Ah, I've been planning this fic for a while but I never really got the chance to type it as I've been busy and stuff. Not to mention planning; I've been doing some planning both character wise as well as story line. Believe it or not, plotting a story centered on hospitals is a bit on the challenging side as you have to do a bit of research... or game watching and looking up terminology on Trauma Center wiki. Believe it or not, I choose to go with the latter since it's more fun!

...yeah. So don't expect real life accuracy. Game play accuracy, sure, but real life will be an entirely different matter.

...

Why are you looking at me like that for? Come on, how realistic do you think this game is? Healing touches, ability to see the dead, ability to hear the last words of the dead via cellphone... yeah, tell me how real life esque that is why don't ya?

Also, I'm not sure how many Hetalia fans are out there but if there are any among those who choose to read this, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm including Hetalia characters in this story, some of them Gender-flipped. In fact, I am using BlackRoseAuthoress' portrayal of them from Round and Round, with her permission of course. Yes, I have permission to use her characterizations of them from her. And for those who have no idea what I'm talking about... go and read her Pleasantville fics. They are AWESOME. Also, if you like what you read, review! They're too awesome for anyone NOT to review!

Heh, sounded like Gil right there, didn't I?

Okay, now I'm going ahead with my story. But first... the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Trauma Team, Trauma Center or any Atlus merchandise. I also do not own Hetalia or the teen characterizations of the Pleantville!Hetalia cast in this fic. The latter in fact belongs to the awesome authoress I mentioned above. I do own, however, Kristy and some other characters you don't recognize.


Prologue

Kristy had no idea how long she had been wandering the darkened streets of Portland, but she knew that it was past the curfew that had been set out for her by the orphanage.

No doubt she was going to be in trouble for breaking that particular rule again when she got back, but at the moment, she didn't care. She'd had so many clashes with authority and any rules in general ever since she was transferred to the city that her defiance towards anything and anyone was starting to become second nature to her. Any punishments given as deterrents for unacceptable behaviour didn't really work on Kristy anymore.

Once upon a time, getting in trouble would have made her cringe with horror and shame. Just being caught in the act of rule breaking itself was enough to act as a deterrence.

But not a lot of things mattered to Kristy these days, rules and guidelines included. Which was probably why she had picked a fight with three girls, despite the fact that fighting on school grounds was not permitted and was grounds for suspension. It was hard to care about anything when you felt empty inside with each and every passing day.

The last belt Kristy had ever earned in karate was brown, but she still struggled with fighting three opponents because said opponents, even if they were the type who went around putting down other girls for their own amusement (god, even if Kristy was well known for being an apathetic bitch to her peers, the words that they said to Lovina Vargas on a daily basis had made her absolutely sick to her stomach and made her eyes burn with rage) triple teamed her and used their advantage in numbers against her.

Kristy would have still been able to beat the shit out of them despite being outnumbered but the loud, extroverted 'awesome' Gillian Beilschmidt joining the fight with her crimson eyes flashing evened things out and made the fight easier. Gillian may not have taken martial arts of any sort at any point in her life, the german girl was still athletic and had experience with just her fists if the fight she witnessed a month earlier between Gillian and another group of girls was anything to go by.

When Gillian joined in; the fight was in Kristy's favor again and the two of them were able to give the girls some bruises that would take a while to disappear. And they would have done more if their school's delinquent trio, consisting of Gillian's two former friends Antonio Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy and the third wheel of the group, Arthur freaking Kirkland, who Kristy despised more than anyone on the planet, including the girls she got into a fight with, hadn't shown up.

After their appearance, it basically went down like this:

Bonnefoy: Mademoiselles, are we fighting amongst ourselves?

Girls (aka the ones who Gillian and Kristy were fighting): *Suddenly start playing with their hair and making themselves seem more decent than they actually were (ha, fucking bimbos)*

Then the asshole (the alternative and much more ruder nickname for them) trio charmed the bimbos into going over to Bonnefoy's big mansion with them because that was where the latest party was going to be held (like all parties he, Carriedo and Kirkland participated in). It wasn't too hard to guess what Bonnefoy's invitation implied; Kristy may not have given a damn about social life and whatever the hell this generation's teenagers thought was 'IN', but that didn't stop rumours from reaching her ears and peaking her interest.

What Kristy heard through the grape vine was... interesting. It certainly made the delinquents at her old school look cute in comparison.

Bonnefoy was well known for being charming, promiscuous, and bi (he wasn't picky about the gender of the person he spent the night with). And what was the likely answer to a promiscuous person inviting someone over to their house?

If you guessed sex, then you were right.

Ah... but that wasn't the entire truth. First, there would be the consuming of alcohol until they were lushed in some way or another and then sex. Especially during nights Bonnefoy was having a neighbourhood wrecking party.

The top things of stupidity that teenagers could ever engage themselves into all in one package. Wonderful.

After the six people who Kristy wanted to shove onto the paths of moving cars were out of their view, Gillian stormed off in fury before Kristy had the chance to say anything to her; something along the lines of how Carriedo and Bonneyfoy were idiots and she how she could do better.

No doubt, as Kristy watched the other girl walking away as if she couldn't get far away from the area fast enough, Gillian was upset by Carriedo and Bonnefoy's appearance.

After Gillian stomped off, Kristy remained in place and wondered what she should do. Should she wander the streets until it was dark or should she just go back to the orphanage and make it in time for curfew? It hadn't been Kristy's mind that made the decision for her because as when she was lost in her thoughts, her legs started moving on their own in the opposite direction of where the orphanage was.

So now she was wandering around at night in a quiet neighbourhood; the perfect setting for someone to mug or extort you. The delinquent trio tried the latter stunt on her once (read: Kirkland). The result was Kristy not taking to kindly to being forced to do anything just because they demanded it, name calling, a reddened cheek from Kirkland punching her across the face because she didn't take his crap and insulted him right back after he opened that mouth of his and a bloody nose from Kristy punching Kirkland smack in the middle of his ugly face.

As Kristy was about to turn on her heel to go back to the orphanage and get herself yelled at, a strong familiar stench hit her nostrils and made her stop. Something she never wanted to smell again for as long as she lived.

She could deny what the stench was all she wanted, but she could never doubt it.

It was smoke.

And where there was smoke...

...there was fire.

Kristy's heart rate sped up and her eyes scanned the neighbourhood to try and detect the source of the smoke. That black, suffocating-

It was across the street and three houses down from where she was standing. The unholy orange glow that stood out in the darkness alerted her as to where the smoke was coming from. She was frozen in place as she watched that unnatural, wrong, glow get bigger and bigger bit by bit.

All Kristy could do was stare at the glow in numb horror as her mind flashed back to that day. That day where everything that mattered to her had vanished within hours. Her life as she knew it had been consumed by flames. Those red, angry monstrous flames.

At that time, and even now, she still wished she had died that night.

She was snapped out of her daze when a dog started barking somewhere in the distance, no doubt having caught the smell of the smoke as well. It was the barking that spurred Kristy's legs into moving towards the house that was feeding the flames of the most dangerous element of nature in the world.

Naturally, the front door was locked. But Kristy could easily remedy that as the house happened to have one of those fancy doors with big glass panels embedded into them that allowed you to see what was going on inside; not exactly the best thing to have if you valued privacy, but perfect for her since she was planning on breaking and entering.

Grabbing a flower pot that happened to be lying innocently on the house's porch, Kristy smashed it into the lowest right corner glass pane, breaking both the pane and the lower pot. Instantly dropping the pot's shattered remains, she reached in and undid the door's locks. She pushed the door open, but immediately had to turn away to avoid getting a face full of smoke.

Kristy of all people knew the exact effects of inhaling smoke by now. She already had enough experience to last her a life time and more.

Squatting down, she pushed the door open further and crawled into the house on her knees as close to the ground as possible. She brought up her sweatshirt to her mouth to ward off some of the effects of smoke inhalation, but it didn't do much. Turning into an open door way, she spotted an unmoving figure lying on the living room. She moved to where the figure was and saw that it was a woman.

Kristy frowned as she quickly looked over; for some reason, there was blood staining the woman's neck and hair. But she didn't have time to dwell on that at the moment; the house was on fire after all.

Wrapping an arm around the woman, Kristy supported her as she walked towards the door she had come through. Kristy nearly stumbled down the steps due to the woman's weight, but was able to maintain her balance as she made her way to the side walk where people were beginning to gather and dump her into the arms of a man who could support the unconscious woman better than she could.

"U-uh?" The woman started regaining consciousness, her gaze unfocused and the expression on her face showing confusion.

"Hannah, this girl just saved your life!" The man who Kristy dumped her on exclaimed. "She pulled you out of your burning house!"

"My... house... is on fire?" The woman muttered, looking as if she couldn't quite believe him.

"It is." The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hannah. The only thing we can do is hope that the fire fighters can get here on time and make sure that the fire doesn't spread to the other houses."

The woman still looked confused, but her head snapped up and her eyes were suddenly wild with fear.

"Jason!" She shouted. "Where's Jason? Where's my baby?"

"Hannah- she was only able to rescue you. I'm sorry-"

"My baby! Let me get my baby!"

As the man prevented the distressed mother from running into the burning house to try and get her son, Kristy was already running back inside, ignoring the yells and shouts of alarm from the crowd of neighbours.

xxxx

Running back into a burning house or building or whatever the hell else could be set on fire was incredibly stupid, but that's exactly what Kristy did anyways. The woman's words of how her son was still inside had pumped adrenaline into her veins again; hopefully it was enough to get her and the kid out of the house before the flames consumed them, bones and all.

As soon as she was inside again, Kristy heard a distinctive wail that could only belong to a child. A very young one at that.

It also happened to be coming from upstairs.

Pulling up her sweatshirt again to cover her mouth and nose again, she raced up the stairs to where the terrified the cries of the woman's child was coming from. Once she reached the top, she kept low on the ground to keep the effects of smoke inhalation to a low. She wouldn't be much use to a kid lying on the ground unconscious, after all.

Kristy strained her senses to try and determine where the boy's wails were coming from. Since the crying was louder on the left, Kristy made her way towards that direction. There was only one room, so it wasn't hard to figure out what room Jason was in.

When she made it to the door, she touched the door with the back of her hand. The door didn't feel hot, so she turned the knob of the door and entered the room.

Sitting up on his bed and looking terrified was a boy with dark blond hair. His eyes widened when Kristy came in and he inched back in his bed, looking even more scared.

"Where's my mommy?" He said in a small, scared voice.

"Outside." Kristy crossed the room swiftly, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that the door wouldn't suddenly be lit aflame with them in the room. "She's outside and that's where we're going too."

"M-mommy doesn't like me talking to strangers." The boy stuttered.

"Well if you don't come with me, we'll both be dead. Mommy, I'm sure, will be very said if you're dead."

Jason's eyes widened even more and then watered. "I- I don't want mommy to be sad. She's always crying ever since daddy left."

Kristy had barely heard the boy's words as she saw something brush against the window outside. Quickly, she opened the window and saw that it had been a branch that had brushed the pane. Looking further down, she saw numerous other branches below... perfect for descending to the ground. It was risky, but it was between that and going back downstairs where the front door was probably no longer accessible.

Just as the thought of being able to use the tree crossed her mind, it was quickly dashed by the fact that she would also have to be carrying Jason. And she highly doubted he'd be able to hold on to her the entire time it took to get the both of them on to safe ground.

Kristy's eyes scanned the room, hoping an idea of any sort would hit her at that moment. The only thing that came to her frantic mind was a baby carrier or a sling, but Jason looked about four so she highly doubted that there was going to be one lying around in his room. Unless she could suddenly whip something up in place of-

-that was it.

Kristy could make a sling. How many times had she seen her aunts in the Philippines make one out of a simple blanket to carry their sleeping children because they couldn't afford the ones western people used? How many times had she been forced to carry her... younger sister this way when she was still a baby?

Ignoring Jason's yelp as she suddenly started ripping the sheets off his bed, she quickly found the perfect blanket that could be used as a sling.

"Get on my back!" Kristy ordered, bending down onto her knees to allow him to climb on.

As if sensing that saying 'no' in their situation wasn't an option, the boy did as Kristy ordered immediately.

Kristy took the blanket and wrapped it around Jason, making sure he was secure as she tied the ends of the sheet of the make-shift sling tightly at her front. Standing up and testing the sling to make sure that the boy wouldn't suddenly fall out as she pulled off her risky operation plan, she started climbing over the window. Gripping the branch, Kristy inched along it towards the trunk where she would then drop onto the branch below her and then start scaling the trunk towards the next one.

Kristy could vaguely hear sirens in the background as she and Jason slowly made their way down the tree. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to let go of the branch she was holding onto once she was sure that the fall of her drop wouldn't kill her. She could have gone the safer way and climb down to a lower branch, but that was time consuming and she wasn't sure how long it would have taken for the fire to consume Jason's room and then the tree.

"Oof!" Kristy stumbled as her feet made contact with the ground. She flailed before making herself fall forward instead of her back to prevent herself from crushing Jason.

Knowing that she couldn't afford to rest, Kristy got back onto her feet and made her way to the back gate and into the back alley (going around the house may have been faster, but with the whole place on fire that was just asking to get set on fire).

"Heh." Kristy's smiled grimly as she walked down the darkened alley. "I was able to make it... out alive. I don't know if I'm lucky... or unlucky."

xxxx

Slowly opening her eyes, Kristy found her head pounding in agony and the room spinning. It took a few minutes, but the room finally stopped spinning in place and her mind became lucid enough to start piercing thoughts together.

Kristy stared up at a white ceiling, a bright and white light shining down on her. Wherever she was, it was definitely not at the orphanage. Hearing beeping coming from her left, she turned her head to see a monitor. The kind you didn't see unless you were in a...

'...hospital.' Kristy frowned, wanting to smash the device into pieces. What in the world was she doing in a hospital? Last she remembered was handing Jason over to his mother...

As she looked around, she realized that she was definitely in a hospital. The white emptiness, the smell of disinfectants, just the overall feeling and appearance were enough to tell her where she was.

"Oh, good! You're awake!" While she had been trying to figure out how she got from the scene of watching a tearful reunion between mother and child to lying unconscious on a hospital bed, a nurse had come in, presumably to check up on her.

"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked, coming closer to where Kristy was.

Well since her head felt as if was about to explode...

"Like shit." Was Kristy's prompt answer. "Where am I?"

The nurse, instead of looking offended by Kristy's language, chuckled softly.

"Of course. That's to be expected, and as to answer your question, you're at Resurgam First Care." The nurse's expression became stern. "Do you mind telling me what in the world you were thinking when you ran into a burning building? Twice?"

Kristy turned her head to the side to stare at the nurse who was attending to her at the moment blankly.

The nurse (Lacie, according to the name tag) was a pretty woman somewhere in her twenties with long reddish-blonde hair (strawberry blonde?) and hazel eyes. She was wearing a light pink top and a pink skirt that was a shade darker. Underneath the pink top, she wore a white dress-shirt with a red tie.

Kristy blinked at the woman several times, slowly digesting the question that she had just been asked before turning to stare up at the ceiling.

Her mind flew back to that day. That horrific day that changed everything was burned into her mind. Every. Single. Detail. She remembered all of it and she knew would keep on remembering, even if she was on the fringes of her life, dying a slow death.

"...I don't know." Kristy finally said, her eyes dull and her voice of hollow. "Maybe... maybe it's because I wanted... I thought..."

'...I thought I could atone for not being able to save my own family...'


Oh my god, I am finally finished! This took me a grand total of two days, a record for me with this length. Just so you know, I worked my butt off on this so you better damned appreciate it! Kristy would probably be the protagonist of the story, but there are plenty of main characters in this story. Though I'll try to limit how many POVs this will take place from.

In case you haven't realized it yet, Kristy is not mentally sound. So don't expect her to be rational a lot of time; she'll have frequent bursts of anger and all the other fun stuff.

Also, don't worry, the main characters of Trauma Team will soon make an appearance in later chapters, so no need to worry!

Don't forget to review!