When I opened my eyes, everything was white. It wasn't a blinding light or anything it was just the colour of the room. I was lying on a white bed in a room with white walls with white lights shining down.

"Am I dead?" I mutter to myself. I am a little groggy so not all my senses have recovered yet. I also can't feel my body. I don't know why but I am still too tired and groggy to panic.

"Well, I would certainly hope not! Took a lot to keep you in the land of the living!" a jolly voice answers. I start slightly at the loud voice. Usually, it would be enough to wake me up but, even though my senses do sharpen somewhat, my head is still swimming, and I feel so tired…

"Where am I then?" I whisper, my voice sounding hoarse even to my own ears. I wince slightly. My voice has never sounded like that before and it is sort of scary.

"Oh, you're at the hospital sweetie." I flinch again at her loud words and my brain slowly registers her answer. And when I say slowly I do mean slowly. It feels like my brain is floating in water. My senses are all dulled and even my voice doesn't sound right.

"Hospital?" I slur slowly, my eyes closing even as I speak. The bed is very comfortable, and I feel myself sinking into it.

"Yes, now get some rest. You need it to get better!" I nod my head slowly. Yes. Rest. That does sound like a very good idea. And before I even finished closing my eyes I was out like a light.

-0-0-0-

The next time I opened my eyes the room was completely dark. Everything was so much clearer this time around. My head was less groggy, and I could focus without my mind going back to thinking about falling asleep.

Now, where was I…? Oh, right yes. The hospital. I wonder how I got here. I don't usually have luck, but it seems I got lucky this time. I still don't know what injuries I got from the explosion. I had only done a bit of light reading on the subject in the past. My lungs may have been damaged from the ash but, since I was breathing unaided, I assumed that wasn't a big problem. What I was really concerned about was my leg. I still couldn't feel it properly. I knew it was there, but it was so numb.

Heart fluttering, I tore off the covers. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that my leg was still there. It would be quite hard trying to fend for myself with only one leg. But just because it wasn't amputated didn't mean there were no problems. It was completely covered in gauze and bandage. It felt so heavy. I wondered what it looked like under the bandage.

I sighed and lay back down. Even with such a small amount of time awake, I was still beat. When I lay my head on the pillow I could feel my eyes close. I didn't even bother fighting the sleep. I knew that would do more harm than good in the end. So, I just let the sleep come and the blackness surrounds me in its gentle embrace.

-0-0-0-

The next time I was awoken I was jostled awake. As soon as I opened my eyes I couldn't help the small groan that slipped past my lips. I was so numb and heavy, and it hurt. My brain was running too slowly to even try and function. All it knew was that something wasn't right.

"…awake." I heard snippets of voice, but they made no sense to me, my brain not even trying to formulate them into the sentences I'm sure they came out as.

"…should not be." I groaned again. It hurt. I didn't know where it hurt it just did. I wanted it to stop. Stop. Stop.

"give her more…" I couldn't help it as a small scream ripped out of my throat. It felt like a burning fire as it erupted out into loud noise. Why did it hurt? Stop. No, no please stop. Stop!

"quick get the…" I whimpered as my body was jostled around more. It hurt so much I didn't even notice a needle being stuck into my arm.

Then it was silent.

Then the chaos was gone.

Then it was sleep.

-0-0-0-

The next time after that I remember waking up I was not the only one in the room. As my eyes slowly opened I could see someone sitting on a chair looking at me. They had a clipboard in their hands and were furiously writing on it.

"Hello?" I tried to say, though it came out more like "hlo?". I must've caught her attention as she stood up suddenly staring at me. I stared back, my glazed eyes not even slightly comprehending what was going on.

"She's awake!" came a loud yell from the nurse. At least it sounded like a yell to me. It was probably little more than a whisper.

"Noise," I whispered, covering my ears. It hurt to hear something so loud. I'm not sure why it just did. The nurse hurries over to me kneeling beside the bed and looking at me with a concerned gaze.

"I'm sorry honey. Does the noise hurt?" she whispered. I whimpered pathetically in agreement. "Hang in there someone's on the way." She whispers comfortingly.

She's right because not a second later another nurse arrives in the room, trailing a huge machine behind her. She immediately jams something into my arm and once again I fall back into the realm of sleep.

-0-0-0-

When I next awakened I could finally think properly. It was relieving, if I'm honest, to have my brain back in commission. I didn't work very well without it.

The first thing I notice is an annoying beeping sound. It is constant, and I find myself becoming increasingly agitated by the infernal noise. I turn my head to try and find the source and see a huge machine. It has a bunch of lines spiking on it. I recognized it as a heart machine. But who was it connected to? I follow the wire down and see it connected to…

Me.

I start to panic, and the beeps increase. The fact I have a fucking heart machine of all things connected to me is extremely telling. If they were that worried I was going to die I must be more injured than I thought.

"Are you okay?" I slowly turn my head to the owner of the voice. Apparently, I was not the only one to hear the annoying beep machine as there is a nurse staring at me, a worried look on her face.

"M fine." I slur. I smile slightly at her and she looks relieved. She comes over to me and helps me sit up, which I'm thankful for because, as much as I love sleeping, there is such a thing as too much sleep.

"I'll leave you for a few minutes. I'm just going to get another nurse, okay?" I nod at her and she rushes out of the room. That's the thing with nurses. Always in a rush. Not that I'm surprised I mean sometimes a second is all it takes between someone surviving and dying.

For a couple minutes, I am left in silent just taking in the room. It is still as bland as when I first woke up. However, when I look to my side I see a card on the table. Slowly I reach a hand out and pick up the card, aware of how tense my muscles are. Squinting, I begin to read.

Hello,

I hope you get well soon. Do not worry about the cost. I have covered it. Just focus on recovering for now.

Love,

[blank]

I blink at the card re-reading it a couple of times. I don't even know who the lady/man is who sent the card. I needed to thank them but how would I do that if I didn't know who did it? I frowned in annoyance. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about the cost.

I quickly put down the card when two nurses enter the room. One is the same as before and the other is much older and looks much stricter. If I made a bet I would reckon that she was head nurse here, but I don't make bets.

I looked at the two of them in confusion and then the older one steps forward.

"Hello Cheree. It is good to see you up." I frown. How did she know my name? I would swear I didn't have a birth certificate, but it wasn't like I ever verified that fact. So instead I just respond with a simple nod.

"So far you have made an amazing recovery. I have never seen a non-ninja recover so fast." I smile. That's good maybe I'll be out soon. "However," my face falls once more, "Cheree it is not easy to tell you this, but it may be months before you can walk again."