I wanted to say something. Anything. I opened my mouth, and choked on the words that were somewhere in my head. Everything I wanted to say just shriveled up and died, because I feared that nothing I could say would be good enough. So I just looked at him. And then the sane part of me regained command, and I snapped into focus.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come…Shiiro said you didn't want to see me…but…I couldn't…" I swallowed, "I could 't leave things the way they were…I just…I…" My voice quivered, but I managed for once in my life to hold the tears back. I cried way too much as it was.

"Shiiro said what?" Zero's purple eyes narrowed into slits.

"It's okay…you don't have to pretend like it didn't happen," I turned away from him to keep myself from falling apart.

"Aikido…I really don't know what your talking about," Zero said, trying to sit himself up straight.

"Now you're just being a jerk!" I cried, "Please, don't lie to me. If you don't want to see me, just tell me to my face, and I'll leave! At least leave me with some dignity, would you?" I turned back to face him again, emphasizing the hurt in my face.

"What the hell are you talking about. Shiiro said that you didn't--" He abruptly cut off, and his eyes widened, as if he was realizing something.

"That I didn't what…?" I trailed off, thinking for a second. And then I realized what had happened. Shiiro had lied. He'd lied, just to get me to go off to God knows where with him. "Freaking Hell! He lied!" I stated the obvious, but I was trying to believe it.

Never before had Shiiro attempted something so low. And I was really, really ticked off with him. I sat down on the end of Zero's hospital bed, and looked at him.

"I'm so, so sorry…I thought…I thought…"

"It's okay. I know what you thought," he held out his hand, and I took it. "I don't know what your brother is trying to pull, but whatever else he says…we can't trust him."

"I don't understand why he's doing this," I sighed, confused.

"I don't either…but…b-" Zero flinched suddenly, squeezing my hand.

I jumped a little, "What is it?"

"It's nothing. I'm just a little thirsty…but don't worry about it."

"I am worried though!" I protested, leaning closer to him. "You need all of the strength you can get to recover from this…so, if I can help yo-"

"No! Shut up, Aikido. I'm not going to take it," Zero argued.

"You're being ridiculous," I said, exasperated. I pulled my hair to one side. "I'm not sure how much longer I can risk staying here without getting caught." I leaned further into him, until we were face to face. "Please. I can't bare to think of you suffering."

"Won't Shiiro notice?"

"Shiiro isn't my keeper! I really don't care what he thinks, quite frankly." I made a noise that resembled a hiss, and gently batted Zero on the arm. I was a little insulted that he didn't think I could handle making my own decisions.

Zero took a deep breath, "I can't do it."

"No…you won't do it." I noticed my voice was getting more and more elevated by the minute, so I quickly switched gears.

"You're in a hospital, and people are bleeding in here constantly. Can you really risk snapping?" I said softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

He was about to answer me, when we heard hurried footsteps, followed by panicked conversation. As the footsteps got closer, their words were more evident.

"And you're saying she's just gone? Not in the bathrooms, not anywhere?" A male's voice questioned in disbelief.

"My best guess is that she was sleepwalking. I only went to the bathroom for a second- and then I was right back. Then Kura told me that one of the patients was nowhere to be found, meaning she must have snuck past my desk while I was gone."

"Well there's no way she could have wandered outside, right?"

"Ah…not that I'm aware of, sir."

I froze, realizing that I was the missing person. Zero must have realized it as well, because he gave me a warning look. "You need to go," He said. Neither one of us was sure if I'd get in trouble or not for being here, especially so late at night. I didn't want to find out, either.

I simply nodded, even though I didn't want to leave him when he looked so frail and miserable. I gently kissed him on the lips, before making my trip back to my room undetected.