The doctor walked into the waiting room where Trio, Duo, Shinna and the
newly arrived Jerome waited. All the faces were grim with worry. The doctor
was an elderly man wearing a white doctor's attire with white hair. This
only further proved the doctor was a seasoned veteran.
"Are you the family of Shiro?" He asked.
"No, but we are his friends, the ones who brought him in."
"And who is going to pay for his treatment if I may ask?"
Trio stood up trembling and said as calmly as she could, "Is he going to be okay? I don't care about the money, is he okay?"
The doctor turned to regard Trio. "A lover eh?" Trio's lower lip quivered in reply. "Well, he should survive," everyone visibly relaxed, "but, I'd like to know how he got so much tranquilizer in his system."
"As a military doctor, you know that some things are secret," Duo stated.
"Fine," the doctor surrendered with his hands up. "But I was just curious. It's my job."
"Understood."
"Can I see Shiro now?" Trio interrupted.
"Room 3, young lady," he said, motioning down the hall to his left, her right. Trio nodded her thanks and ran down the hall with most of the crew following. Jerome stayed behind.
"How is he, seriously?" Jerome turned to the grizzled war veteran of the hospital.
"He's in a coma at the moment. We got a lot of the fluid out of his system, but there was still a significant amount left.
"Jerome," the name-less doctor said, "is that kid a friend of yours?"
"No, actually, he's the son of the enemy. The DIRECT enemy."
"You mean Nanzaki himself?"
"Marcus, I've never lied to you before and I won't now. Yes, he's Kai's son. He fell in love with Trio and he risked his life to save her."
"You've got to be kidding! The son of the core threat saved HER?"
"They met at school and slowly over the last month he's fallen in love with her."
"How could you let that happen, Jerome?" Dr. Marcus frowned and continued, "I thought your job was to make sure things like this didn't happen!"
"I tried, Marcus, I really did, but not even Shinna could keep those two apart. And from what Shinna said, he just grew on her. Besides, not even Trio could have avoided or deflected that special dart."
"What kind of dart WAS that anyway?"
Jerome pulled out the dart that had hit Shiro, out of his pocket. "Duo pretended to throw this into the forest when they dragged Shiro to the car." Jerome dropped it in Marcus's hand, "and as you can see, it's not ordinary dart."
The dart was as thick as an average man's index and pointer finger put together. The plastic that held the whole dart together was a special black plastic that made it impossible to see and was weather resistant. The needle measured to be a whole inch long and connected to a vile that could hold enough tranquilizer fluid to knock out a bull African Elephant cold in less than an hour.
"I just can't believe he would use such a severe dart. I mean, they may be part machine but if you inject this much into ANY human it'll kill them. Jerome," Marcus said, turning his tone even more serious than it already was, and added, "Shiro could never wake up from this."
"I know, but I think I figured out why he used such a dangerous dart.
"I think he used this because he figured that since the second it came in contact with the skin, some of it would get into her skin, then into her blood, giving it a chance to take affect. If it sunk all the way in, like it did with Shiro, they planned to quickly pull it out so all of it didn't get into her system. But Shiro fouled the plan up, he got in the way. That boy just saved us all."
? ? ?
Trio ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her, passing other doctors, patients, family of patients and nurses, tears running down her worried face. She did not heed anyone, nearly running over a dozen people in her single-minded quest to find Room 3, to find the man she loved, the man who had fought his own father to save her.
A million thoughts were burning through her brain like wildfire. 'What if Shiro doesn't survive? What if we get caught? What if.what if there's more of us out there? Shiro.why? Why did you have to fall in love with the enemy?' A million 'What ifs' hammered her brain until she looked up at a room number, and saw it was Room 3. That thought immediately banished the barrage of questions into a small corner of her mind.
Trio stopped and touched the door, afraid of what was on the other side, afraid he had just passed away, despite the doctor's assurance he was okay. Duo and Shinna, both out of breath, finally caught up with Trio. Neither said a word to Trio as she stood at the door.
"I'm going in," Trio said, to no one in particular.
Duo's voice jarred her out of her dark thoughts; "We'll wait for a few minutes." Trio looked back at Duo, tears came back up to her eyes.
"Thank you so much."
"I'm your father, right? It's my job to help you in troubled times."
Trio smiled in reply, and with a nod cracked the door open and slipped in.
Inside the room were a single bed, small bathroom, sink, and a dozen machines. Only two of the machines, the drip and heart rate machines were actually hooked up to Shiro.
Shiro.his brown hair scattered all over his face. She couldn't see his beautiful blue eyes. Trio jumped inside herself. She never realized she knew the color of his eyes. She recalled every time she'd looked into his eyes, but she was always too involved to take mental note of the color. She smiled at the memories that washed over her.
Trio walked over to her unconscious lover and tenderly touched his hair, moving it out of his eyes. She stood there for a few moments before a tear fell onto his cheek; Shiro winced. Trio yanked her hand back in surprise and stood still until his face relaxed again, breathing a sigh of relief.
The door cracked open as Shinna pushed her way into the room. Duo, Jerome and the doctor stood outside, glimpsing into the room, none daring to interrupt the two girls.
"You okay?" Shinna whispered, putting her hand on Trio's shoulder. Trio reached up and put her hand on Shinna's. Almost a whole minute passed before Trio could bring herself to take her eyes off Shiro. Turning around, Trio saw tears in Shinna's eyes. The girls' emotions were mirror reflections of each other, love, pain and fear. They both smiled simultaneously.
"I'll be fine as soon as he's fine."
"Your necklace," Shinna stated, quite out of the blue. "I just noticed, your necklace, it's beautiful, a blue teardrop. Did Shiro buy it for you?"
"An apology from his father," Trio lifted up the necklace and looked at the blue stone. "But as much as I hate his father, I could never get rid of it, because Shiro bought it for me. I think of it as a symbol of our love, or at least I used to.
"Now that you reminded me of it, now I'll think of it as a tear cried, for the two lovers, separated because of their lineage, like Romeo and Juliet. But it's more, so much more. It's a symbol of pain, and even though the pain hurts, it will never separate us.
"Someday, it will be much more than a tear of pain and sorrow, it will be a tear of joy."
"C.can it take the place of an engagement ring, for now?" Shiro sputtered. Trio dropped the necklace and whirled around. Shiro, as incoherent as he was, was sitting up a little, smiling that smile that was always for her and her alone. He swayed and blinked multiple times, but never took his eyes from her. Tears sprang to Trio's eyes again accompanied by a sad, joyful smile. Trio walked back over to Shiro's head.
"You stupid fool, you stupid, stupid fool. You almost got yourself killed for me. Why? Why did you do that?"
Shiro winced, but forced his smile back on his face. "Can't very well have my fiancée dying on me can I?"
Trio stood there for a moment in shock before smiling a healthy, wide smile. "What about me? What if my fiancée dies?"
Shiro frowned, but continued, as his eyes drooped and he had to rest his head against the pillow, "Never did think about that. I only thought of you."
"You stupid fool," Trio whispered again, leaning down, taking Shiro's head in her hands and gently kissing his soft lips. Shiro's hand reached up behind Trio' head, pulling her in. They shared a passionate kiss that neither wanted to stop. The kiss was the most passionate thing Trio had ever encountered and she could barely hold in the overwhelming emotions that threatened to break up that kiss.
Moments later, Shiro's hand dropped with a THUNK! onto the bed. Trio pulled back a little, to see Shiro's eyelids, droop over his azure blue eyes and his smile fade away. Gently putting his head back onto the pillow she walked out the door, clasping the teardrop stone in her hand.
"Are you the family of Shiro?" He asked.
"No, but we are his friends, the ones who brought him in."
"And who is going to pay for his treatment if I may ask?"
Trio stood up trembling and said as calmly as she could, "Is he going to be okay? I don't care about the money, is he okay?"
The doctor turned to regard Trio. "A lover eh?" Trio's lower lip quivered in reply. "Well, he should survive," everyone visibly relaxed, "but, I'd like to know how he got so much tranquilizer in his system."
"As a military doctor, you know that some things are secret," Duo stated.
"Fine," the doctor surrendered with his hands up. "But I was just curious. It's my job."
"Understood."
"Can I see Shiro now?" Trio interrupted.
"Room 3, young lady," he said, motioning down the hall to his left, her right. Trio nodded her thanks and ran down the hall with most of the crew following. Jerome stayed behind.
"How is he, seriously?" Jerome turned to the grizzled war veteran of the hospital.
"He's in a coma at the moment. We got a lot of the fluid out of his system, but there was still a significant amount left.
"Jerome," the name-less doctor said, "is that kid a friend of yours?"
"No, actually, he's the son of the enemy. The DIRECT enemy."
"You mean Nanzaki himself?"
"Marcus, I've never lied to you before and I won't now. Yes, he's Kai's son. He fell in love with Trio and he risked his life to save her."
"You've got to be kidding! The son of the core threat saved HER?"
"They met at school and slowly over the last month he's fallen in love with her."
"How could you let that happen, Jerome?" Dr. Marcus frowned and continued, "I thought your job was to make sure things like this didn't happen!"
"I tried, Marcus, I really did, but not even Shinna could keep those two apart. And from what Shinna said, he just grew on her. Besides, not even Trio could have avoided or deflected that special dart."
"What kind of dart WAS that anyway?"
Jerome pulled out the dart that had hit Shiro, out of his pocket. "Duo pretended to throw this into the forest when they dragged Shiro to the car." Jerome dropped it in Marcus's hand, "and as you can see, it's not ordinary dart."
The dart was as thick as an average man's index and pointer finger put together. The plastic that held the whole dart together was a special black plastic that made it impossible to see and was weather resistant. The needle measured to be a whole inch long and connected to a vile that could hold enough tranquilizer fluid to knock out a bull African Elephant cold in less than an hour.
"I just can't believe he would use such a severe dart. I mean, they may be part machine but if you inject this much into ANY human it'll kill them. Jerome," Marcus said, turning his tone even more serious than it already was, and added, "Shiro could never wake up from this."
"I know, but I think I figured out why he used such a dangerous dart.
"I think he used this because he figured that since the second it came in contact with the skin, some of it would get into her skin, then into her blood, giving it a chance to take affect. If it sunk all the way in, like it did with Shiro, they planned to quickly pull it out so all of it didn't get into her system. But Shiro fouled the plan up, he got in the way. That boy just saved us all."
? ? ?
Trio ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her, passing other doctors, patients, family of patients and nurses, tears running down her worried face. She did not heed anyone, nearly running over a dozen people in her single-minded quest to find Room 3, to find the man she loved, the man who had fought his own father to save her.
A million thoughts were burning through her brain like wildfire. 'What if Shiro doesn't survive? What if we get caught? What if.what if there's more of us out there? Shiro.why? Why did you have to fall in love with the enemy?' A million 'What ifs' hammered her brain until she looked up at a room number, and saw it was Room 3. That thought immediately banished the barrage of questions into a small corner of her mind.
Trio stopped and touched the door, afraid of what was on the other side, afraid he had just passed away, despite the doctor's assurance he was okay. Duo and Shinna, both out of breath, finally caught up with Trio. Neither said a word to Trio as she stood at the door.
"I'm going in," Trio said, to no one in particular.
Duo's voice jarred her out of her dark thoughts; "We'll wait for a few minutes." Trio looked back at Duo, tears came back up to her eyes.
"Thank you so much."
"I'm your father, right? It's my job to help you in troubled times."
Trio smiled in reply, and with a nod cracked the door open and slipped in.
Inside the room were a single bed, small bathroom, sink, and a dozen machines. Only two of the machines, the drip and heart rate machines were actually hooked up to Shiro.
Shiro.his brown hair scattered all over his face. She couldn't see his beautiful blue eyes. Trio jumped inside herself. She never realized she knew the color of his eyes. She recalled every time she'd looked into his eyes, but she was always too involved to take mental note of the color. She smiled at the memories that washed over her.
Trio walked over to her unconscious lover and tenderly touched his hair, moving it out of his eyes. She stood there for a few moments before a tear fell onto his cheek; Shiro winced. Trio yanked her hand back in surprise and stood still until his face relaxed again, breathing a sigh of relief.
The door cracked open as Shinna pushed her way into the room. Duo, Jerome and the doctor stood outside, glimpsing into the room, none daring to interrupt the two girls.
"You okay?" Shinna whispered, putting her hand on Trio's shoulder. Trio reached up and put her hand on Shinna's. Almost a whole minute passed before Trio could bring herself to take her eyes off Shiro. Turning around, Trio saw tears in Shinna's eyes. The girls' emotions were mirror reflections of each other, love, pain and fear. They both smiled simultaneously.
"I'll be fine as soon as he's fine."
"Your necklace," Shinna stated, quite out of the blue. "I just noticed, your necklace, it's beautiful, a blue teardrop. Did Shiro buy it for you?"
"An apology from his father," Trio lifted up the necklace and looked at the blue stone. "But as much as I hate his father, I could never get rid of it, because Shiro bought it for me. I think of it as a symbol of our love, or at least I used to.
"Now that you reminded me of it, now I'll think of it as a tear cried, for the two lovers, separated because of their lineage, like Romeo and Juliet. But it's more, so much more. It's a symbol of pain, and even though the pain hurts, it will never separate us.
"Someday, it will be much more than a tear of pain and sorrow, it will be a tear of joy."
"C.can it take the place of an engagement ring, for now?" Shiro sputtered. Trio dropped the necklace and whirled around. Shiro, as incoherent as he was, was sitting up a little, smiling that smile that was always for her and her alone. He swayed and blinked multiple times, but never took his eyes from her. Tears sprang to Trio's eyes again accompanied by a sad, joyful smile. Trio walked back over to Shiro's head.
"You stupid fool, you stupid, stupid fool. You almost got yourself killed for me. Why? Why did you do that?"
Shiro winced, but forced his smile back on his face. "Can't very well have my fiancée dying on me can I?"
Trio stood there for a moment in shock before smiling a healthy, wide smile. "What about me? What if my fiancée dies?"
Shiro frowned, but continued, as his eyes drooped and he had to rest his head against the pillow, "Never did think about that. I only thought of you."
"You stupid fool," Trio whispered again, leaning down, taking Shiro's head in her hands and gently kissing his soft lips. Shiro's hand reached up behind Trio' head, pulling her in. They shared a passionate kiss that neither wanted to stop. The kiss was the most passionate thing Trio had ever encountered and she could barely hold in the overwhelming emotions that threatened to break up that kiss.
Moments later, Shiro's hand dropped with a THUNK! onto the bed. Trio pulled back a little, to see Shiro's eyelids, droop over his azure blue eyes and his smile fade away. Gently putting his head back onto the pillow she walked out the door, clasping the teardrop stone in her hand.