Kuroi Chi no Yume 10
Firstly, my sincerest apologies and the usual excuses go out to all my readers for the lateness of this update. My muse left me and I had to go on a dramatic, life-changing journey to rediscover it. (Actually I just needed to stop being lazy and just take the time to think about where I'm going with this story)
Thank you all once again for your very encouraging reviews! They make my smile like an idiot all day at work! XD
To MusicSoundsMySoul 14: Thanks for taking the time to review:) I'm glad to know you're interested!
To Liliath: FanFiction I curse you! I've been using three asterisks *** to separate my POVs and hadn't realized until you said something that they just disappear when I post the chapter. D: Thank you for pointing this out, I have now switched to a different POV separator and I plan to replace my chapters…eventually. ;) Hopefully it will hopefully show up this time:)
To 13: Thank you! I was really worried whether I was going about the whole black blood thing properly; I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!
To Major Session: Thank you for your input, I'm glad you liked the tempo of the latest chapter. I've been trying to take your advice and write more from the character's POV instead of a third person watching.
^^^^^^^^^^Chapter 10^^^^^^^^^^
He awoke to a sharp pain in his back. With a groan, Soul forced his eyes open.
What happened…?
"Maka!" Wide awake now, the scythe weapon jerked upright in the bed, regretting the action moments later when the pain in his back intensified to the point of nearly causing him to pass out. He gasped, using every ounce of his will to stay conscious. His mind was racing, replaying the last thing he remembered endlessly: The Kishin leaping towards them, pain, screaming and blackness. None of it reassured him.
Maka… Summoning up his willpower, he flung the covers off his legs, wincing in pain. He took a moment to mentally prepare himself for the onslaught of agony his next move was sure to produce. With a deep breath, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, pushing himself up from the mattress. A sudden tug at his wrist caused him to turn sharply, throwing him off balance on his already shaky legs. The last thing he was able to take notice of was that he had an IV in his arm, connecting him to a bag of clear liquid that hung from a pole.
This is going to hurt… He mused right before his body hit the hard tiled floor. At that moment he became aware that the pain he'd felt until now was merely a whisper compared to this screaming agony. Somewhere far away he could hear the sounds of panicked footsteps rushing around. Hands carefully scooped up his body, replacing him backi in the bed he'd just escaped from. Voices swirled around him trying to ask questions, but deciphering their words was far too much for his mind to handle at the moment. As the intense pain died down he became aware of himself again; his ragged breathing, tearing eyes, sweat-soaked head and the sensation of his back being cut in half.
"-trying to move already-"
"-shouldn't be out of bed yet!"
"-you okay?..."
"-give him something for the pain…" Through the incessant buzzing in his head Soul knew there was something important he was forgetting. Half-lidded eyes suddenly snapping open, he remembered.
"Maka!" Soul gasped, trying to speak and not give in to the desire to scream in pain. "Where is Maka?"
"Now just calm down, you just need to rest for now…"
"No! Tell me where she is, Damnit!" Soul yelled, desperate for an answer before the pain overtook him again.
"She's in surgery right now-"
"What?" Soul's wild gaze turned to the nervous nurse who'd spoken up. The inexperienced nurse received a disapproving glance from the nurse who was pinning Soul to the bed at the moment.
"You just need to worry about yourself right now…"
"What's wrong?" He demanded. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Soul was aware how insane he probably looked, screaming and thrashing wildly. With his red eyes and sharp teeth he normally looked intimidating; when he was half mad with pain and desperation, he couldn't imagine what his face looked like.
"Just rest…" A large nurse ordered. If Soul had been paying attention to her, he may have noticed her gesture to another nurse who nodded and went to a nearby cabinet, taking out a sterile prepared syringe.
"Is she okay? Just tell me!" And had he been paying attention he may have noticed that at this point the nurse was now in the process of depressing the syringe, emptying its contents into his IV.
"Don't worry," the nurse holding him down told him in a voice that was a little too placating, "it'll be okay. Just sleep for now…" A sudden wave of heaviness overtook Soul's body and he felt his eyelids slide closed, limbs falling heavily next to him.
"Maka…"
==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==
Maka opened her eyes, trying to blink away her sleepiness. Groggily she scanned the room she was currently occupying trying to figure out the circumstances that had led to her waking up in this strange place. Everything was so white and sharp-looking it made her eyes ache. Maka closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember. Her sluggish mind refused to comply with that order however and to her own surprise this didn't worry her. In fact, everything felt pretty good right now. Cracking her eyes open again the technician examined herself. She was lying in a very white bed with very white sheets and a very white bandage wrapped around her left wrist securing a thin tube in place.
Huh. She lazily followed the IV line from her wrist to a bag hanging from a sterile looking pole that was dripping some sort of clear liquid.
They drugged me. She realized, trying to make out the words on the bag and giving up when her eyes refused to focus. Something was nagging at her in the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was.
Oh well, it's probably not important… The scythe technician felt her heavy eyelids slide shut once more.
I think I'll just close my eyes for a little while. They're so heavy…
"Ah, so you're finally awake, Ms. Albarn." A man with a clipboard and a thick German accent stared back at her when once again opened her eyes.
"Oh…mmhmm…" She answered lazily. The man smiled slightly.
"That would be the morphine talking, I'm assuming."
"Mmmmorphinnne." She mused, her voice slurred. It's nice… She slowly took note of the man in front of her, finally coming to the conclusion that he was probably a doctor. He studied his clipboard a moment longer, flipping through a couple of pages before addressing her again.
"Well Ms. Albarn, how are you feeling? You just got out of surgery about two hours ago; we had to reset some bones in your wrist and a couple of ribs. Are you in any pain at the moment?"
"Mmmm nope…" The young meister replied, poking her bandaged torso with her good hand. The right hand was currently encased in a thickly wrapped bandage, holding it in place.
"Well that's good to hear," The doctor commented, making notes on his board, "but you may want to refrain from poking it too much. It will hurt again once the morphine wears off."
" 've had wurssshh…" She slurred, grinning at her own inability to speak properly.
"Hmm," was the man's only reply, "Well at any rate, I would recommend a lot of bed rest for the next little while. I'll let you sleep some more for now and have someone check in on you regularly. Oh, by the way, there was phone call for you while you were sleeping. The message is on your nightstand. Well, let us know if anything changes."
"'kay…thnnnkss…" She mumbled as the doctor walked out to the room. She eyed the folded piece of paper that lay on the nightstand next to a cup of water. She contemplated the effort of having to reach all the way over there to pick it up and then the subsequent effort of having to translate the words on said piece of paper into an intelligible form of communication.
It's really not worth it… Despite that conviction, she found herself more and more curious by the moment what message that paper contained.
But it' all the way over there! Her mind complained. With a groan, she reached across her body with her non-bandaged hand, snatching up the note. Settling back into a comfortable position on the bed, she fumbled with the note for a moment, trying to unfold it with only one hand and finally resorting to using her teeth as a second hand. Her eyes blurred a moment before focusing on the words.
MAAAAAAAKAAAAA! Are you okay? I heard about the fight and the hospital! Are you hurt badly? Don't worry, Daddy will be there in a flash to kiss your wounds better and take care of his little baby! You can depend on me! The greatest dad in the world!
With lots and lots of love, Your favorite dad!
I went through all that effort to read this! She raged, ripping the letter into pieces with renowned enthusiasm. I really hope he's kidding when he says he's coming here… A sudden image of her stuck in this hospital bed while her dad hovered constantly over her side (when he wasn't ogling the cute nurses) sobered her up instantly.
"Papa…!" She growled.
"Ah… Ms. Albarn?" A meek looking nurse poked her head into her room.
"Oh, uh, yes?"
"There is a phone call for you if you're willing to take it."
"Yeah, sure." Maka sighed, praying it wouldn't be the same man that had sent her the message that was now nothing but confetti scattered over her sheets.
"Hello? Oh, Shinigami-Sama!"
==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==
He awoke this time to the feeling of cotton in his mouth. With a low moan, Soul lifted his head from the pillow, blearily glancing around the room. His attention was immediately drawn to a paper cup of water that was left on the table next to his bed. Nearly rolling out of the bed in his enthusiasm to reach the cup he came close to spilling its contents when he gripped it with a shaking hand. Water had never tasted so good in his life and he found himself looking disappointingly at the paper bottom of the cup.
There's probably a bathroom somewhere nearby… He weighed his choices carefully, keeping in mind what had happened last time he'd tried to stand.
Although, I don't really seem to be in pain at the moment… Sure enough his back hardly hurt at all; where there had been biting pain before was now only a dull ache. Just as he was about to throw caution to the wind and make another attempt at standing there was a sound at his door.
"Soul?"
"Maka!" He suddenly realized he'd nearly forgotten about her, "Are you okay?" The words came out of his mouth with much more worry and desperation than could be considered "cool" but that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. Contrary to her soft words, however, Soul could see she was clearly not fine. Her right arm was bandaged heavily and hung from a sling, her face a myriad of scratches and bruises. Her knees that showed out from under the short hospital gown were also bandaged thickly. The meister had a crutch propped under her good arm and Soul could tell she was leaning heavily on it.
"How are you feeling?" Maka's tentative voice interrupted his train of thoughts.
"I'm fine." He answered, even though they both knew he was lying just as much as she was. An awkward silence stretched out between them. It occurred to the weapon that the last time he'd spoken with her was during the fight right before…
Right before I nearly ate her soul…for the second time… He looked up at Maka who turned away when their eyes met. I'm so sorry, Maka… I was supposed to protect you, but I'm the one you need to be protected from… He clutched the bedcovers tighter. There's no way we can still be partners after this, is there? Maka, I'm sorry…
==-S-O-U-L-_-E-A-T-E-R-==
"I'm fine." Her partner answered even though they could both see it was a lie.
Soul…I'm so sorry, Maka mentally apologized, I promised I would never let this happen again… The image of her partner once again stepping between her and the danger that threatened her life replayed again in her mind and she had to fight down the lump forming in her throat.
This is all my fault…again… Soul's gaze turned to her and she found she couldn't meet his eyes. She didn't want to see what emotion would be in those eyes. Turning away from him she could sense his gaze dropping as well.
He blames me for this… How could he not? The long pause stretched until the tension was nearly unbearable. The sound of the young scythe clearing his throat sounded like a gunshot in comparison to the stillness.
"Uh…so… So I guess we completed the mission, huh?" Soul ventured, his voice scratchy with disuse.
"Oh…right. Yeah Shinigami-sama called and said he got us new tickets for a flight back this evening."
"Oh. Good."
This is my fault…
"And they're even first class tickets!" She added, trying to force a grin. It felt foreign on a face that really didn't feel like smiling.
"Really? Cool."
He totally blames me for this, doesn't he?
"Yeah." Maka agreed, trying to muster up some genuine enthusiasm. She was pretty sure she failed.
"What about our stuff at the hotel?"
"They're sending someone to get it."
"Okay. Good."
He hates me. He won't want to be partners after this. He's going to leave me… The lump in her throat returned and Maka could feel her eyes burning with the force of holding back the tears. And he should… At this rate I'm going to get him killed. That thought nearly pushed her over the edge and she was glad for once that his eyes didn't meet hers.
"Maka…?" Her partner asked hesitantly.
This is it. He's going to say that we shouldn't be partners. He's going to tell me I'm not strong enough, that he'll never become a Death Scythe with me as a partner…
"What are you doing here?" A round nurse interrupted the moment and Maka had to admit despite the interruption of the private moment, she was secretly relieved.
"You should be in your bed, resting Ms. Albarn!" The nurse chided her. "My goodness, you're walking around with those injuries? Your ribs will never heal at this rate! Stay right there and let me get you a wheelchair!"
"No it's okay! I can walk!" Maka tried to protest, determined not to let Soul view her any weaker than he already did. The nurse ignored her argument, however and returned shortly with a wheelchair.
"I walked here; I can walk back to my room!" The scythe technician insisted, but the nurse didn't even waste time arguing, simply taking Maka's crutch from her and helping ease her into the chair when she lost her balance. Realizing she'd lost this battle, Maka set her face in a stubborn grimace and crossed her arms. The effect was slightly hampered by the fact that she really had only one arm to cross, which as everyone knows is impossible to do. Ignoring Maka's furrowed brow and attempted arm-cross, the nurse briskly wheeled the stubborn meister down the hall. After insisting she could get back into the bed herself (and once again being ignored) Maka found some solace in the victory of her next argument, namely being released from the hospital later in the afternoon. The nurse left with a final disapproving look and Maka was alone with her thoughts.
Soul… The realization that this would probably be their last mission together hit her. It's for the best. She told herself, you don't deserve a partner like him when you can't be as strong. The burning in her eyes returned. If he doesn't say anything, I have to. Images flashed through her mind; Soul protecting her from Stein, Soul taking the hit from the Devil Sword that was meant for her and now Soul standing between her and the enraged Kishin bearing down on her.
If he died…because of me… The thought was too horrible to continue.
As soon as we get back…I'll tell him to find a new partner… The tears that she'd carefully held back this whole time finally slid down her cheeks, dropping softly to the covers below. Alone in the hospital room, Maka allowed herself to sob silently.
Well that was a bit of a depressing chapter… Aw well, had to be done. I think this story is almost drawing to a close, however. Now that I actually took the time to plan out the remainder of this story I foresee two, maybe three more chapters in the future. Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to read this story! And the reviews have been wonderful, thank you all.