Disclaimer: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon & Sailor V are property of Naoko Takeuchi

Meaningless Love

Chapter 25 - Breathe

Not wanting to be rude, Minako stepped out of the room, excusing herself. As she attempted to continue her conversation with Kunzite, a nurse interrupted her, and reminded her that their was to be no cellphone use outside of the hospital rooms.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." The nurse frowned, "but all phone calls outside of the hospital rooms must be made in the lobby."

"Oh," Minako smiled, "I'm sorry." As the nurse walked away, Minako placed her phone back against her ear. "I have to go, Kunzite," she spoke hastily, "hurry up and get here." Before Kunzite could respond, she hung up, and placed her phone back into her pocket.

As she turned to reach for the door knob, Minako felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned to see Thetis. Her long black hair framed her face, draping partially over her shoulder. She wore a sleeveless blue cocktail dress, rather strange attire for a hospital, Minako noted.

"Thetis," Minako smiled, "I'm surprised to see you here. Did Kunzite send you?"

"No," Thetis face turned flush, "why? Is something wrong?"

Placing her finger to her lips, Minako shook her head. "He just said something about being…" Stopping herself, she remembered that Jadeite was getting his morphine shot. Opening the door to his hospital room, she surprised to see Hotaru running around the room with Kaori's syringe in her little hands.

"Hotaru!" Jadeite yelled from his bed, "this is not a game, you need to give that back to the nurse."

Running pass the metal cart, Kaori's hip brushed against it enough to cause the contents on it to move slightly. The tinted bottle now sitting closer to the edge.

"Hotaru!" Snatching the syringe from her hands, Minako handed it back to the highly irritated nurse, and picked up the young raven haired child. "I'm so sorry," Minako apologized, "she's usually not like this."

"We were just playing!" Hotaru said gleefully.

Spotting Thetis by the door, Hotaru's smile wavered. Cuddling close to Minako, she began to whimper. "What's wrong?" Minako asked.

Following Hotaru's eyes, she looked over to Thetis.

"Hello, Jadeite." Thetis spoke softly. Allowing herself into the room, she looked over to Hotaru, before stepping towards Jadeite.

Minako couldn't help but notice the expression on Kaori's face. Did she know her?

"Hello, Thetis." Jadeite replied. His voice was stern, almost as if he were upset to see her. "What brings you here?" Looking at her attire, he scoffed. "Dressed like that?"

Ignoring his remark, she smiled. "Helios informed me that you had awaken, so I thought I'd stop by to see you."

"Well, you've seen me." Jadeite averted his eyes and looked towards his daughter. "What now?"

"Happy to know that your coma hasn't changed your attitude," she said sarcastically.

His blue eyes darkened, looking up at her, Thetis' smiled disappeared. "If you have no news to share, which I know you don't, and seeing as you are of no importance, I think our conversation best end here."

Although Minako didn't know Jadeite well, she knew him enough to be startled by his sudden attitude change.

"Fine," pivoting her feet, she brushed her hair over her shoulders, and made her way towards the door. As she placed her hand on the door knob, she turned towards Kaori. Although their eye contact with one another was brief, Minako couldn't help but feel uneasy. Her grip on Hotaru tightened. "Goodnight, Mr. Chiba." Slamming the door behind her, Minako watched as the small tinted bottle of morphine teeter-tottered on the edge of the metal cart, before crashing against the cold hospital floor.

"I'll get a new bottle," Kaori said. Stepping over the broken glass, she walked pass Minako, and out into the hall.

When it became awkwardly quiet, Minako cleared her throat. "Old flame?" She asked quietly.

"Wouldn't that be nice," he said snidly. Well Minako huffed at his rude remark, he turned to her. "Sorry," his blue eyes softened, "it's a long story."

"I see," she took a seat near the door, "well I can definitely tell your Kunzite's baby brother."

Jadeite merely smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment."

As the slight tension between the two diminished, Minako placed Hotaru on her father's bed, an made her way towards the metal cart. Opening one of the disposable wet wipes, she used it to clean up as much of the broken glass. Where had the nurse disappeared to? Minako wondered.

Throwing the remaining of the glass into the trash, she was startled as Kunzite and Setsuna practically crashed through the hospital door.

"Is everyone okay?!" Kunzite looked around the room. Feeling his heart beating out of his chest, he was relieved to see his brother, his niece, and his lover still alive and well.

"Are you okay?" Jadeite asked with a small laugh.

"Yes," Setsuna smiled, "we were just…worried."

"Everything is fine," Minako wiped her hands, "besides the broken glass, everything is fine." Kunzite raised a brow. "It's a long story," Minako shook her head, "I'll tell you later."

Before Kunzite could close the hospital door, a nurse placed her hand firmly against. Peeking her had in, she smiled. "I'm so sorry," she told everyone, "but visiting hours is almost over."

"Oh," Minako remembered Kaori, "Jadeite hasn't received his shot for the night."

"No?" The nurse looked towards Jadeite before spotting the metal cart sitting near the foot of his bed. "Katherine should have stopped by already."

Both Minako and Jadeite looked to each other, their eyes growing in size. "But…" Jadeite opened his mouth to speak, but decided best to not ask, for he might not like the answer. "Nevermind," he shook his head.

"I'll give her a page," the nurse smiled, "but I'm sorry, everyone else must start heading down to the lobby."

"Of course," Setsuna nodded her head.

"Are you…" Minako bit her bottom lip, "are you going to be okay?" She asked Jadeite.

"I'll be fine," that was a lie. "Just keep an eye on this little trouble maker." Giving his daughter a tight squeeze, he frowned as Minako picked her up into her arms.

"I'm sorry for leaving for so long," Kunzite approached his baby brother, "I'll be back tomorrow with Hotaru."

"Okay," Jadeite smiled up at his older brother, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Making their way into the hall, Kunzite reached for the door handle. As he pulled the door shut, he smiled to his baby brother. "Good night," he said before shutting the door.

apigrabbit: I apologize for the long update wait... (シ_ _)シ but I have good reason, I swear! Morning sickness and all that fun stuff that comes with pregnancy has pretty much stunted any of my strength (nor will) to write. I know being pregnant is a lame excuse, but I swear, I will try my best to keep updating.

To everyone who is still even reading this series, THANK YOU! I appreciate your love and commitment to this story. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. Please review, just to let me know people are still actually interested in reading this series. Thank you ヽ(' ∇' )ノ