The Blade Alchemist
Strange Woman
Drake POV
I ran back to the hotel, the woman in my arms, as fast as I could. When we finally arrived, I peeked inside the lobby to see if anyone was in there. All clear. I ran up the stairs and into the room. I walked into the bedroom, turned on the light, and layed her on the bed. I saw that she had blood on her face, so I went to the restroom and grabbed a wet washcloth. As I wiped her face off, I saw that her hair was a tangled mess and sprawled out around her head. But that was not what caught my attention. There was something sticking out through her hair from the sides of her head.
I pushed her hair back and was shocked to see a pair of, what looked like,….dog ears? I reached over and touched them, and they twitched when I did. "What the….." Her 'ears' twitched again and she rolled over. "Uh, okay….that's….odd." And as if that wasn't enough, when she rolled over I caught a glimpse of something that was the same color as the 'ears' by her legs. Let me guess… I moved a piece of her ragged clothes away from her leg and, sure enough, there was a 'tail' as well. "What in the world is she? What the hell happened to her?"
As I spoke, she turned back around and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at me, and I at her. Then realization hit her as she backed away into the wall trying to get away from me. I held my hands up trying to calm her down. "Shhh, it's okay miss. Remember me? I'm the one that got you out of that lab. It's okay, no ones going to hurt you. Your safe." She started to calm down as I lowered my hands. "Please, calm down miss. There's nothing to be scared of here." After a minuet, she finally relaxed, but stayed close to the wall. I held out my hand to her. "My name is Drake maam. May I ask what your name is?" She just looked at me. "Miss, can you understand me?" She slowly nodded and took my hand. "Can you speak?" She shook her head and grabbed her throat.
"Okay then, we'll work on that. Are you hungry?" She quickly nodded, and moved her hand from throat to stomach. "Okay then. Come on." I stood up and beckoned for her to do the same. After a minuet, she finally got off the bed and stood up. I grabbed my spare clothes from my bag. "Okay, follow me a second." For a second, she didn't move, but finally started walking slowly. I walked her over to the restroom and nudged her inside. "I'll go get you some food. While I'm out, you take a nice, long shower. Here are some clothes you can use until we can get some for you in the morning." I handed her the spare clothes and closed the door. "I'll be right back miss."
I walked out front of the hotel, and over to a late night cafe. I ordered some really strong coffee and a dinner for two. After a minuet, the waitress handed me the order and I returned to the hotel, up to the room. I opened the door and I could hear the shower still running. "Wow, I guess she really did take a long one." I set the food on the table, walked to the restroom door, and knocked. "Miss, are you okay in there? Knock on the wall once for yes, and twice for no." After a minuet, I heard two sheepish knocks. "Miss, may I come in and check on you?" Again, there was a moments silence before she knocked once. "Okay miss. I'm coming in."
I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. The shower was running with the curtain open, but no one was there. I walked in and saw her sitting on the floor across from the shower cowering. "Miss, please don't take this the wrong way, but did the shower scare you or burn you?" She nodded and pulled her knees closer to her chest. Okay, how am I going to handle this one? She needs to get cleaned up, but she's afraid of the shower. "Sigh. Okay miss. I know this is going to be really weird, but would you like some help getting cleaned up?" She thought about it, then slowly nodded. I held my hand out to her, she took it, and I pulled her to her feet. "Okay, I'll stay behind you and help you out miss. Just don't turn around, okay." She nodded again and turned her back to me. "Sigh. Okay, here we go."
After about twenty minuets, she was finally done with her shower and I helped her into the spare clothes. I walked her out of the restroom and set her on the couch. "Here you go miss." I handed her a plate of food and she began to tear the food apart. "Woah woah! Slow down miss! You're going to choke! Slow down!" She nodded and did so, as I took a sip from my coffee. "So, miss." She looked up at me with a piece of toast hanging out her mouth. "Do you have a name?" She looked back at her plate, started crying and shook her head. "I see. Well, would you like me to give you one then?" She looked back at me, smiled, and nodded. "There's that smile. Very well." I thought it over for a few minuets as she stared at me.
"Hmmm. How about….Jessica?" She closed her eyes, smiled again and nodded quickly. "You like that name?" She nodded again. "Okay then. Your name will be Jessica. I already said it before, but my name is Drake." I held my hand out, she took it, and shook it. "Jes….Jess...Jess...i...ca." She slowly spoke. I gave a huge smile. "Yes, Jessica." She giggled, looked at me, and pointed. "Dr...Dra...ke?" I chuckled. "Yup, that's me." She continued eating and we sat in silence a moment.
"Jessica." She looked back at me. "Sorry, but I need to know. Do you know how you came to be in that lab?" She thought for a minuet, then grabbed her throat. "Ta...ken….Ba…..by." I was shocked a moment. "You were taken as a baby?" She nodded and started to cry. "Hurrrrrt…..mmmeee. Cha….channnge…..mee…." Now I was on the verge of tears with anger fuming in me. "They hurt you and changed you?" I asked as I pointed to her 'ears'. She grabbed them and nodded. "I see. Well, you don't have to worry Jessica, or would you prefer Jessy for short?" She was still holding her 'ears', she smirked and nodded. "Yeess."
"Okay Jessy. You have no need to worry. Those men are not going to hurt you anymore. You stay here and finish dinner, I have to go make a phone call." She frowned and tears started to fall from her eyes. "Do you not want me to leave?" She quickly shook and lowered her head. "Okay. I can wait a bit to make the call. For now, why don't you try and get some sleep." She looked at me with worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave." We stood up and I walked her to the bed. She layed down and I sat in the chair next to her and rested my hands on the rests. Might as well get a little sleep myself.
I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, but a second later my body moved. I opened my eyes to find that she had my hand clutched in hers, holding it close to her chest. I slightly blushed. "Donnn't….leeeavvve…..mmmeeeee...pleeeeaaasse." I felt so horrible for her, to be afraid of being left alone. "Don't worry. I won't, I promise." She released my hand and I began to stroke her hair. I watched as her eyes slowly closed and she drifted to sleep. I smiled, tilted my head back, and fell asleep myself.
A few hours later, I woke up and opened my eyes. I looked at my watch, 2:24pm. Damn. I slept through half the day!? I looked around the room hoping Ed and Al were back, but no one was there. I looked over at Jessy and I immediately blushed. She was asleep, sitting up and leaning on me. She had her arms wrapped around my right one in a death grip. Uh, okay. This is awkward. But….I do enjoy it. I smiled at her and nudged her awake. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Her gaze finally landed on me, she smiled, and nudged into my shoulder more.
Now I was really blushing. "Um, Jessy." She looked back up at me. "I have to go make that call now. Can you trust me to leave you for only a few minuets?" She frowned and looked down a moment, then returned her gaze and nodded. "I promise, I'm only going to use the phone and come back. Okay?" She nodded again then hesitantly let go of my arm. I stood up and stretched. "I'll be right back Jess." She was clutching a pillow. I left the room and walked to the front desk. I asked the clerk for the phone, and dialed the number for the hospital. If they are not back here, they might be there, knowing Ed.
"Good afternoon. Central Hospital."
"Afternoon. This is State Alchemist Drake Ganters. I'm calling to see if you have a patient by the name of Edward Elric checked in there."
"One moment please. There was a short silence. "Yes sir. We do have a patient checked in by that name. He is able to receive calls, would you like to be transferred?
"Yes please."
"One moment sir." Another short silence. "Hello?"
"Ed! It's Drake!"
"Drake!? What the hell happened!? We thought you were killed in the explosion!"
"Explosion? Never mind that, I'm fine. Listen, sorry I didn't find you, but I ran into a big problem there and had to leave immediately. I need you to send Al back to the hotel, I'll fill him in on it and he can tell you. I can't discuss it over the phone, and I can't leave right now."
"Okay, he's on his way. And Drake, I'm glad you're okay."
"Same here Ed. I'll call again soon. Bye."
I gave the phone back to the clerk and returned to the room. As I walked in I saw that Jess had not moved even a single inch, still clutching that pillow. I closed the door, walked to the bedroom and sat on the couch. When I did, Jess immediately got off the bed, sat down next to me, and snuggled into my side, causing me to turn beat red. "Uh….Jess." She just looked at me, smiled, and snuggled even more. I let out a sigh and let the matter go. I think that this is going to be a problem.
