Chapter One.
Love can hit you like a car crash. You never see it coming.
I sure as hell didn't see that car coming.
I woke up in the Konoha Cottage Hospital being told I was in critical condition. A car ran a red light, on the wrong side of the road nonetheless, and collided head on into me. The fire fighters had to rip apart my door to get me out of the car. The other driver wasn't in as bad as the situation as I am, so the other driver was in a different hospital.
The doctor, a tan man with acidic green eyes, told me everything will be fine, and I'll wake up within the next 72 hours of surgery. He put a mask over my mouth and nose, and I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
How did this even happen? It was a nice and sunny day- the perfect day for ice cream. I just got accepted into college, my best friend was getting married, I dumped my douchebag of an ex, I was listening to Evanescence, and I had strawberry cheesecake ice cream on a cone. I was so content, and then the next thing I know, I'm being rushed into surgery. Well, I guess you can say I'm accident prone. I always manage to get hurt somehow, but this is to the extreme of accident prone.
I also remember falling out of the sky. It was sort of like soaring through the sky, but I felt like I was falling. The birds were flying next me and didn't seem to mind me being there at all. A crow flew in front of my face and I jolted awake.
"What the hell..." I gasped. Everything was blurry and there was a high pitched ringing in my ears. I saw a lot of white and I didn't know where to look. My eyesight was adjusting to the bright lights and there was a curtain surrounding me. I was in a bed, but it wasn't mine. There were bandages and stitches on my left arm, and my whole body started to ache. There was gauze wrapped around my head and my neck.
I remembered bits and pieces about the other day, and now I'm in here. The curtains drew back and a tan man in a white lab coat appeared from behind them.
"Ah, you're awake," he said in a deep voice. "I heard you stirring around."
He walked over to my bed and looked me in the eyes. "You're in shock. I'll go get you some medicine."
The man left after that. Some people walked by in the hallway. A nurse was pushing an old guy in a wheelchair. I looked up and there was a TV hanging from the ceiling. He came back again with a pill and a cup of water.
"Take this. It'll help with your shock. If you're in pain I can give you medicine for that too," he held out both items to me.
It was a struggle to sit up in the bed, so I just took the pill lying down. He pulled up a chair and sat next to me.
"Do you know where you are?" he asked.
"The hospital," I replied. Wow, it was a little difficult to talk. It came out a little wheezy.
"Do you know what day it is?" he asked.
I drew a blank. "The next day after I got in a car crash?"
"It has been four days since the incident," he said. "You were in surgery for about two and a half days. You sure are a fighter too. With those injuries, you should have died."
Four days? "How... I have a dog at home!" I winced at the pain in my side.
"The Konoha Anbu Police took care of that. Your friend has been taking care of your pet," he leaned forward in his seat. "You were unconscious when I told you my name. I'm Kakuzu Sutetchi," Kakuzu said.
"I'm... uh, Mika Koga," that was close, I almost forgot my name. I looked at his tan face. "Did you save me?"
He nodded. "Yes. The other doctors weren't sure if you would pull through, but in the end here you are."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Sutetchi," I said. I felt so grateful to him. And then there was the pain in my side.
"I'll get you some pain medicine. Visiting hours will be open shortly, so your friend should be coming soon. She wanted to stay the night here, but since she isn't family she couldn't," Kakuzu said before leaving.
I tried sitting up again after he left, and I only got up by a few centimeters. How long would it be before I got my strength back. I lifted up the hospital attire I was forced to wear and found stitches on my stomach. I had so many stitches.
"Mika!"
My best friend ran over in a blur and hugged me tightly, making the soreness worse.
"Mika, how are you feeling? I went to your house because your phone was off, and the police were there and they told me everything! The doctors wouldn't let me sleep by your side, but I'm sooo glad your're awake now!"
Tenten was almost in tears when she saw the stitches on my arm and the gauze. "That stupid driver! Where'd he learn to drive anyway?" she put her hands on her hips.
"Oh, Tenten, it's so good to see you," I said, rubbing my neck. Kakuzu came back in with another pill.
"This pill will take away your pain. Do you think you can sit up this time?" he handed the pill to me.
Tenten helped me sit up. The pill went down my throat, and I was kind of relieved. What if I died?
"How's Pocky?" I asked Tenten. I hoped my dog wasn't too depressed without me.
"He's fine. He keeps looking at the front door though. I think he misses you," she said.
"I miss him too," I looked at Kakuzu,"When can I go home?"
"Possibly tomorrow morning if everything is alright. You should regain some strength today, but if you can't walk or go to the bathroom by yourself, then you'll have to stay here longer," Kakuzu said. When he saw my hopeless expression, he continued, "Don't worry. This staff is the best in Konoha."
Kakuzu left to give Tenten and me some time to catch up.
My car is completely thrashed, but Tenten's mom said she'll give me her old truck since she just got a new car. My ex boyfriend went to my apartment to talk to me about our breakup, but Tenten threw him out with the help of her fiance Neji. All of his thing are out of my apartment, and hopefully out of my life.
Tenten's been working all night, and then came here to visit me for as long as the visiting hours lasted, and only get a few hours of sleep all this time I've been in the hospital. I felt really bad.
"Don't worry about it," she said. "You're getting better and that's all that matters."
The nurse came in with a tray of food. "It's breakfast time," she smiled.
Did I not eat anything while I was out?
"How is it?" Tenten asked.
"Not the best, but it's food," I said in between bites.
"When you get out we can go get some real food," she said. Oh, real food. My mouth watered just at the thought of it.
Before we knew it, Tenten had to leave. Sakura was my physical therapist. She helped me walk around the hospital and took my outside to watch the sunset. It felt like a chore just to move my legs. All those years of jogging at night and going to the gym on a regular basis didn't seem to be helping me at all in this situation.
It was like this for the next couple of days. Tenten would visit, I'd eat the not-so-good-only-looks-good food, and Sakura would help me for a few hours each night regaining my strength.
Kakuzu said I was free to leave.
"You are to not do any physical activities for two months," he told me while he filled out paper work.
My hear sank. "But... I go on jogs with my dog. Tenten and I go to the gym."
"Not for two months you're not. Those wounds could open up, and you could go into a worse condition than you were before. You're not aloud to drive for four weeks either," he added.
He was killing me.
"Seeing as you're fit, eating habits shouldn't be a problem for you. Also, no drinking alcohol for four weeks. Not sure if you do, but just to make sure," he gave me the paperwork to sign some spots.
"It's fine, Mika," Tenten said, "I don't mind driving you around."
"Don't you mean me?" Neji said. "I drive most of the time."
Tenten laughed. "Oh, right! Which reminds me, do you mind driving us to eat out?"
Neji had his usual straight face on and shook his head.
"Thanks, honey!" Tenten said as she hugged her fiance.
"Be careful, Mika," Kakuzu warned. "I'm making you an appointment to come see me again in two weeks." He gave me the notice.
I slightly bowed to him. "Thanks, Mr. Sutetchi!"
The three of us left the hospital to eat at Wendy's. Looking out the window and feeling the nice breeze felt different than it was before I ended up in the hospital. Life seemed sweeter in way.
I was having severe writer's block while writing this first chapter. I wanted it to be a long introduction into the story, but I felt like I dragged on the hospital scene for too long. Well, I hope this chapter wasn't boring. Let me know in a review :)