"Help me," the girl looked around at the stark white walls and stainless steel doors on the wall. She moved over to a table and pulled back the sheet. Gazing down on the face of the body that lay there, she put her head in her hands and sobbed. She fell to her knees and cried hysterically as a pained whisper escaped her, "Why did I have to die?"
Ayako opened the door to her office. She found Lin and Naru sitting in two chairs facing her ultra modern desk. The rest of the room was full of sophisticated décor. The walls covered in a purple so bright it was almost day-glow in color. The sun blazed through the window at the height of its arc playfully dazzling the earth with its tendrils of light. She sat down in her chair and crossed her legs.
"Mai's in recovery and she'll be moved to her room once she wakes. As her doctor, I want the best in care for her as I'm sure you do."
"Yes Miss Matsuzaki," Naru agreed.
"I'll get down to the brass tacks. I'm going to keep her here for at least a week. The blood loss alone was bad, but she was going into shock when she was brought in. I also want to rule out the possibility of any secondary infections." Ayako absently ran a nail file over her pristine manicured nails.
"Miss Matsuzaki, I pay Mai to work and I need her on the job."
Ayako gently put her nail file down and glared at the teen genius with a cold fury that almost matched his. This was her domain. Here she was the queen of her castle. She refused to let a teenage upstart tell her how to manage her patients. "I am her doctor, Naru." She slammed her fist on the desk to punctuate her statement. "I will not clear her for duty, even filing for a week. She needs rest.
"Although most of the wounds were not deep several were. Her left shoulder, two in her abdomen and one in her chest was just above the heart. Those are the ones most likely to develop an infection, and if that happens she may not get out of here for the next month, do I make myself clear." She smiled sweetly however her eyes did not show any mirth.
"One other thing I should mention. I had Jessica Manyhorses taken to Mai's room. I thought you might want to ask her some questions. Also, I received a phone call from an Officer Watanabe. He intends to talk to Mai about her attack."
Naru nodded. "I will call this policeman and let him know that she is not in any condition to speak to him." He was trying desperately to keep his feelings under control. He didn't want to announce to the good doctor that he and Mai were together. He inwardly sighed. He knew if he did tell her, then everyone in SPR would know that he and Mai were living together, boyfriend, and girlfriend by the end of the day. He didn't see a way out of it. "Since Mai is hospitalized at the moment, I would appreciate it if you would call the others and tell them to meet me at the office tomorrow. I have an announcement to make."
"No problem Naru." An evil gleam flashed in Ayako's eyes as she gazed appraisingly at him. "Don't tell me you asked her to marry you?"
Naru almost looked uncomfortable under her stare. "No, but it is of vital importance." His bland expression was locked into place.
She noticed Lin glance over at his charge with a slightly amused expression on his face. Suddenly he coughed. "Excuse me."
Naru shot Lin a frosty stare.
Ayako pulled a piece of paper out of a cube on her desk and wrote down some instructions and a room number. "Give this to the nurses' station. It gives you and Lin permission to stay in Mai's room. If anyone suggests otherwise, tell them a certain redhead will make their life miserable."
Both Naru and Lin rose from their seats and bowed to the doctor. "I should apologize, Miss Matsuzaki."
Ayako laughed a real laugh this time. "Everything's fine Naru."
The two stoic men walked out of the office, their footsteps echoed across the tiled floor.
The girl wondered the stark white halls, depression building. Why, did I have to die?
As Mai opened her eyes, bright white light glared back as she groaned and blinked several times. The sound of beeping from a monitor and the rustle of a blanket met her ears. She glanced around to see where she was looking up at the lights that glowed in their languid incandescent boredom.
Mai heard a female voice near her but couldn't make out the words. Her brain was still in a drug-induced fog. The fuzzy feeling in her head added to the dizziness she felt. Images began to flash through her mind of her, three other girls walking in a green area, her being pulled down, and her hitting her head on the ground, the glint of something metallic as it pierced her skin in her shoulder. She raised her hand and reached up rubbing her forehead. She groaned again as the movement brought a flash of pain. That's right Leiko went nuts.
Mai continued to blink fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. A black blob came into her vision. Her breath caught in her throat as the figure looking down on her slowly cleared and she found Naru looking down on her. "Naru…" she smiled weakly at the man she loved.
"Mai," his long fingers took her hand in his. "I should never have allowed you to go to Keiko's."
"I'm sorry Naru," tears began to leak their way out of the corners of her eyes. Mai stared deeply into his eyes she could see that she the worry, pain, and fear, but also the love that he showed to her alone. "I'm sorry I made you worry."
"That doesn't matter now," he bent over pressing his lips to her forehead. "Rest for now. I'll still be here when you wake up again."
Her eyes began closing on their own as she drifted off to sleep a peaceful smile crossed her features and Mai whispered, "I love you Naru."
Jessica sighed into her cell phone. "I'm so sorry I can't be there, Ryosuke." She listened to the man's voice over her phone. "No, I'm in The Matsuzaki Hospital in Tokyo."
She listened again. "No… No, you don't need to come here," she sighed. Oh, crap how do I get myself into these messes? She sighed again, "Fine, I'm in room 325, but if Keisuke comes with you, he better not hit on my roommate.
"Fine, see you when you get here." She disconnected the phone. Why does he have to be so stubborn? She glanced over at Naru and thought about her friends the Takahashi brothers. Ryosuke was cool, calm, calculated but at least, he showed emotion more than the ice cube sitting across the room giving her a weird look.
Keisuke, on the other hand, was calculated in his own way. However, the man had a temper, and she was glad that she'd made a friend out of him than an enemy.
She heard movement and rolled over to find Naru was now sitting in a chair between her and Mai and he wore a thoughtful look as he glanced at her.
"Let's talk about your powers, Jessica. I'm intrigued as to what you did to help save Mai's life."
"Like I said earlier, I was partially trained by my grandfather. He said he saw something in me that others couldn't. While others on the rez would sneer and make snide comments about me being a half-blood and a disgrace to my race, grandfather embraced it. He said what the others were missing was the fact that I came from two different heritages and I could embrace both and still be a whole person."
Jessica fingered a small bag that hung on a chain around her neck. It made her feel close to her grandfather. She looked Naru in the eyes. "I sometimes feel the feelings of spirits who are around, and I have learned how to do blessings that will drive the negative feelings out and replace them with positive emotions."
He nodded, "So in a roundabout way you are a spiritualist."
"I guess you can call me that."
It finally struck Lin like a brick in a hurricane. "Your healing power is similar to the healing power of Qigong."
Naru swung his head around to face Lin. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, I am," Lin replied with a quick nod.
"Why were you so weak after using your healing power?"
Jessica let out a peal of quick, high-pitched laughter. "To tell you the truth, it was my first time using it." She noticed something odd. Neither Naru nor Lin spoke instead, they seemed to have a telepathic connection and knew what the other was thinking. "Uh… Guys, can you talk to me because you two are starting to give me the creeps."
Naru smirked in her direction. His mask slid over his features. "Lin will provide you with a training schedule. Follow it to the letter and your stamina will increase."
A knock was heard on the doorframe and a police officer stood there looking at the four people in the room. He recognized Jessica. "Excuse me, but I'm Officer Watanabe." He entered the room without permission.
Pulling out his notepad, he went over witness statements again. "Miss Manyhorses, now I would like you to answer a question for me. You said at the scene that Miss Taniyama had identified her attackers."
"Yes, I did."
"Would you mind telling me their names?"
"She said they were Midori, Azarni, and Leiko."
The temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Naru allowed his anger to show on his face. The three girls Mai said who bullied her at school.
Mai's eyes instantly flashed open, she had felt this before when he lost control and nearly lost his life taking on a god. The monitor's beeping raced wildly with the increase of her heartbeat. "Naru," she screamed and her eyes frantically searched the room for him. No, he can't lose control again. I won't let him.
Instantly Naru was at her side concern replacing his angry outburst.
The beating of the monitor slowed as her breathing returned to normal. A smile spread across her features. She whispered, "Your safe," as her eyelids slid shut again. She felt him take her hand in his and she squeezed it slightly.
Naru turned to look at the officer. "I would appreciate if you would allow my girlfriend to rest."
Officer Watanabe glanced at Naru sympathetically. "I'd like to, but this is a case of attempted murder. The sooner we catch the suspects, the sooner they can be imprisoned."
A small voice entered the conversation. "It's okay, I'll answer his questions," Mai said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Naru, I'm sure."
Naru leaned over her and brushed his lips against hers. He stayed by her side holding her hand in his as he stood.
"Miss Taniyama, can you tell me what happened?"
"I was at my friend Keiko's house for a sleepover with Midori Umari, Azarni Murata, and Leiko Kataoka. They bullied Keiko and me at school, but two weeks ago they stopped and became friendly to Keiko.
"We watched some horror movies last night. Leiko made a comment about wanting me to introduce them to Naru, and Keiko told them that we were together." Mai began to tremble as the memories began to flood back in her mind. She felt the pressure from Naru's hand as if he was lending her his strength to continue. "We went to sleep after the movies were over. This morning they asked if I wanted to go to the park with them and I agreed."
Tears pricked the back of her eyes. "We walked into a more secluded area of the park and then the other two grabbed me and pulled me down on the ground and Leiko sat on me. She looked crazy and she had a knife, and then…" her strength began to falter and tears began to roll down her face.
"Thank you, Miss Taniyama." Officer Watanabe motioned with his head to Naru to follow him.
Naru bent down to Mai, "I'll be out in the hallway, but I'm not leaving your side."
Mai nodded as she allowed herself to cry. Lin nodded to Naru and he took a seat beside the wounded girl.
The two men stepped out into the hallway. "I didn't want to stress her any more than she obviously is. It could be Karma, but Leiko Kataoka was brought here over an hour ago. A car hit her when she ran out in front of it. The driver said he couldn't stop in time. She died of her injuries and her body is in the morgue."
Naru nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I'll tell Mai when she's feeling up to it."
You can say shock was the first thing that hit her as the girl who earlier that day was a living breathing Leiko stood in the hallway. "She's alive and I'm dead?"