A/N: Oh boy, trying to rush this before I head way out into Orlando. I hope I do well in this chapter.
"Oh God, what the hell just happened?"
Lu woke up from her slumber at about seven in the afternoon. Since summer was nearing, you could say that the day was still young. Gabriel came in quickly after Lu woke up.
"Hey, finally woke up."
"Can you clarify on what happened in the past couple of hours? My memory's really vivid on it."
Gabriel kind of put this to his advantage. Not exactly in a bad way, to say the least, but he had assumed Lu lost all memory of her attitude earlier.
"Oh, I was trying to diagnose you and you collapsed."
"What the fuck is there to diagnose? I thought you already said I had a lung tumor, you bastard!"
"You had Rosalia, remember? So I had to diagnose you for more tumors."
"Ffff… what're the results?"
"We're not quite sure yet, so far it looks like a brain tumor."
"You're just taking all this precious time so I can't work on my art, gotcha."
"What's wrong with you today? You passed out being a whore and now you're awake and acting like a bitch."
"What the hell do you mean I was passed out being a whore?"
Smooth, Gabe. Very smooth… He started to panic, realizing the mistake behind his words. There was no easy way to lie out of this one. The truth was really the most realistic conclusion he could come up with.
"Well, you were being really… Ahem, seductive."
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Uh, yeah you never really act this way. This isn't like you, Lu."
"Dr. Cunningham, the patient appears to have signs of memory loss."
RONI couldn't help but do what she was manufactured to do and state the obvious.
"Yeah, yeah, RONI, mark it down. Now, Lu, is there any more symptoms you think you can tell me?"
Lu randomly began to cry after Gabriel asked her the question. Gah, the brain sure is a fucked up place to have a tumor…if it messes you up this badly.
"What's wrong? Does something hurt?"
"N-No…i-it's just… Do you know…where the tumor is…? Left…o-or right side…of my brain?"
"I haven't been able to confirm it yet, why?"
"W-well… I-if it's on my…r-right side… I can't work anymore…"
"Hey, don't say that. Tumor locations have nothing to do with your job, we can fix-"
"You idiot! It has everything to do with it! The left side of the brain…holds all logic and education… The right side of the brain…is creativity… I'm an artist. If there's a tumor…in the right side of my brain… I won't be able to make another piece again! A-also…cosmetic surgery is my…p-primary field… That requires a lot of artistic ability…y-you know… If it's on the right side…my life… It'll all be ruined!"
"Lu, calm down, it won't completely destroy all of your creative abilities if there's a tumor located there. Even if that was the case, you'd be a genius. It'd be hard for you not to get a job."
"But I hate being smart! I'd rather be an idiot if that means I can still draw!"
Talk about a chick that's ridiculously passionate. These mood swings are kind of sickening.
"Ugh, RONI, remember to jot mood swings down too."
"Yes, Doctor. New symptom observed: Mood swings."
"Now, Lu, if you have any symptoms, can you tell them to me once you've calmed down?"
"O-of course, Doctor… Uhm…when I came over to this chair from the couch just now, it was really hard to walk. I kind of can't move my left arm at all. Hell, my whole left side has progressed to the point where it can't move. Ugh…see? I tried to raise my arm and leg and nothing came up. Also, I really have to pee…That's all I've got."
"Alright, nice to see you're cooperating."
"Well, why wouldn't I, Doctor?"
"It looks like we can narrow down our list of candidates enough to diagnose you now. I hope the kid can still operate on you while you're…remotely stable."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Sheesh, forget I said anything! I'll come back when I have results, stay put."
"Hell, you're just lucky I can't move my left side! I can throw a pretty mean left hook!"
'I seriously doubt that's even half a truth.' Gabriel thought to himself as he went into his office.
"Okay, RONI. You've got all the patient's symptoms?"
"Yes, Doctor. I've narrowed down the diagnosis candidates."
Well the diagnosis explained everything behind her behavior. She has a brain tumor in her frontal lobe. There's no doubt, this tumor is caused by Rosalia. But…the tumor location is really odd. The lungs are very common, but her brain? This is very rare indeed.
"So will I be okay? Can I still draw and paint? Will my art studio remain open?"
Lu was getting emotional and concerned about her artwork again. She had a hunch that Gabe was done with the diagnosis.
"Yeah, it's in the frontal lobe. You should be fine, but have some trouble moving after surgery."
"Oh, well I'll just hope for the best it's not my arms that'll have the trouble moving. They're really important to do just about everything."
"Yeah. But I'll be rooting for ya. The kid's really good. I think you'll make a full recovery."
"…Thanks for the confidence, Doctor."
"Don't tell me you forgot my name. Ah, oh well. It's all over and it'll come back to you soon."
"Okay. I trust you, Doctor."
Lu hobbled on over and kissed Gabriel on the cheek. Oh hell yes, there is definitely a brain tumor. I don't care if Batman just got fused with Jesus and Donkey Kong. Lu would never kiss anyone on the cheek. I hope this change of attitude ends soon. It's kind of starting to freak me out. Anyways, Gabriel carried Lu bridal style into her room to avoid her having to strain her paralysis. He set her into the bed, and said the operation had to wait until morning.
"Wait, Doctor…"
"Yeah?"
"How much will the operation cost?"
"Neurosurgeries are pretty expensive. Also, the lung tumors are internal and external. So you'll need three surgeries. I'm guessing about forty thousand."
"…That's exactly what I was afraid of."
"You can't afford the operation?"
"Yes, I cancelled my insurance since it's been such a long time since I needed any medical treatment. How much would it cost with a military discount?"
"That takes off at least five thousand. Even without the insurance how can you not afford it? You're a doctor."
"Well, there's also living expenses like food and mortgage and my art supplies… I can only pay about twenty thousand."
Gabriel couldn't help but feel bad for her. Besides, what's left over isn't much.
"I'll pay the rest."
"What? Really?"
Lu jumped from the bed in excitement to hug Gabriel, but fell immediately on her face since she couldn't move her left half.
"Nice job breaking it, hero."
"Hey, I got excited. But…why are you paying off the rest of my bill?"
"It'll all come back to you after the operation."
Yeah, Gabriel must've given up on trying to spark Lu's memory back a long time ago. Let the operation do it. But I can't blame him, trying to make people with memory loss remember a thing is hard work. Gabriel carried Lu back into her bed.
"Now get some rest."
He closed the door and left Lu alone without a thing to do.
"He's a nice doctor."
Lu thought aloud to herself.
"I wonder why I'm so important to him… Well, I don't have a wedding ring or anything. Maybe I was his girlfriend…"
Sweet Lu was simply cute. In my opinion, just…adorable. But that was the last personality change she went through, and she was back to her normal self after the operation. No one was really disappointed, very happy and relieved. Yes.
"Good job, dude."
Lu congratulated when CR-S01 came to check up on her in her room.
"I remember everything."
"Well, that's good. You'll still have issues moving your left leg, but otherwise the surgery went well."
"…Th-thanks for saving me…"
"Don't mention it."
"I mean, really. It's a miracle to have slim to no side effects after a brain operation."
"I guess so. You might have to stay at the hospital for about a month to recover from your movement impediment."
"Why would I have to do that? I mean, it's just like learning to walk right. I can do that myself."
"You don't want to be hospitalized?"
"Of course not! I don't need any help getting on my own two feet. I'll be leaving in a couple hours."
"…Whatever you say."
CR-S01 left the room. He thought she was nuts. It doesn't matter how smart you are, you can't teach yourself how to do something you forgot to do. But he knew there was nothing he could do about it, so he sought to the other doctors to convince her. First, Maria.
"Lu won't cooperate with the rehabilitation."
"What? Why not?"
"She's stubborn. She thinks she can do it herself."
"No way! I'm going there right now to slap some sense into her!"
Maria ran off to Lu's room to enforce her to cooperate.
"You idiot! How can you think it's easy trying to get your leg working again?"
"Well, walking's just like riding a bike, 'ya know? You never for-"
"Bullshit! You can't do everything on your own!"
"I can't do everything, but I can figure this one out on my own."
"Urgh, well when you're lying on the floor begging for help, you'll regret it!"
Maria fiercely shut the door and not too far down the hall she met up with Gabriel.
"What's up with you?"
"Lu's crazy! She thinks she can rehabilitate for her leg on her own."
"Ugh, I'll take care of it."
Gabriel came in the door with much more of a relaxed feeling than the other doctors. He didn't have that same 'please gimme some money' kind of feel that Maria kind of sort of not really had. He smiled at Lu and didn't really seem to want to talk about the surgery. Nonetheless, Lu was still kind of suspicious of Gabriel being mad at her too.
"Gabriel, I'm sorry for being so…flirty. I wasn't controlling myself."
"Don't worry about it. It's a natural symptom."
"Anyways, I seriously owe you for paying for the rest of my operation. Man, if you weren't there…God, I'd hate to think of what'd happen. A-Anyways, I still remember you trying to flirt with me. I'm not an idiot. I like someone else, so you might as well give up."
"Really? You sure you're not just saying that to push me off?"
"Positive!"
"Then, who is it? I can keep a secret."
"Like you care."
"Fine, just cooperate with the rehabilitation then."
"What? Of course I won't cooperate with it!"
"Why are you so stubborn about it anyways? You can't teach yourself to get back on your own two feet! If you fall, there's no way you could get back up. Don't you live alone, too?"
"Honestly, I'm stubborn about it because I don't trust these people to help me out. I know it'd be a different nurse or doctor every time, so even if I get adjusted to one it's not like they'll stay around for long."
"I'll be back and see if I can work something out."
"'Kay."
Gabriel left the room to talk with the Chief about Lu's recovery when he ran into the new paramedic, Adam.
"Uh, you're that one…doctor…guy…Gabriel, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can you bring this to Ms. Delano's room? I bet you know where it is."
"Why can't you do it?"
"I'm too lazy. I'm trying to take advantage of today being relatively slow. Also, I don't know where she is."
"Room 503. Excuse me, but I've gotta go talk to Esha."
Adam simply shrugged and tried to find Lu's room. Adam has like a really bad sense of direction, so it took him forever to find her room. But luckily he got there just in time. What he needed to get over to Lu was her immunosuppressant drugs, since she recently had an operation. Lu can't swallow any pill ever invented so she has to take medicine in ice cream. It almost melted by the time Adam got there. Then he realized that Lu was an old friend.
"Luna!"
"Adam, hey. Who let you be a paramedic?"
"None of your business. The point is, I'm still alive."
"Still alive~ Still alive~"
"You can't sing. Here's your cocaine-infested ice cream."
"Cocaine?"
"Crushed up pills."
"Oh, durr."
"So, what happened? Oh, forget it I'll just check your chart… So, you're gonna stay here for a while to get your leg together?"
"No."
"What's wrong with it anyways?"
"The doctors said I'd have walking troubles with my left leg. But I don't understand it. I can move it in this bed here just fine."
"Lying down does not equal walking."
"Yeah, but… Shut up."
"Get up. I wanna see."
"'Kay."
It was relatively easy for Lu to get up and stand… Well, no shit Sherlock, the affected area is the left leg, not her back. I'm such a silly goose sometimes. Anyways, Lu tried walking towards the door. Right foot worked fine. Left leg wiggled a lot and forced her to fall.
"Good job!"
"Shut up."
Adam offered to help Lu up.
"It's alright, I can do it on my own."
Surprisingly, she did get up okay.
"It must not be as bad as it seems."
She told herself lightly while she habitually bit her nail.
"That's gros. Not even gross. Just gros."
"Shut up. Force of habit."
Gabriel came in at that time.
"Didn't know there was a party going on." He joked.
"You just missed out." Lu teased, "There were elephants, thousands of them."
"Yes." Adam added.
"Adam, we need you downtown." Maria called through Adam's walkie talkie.
"On my way. See ya, guys."
Then it was just Lu and Gabriel. Gabe took out a pair of crutches and tried to adjust them to Lu's height.
"What're you-"
"You'll need some help walking around, won't 'cha?"
"…Thanks. You look like you're up to somethin'. What's up?"
"Well, since you're so stubborn I thought I could help you get back on your feet."
"Cool story bro, but I think I can do it on my own."
"Fine, I'll give you a week. If you need any help, just call. You've got my number, right? You can't depend on those crutches forever."
"Whatever. I don't need any help… Thanks…for the…crutches, though…"
"No problem. See ya around… Oh, wait, I almost forgot."
Lu didn't look it, but she was surprised that Gabe bothered to add anything. Nothing against him, she just wanted to leave the hospital already.
"Joshua really wants to see you again. Three of us? Tomorrow?"
"Doing what?"
"I'm leaving that to you. Get creative; I'm sure you'll think of something."
"…Whatever."
Lu was a hard book to read by looking at her face. She has such a good poker face you could make a joke out of it if you wanted to. But she was…really confused…also, very angry. It's not that she hated Joshua. Lu usually hates kids, but has a specific age limit to how young they have to be to seriously get on your nerves. Joshua is (luckily) over that limit. She was confused because Joshua even wanted to see her again.
But Lu was also angry because she thought herself across as too motherly. This, to her, was the only explanation as to why Joshua would even bother to see her again. Lu isn't nice…at least that's what she wants to make others believe. She truly is a sweetheart, but she makes herself seem really cold. She feels kindness is a sign of vulnerability, which is the last thing she wants to be. Vulnerable. Weak. No. She wants to fight her own battles, or to be so menacing no one would pick a fight with her. This world was an endless black hold of torment. That was the way she looked at it since she was a little girl. Making herself ruthless prevented her from being sucked in. Only kind people are tormented by evil. It's sad, but true. Such a violent outlook on the world she has. I believe this is why.
"Crybaby! Crybaby! Waa, waa waa~"
The girls teased at the playground, once again.
"Leave her alone!"
Destiny loyally defended her friend. She wasn't so weak.
"You don't think this is funny?"
The group of girls only hurt little Lu with words. But she was sensitive as a small child. She bawled in the playground. The only thing her friends, Kelsi and Destiny could do, was throw words back at them. Trying to make them go away, and end the torture. Lu was a nice little girl. She wouldn't hurt a fly. But the girls would. Lu was a fly to them. An insignificant little fly that was only tortured for their pleasure. This happened at least three times a week. You'd imagine Lu to get used to it by now. Of course not. She was too sensitive. Just a weak and fragile little girl.
This was too persistent, and she was too easily hurt. The girls were getting bored. They started kicking her, throwing rocks at her. Destiny and Kelsi would've defended their friend as always, but they were too weak. It's not like they'd have the ability to bear it too. They told the recess monitor, but the group of girls weren't punished. They simply couldn't go out to recess for the rest of the quarter. This made Lu very angry. But there was nothing she could do about it. All she was was a weak little crybaby. That's what she was pressured to believe, and it stayed implanted there for the rest of her life.
'I'll never make myself seem so weak again. No one will ever hurt me like that again.' Lu thought to herself. "I'm not nice, I'm strong." She thought aloud in her loft. "Ruthless."
…
"Maybe I just need to take some fighting classes again, or something."
A/N: *HEAD DESK* GOD, THIS CHAPTER WAS SO HARD TO FINISH UP. I think we'll catch back up with Naomi in the next chapter…Or the chapter after the next chapter…I seriously need to practice my mystery writing skills…and plan ahead.
Also, these chapters seriously need to stop associating with my actual life. All hail realisticness! Like crashing school buses into the top floor of malls.
n.n;
