Screaming, that's all he could remember. That's all he could hear; the screams. He could feel the vibration on his skin, taste the fear on his tongue, the scent of metal and salt filled his senses. He knew these screams, and he knew the scent of that blood. But every time he tried to pull himself out of the fog of noise and scent, he would fall back in. His long silver hair stained crimson red, fair skin covered in gashes. Looking down at his feet, he saw them...
The heads of his family.
...
Rin slowly drifted awake as the blaring music from her alarm cut through the silence of her small apartment. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she turned to bang down on the snooze button. It's harsh red light shined, telling her that is was five in the morning, and she had thirty minutes to get ready for her first day of work at her new job. Cursing silently to herself, she began her quick morning routine. A five minute shower(which included brushing her teeth), pulling her wild mane of raven colored hair into a bun, washing her face, microwaving a burrito, and applying a little makeup to tone down her tired appearance.
Pulling on her underwear, then her scrubs, filling her illusive cat's bowls with food and water, then stuffing the burrito into her mouth, and grabbing her keys, she was out the door with ten minutes to spare. "Well, here goes nothing," as she started her crappy car, eating a crappy burrito, thinking about getting crappy coffee. So far, because her constant morning pessimism, her day seemed to be pretty crappy. 'Maybe I should have chosen a career that would let me sleep in,' she thought grumpily to herself. Though she knew she wouldn't give up being a nurse for anything.
Ever since she was a child, she wanted to help people. She wanted to heal others, and to be there for those who didn't have anyone. Her career choice had been final since middle school, though she thought she would have to change it because of her size. By the time she was 16, she was only 5'4" and 127 lbs, and in the line of work she wanted to go in, she might have been too short and petite to make much of a difference. Luckily, she had a growth spurt, and now at her 24 years of age, she is 5'9", at 158 lbs. Sometimes she missed her small figure, but she appreciated her soft curves, so her insecurities took a back seat to her ambitions.
...
Rin did pick up some not so crappy coffee, and being in better spirits, she smiled at the large, old building. Pulling her car into an empty spot, her gaze went from the ancient asylum, to the other cars around her. Rin had no problem with dealing with people who were deemed unfit to live with others, but it was making friends with "normal" people that bothered her. Her mother had multiple personality disorder, and Rin herself was mildly bi-polar, though controlled it well. She was worried that her illness would effect her chances of getting this job, but since she had such a clean record, they didn't even bring it up with her. But she was still worried that others would judge her for something she can't get rid of. Sighing heavily to dismiss the sad thoughts, and stepping out of her car, she walked into the giant building.
The entrance hall was fairly empty, save for the clerks desk, and the young man behind it taking a call. He gave her a small wave and distracted smile, before directing her with a pointed finger to the employees only door. Rin had toured The Asylum before she had been hired, so she knew where to go. Turning right into the door that lead to the employee area, she walked right into her boss.
"Ms. Sango!", Rin gasped as she collided with the shorter woman, almost spilling her hot coffee all over the both of them, "I'm so sorry!" The older, brunette woman chuckled.
"Please, call me Sango." She eyed her playfully, "'Ms.' makes me feel much too old." Rin let out a small, nervous laugh. "Well, you're here nice and early, that's a great thing to see in someone so young." The older woman's eyes wandered to the young man behind the desk, giving him an affectionate smile. "I see you've met my younger brother, Kohaku." Rin's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, "If you ever need me, and you can't find me, just go to him." Turning around, Sango began to walk down the hall, leaving a slightly flustered Rin to follow. "So, what do you think of the building,"
Rin gulped slightly, she wasn't expecting her boss to be curious about her thoughts, "It's um, very old looking," Rin let out a small cry of dismay as Sango completely stopped, and spun around with a smile on her face.
"Yes! Very old!" She said cheerfully, "The Asylum is the oldest mental hospital in Japan!" As she began to walk down the hallway again, she explained the history of the building, and the impact it has had on Japan. 'She really loves this old place,' Rin thought with a small smile. Then she realized that Sango was talking to her, rather than at her, and she asked her to repeat what she had been saying.
"I said," She tutted Rin's wandering mind, "I already have an assignment for you," They had reached the employee lounge, and Rin saw that it was completely empty.
"Where is everyone," She asked. Sango simply chuckled.
"I told you that you were early."
...
Rin sat in shocked silence at hearing what her first assignment would be. She had expected to have a patient on her first day, but not such an extreme patient. "So, what did they assign him here, instead of jail?" My voice cracked, and Sango didn't blame me for being worried.
"His lawyer claimed him to be insane, and the medical evaluators deemed that to be correct." She sighed heavily, "It doesn't help that he's a wealthy lord whose family is one of the oldest in Japan. They paid for him to come here, knowing that he had a relative that works here." Rin stifled a worried whimper, she had just met the mentioned brother, and he was not too happy that she was the one to care for his brother. In fact, she swore Inuyasha was going to punch her in the nose.
"I don't want to seem like I'm complaining, but why choose me?" She asked, "This is my first day working here. I just got out of school. My experience is all theory, not actual practice." Sango's usual cheerful demeanor went very serious, and Rin was worried that she had lost her chance of working here.
"Because there is something about you that I like," She said, leaving it at that. If she liked Rin so much, why was she assigning the young girl with a man who murdered his own family? Why not someone her own age, or an elderly who couldn't care for themselves. Rin's eyes went back to the file she had been handed.
"6'4", 230 pounds." She allowed herself to release a shaky sigh, "Big boy, ain't he?" Sango chuckled at the idea of it. She wouldn't tell Rin that one of the other reasons that she choose her to take care of Sesshomaru was her black belt in many Martial Arts styles, and the fact that she was the tallest woman that worked there. She knew that if she had assigned a man to him, all hell would brake loose. "If he's Japanese, why does he have platinum blond hair, and hazel eyes?" Rin asked curiously, though she couldn't judge, she had hazel eyes, but her father was European, and Sesshomaru was from the oldest family in Japan.
"Past inbreeding, I suppose," She said casually, "Royalty believed in keeping the blood line pure by 'keeping it' in the family." She gave Rin a withering gaze, that caused her to giggle slightly. "He should be arriving very shortly, and when he does," She paused dramatically, "Expect one hell of a first day."
...
Sango wasn't kidding, the file had told her of his size, but this man was huge. Huge, angry, and so strikingly handsome, that Rin wasn't sure if he were the patient. It took eight of the largest male attendants to hold him down, and force him into the room where he would be staying. He had been growling, lashing out to bite, and since he was restrained by a straight jacket, headbutting any unlucky man that came too close. Rin thought she was going to have a panic attack. How in the world would she be able to control that machine of a man.
The answer came to her as quickly as the question left; she wasn't there to control him, she was there to help him. She was here to help others, and she would not discriminate against any patient. Sure, he was a murderer, but he was still a man in pain. The guilt of killing his family had caused him to try multiple times to take his life. Rin made the decision then and there that she was here to help him heal. She would let him know that she was there for him, not there to judge, or persecute him.
As she walked into the room, she told the male attendants to leave. They looked at her as if she was crazy, but left, closing the door behind them. The large lord glared at her, not wanting to believe that she was real. But she walked up to him, placed a gentle hand onto his sweaty forehead, then wrote down some notes onto the papers she had neatly clipped together. Gesturing him to take a seat in front of her, she sat waiting for him to follow. As he did, he studied the woman's face. Bright hazel eyes were the first thing he noticed, then the thick lashes around them, the nicely shaped brows, the shocking black hair that she had tied into a messy bun, the small nose, and full lips.
Her features were exotic, though he saw some Japanese in her. He was disgusted at the idea of other races mixing with Japanese, tainting their blood, causing their numbers to dwindled. Though, he saw nothing but kindness, and open gentleness in the face of the girl in front of him. And that pissed him off more than he actually was. He knew that she could not read his features, though his open display of rage earlier most likely gave her an idea of how he was feeling at the moment.
"So why is a mixed blood nurse attending to me, rather than an actual doctor." His eyes narrowed as she didn't answer his question, but instead wrote something onto her clipboard. "What are you writing," he wasn't expecting an answer.
The way she had flicked her eyes up to meet his own caused him to feel unsteady. "I was just writing down that you're a racist asshole," She smiled sweetly, and he let out a hearty 'HA' at her words.
...
A/N Hope you like it! Please review~