Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt
Chapter 12: Just a Push
"What happened?" Annabeth called to the men down the hall, jogging past me. She pushed her way into their tight circle, glancing down at what the men had been staring at. "Have you called an ambulance?" She shot high and surprised as she dropped down beside the thing in the middle.
"It's on its way," a tall man with greying brunette hair said, crouching down beside her, "Why is she back so soon? We haven't even been looking very hard."
"I'm pretty sure that's the entire reason," Annabeth replied, "Let's just be thankful that she's back, and not dead yet."
I pushed between two of the younger male officers, asking, "Annabeth, what happened?" I paused, my eyes going wide, as I spotted Sakura passed out on the floor. Her royal purple jumpsuit was gone leaving her in only her underwear. Purple bruises decorated almost every inch of her pale skin. Lacerations crisscrossed her legs and arms, scratches mingling with the thin lines. "What happened to her?"
Annabeth glanced up at me, fear and suppressed pain swimming in the depths of her sky blue eyes. "The ghost happened to her," she said with the straightest face she could muster. The corners of her mouth quivered as if she was trying to keep from crying.
I dropped down beside her, ignoring Naru and the others as they started asking questions. "Is she going to be okay?" I asked.
"Physically, yeah, eventually, but from this day forward she'll always wonder what happened to herself over those couple days. She's probably never find out," she replied, cradling Sakura's head in her lap. She smoothed back the woman's bangs like a mother would a child. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you, Sakura," she murmured so softly I barely caught her words.
…..
"Alright everyone, let's get back to work before the Captain shows up!" the tall man from before called as the ambulance drove from the station, "Where is that good-for-nothing superior of ours?"
"Off impregnating another girl with his demon spawn," Annabeth shot back angrily, stomping back towards the entrance, "Let's just get back to work." She slammed the door leaving the rest of us wondering after her.
"What crawled up her ass and died?" her partner asked us, pursing his lips.
"Your boss," I growled, staring down the road where the ambulance had disappeared.
"Come on, Mai. Let's go back inside," John said, setting a gentle hand on my shoulder. He smiled, pulling me around towards the door.
Alice bounced up, threading her arm through mine. "Come on, Mai. Let's go make tea and eat cookies. After that, we should go eat somewhere nice. What do ya' say Naru?" She grinned at our boss, wriggling her eyebrows.
He shrugged, turning back to the station. Gene smiled beside him, replacing John and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Lighten up, Mai. Everything's going to be fine. Sakura's going to live," he coaxed, shaking my shoulder.
"That's not what I'm thinking about," I mumbled, stringing an arm around his waist and leaning into Alice. She giggled, and leaned into me.
Gene frowned. He planted a kiss on my temple. Relief and serenity flooded through my body, warming me with a gentle flame. "Stop worrying Mai. Everything is going to be fine. We're all going to be okay."
Despite the comforting feelings, I sighed. "I wish I could believe that." We were just entering the station when I felt my skirt being flipped up. I let out a gasp of horror, breaking from Alice's and Gene's grip. Spinning around, I glanced around to find the person, but there was no one there. John had been walking in front of us, so it couldn't have been him, but it was unfathomable to think he'd ever do something like that.
"What's the matter?" John asked.
I pressed the back of my skirt against my thighs. I turned back slowly. "N-nothing. Um, let's just get back," I muttered, hurrying past the others, constantly glancing over my shoulder as my paranoia grew with every step.
…..
"Did Naru go to the hospital to question Sakura?" I asked Gene as we wandered through the halls, making one last check of the cameras before heading back to the hotel, "Is he going to meet us back at the hotel?"
"Yes for the first, and I don't know for the second. He may just come back here and take night watch, or he may go back to keep an eye on you. It's hard to tell with him," he replied, grinning down at me.
"Yeah," I murmured, staring down at my shoes. My mind ambled from memory to memory, first moving between the two times that I'd felt the dulling of pain due to a kiss to my temple, and then over to the few dreams I'd had. Was I wrong for not telling anyone? My latest dream might be the proverbial key to solve this case.
"Have you had any dreams lately?" he asked.
Ignoring him, I mulled silently over my options until I was shoved from behind. I pitched forward. Gene wasn't close enough to catch me. "Mai!" he cried as my face made good friends with the floor. Black flooded my vision. When I came to, I was staring up at my friends from the couch in base, half of them fuzzed out by something white and fluffy.
"What happened?" I mumbled around the white fluff over my mouth.
"You passed out," Jessica told me from somewhere passed the fuzz.
I groaned, attempting to push myself up, but firm hands held me down. I glared up into Naru's face. My eyebrows jumped to my hairline, and my glare softened. "Hi Naru."
"Now, how did you manage to pass out and give yourself a bloody nose?" he asked.
I frowned. "I think… I was… walking with Gene, and then… somebody pushed me. After that, nothing." I shrugged as best I could while lying down.
"Gene said that you just fell forward. Why didn't you try to catch yourself?" he asked, leaning closer so that we were nearly nose to nose.
"I don't know," I said, "It just didn't occur to me. I was too shocked."
Naru rolled his eyes. "Mai, catching yourself is a knee jerk reaction."
"Well, I guess I'm just too stupid to have such a simple thing as a knee jerk reaction," I grumbled, trying to look at the others, but I couldn't see around Naru.
"Naru, get out of the way so I can check her nose," Ayako shouted, batting him out of the way with a rolled up magazine, like he was a pesky cat. He grumbled an obscenity under his breath, but moved out of the away. Ayako's flaming red hair and eyes came into view. "Now hold still," she said, pulling at the cloth that had been pressed to my nose.
I flailed helplessly at the sensation that prevented itself. "I think I have to sneeze!" I cried.
"Do not sneeze!" Ayako shouted, "I will destroy you if you get blood on my dress!" The rest of the team started laughing, jumping away from us. "Okay, you're good. I think it's time to go back to the hotel now. Here, blow into the towel." She pulled me into a sitting position, folding the towel to a white side and holding it to my face.
"That sounded nasty," Damien laughed once I'd blown my nose, clapping me on the back.
Alice yawned loudly, leaning heavily on John. "I'm tired," she complained.
"I guess it's time to go back," Naru said, running his arms around my waist.
"Yeah," we all agreed in unison.
There you go guys. I'm not sure if this chapter would have turned out any better if I'd waited a few days, so oh well. I'm hoping tomorrows will be better. See you guys tomorrow, hopefully (: Review, yes?
