

Annoyed, I exhaled sharply, set the bottle back, wrapped my arms around her frail body again, and rested my cheek once more against her head.

I should've known! My gut told me—screamed at me—not to leave her alone, and once again, it was right.

I was such an idiot!

Hardly had Kiyotaka reached the academy and brought the car to a stop when I was already rushing toward the waiting Shoko. I stormed into the sterile and brightly lit examination room, Mayu in my arms, who was becoming weaker and hotter by the minute. Shoko flinched at first, but immediately rose from her stool upon realizing her waiting had come to an end, and threw on her white lab coat.

"Lay her down here," she instructed, pointing to the prepared examination bed before tying her shoulder-length hazelnut hair into a ponytail.

Without hesitation, I gently laid the nearly motionless Mayu on her left side on the black-padded bed, watching as Shoko gave her a first inspection.

"What exactly happened, Mayu?" she began her assessment, softly removing my blood-smeared jacket from her leg, which she examined with compassionate precision.

"... Claw- …" Mayu's answer came out as a slurred mumble.

She didn't seem capable of forming coherent words anymore, which slowly pushed me to my limit.

"Oh dear, you poor thing. That curse really did a number on you, huh?" Shoko remarked, evaluating the trace the cursed spirit had left behind, and placed my jacket at the foot of the bed.

A barely noticeable nod from Mayu.

"But... why is she burning up like this?! Has she already developed a fever from it?!" Shoko threw over her shoulder, shocked, hoping for more detail from me—which I immediately provided.

"She only mentioned that the cursed spirit struck her with its claws."

"I see."

Shoko held her hands above the injured leg, and a turquoise smoke began to swirl around her fingers. Starting from the top, I watched as the gaping wound closed in the blink of an eye. It took less than a minute, and from the massive injury that stretched from her thigh down to her ankle, only a faint scar remained.

"There we go, sweetie. Your fever will go down now," Shoko said with certainty, resting her hand gently on Mayu's waist before turning to me.

"According to you, she was alone—right?"

Annoyed, I averted my gaze, which served as both answer and reprimand for the doctor.

"Well then," Shoko continued in her now more relaxed tone, "I imagined our first real encounter differently. Yes, I know this is technically the second time I've come across Mayu, but I don't count a quick hello and a 'Welcome to the academy' as a proper meeting."

"You're right," I acknowledged nonchalantly, my eyes fixed on Mayu once more.

She still lay motionless on her side, eyes closed, as if asleep. My worry for her continued to burn fiercely inside me—a feeling that unsettled me. I silently prayed for Shoko to soon give the all-clear.

I pushed off from the bed, walked over to the counter across the room, and soaked a cloth with cold water from the sink. Returning to the examination bed, I began gently wiping Mayu's leg clean of the partially dried blood.

I intentionally ignored Shoko's puzzled expression, which told me more than any words could have.

"You remembered the cold water trick," she said, sidestepping her obvious curiosity about my unusual tenderness, to which I responded with a slight twitch of my mouth.

"Yeah, I did."

Much better. Now she truly looked as though nothing had happened to her.

"How's she doing? You must've spent quite a bit of time with her."

"She's doing well," I confirmed briefly—though more preoccupied with my growing guilt. This wasn't the best moment to engage with her teasing tone.

Today should have gone much differently… Hopefully, her fever would drop soon. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly through her slightly parted lips. Still unresponsive—sharing none of her thoughts with us.

"Her pulse is quite fast," Shoko noted, looking back at her. "I want to be sure."

She immediately clipped a pulse oximeter to Mayu's finger, which began measuring her vitals. The pulse read 129 beats per minute, oxygen saturation was at 97%, and her blood pressure measured 165 over 110 mmHg. I wasn't exactly an expert, but those numbers looked far too high—aside from the oxygen, which seemed okay. But the beeping sound of her heartbeat was much too fast.

"I really don't like this," Shoko muttered, matching my thoughts, sending an icy chill through my veins. "Normal resting values are actually between 60 to 80 beats per minute, and blood pressure is usually at 120 over 80 mmHg. These values do go up with fever, but what Mayu is showing us here is too high, even for that!"

She immediately rummaged through a drawer and pulled out an ear thermometer. A few seconds later, she had the result and frowned deeply.

"39.8. I could've sworn it felt even higher. I hope there's a change soon."

39.8 degrees?! Even though the wound had now disappeared? I stepped closer to the examination table and placed my hand on Mayu's leg, which was still burning hot. Had Shoko missed an injury?

"What does that mean?" I asked, worried.

"Okay. I don't want to scare you, Satoru, but for such a high fever, she's way too lethargic. She's not responsive anymore, barely reacts if at all. Her pulse is much too high, as is her blood pressure, and her oxygen saturation is gradually decreasing."

I looked at the monitor again. Just now, the saturation had been at 97%, now it read 91%.

"Was she injured anywhere else?"

"She didn't mention anything," I replied, frozen as I stared at the monitor and watched the spiking pulse line. 142 beats per minute.

"Your methods are getting more questionable by the day," Shoko muttered, shaking her head, and reached for the hem of Mayu's skirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, shocked, glancing at determined Shoko.

"Well, checking if she's got more injuries you don't know about."

So Shoko pushed the skirt up to the edge of Mayu's underwear, and I couldn't help but look too.

But nothing to see.

She also examined her arms from every angle. Turned Mayu slightly toward herself to feel her back. It was as if life had left her — she allowed herself to be laid and turned into any position without resistance. In fact, Shoko had to support her, or she would have rolled right off the table.

"She's burning up," Shoko noted grimly, "but no other visible injuries. And luckily, she's sweating, which means the body is at least trying to regulate the temperature," she concluded as she rebuttoned the uniform after checking her torso and covered her again with the clothes.

The heart tones were no longer just seemingly faster — her pulse had now reached a constant 149 beats per minute, and the saturation had dropped to a minimum of 84%.

Shoko grabbed the thermometer again for another reading.

"Holy shit," she hissed, stunned, "40.4!"

...!

It had risen even more?! At this pace?!

Shoko, who had just stepped away from the examination table, rummaged through various utensils in one of the cabinets opposite us, while panic and fear tugged at my pant leg. This had to be a bad nightmare!

"What are you doing now?" I asked nervously.

"I'm going to insert an IV, take a blood sample, and give her something to lower the fever. Something's not right. I have a creeping suspicion that the curse spirit poisoned her."

Goddamn it!

And all of this just because I had left her alone!

Shoko swiftly inserted the long needle into the back of her hand with practiced movements, secured it with white tape, and quickly grabbed the blood vials. I watched intently as Shoko drew Mayu's blood and closed off the cannula again to prepare the infusion.

She placed the vials onto a tray. Then she grabbed the large bag filled with clear fluid and hung it on an IV stand. Next, she picked up a syringe, a dark brown ampoule, and quickly drew the medicine into the syringe. She attached a new needle to it and pierced the bag above the IV fluid to mix the fever-reducing medication with the infusion.

While I watched her connect the infusion tubing to Mayu's cannula, I sat down on the edge of the table and laid my hand on Mayu's side. I wanted nothing more than to start pacing. To tear open every cabinet and search for a solution myself, but I knew all too well that Shoko needed absolute calm and concentration in situations like this. But it was tearing me apart inside.

What if Shoko couldn't manage this? Mayu was already in an extremely critical condition — serious enough to visibly shake even Shoko.

Until now, I had only once seen a medical emergency rattle Shoko like this.

Trying to stay composed, I eyed Mayu warily.

I didn't like this at all.

My gaze became more penetrating, more focused. I concentrated on any traces of cursed energy — but saw none. Instead, I noticed a faint and very subtle heat shimmer rising from her body. Barely perceptible, but... it was like she was… burning?!

Was I imagining things out of sheer worry for her? The skin beneath the midnight blue lace fabric of her uniform sleeve seemed more flushed, so I immediately pushed the sleeve up.

Shoko also looked at it immediately.

"What… is that?..." we asked almost in sync, as I ran my fingers over isolated reddish patches on her arm.

"Noticeably hotter areas compared to the rest of her already burning skin," I observed while touching a larger, vaguely defined red spot.

Shoko moved the fabric of her uniform aside again. On her abdomen, waist, and also around her chest up to her neck, there were many more of these altered spots visible. They all felt just as hot as those on her arm.

This could only be poisoning — it had to be spreading!

"I haven't the faintest clue, but I'm going to quickly prep the blood for analysis. You stay here with her and keep a close watch!" Shoko instructed me firmly, her tone filled with concern, and I nodded.

While Shoko disappeared into the adjacent room to handle the further results, I slid up on the examination table — up to the level of Mayu's chest. Gently, I leaned down toward her, bracing myself with both hands beside her shoulder, and pushed her lilac-colored hair aside.

Her skin was still boiling hot, covered in small beads of sweat, which I carefully dabbed away with a cloth. She didn't react to it at all. Just as she didn't react when I softly laid my cheek on her upper arm.

"I'm sorry, Mayu," I whispered, closing my eyes.

I should never have left you alone with the curse spirit. To have put your life in such danger so easily… Please, show some signs of improvement already.

I allowed myself this brief moment to breathe.

Her heartbeat continued to beep rapidly, faster than before.

I lifted my head again to look at her motionless face. She still appeared to be in a deep, almost believable sleep. Her cheeks, all the way to her ears, were cherry red. If only I had teased her earlier, I would be more amused now, but in this situation?

I placed my hand on her cheek and stroked her skin with my thumb, noticing with growing concern that it remained dry, even after I had just dabbed it earlier. Her forehead, which I had wiped dry, no longer had any traces of moisture.

"Shoko?" I called out to the expert par excellence.

"Yes? Is everything alright?" she replied, and I could hear that she was already hurrying over to us, standing in the doorway, looking at me.

"She's not sweating anymore! At least not where I wiped her."

"You're kidding!" Shoko exclaimed in shock, immediately approaching the bed again and placing her hand on Mayu's forehead.

"Shit!" Shoko's calm demeanor completely shattered.

She checked the vital signs again, which had drastically changed. The pulse had risen further — to 158 beats per minute, with some fluctuations upward. The oxygen saturation was down to 72%, and the blood pressure had completely slipped out of balance, now at 85 over 50 mmHg.

"Goddamn it!" Shoko cursed angrily. "41.6°C! Get a bucket with ice-cold water and lots of towels, now! If we don't lower this fever, her organs will collapse in a few minutes!"

What?!

I jumped in shock, momentarily stuck to the bed, and rushed to the sink. I turned on the faucet and rummaged through the cabinet underneath for the bucket. Quickly, I threw the towels into it and let the cold water run into the bucket.

"Satoru! Where did the finger come from?!" a nervous Shoko asked behind me, prompting me to turn around.

"What finger?!" I replied sharply, horrified as I saw Sukuna's dark-brown finger in her hand. "Where did you get that from?!" I demanded, snatching the finger from her.

"It just fell out of Mayu's skirt pocket! Get it to the cursed storage, quickly! From here, I'll handle it alone!"

Reluctantly and unwillingly, I looked into her flashing doe-brown eyes, which left no room for argument. Nonverbally, she made it clear to me that it was now uncertain whether Mayu would pull through or if we would lose her due to my insane idea.

Emotionally agitated and overwhelmed, I left the examination room and the infirmary behind me, walking towards the cursed storage, which was nearby.

As soon as I reached it, I slumped against the cold wall like a wet sack and looked furtively at my palm – at Sukuna's finger.

...

I should have anticipated this! I had completely overlooked this exception. That the curse spirit had already claimed one of the fingers, becoming much stronger than initially assumed.

I had only received the information about it the day before yesterday and, in my youthful recklessness, I had thought, 'Yay! This is just what Mayu needs!'

I thought it was a good idea, went ahead with it, and completely disregarded how dangerous it could become.

I, idiot! Complete idiot!

She had warned me...

Now, here I was, with the most dangerous evil possible, struggling with my guilty conscience, feelings of blame, and overwhelming fear for Mayu.

"Oh shit! 40.4."

"Are you serious?!"

"41.6°C! If we don't lower the fever now, her organs will collapse in a few minutes!"

"From here, I'll handle it alone!"

My breath caught in my throat.

A chill ran down my spine.

In the blink of an eye, an unprecedented, painful goosebumps took hold of me.

I got an immensely strong uneasy feeling in my stomach.

These words echoed like pure horror in my head. And they all screamed; Mayu will die. She won't make it. Shoko had lost her.

I clenched my free hand into a tight fist and shakily inhaled the cool air. I held it for a few seconds, then exhaled it unevenly from my mouth.

I turned my gaze up to the ceiling. I studied the light, flickering and emitting cold white light. Like an intangible glimmer of hope I would have loved to hold in my hands.

This couldn't happen. This just couldn't happen! It was never my intention to push her this far into danger...

Never!

Again, I looked at the stiff, rigid finger in my hand.

This damned catastrophe. This asshole! He wasn't even close to our timeline, and yet he was wreaking havoc and destruction. I was sure that if this ancient cursed object hadn't been involved, everything would have turned out differently.

Would have...

Had to...

Hey, everyone. Is anyone reading this? If so, please let me know what you think—otherwise, I'll delete this fanfic.