Chapter Seven - Wait
Henrietta lay in her hospital bed, as Dr. Bianchi tended to her wounds. She had just came to, and now found herself laying there, still naked from the battle, as the man treated to her injured body.
The doctor looked right at the girl, seeing that she had awakened.
" This is a bad wound you got there..." He said, looking at the girl. " You took a good gun blast to the ribs here, yet they are not broken but cracked pretty good."
" Jose-san... Is he alright?" She said, as she was too week to sit up right then.
The man had a comforting expression on his face.
" He is in surgery right now, Henrietta..." The man explained. " All I can tell you is that he is hurt badly."
" Badly?" Echoed the girl, turning her head.
" One of the other Doctors are working on him, while I repair you." He explained better, seeing the girl was worried a little " He is in good hands, that I can promise you that much."
The girl suddenly tried to sit up, getting herself half up with one straining try. She could feel the heaviness in her body trying to stop her from getting up, but all she wanted to do was to get to Jose. Despite her injuries, something inside of her drove her to move.
The firm yet gentle hand of the Doctor stopped her from sitting up fully, and began to direct her back on to the bed.
" You have been hurt bad yourself." Warned the Doctor, pushing the girl back down with relative ease. " There is nothing you can do for him right now, other than let the other Doctor do his thing." He got the girl back down, and covered her up with a blanket. " You need some rest too. Your side was damaged, but thank goodness it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated it to be."
" But I..." Henrietta stammered, her whole body wanting to get to Jose, but her weakened state made that almost impossible.
The doctor gave a small smile.
" I know you want to be near your Instructor..." He said, remembering that the Fratellos were normally very overly protective of their Handlers. " He will be in surgery for awhile more.. After that, I will take you to see him later... but only if you get some serious rest."
Unable to move, and feeling a little more relived at hearing the Doctor's confidence, she nodded. He tucked her into the bed, after taking one last look at her bandaged side. He finished tucking the girl up after that.
" Sleep, little Fratello... your body need time to regenerate and get stronger." He suggested, poking a small syringe into her IV tube that hung over Henrietta. " These painkillers will help your with any pain your experiencing, and hopefully they also will help you get some sleep too."
" Please... make sure that Jose-san is alright for me?" She asked softly.
" I promise that I will..." Smiled the medical man. " Just got to sleep there, Henrietta."
The girl nodded that she understood the Doctor, but she was becoming more aware that her body slipping into sleep, even as the Doctor had suggested that she rested. The drugs were taking full effect, and very quickly too. She just let her self slip away into sleep, not being able to keep her eyes open any more.
Doctor Bianchi left the room, as he noticed the girl had slipped into a deep sleep almost instantly. He did not pause, and hustled his way out of the room.
Outside Henrietta's room, the Head man of the 2nd Division was waiting for the Doctor.
" Is she going to be better soon?" He asked.
" The gunshot did not fracture anything, but left a couple of cracked ribs that have shown up on the x-rays, and there was some synthetic muscle damage at the point of the bullet's entry. Happily I have to report, it is not as serious as I had thought." The Physician said. " Other than that, I expect she will recover rather rapidly."
The Head man nodded.
" That is good to hear, she is one of our best Fratellos." He commented with an flattened voice. " Now, About Jose? What is his status?"
The doctor looked a little more grim with the question that he was asked.
" It is bad, Sir..." He said. " He had a direct gunshot to the upper chest on the right. His lung collapsed and he had a large blood loss accompanying it." The Doctor laid out. " If he only had a artificial body like Henrietta's... it would have been better for him."
" But is he going to pull through?" The head man said louder, irritated with the long winded Doctor..
Doctor Bianchi looked right at the man, knowing that he was not telling the man straight forward enough.
" It is touch and go right at this time, sir." He admitted with a nodding of his head. " He should pull through it though, but I don't want to make that an absolute assurance, until he is out of surgery."
The head man just rubbed his chin, seemingly thinking on the man's diagnosis.
" Keep me posted on both of their conditions..." He said, adding with firmness. " I expect to be notified promptly, and your report to be on my desk tomorrow."
" Yes, Sir." Saluted the Doctor.
The head man walked off, and out of the small waiting room that had the one-way glass to look in on the now sleeping girl. The Doctor just turned to look at his little patient through the window. He stood for the longest time, watching the sleeping form.
At that exact moment, in one of the dorm room, Rico layed in her bed staring upwards, unable to sleep.
She looked over in the darkness, at the empty bed that was Henrietta's. She was not really close to the girl, yet the room seemed actually very empty without her there. She sat up and took a longer look at the bed.
The door to the room opened and Triela walked in, dressed in a long dark grey nightgown that covered her from neck to ankles. She looked right at the girl in the bed.
" Your awake?" She asked.
" Can't sleep." Replied the small girl.
" Any news about Henrietta?" Triela asked.
Rico looked at the girl that stood there in the darkness of the room, actually surprised that Triela was showing any concern towards Henrietta. The girl in the bed sat up completely in the bed to look directly at the blonde girl
" Jean-san said that she was being treated, and should recover quick." Answered the girl.
" And what about Henrietta's Jose-san?" Asked the girl, showing more concern once more.
The girl shook her head, as the blonde girl stood in the doorway.
" No... Jean-san never said." She replied, still finding it odd that the girl was actually asking things like this.
Triela just stood there for a moment, silently draped in the gloom. She then nodded her head to show she had heard Rico. She turned and left the room quickly, closing the door behind herself as she exited.
Rico just layed back again in her bed, and took one more long look at the empty bed in the room. She just snuffed, wondering about herself worrying like this about her roommate. She just rolled over and pulled the covers around herself, just wanting sleep to come.