Chapter 4: First Look
Haruka laid in her bed, dozing lightly, when the door of her room opened once more, causing her to open her eyes and look over to see who was entering. Of course it turned out to be Michiru – and she carried something that made the blondes stomach contract. Haruka held back a strange burping sound while her doctor approached the bed with fresh bandages and a tube of some salve, probably disinfecting stuff. "Are you sure you want to see it?" the aqua haired woman softly asked, while Haruka just nodded, knowing that she would throw up if she opened her mouth. She quickly motioned for the glass of water that stood on her nightstand, making Michiru holding it to her lips, and took a few big gulps before leaning back in the bed. "Do what you have to do." She mumbled, fighting the strong urge to turn her head away. Michiru nodded and sat down, placing the bandages and the salve in Harukas lap for easy access. "It may hurt a little when I take the bandages off." She spoke while already starting to work on them. "If the pain gets too much for you to handle, tell me and I'll stop to get you another painkiller." Haruka nodded, gulping heavily while she watched how the aqua haired woman's experienced hands undid the bandage on her right hand and started to remove it. The first thing to come in sight was the back of her hand; across it, from the knuckle where her pinkie once had been over to where her wrist started, a line of stitches held the skin together, the black threads sticking out strangely. "What happened there…?" Haruka asked, her voice sounding oddly dry. "The explosion tore the skin open." Michiru replied, stopping the process of removing the bandage for a moment. "We had to stitch it up, but it wasn't too bad…it will probably leave a scar, but that should fade away after some time." Haruka nodded, taking in a deep breath when Michiru continued unwrapping the bandage. Next thing to come in view were her thumb and the two fingers that had stayed unharmed; they were bruised and probably it would hurt to move them now, but they still were intact. Michiru stopped unwrapping once more and looked at Haruka. "You still can look away." She softly spoke, her hand holding one end of the bandage while the other one still was hidden somewhere under the wrappings of itself. Haruka shook her head, suddenly a thick lump in her throat that made it unable for her to speak. "Okay." Michiru spoke, taking a deep breath in herself before she gently removed the last bit of the bandage. At the sight of what was left of the last two fingers, Haruka let out a short desperate groan while she stared down at the knuckles and at the black threads that stood out of the skin where once fingers had been, surrounded by blood and dried remains of the salve. "God…" Haruka croaked out, feeling how the lump in her throat grew until she thought it would choke her to death. She felt how Michiru put a gentle hand on her shoulder, probably with the intent to make her look at her, but all the blonde could stare at was her hand, her hand that suddenly only had three fingers instead of five, and the black thread that had been used to stitch the torn flesh up. "Are you alright?" the aqua haired doctor now asked, squeezing her patients shoulder. Finally, Haruka found herself able to tore her gaze away from her hand and looked into the doctors face. "Yes…go ahead." She spoke hoarsely, earning a slightly worried look and a nod from the aqua haired woman. Quickly, Michiru put the strangely coloured salve – it was of a dark red, making the blondes hand look as if it was still bleeding horribly – on the stitches to keep them from infecting themselves, then applied a new bandage. "Do you want to take a short break before I do the other hand?" the doctor then asked, honest concern in her voice. Haruka shook her head and replied: "The faster you continue, the faster it's over." Michiru nodded and quickly moved around the bed to take care of Harukas left hand. She started to unwrap the bandage, faster this time, and soon the back of the blondes hand came into view. "It looks odd without a thumb." Haruka commented, trying to sound funny, but only ended up sounding miserable. Michiru gave her a short look, filled with sympathy, before she took off what was left of the bandage, exposing the rest of Harukas hand. The index finger looked strangely attached to it, especially with the black stitches that ran around half of it; then, a large looking gap came, and finally the bruised ring finger and the last one came into view, causing Haruka to gulp heavily once more. Michiru gave her another worried look, then put the used bandage aside and opened the salve tube once more. "The stitches and the blood make it look worse than it is." She softly spoke while putting the salve on. "As soon as we got the stitches out and the blood is off…it won't look as bad anymore." "Except for the fact that my fingers still will be missing." Haruka mumbled, staring down at her left hand. "And that they won't grow back." Michiru shook her head, feeling how her heart filled with sadness at hearing the tone of the blondes voice. She sounded so desperate, so utterly…down. "I know that this isn't much of a comfort for you…but you'll get used to it." The aqua haired doctor now spoke while she tied the second fresh bandage she had brought around Harukas hand, covering up the damage that had been done. "Do the bandages feel too tight?" the doctor asked as soon as she was done, earning a soft "No" in reply. "Good…if you get a tingling feeling in your fingers, ring for me. Or if you need anything else. Are you in pain?" "No again." "Okay…you know the deal, just push the magic red button and I'll pop up." The aqua haired woman tried to joke, only getting a small smile in return. "Thanks." Haruka mumbled, looking at her doctors face once more. "How long will it take until I can leave?" she then asked. Michiru shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Depends on how fast the wounds heal…I'd say at least four weeks, and not much longer than six." Haruka nodded, leaning back in the pillows again and closing her eyes. "You should get some rest now." Michiru advised her patient before wishing her a good sleep and leaving the room. As soon as the door had closed, Haruka opened her eyes again, staring down at her bandaged hands, trying to keep the tears from falling. This time, she succeeded.
A/N: I can't believe I wrote a whole chapter about taking off two bandages -_- Talk about excessive detail? LOL! I hope I didn't bore you out with that ^^; If I did, I'm sowwy! *falls to her knees*
