The next morning Lisa awoke with a smile on her face. Her first thoughts were of Souichi and she counted out the hours until their lunch date. Three. That seemed like such a long time.
She wasn't surprised to see that Lorna wasn't there, and in her state of bliss she actually wasn't annoyed that she'd have to make her own breakfast. Her eggs were almost done cooking when the phone rang.
"Hello," she answered, keeping one eye on the stove.
"Lisa, it's Lorna. You have to come to the command center right away."
"Lorna calm down, can't it wait until after breakfast?"
"Souichi's been in an accident."
The phone dropped to the floor as the smell of burning eggs filled the room. It was a miracle that Lisa managed to turn off the stove before running out of the door and to her car.
"Please calm down miss, I'm sorry but I can't let you in," a receptionist said.
Lisa glared at the woman and shoved her out of the way before tearing into the command center. The receptionist was about to call security when a fellow employee informed her of who Lisa was.
"Lorna! What happened?"
Lorna guided her breathless friend to a chair and sat down next to her. "There was an emergency this morning, not an A.I. car but an actual gasoline car. Since he'd dealt with one before Souichi decided to try and stop it himself but the car was twice the size of his Super 7." Tears filled her eyes but she tried her best to fight them back. "The car rammed Souichi over and over again, slamming Super 7 into a building, but barely scratching the car doing the damage. I don't know if he ever would have stopped had Ren not gotten there."
"How'd he stop him if Souichi couldn't?"
"He didn't even try." The tears flowed freely down Lorna's cheeks now but she didn't even so much as sniffle. "Ren was able to shoot the driver in the head. There was no use in trying to stop the car, that driver was insane."
"But what about Souichi?"
"he's in the hospital now… it doesn't look good Lisa."
"No!" Lisa screamed, commanding the attention of everyone within ear shot. "I will not accept this, Souichi will not die!"
"Lisa please-"
"I have to go see him, you coming?"
Lorna nodded. "But I'm driving, you shouldn't be behind the wheel in the state you're in."
Lisa made no attempt to fight it, she just followed her friend to the car. Once they began to move Lisa was unable to hold back her tears, and she cried histerically the entire way there.
"Are you going to be alright?" Lorna asked, pulling into a parking spot.
The car wasn't even completely stopped before Lisa leapt out. "Sure, I just had to get that all out, that's all. Better to cry now, right?"
Not willing to wait for the elevator Lisa sprinted up the steps and barged into Souichi's room. A doctor was standing by his bedside and at first he was going to scold Lisa until he recognized who she was.
"Hello Doctor Hayashi," she said softly. "How is he?"
She tentatively approached the bed and what she saw shattered her heart. There lay the one man she really loved, covered in bandages and spots of caked blood, tubes protruding from his bruised body. He barely even looked like Souichi.
"It's hard to say Lisa," Dr. Hayashi said, placing his hand on Lisa's shoulder. "That other car treated him pretty badly, he's lucky to be in the shape he's in now and not dead."
The tears came once again as Lorna joined them silently. "Can… can I touch him?"
Dr. Hayashi nodded, and Lisa touched the back of Souichi's hand. "Souichi," she whispered. "You have to get better Souichi, we have a lunch date."
Lorna had to bury her face in Dr. Hayashi's chest to stifle her own sobs."
"I love you Souichi, please get better, please. You can't leave this soon."
Lisa turned and saw Lorna's face, red and puffy from her own crying. Without a word the two met in a strong hug, each crying over the other's shoulder.
"Girls, why don't you wait outside," Dr. Hayashi suggested. "Rest for a bit, okay?"
Rest… the thought seemed strange to Lisa who had been asleep only hours ago. Still, it seemed like she'd been awake for days.
Ren, who had just arrived at the hospital ran to get the girls some coffee while they occupied a bench outside Souichi's room.
"He can't die," Lisa said in a hoarse whisper.
Lorna couldn't think of a reply, so instead she hugged her friend even harder.
"How could this have happened? Just last night we were admitting how we felt about each other. I kissed him good night… our first kiss I guess. It can't be our only kiss!"
"Here you go," Ren said, bringing both of them coffee and a couple pieces of fruit. "Sorry, but it's the only edible thing I could find."
"Thanks," Lisa said, accepting the coffee. "But I'm really not hungry."
"Lisa, you should eat something," Lorna insisted. "You didn't eat breakfast and you're using so much energy."
Lisa might have replied had the alarm not begun to sound.
"Lorna, there's been another attack," a voice from the communicator on Lorna's wrist said. "It looks similar to the one earlier, we think it might be the work of some new underground gang."
"Right," Lorna said. "Ren, you stay with-"
"I'm going with you," Lisa said flatly.
"But Lisa, you aren't even an-"
"Don't argue with me Lorna, I'm going!"
Lisa found Souichi's other Super 7 in the garage and strapped herself in. She put on her headset and started the car, a computer screen flickering to life in front of her.
"You should already have the coordinates," Lorna said. "Ren will be backing you up, so don't do anything too crazy."
"Right. This time the son of a bitch isn't going to get off so easily," Lisa growled, peeling out of the garage.
Within moments the car was in her site, and as Lorna had described it was at least two tiems the size of the Super 7. She wouldn't be able to out muscle it, that was for sure, but she might be able to out maneuver it.
"Lisa," Ren's voice said over the headset. "What's the plan?"
"No idea."
"What?!"
She didn't reply, instead she sped up to the car ahead of her. The driver didn't even notice her until she swerved in front of him, catching him off guard. Now that she had his attention she slowed down dramatically, placing herself behind the car.
"What the hell is she doing?" The driver said aloud.
Lisa knew how to control the situation, and it was her intention to do just that. She sped up again, knowing that the other car would try and attack her this time. She wasn't disappointed as he swerved over in her lane, nearly slamming her off the road. Fortunately for Lisa, that was the plan. Again she slowed her car down and suddenly appeared on the massive vehicle's other side. Again the car attempted to shove her off the road, and failed. Now she was ready to finish this little game. They were coming into a tunnel and Lisa reappeared for the final time on the left side of the car.
The driver cackled as he swerved over, his every intention being to slam her against the wall and drag her to the end of the tunnel. However, he wasn't fast enough, and Lisa hit the break just in time causing the other car to slam into the wall instead.
Lisa leapt from the Super 7 and ran to the other car, ready for a fight. The driver pleaded for her to help him out, afraid the car was going to explode, and she more than graciously obliged.
"Lisa!" Ren yelled, as he watched Lisa pull the man from his car and throw his already broken body onto the pavement.
"How many of there are you?" she screamed.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar!" Her fist connected with his face producing a sickening crunching sound. "Tell me!"
When he still refused to cooperate Lisa hit him again, this time dislodging at least two teeth. By the time Ren pulled her away, the man was teetering at the edge of conciousness, and both of Lisa's hands were torn and bloody.
"Let me go!" she screamed. "That bastard deserves this!"
"Lisa, he isn't the one who hurt Souichi remember? And if you kill him we won't be able to find out anything," Ren reasoned.
Lisa gave up her struggle and once Ren let her go she was back in the Super 7 and on her way to the hospital.
The next three weeks made up one big waiting game. Souichi had stabilized but not woken up, and if he didn't do so soon there was little chance he ever would. Meanwhile the driver Lisa had so thoroughly beaten finally talked and now they were simply waiting for their best chance to bust the gang.
Lisa spent all her time at the hospital, leaving only to sleep and shower. Every day she was at Souichi's bedside, talking to him and encouraging him to get better.
Naturally it was during one of the rare times when she wasn't there that Souichi opened his eyes.
It was a replay of the first time she'd been in Souichi's hospital room as Lisa ran up the stairs instead of waiting on the elevator, and threw the open the door to the room.
"Souichi?" she said tentatively as she approached the bed.
"Hi Miss Lisa," was the reply.
Souichi was starign up at her, smiling through his still bruised skin.
Souichi you're okay!" she cried, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around him.
"Yeah, I guess I am." He looked down at his bandaged body without moving his head. "Relatively speaking anyway."
Lisa laughed and cried at the same time.
Lorna got to the room but didn't go inside, instead leaving Lisa and Souichi alone.
"I'm sorry I missed our date," Souichi said weakly.
"It's okay, you have time to make it up to me."
Souichi moved his head a little and winced in pain. Something had caught his eye and he had to strain to see it. "You're staying?"
Lisa touched the blue communicator on her wrist and smiled. "Yeah, I couldn't let you have all the fun could I?"