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July 2, 2002

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The lights were dim, though not completely dark. Underneath of the door, light shone from the hallway. She stared at the crack for several moments, holding her breath. Would they be coming to get her, now that she was awake?

Oh, but they didn't even know she was awake, did they? It was probably pretty late at night—or early in the morning, depending on how you looked at it. There were only a few nurses on this floor; maybe a few dozen inside of the entire hospital. Someone may not even come until morning... that seemed pretty far off to her.

But weren't they supposed to come check on her every few hours? She hoped that they would come soon; all of these needles embedded in her skin were starting to itch.

With a soft sigh, she slowly began to sit up. It was slightly hard, with her leg in a cast and hanging from the ceiling—but she managed. Her back cracked; a pulse of pain shooting up her spine. Tensing her jaw, she snatched the mask off of her face—the one that had helped her to breath while she was 'sleeping'.

A groan of pain left her lips. The sound almost startled her... it had been so long since she had last heard her own voice. The only voice she could recall clearly was... Kouga's. She closed her eyes at the thought of him. She couldn't help but wonder what he looked like. All she knew was his voice. Was he tall? Did he have dark hair? What about his eyes? And his face?

He seemed like he would be handsome. His voice was suave; confident, but not quite cocky. She really liked his voice—it was deep and masculine, just like a man's should be.

Shaking her head, she cleared her head of him. After a few moments, she noticed something: her hair no longer tickled her ears when she moved her head. Her hair was... gone.

She wasn't surprised, but...

Tightening her eyelids together, she tried to stop her tears of frustration. It had taken her years to get her hair that long. It had finally gotten the way she wanted it. She had finally worked up the nerve to dye it. And now it was gone... but her life wasn't. She wasn't dead. She should be happy, right? She was... really, she was. She never truly wanted to die.

Her throat was suddenly dry. She opened her eyes slowly.

With a simple flick of her wrist, she pulled the needles from her arm.

She couldn't walk away; couldn't move, because of her leg... but she could at least wait comfortably. Not that hospital beds were really all that comfortable...

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Sango let out a startled gasp at the sight before her.

Kagome narrowed her dark orbs. Finally someone had arrived. It felt as if it had been hours. Her eyes were dry, but no matter how many times she blinked, it didn't help. Even though she had been 'asleep' for almost a month, she was exhausted.

"Y-you're um.. you're awake!" Sango smiled at the young woman before her. "I'm glad to see it. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you want to call someone?" Kagome bit the inside of her cheek, processing all of the woman's questions.

"No, yes, and... no." She responded after several seconds. "What's your name?" The patient tilted her head to the side. The nurse laughed. "Oh, how rude of me! My name is Sango." She smiled brightly at the younger girl.

"I'm Kagome, but... I guess you already know that." Kagome forced a small smile. The other woman giggled. "I'll be right back, alright? Just going to go tell the head nurse, Kaede, about this. She's going to be ecstatic!"

As the woman left, Kagome felt herself relax. She had never really liked nurses very much—at least not the ones who helped out at her grandfather's "retirement" home. But Sango... she seemed nice. It didn't seem as if she were forcing her laughs and smiles; she seemed honestly happy at Kagome's recovery.

Kagome flexed her fingers into a fist, before stretching them back out. It felt like it had been years since she had last moved. A feeling of pity filled her chest at the people who spent decades in comas. She was lucky, only having to spend a month in one—not even a month, she corrected herself.

The woman, Sango, arrived merely three minutes later. An older woman was at her side. Kaede, Kagome realized.

She smiled, her back hunched over from age. "How are you?" Kaede asked simply. Kagome blinked. "I... I'm fine, I guess—just thirsty."

Sango perked up. "I brought you some water. I would've brought soda, but I didn't think your stomach could handle something like that yet." Kagome smiled was strained. "Thank you,"

She sipped the bottle of water slowly, attempting to ignore the women staring at her. Finally, she brought the bottle to her lap; her fingers wet from the condensation.

"... Is there something wrong?" The both women blinked. Kaede spoke first. "Oh, not at all! We're quite happy at your awakening—we just expected you to stay comatose for... several weeks, if not months, longer. We're just a bit surprised, is all."

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek. Finally, she asked the question that had been tugging at the back of her mind ever since she had woken up:

"What happened?"

Sango furrowed her brow. "You don't remember?" Kagome hesitated.

"I... know I was in a motorcycle accident, but... why? How?" She had never been involved in an accident with her bike before; she had never driven drunk, or under the influence—she had never even done drugs.

The older women pursed her lips. "We're not quite sure. You hit a telephone pole. If you hadn't been wearing your helmet, you... most likely would not be here right now." Kagome tensed her jaw at the mention of death.

"W-well, I guess... wearing it wasn't an entire waste." She attempted a joke, but Sango merely offered a sad smile. "I suppose so."

Moments passed, the silence suffocating the practically-bald girl. She didn't like this. She wanted to compare it to the times Kouga had stopped talking for awhile; his silence was comfortable, but this was not. Even after Kouga had stopped talking, his voice still resonated in her mind. She loved it when he had come to talk to her.

Kaede glanced to the younger nurse. "Kouga should be here soon." She turned to Kagome, whose eyes had closed at the mention of her visitor. "Would you like to see him?" Kagome attempted to stifle her excitement. "Y-yes, please."

Sango couldn't contain her giggle.

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A/N: Thanks to all of those that reviewed. (: I just realized that I could have stuck a few more visits in there... Kouga still had a few more stories to tell. xD I guess I'll just put them in flashbacks, or something.