Chapter Text
As far as Margali could tell, Kurt possessed a sufficient immune system; she could only remember a small number of colds and fevers, and a small bout of pneumonia when she didn't know he had gone and played in the snow without any winter wear whatsoever. Other than that, her youngest son had made it through the first fourteen years of his life in full health.
But one day, in the middle of summer, Margali found herself sure he was going to die because her little mutant fell as ill as she'd ever seen someone fall ill.
While playing with three or four younger children, tumbling around and just about to perform a stupendous acrobatic feat for them, Kurt collapsed on the ground.
The children's shrieks of delight at his supposed silliness quickly became cries of fright when they realized he had lost consciousness.
Margali had no knowledge of any of this until one of the animal tamers carried him into the trailer. She completely forgot her annoyance at being interrupted from her dark sorcery when she saw Kurt's state.
"Did he fall?"
"No, of course not," The thought was near unthinkable with someone as deft as Kurt. "No one knows what happened- he just... suddenly passed out."
This was more alarming than having an identified cause.
"Please, place him on the bed in the corner there- thank you so much for bringing him in..."
The lion tamer noted her implied dismissal and left.
Margali went through the emergency procedures she knew- the last thing she wanted to do was bring in a licensed doctor from outside the circus. She had yet to see an outsider’s- besides that priest’s - reaction to Kurt's individual appearance.
"Kurt!... Kurt, can you hear me?" His ears twitched and when he didn't respond any further she shook his shoulder forcefully.
His eyes slowly opened but she didn't need pupils to know his eyes weren't focused.
"Are you alright?-”
The words were barely out of her mouth when he shut his eyes tightly and, shoulders curling, body heaving, vomited before going completely lax again.
Margali's panic, like many of her emotions, came out sounding like anger. "Kurt!!! Say something!!! What's wrong with you?"
Kurt’s hand, drunk in its weakness, reached out for her and she took it, holding it in her lap, and stroked it.
He let out a groan, so quiet she barely heard it. "Margali,"
"Yes?"
"I feel… so terrible."
Still no explanation. "It's alright, I’ll be right here."
Margali quickly wrapped up and moved the soiled blanket aside to be dealt with as soon as she got Kurt some food and tonic.
But this was all for naught because his body was on the most severe hunger strike. Everything that reached his stomach was repelled in less than half an hour and things only got worse from then on. He could no longer stand any stimulation of his senses and Margali allowed no light, sound, or strong smells to reach him. Anything of the sort sent Kurt’s head spinning, thus more nauseous.
Margali had no idea what was going to happen him. He hadn’t eaten in days- soon he couldn’t sit up, and eventually he did not even shift in position to keep comfortable.
He’d been curled up in a fetal position for nearly two days. The only movement he made was the tiniest rise and fall of his torso. She feared that when she fell asleep she would awake to even that motion being gone. Needless to say, her trailer hadn’t been open to customers. Stephan and Jimaine had moved into friend’s cabins for the time being.
Since Kurt had still had no answer to what had caused this, nor could she think of something she had seen, she was trapped in obsessing why this was happening. Perhaps it was some kind of mutant pathogen, because despite the time Stephan and Jimaine had been near him, and how she had barely left his side, none of them had caught it. Now she felt like she could only wait. She was watching him die- no medicine or potions had changed anything The fact that he could hold no food, had barely held any water for that matter, made her doubt that his body could pull itself through this, or how he was even alive at this point.
On the eighth day of all the madness and confusion, when she ran out of even the most obscure idea, she accepted this fate to have him taken from her just as erratically as he had been given. She could not help a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
He had been a wonderful gift, a bizarre one, but wonderful nonetheless. His warm personality made everyone cherish his company, it was so easily to get along with him, she almost laughed as she wondered who had nurtured this nature in him, because it had certainly not been she.
He was so intelligent, in booksmarts and philosophy- neither of her other children enjoyed reading as much as he did and she loved to bring him any volumes she could find in the remote places of the world she traveled to, to watch him read them and tell her about the real great thinkers of history or fictional swashbuckling rogues of adventures, as often no one else would listen. Yet none of his books were as worn as the Bible the priest had given him all those years ago.
He had been a beauty as well, and he had been so young, she was only just watching him grow into his full potential. No man or creature in any dimension she had ever been through was close to moving with his grace and panache, he was a picture definition of elegance. It was near mesmerizing to watch him move. His fur was dark, but if shone in the light, silver on cobalt blue, and in perfect display when he ran a soft brush over it before a show. His tail moved smartly behind him at almost all times, even gently while he slept. His face was cut sharp, his cheekbones high and fair, but his face also held a perfect amount of gentle femininity necessary to make his countenance absolutely stunning. To not be able to see him grow to adulthood, she knew was a shame.
All this Margali thought as she sat and cried for the boy.
For hours, she stayed there, trying to keep track of his breathing, a few times losing it, but always returning just as she thought it was final. She was angry at the universe for this- angry at Kurt’s ‘God’ whom he was so loyal to- how could He drag his suffering out this long? He was cruel!
And then (perhaps this was God proving His “infinite grace” to Margali?), Kurt took a deep breath like he was coming up from a long swim underwater. He opened his eyes, lifted his head, and blinked at her as she stared back in shock.
“Muh,” he swallowed, getting his slurred voiced under control before he spoke. “Margali, were you crying? What’s wrong?”
Margali barely wondered for a moment if this was her dreaming from sleep deprivation before letting out a cry of delight and squeezing the boy against her.
“You’re ALIVE! Oh, you’ve been sick, you’ve been so sick, and I thought you were gone, I thought you were going to die!” She had meant to scold him for worrying her, but all she could express was relief.
“Oh… well,” Kurt looked down at himself, almost confused, but he found nothing different. “I think I’m better now.” He smiled his smile at her, the one that made her believe it was she who was the child who needed caring for, for he just simply glowed with compassion and caring.
She gasped. “You haven’t eaten or drank in days!” She didn’t even bother setting him down, instead she carried him, still curled in a ball, to the booth of their trailer and filled a glass of water for him.
“Was I gone somewhere?” Kurt asked her before she pushed the glass to his lips, forcing him to drink. With this, the drought of more than a week finally seemed to come back to him, and he finished off the whole glass.
She already had another ready for him before he asked for a refill, and she put packages of crackers and snacks in front of him to hold him over while she began to boil pasta. It all felt surreal, but she also knew it was real- Kurt really had pinked up right out of his unexplainable illness and now she was feeding him after sleeping for 8 days.
While the noodles cooked, she went outside to get Stephan and Jimaine and tell them the good news.