((Next chapter~ Yay, updates! I'll try as hard as I can to stay consistent, but I'm not the kind of person who updates every Tuesday or something. I can keep you on your toes~ Muhahaha

Anyways, not too many chapters left after this one. I'm estimating three to four. I think. I hate when I have to end my stories, but I guess all good things must come to a close. I'm totally going to miss the characters and your reviews. *sadness*

Okay, no more fixating on that, it's not coming up that fast. Onwards to the next chapter! Commence!))

:::

Ludwig was having a good time with Gilbert. They were getting to know each other more over a few days. He had a hard time believing in the 'love at first sight' thing, so it was nice to start appreciating Gilbert for who he was, from his charisma to his obnoxiousness.

Ludwig shook his head with a slight blush. Did I just say love? he thought to himself, glad he wasn't admitting any of this out loud. He had feelings for Gilbert. Most definitely. But actually thinking about it, and thinking about saying it, was a little embarrassing.

It was great to see the merman healing so quickly. Being injured and debilitated really did not suit Gilbert's boisterous personality.

But about four days after their initial conversations about their backgrounds, Gilbert started coming down with headaches.

Ludwig was naturally observant, so he picked up on it right away when seeing the merman rubbing his forehead and growing really quiet. It was occasionally accompanied with an expression of distress, though it would disappear in a flicker.

The German got out a tray of ice and a plastic bag in the kitchen. He emptied about half of the ice cube tray into the bag, and then sealed it. After replacing the tray in the freezer, he retrieved a clean, relatively thin dish-drying towel from a drawer nearby. Wrapping the bag of ice in the towel, Ludwig headed over to the poolroom.

Seeing the TV on, without Gilbert really paying attention to it, he turned down the volume a bit. He also switched off the light, allowing natural light from the open windows to dimly illuminate the room. When the setting was a little easier on the ears and eyes, Ludwig slid into the pool near Gilbert's blue pool bed.

He was just sort of lazily floating around on it, lying on his stomach. He was so immobile at the moment that he looked to be sleeping. But Ludwig could see Gilbert watching him as he headed over. He slowly and gently pulled it and the merman into the shallower end, where Ludwig was only belly button deep. Ever so gently, he placed the bag on ice on Gilbert's left temple, holding it there.

"This… isn't very awesome…" Gilbert quietly and evenly muttered, looking a bit upset.

"Everybody gets headaches sometimes," Ludwig soothingly reassured him, even though he didn't know if the fact was true for both humans and merfolk.

Gilbert sighed and closed his eyes as the ice was beginning to dull the pain. He wanted to nod, but it was too painful to move his head at the moment.

.

The next morning, Ludwig was washing some dishes close to lunchtime. He had kept breakfast a bit simple, two sunny-side eggs and one piece of lightly toasted bread. The stack of dishes in the sink building up for a while had been bothering him, so it was nice to use a few spare minutes to take care of that.

"West… West!" Gilbert hoarsely called out, a note of grief in his tone. It was followed by a few coughs, as the man quickly rinsed the soap off of his hands and dried them. "Ludwig!"

Ludwig ran to the poolroom in alarm, as the merman barely ever called him by his real name. When he entered, he could instantly see what was wrong.

Gilbert was leaning against the edge of the pool, on the side closest to the door. He weakly clung to the smooth concrete, visibly shivering. On the floor of the pool edge in front of him was a relatively large puddle of vomit. He was doubly positive that it came from the merman, as his mouth was dirty from throwing up.

After being momentarily stunned, Ludwig rushed over. Avoiding the mess of sickness, he got into the pool beside Gilbert. He gently went to pull the merman away from the edge, and held him close. Ludwig spotted a towel nearby, and slowly headed towards it.

"Does you stomach hurt?" Ludwig urgently asked, able to feel Gilbert shaking like a leaf against him.

"Y-yeah," Gilbert answered with a shudder, looking absolutely terrible. He didn't seem too bad less than an hour ago before eating…

Ludwig carefully wiped Gilbert's mouth clean, as he gave a grimace. "Are you going to be sick again?" Ludwig quickly asked him.

Gilbert didn't audibly answer or nod his head, but he glanced up at the man with a pained expression that said 'yes'. With that, Ludwig picked him up gently, and went as quickly and smoothly as possible to the pool steps. He got out of the water and walked in the direction of the bathroom down the hall.

Unfortunately, Gilbert felt his stomach suddenly lurch about halfway there. He unwillingly emptied the rest of the contents of his stomach right onto Ludwig's chest, soaking his shirt. Ludwig frowned in heavy concern, but didn't drop or shake Gilbert in surprise.

As soon as they got to the bathroom, Ludwig carefully sat Gilbert on the floor right in front of the toilet. He opened the lid, making it clear that any further vomit needed to end up there.

"I'll be right back," Ludwig quickly, said then rushed out of the bathroom. He went as fast as he could to the bedroom where he kept his clothes. He pulled out a fresh shirt for himself. He carefully pulled his current shirt off, avoiding getting the sickness on him. Not concerned with it now, he rolled it up and tossed it into the trash bin nearby. Ludwig left the room with the new shirt, pulling it on as he rushed to the kitchen. He took a nearby dishtowel and soaked it with warm water from the sink.

He returned to the bathroom, where Gilbert was still sitting on the floor. It looked like he had thrown up a little more in the toilet, but the majority of it had ended up on the poolroom floor and Ludwig's shirt.

"S-sorry…" Gilbert let out, cracking an apologetic and forced smile.

"It's alright. You weren't feeling well," Ludwig reassured him, going to sit by his side. He reached over to softly wipe Gilbert's face clean. "Can you rest in the tub for a while? I can get to you easier that way if something else happens."

Gilbert hesitantly nodded. Ludwig got up and went to fill the tub with lukewarm water. When it was nearly full, he turned off the water. He then knelt beside Gilbert, and picked him up. He slowly moved him over into the tub, laying him down inside. He felt a bit bad that the merman's tail was sticking out, but it was better than him getting worse at the bottom of the pool, where Ludwig would have a harder time reaching him. But at least Gilbert seemed to be relaxing in the warm water.

"Will you be alright if I leave for a few minutes?" Ludwig quietly asked.

Gilbert looked over at him pitifully, and slowly nodded. Ludwig didn't want to leave him alone, but he could let the mess by the pool just sit there.

He quickly went to wash and sterilize the area in the poolroom, and then returned to the bathroom. Gilbert had fallen asleep while Ludwig was gone. The man went to sit beside the tub with a worried sigh. He reached into the water to hold the merman's hand.

.

During the next two days, Gilbert's nausea seemed to stop on its own. At the same time, so did his appetite.

Ludwig picked up the plate of cold hardboiled eggs from beside the pool, passing a glance to Gilbert. The merman was sleeping on his pool bed nearby. He had grown a bit paler, and dark circles were becoming visible under his eyes. The man looked down at the plate that was supposed to be lunch. Out of the three eggs, one of them had a medium-sized bite taken out of it. The toast and other two eggs were untouched.

He turned to leave, but was interrupted by the sound of Gilbert's voice.

"West…" he lightly groaned.

"Yes?" Ludwig responded, kneeling down closer.

"Why did you turn off the TV? I was… watching something…" he complained in a tired drawl.

The TV had been off ever since the merman threw up two days ago.

Before Ludwig could tell him, Gilbert said, "Stop doing that…" Ludwig didn't disturb him as he closed his eyes and fell asleep again. He left the poolroom with a sigh, going to throw out the leftover food. He was running out of food, but was too afraid to leave the merman alone at this point. He couldn't say that all of this developed suddenly, thinking back on Gilbert's slowly declining health despite his injuries healing. But he had no idea what could happen next.

Ludwig spent most of the day reading on a comfortable bench in the poolroom. He was sure to keep a close eye on the merman as he slept. There were no changes for hours. He had remained so still for so long that the water of the pool was barely moving.

Around dinnertime, the German decided to make chicken broth again before the chicken expired. This time, he cooked it a bit slower so that the broth was richer in flavor. When it was finished cooking, he returned to the pool to retrieve Gilbert.

He waded in beside the pool bed, disturbing the calm water. Ludwig gently shook the merman's shoulder. Gilbert frowned and cracked open an eye to stare at his caretaker.

"It's time for dinner," Ludwig informed him. With that, he picked up Gilbert from the pool bed, and carried him out of the water. The merman felt a bit heavier and more limp than usual, as he gripped a fold on Ludwig's shirt weakly. He was brought over to a chair with a wet towel draped over it, and gingerly placed down.

Ludwig went to ladle some broth into two bowls, then brought them to the kitchen table for them to eat. He placed the bowl down in front of Gilbert, and then took a seat close by him. Ludwig started to eat his soup as Gilbert just stared down into the bowl.

"It's going to get cold," Ludwig warned him, after a few minutes passed.

"… I'm full…" Gilbert quietly responded.

"You haven't touched your dinner, and you had one bite of egg hours ago," Ludwig sighed.

"I'm fine," he simply responded, pushing the bowl away a little.

"Gilbert, you're getting sick," Ludwig informed him, though it made him nervous to admit it. "You need to eat, and keep your strength up if you want to get better."

"I said I'm fine!" Gilbert spat, raising his voice a little.

Ludwig wrinkled his nose in frustration. "You're not… I'm sorry, but… you're not fine," he calmly said.

Gilbert sighed, calming down again. "I'm not hungry, Ludwig…" he quietly insisted.

The man sighed, knowing that he couldn't really force him to eat at this point. "If I make something later, will you eat then?" he offered.

Gilbert nodded his head in response.

Though, when Ludwig grilled a slice of fish for him later that night, he didn't eat a single bite of it.

.

Another two days passed, as the merman spent more and more time asleep. When he was awake, he had started to develop a headache again and acted quite irritable. Gilbert would apologize later, though it didn't ease Ludwig's mind at all. The merman ate about once a day, and it would be only enough food to barely cover Ludwig's palm.

In the afternoon, Ludwig has turned on the TV to a low volume. He sat on the pool steps, with Gilbert on his pool bed pulled over right in front of the man. He was slightly awake, watching some TV as Ludwig gently stroked his hair.

"When are we going back to town?" Gilbert quietly and suddenly asked with a slight frown.

"… You haven't been to the town," Ludwig reminded him.

"Oh… But what about that ship? … The shipwreck? We looked though it… and found another stove," Gilbert added, making no sense.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ludwig quietly replied, feeling as though his heart was sinking into his stomach.

"Oh…" Gilbert let out, turning his focus back to the TV. He went quiet for a little while, but remained awake. He was ready to fall asleep at any second, though. "Thanks for bringing in the TV… yesterday…. I was getting… bored…"

Ludwig didn't respond, as he bit his lip.

He knew by now that Gilbert wasn't going to recover like this.

Ludwig was losing him.

.

.

It pained him to admit it, but Ludwig needed to get more food. He was completely out of eggs, vegetables, and bread, and the only meat he had left was one slice of fish. Gilbert still wasn't really eating, but Ludwig still made food for him. The man had woken up early today, as usual. It was about two hours before he normally served breakfast.

Ludwig went to check on his charge in the poolroom. He had tethered the pool bed to the railing beside the pool's steps in the shallow end. He was afraid of the merman falling off into the deep end where Ludwig couldn't check on him.

Gilbert was sleeping through most of the day now. When he woke up, he would cycle between confused and irritable. Plus, he barely even had the strength to hold himself upright anymore. What little he ate, the German had to spoon feed to him.

At this moment, he was peacefully and soundly sleeping. He was a bit pale, and looked tired even when asleep. He had been particularly touchy last night when Ludwig tried to feed him. He had only managed to get the merman to drink a small gulp of soup before Gilbert complained that it was making him feel worse. It probably wasn't true, but he was in no mood to listen to Ludwig's pleads for him to eat. Ludwig had to let him succumb to fatigue, gently rubbing his back as he had fallen asleep.

Whether he liked it or not, Ludwig had to leave Gilbert alone to do some grocery shopping. He was already starting to worry, and he hadn't even left the room yet.

With a sigh, he walked over to the pool steps. Trying not to disturb the water too much, Ludwig walked over to Gilbert's side. He gazed down at the merman in concern and sadness. Gingerly, he leaned over to lightly kiss Gilbert on the lips. The merman scrunched up his nose a little as Ludwig withdrew again. But then he cracked a slight smile in his sleep.

Ludwig couldn't stop a small smile grace his own lips. "I'll be back soon," he quietly said, then got out of the pool to put on some dry shorts and shoes.

He decided to drive his car into town today, since it would be faster. The center wasn't incredibly far away, but he just wanted to shop for food, and then go back quickly. As he drove through the streets, he noticed that it was a little busy today. People seemed to be enjoying the weather.

Ludwig had a hard time finding a parking space, feeling a bit bitter over the fact that no one could know about how much of a hurry he was in. He parallel parked a block away from the grocery store. It wasn't a supermarket, and thus didn't have its own parking lot. He got out of the car, trying not to slam the door in frustration. Now he was thinking about how he kissed Gilbert. What if that was their last kiss? What if he came back and Gilbert was…

Ludwig shook his head to get rid of the negative thoughts. Though, something seemed to linger in his mind. He remembered when he and Gilbert first kissed. It wasn't too long after he had rescued the merman and moved him to the pool.

His lips back then… they seemed to taste a bit salty. It wasn't bad; it was just a minor detail that he had found interesting afterwards, when he was trying to sort out his feelings. Thinking about it now was making his blush a little. Somehow, he tasted like the salt of the ocean, even though he had been swimming around in a freshwater pool for a little while.

Now, Gilbert's lips didn't taste salty.

Ludwig felt that he was catching on to something now. He craned his neck to look around the street a bit. Finally, he spotted it. The Internet café that he had stopped by on his first morning on vacation to get some coffee. He hated delaying getting back to the merman any further, but he knew he might find an answer to what was going on. It was worth the risk.

In a few minutes, he had quickly bought a cup of coffee and sat down at a free computer. He had no intention of drinking any, but only paying customers could use the computers.

With the cup of coffee sitting out of the way of the keyboard and mouse, Ludwig went to open up the web browser on the screen. After a few seconds, a window opened to the café's homepage. He clicked on the address bar and typed in the name of common search engine. It loaded up within two or three seconds. He was glad that it seemed to be a high-speed connection.

The man paused for a moment, trying to think about what to type into the search bar. It would obviously make no sense to look for information about merfolk to find a medical kind of answer. They were only a legend to nearly everybody. Except of course to Ludwig. He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table while trying to think for the most appropriate words.

He was finally able to come up with something, even if it probably wasn't the most accurate description of his situation.

Ludwig typed in 'saltwater fish in freshwater'.

Plenty of results came up as soon as he clicked the search button. Unfortunately, most of the first ones described the opposite of what he was looking for. It seemed that more people wondered about freshwater fish being placed into saltwater.

Though, one result looked promising. He clicked on a link to a website where someone asked, 'Why can't saltwater fish live in fresh water?' The chosen answer said something about diffusion and osmosis in saltwater fish. That sounded promising. He clicked 'back', and then typed in the search bar next to his original words, 'diffusion'. He clicked search again.

More search results came up for freshwater fish put into saltwater. And a few were people asking the same question that Ludwig wanted to know, but no one had answered. Though, the first one on the second page looked promising. The title was, 'What would happen to a saltwater fish if it was put into fresh water?'. The caption underneath said, 'In terms of osmosis. I know the fish would die, but could someone explain why or how?' Underneath that were plenty of answers. Ludwig felt slightly optimistic.

But when he scrolled down his face fell.

'He'd die a horrible death.'

'It would be like taking a person from a room with oxygen and putting him into a box with no oxygen.'

'A slow death !'

'Freshwater would leech out all the salt from its skin. Saltwater fish require the salinity to maintain balance of salt in their skin.'

That particular message seemed to explain perfectly as to why Gilbert's lips didn't taste salty anymore, providing that the info this person was giving was accurate. Though at the same time, everyone else's answers made it sound more like he should have died a long while ago. Then again, Gilbert really wasn't just a fish… Ludwig knew he was getting close, though. People's answers were getting longer and more detailed as he scrolled further down.

'The saltwater fish has a mechanism to maintain the water in its body and pump out the salt. When you put that fish in freshwater, with nearly no salt, water rushes into its cells and dilutes its electrolytes. The fish has no mechanism to get rid of the excess water so it most often dies of hyponatremia (very low sodium levels).'

Hyponatremia. That sounded like something that a human could get. And the explanation about saltwater fish sounded logical. If he looked up that term, he could probably find what he was looking for.

Ludwig went back to the homepage of the search engine and typed in 'hyponatremia'. It came up with plenty of results from medical websites. He clicked on the result below the encyclopedia result.

'Hyponatremia. Definition:

Hyponatremia is a condition in which your blood level of sodium is abnormally low.

Sodium, an electrolyte, helps regulate water levels in the fluid in and around your cells. In hyponatremia, one or more factors — ranging from an underlying medical condition to excessive water intake during endurance sports — cause sodium levels to drop. When this happens, your body's water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell. This swelling can cause many health problems, from mild to severe.'

The man knew he was getting somewhere now. He hated that he even had to look up these things, and wished that Gilbert was correct weeks ago when he said 'water is water, I'll be fine'. But at least now he could probably keep the merman from dying.

Set him free back into the ocean, where he belongs…

Ludwig shook the thought out of his head. He knew that he would have to send the merman back. There was no way that Ludwig could afford how much it would cost to treat the pool with special salt, and… he himself would have to go back home soon, too…

Ludwig reasoned it out, though. If he were to set Gilbert free now, he would die right away. He was currently too weak to survive on his own. And the man wasn't ready to say goodbye, either…

Ludwig took a sip of his lukewarm coffee to get rid of the lump feeling in his throat. He clicked on 'Symptoms' underneath the definition.

'Symptoms: Nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms or cramps, seizures, decreased consciousness or coma.'

That was it. All of the symptoms that Gilbert was going through fit into this perfectly. Although Ludwig wasn't experienced to know the difference between muscle spasms and shivering, the only things that didn't happen, or at least not yet, were seizures and coma. Those would probably happen if he didn't do anything to help Gilbert.

Being that he was a sort of cross between a fish and a human, if would make sense that he could contract Hyponatremia at a faster rate than humans. It was pretty much the perfect balance.

He exited out of the Internet browser. He knew that the cures listed in later pages would be hospital and/or medication-based, though he obviously couldn't do either of them.

But Ludwig had a few ideas to try on his own. That included an additional thing or two to add to his grocery shopping.

:::

((Quick afterword, you can find those posts that Germany was reading online. So I give reference/credit to the real people who answered those questions a long while ago.))