Chapter 5: Special Treatment
During the next hours, Haruka somehow managed to sleep peacefully; every time one of the memories of opening the package containing the letter bomb came up, the subconscious part of her mind banned them away to allow her body to get the rest it needed. When the blonde awoke again almost seven hours later, she felt surprisingly refreshed, and for one wonderful minute, the thought of what had happened to her had been completely washed away. Then, it all came back, and a dark wave of depression rushed over Haruka – accompanied by the strong wish of talking to someone. A certain someone. Reaching out, Haruka somehow managed to press the red button that was mounted to the wall over her head with the thumb of her right hand – it hurt her wounds and bruised fingers to do so, but it was necessary – and only two minutes later, the door opened and Michiru poked her head in, worry literally plastered over her face. "Tenoh-san? Are you okay?" she asked, entering the room when Haruka replied: "I don't feel good, Kaioh-san…", in a small, miserable voice. Quickly, the aqua haired girl hurried over to the bed, sitting down on the chair she always used next to it. "What's wrong?" she gently asked, reaching out and putting one hand on the blondes forearm, gently squeezing it. "My hands hurt." Haruka replied, close to tears all of a sudden, and not even really knowing why. "I'll get you a painkiller." Michiru promised, already rising from her chair. "Anything else you need, Tenoh-san?" Haruka nodded, and Michiru gave her a questioning look. "Company." The blonde softly spoke, avoiding the doctors eyes as if she was ashamed for what she said. "I…I don't want to be alone right now." The aqua haired woman gave her patient a smile and nodded. "That's ok Tenoh-san. I'll get your painkiller and be right back…then you'll have your company." "Thanks." Haruka whispered, a suspicious glint in her eyes all of a sudden. She used the sleeve of her hospital pyjama to wipe over her eyes, blinking several times after she had done so. Michiru gave her another encouraging smile and hurried out of the room and over into the nurse office, where the medications where kept. Just as she opened the cupboard with the quite strong painkillers, the door opened again and another doctor, an elder man named Morato Hongo, entered. "Good evening Kaioh-san." The man spoke, smiling at his colleague. "Good evening Hongo-san." Michiru replied, smiling back while taking one of the capsules out of the package she had chosen. Hongo looked at the medication and frowned slightly. "Novril…pretty strong stuff. For whom is this?" he asked, looking slightly worried. "For Tenoh Haruka-san…you know, the young pianist who had the letter bomb sent to her." Hongos face darkened. "Yes, I know…whoever did this to her should pay dearly. I didn't have a chance to read her file yet, how bad is it?" Michiru slightly sighed and explained what had happened to Haruka, and that the blonde really needed the Novril, at least for the first days. "After three or four days, I can give her something lighter, but right now, she really needs this stuff…I can't imagine how intense the pain has to be she feels, and she hides it quite well, but it surely hurts a damn lot." Hongo nodded, smiling at Michiru once more. "Don't worry, if anyone should ask about the Novril use, I'll explain. Just make sure that you don't get her hooked. That stuff contains codeine, and that's more or less a drug." Michiru nodded, putting the capsule in the pocket of her doctor's coat before saying her goodbye to Hongo and hurrying out of the nurse office, back into Harukas room. The blonde laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, her teeth clenched. Thick droplets of sweat ran down her cheeks, and the veins in her neck stood out like cables. For one terrible second, Michiru thought that her patient was right now suffering through a heart attack or a stroke, although she knew how unrealistic this was, considering Harukas age. Then she realized what had happened; after seven hours of sleep, the pain in her hands was probably driving the blonde insane by now. "And I spend more time than necessary talking to Hongo…what kind of doctor am I?" Michiru scolded herself mentally while she hurried over to the bed, pulling the capsule out of her pocket before she even had reached it. "I'm back, Tenoh-san…sorry it took me so long." She quickly apologized while gently making the blonde open her mouth and take the capsule in. As soon as the Novril laid on Harukas tongue, Michiru grabbed the glass of water and held it to the blondes lips, allowing her to wash the medication down with it. "Thanks." Haruka mumbled as soon as the capsule was gone, hoping that it would work very soon. Michiru gave her an unsure smile, feeling a little responsible for the pain the blonde just had suffered through. Slowly, she rose from her chair and walked over to the washbowl that was mounted to the northern wall of the room. The aqua haired doctor talk one of the blue hospital towels from the hooks that where fixed to the wall, turned on the water and held the towel underneath the cold liquid, soaking it with it. As soon as half of the towel had turned from light blue to dark, thanks to the water it had soaked up, she turned the faucet off again and wringed out the towel until it wasn't dripping wet anymore, but still moist enough to leave a cool feeling on the aqua haired woman's skin. Haruka watched with interest what Michiru was doing, and her interest turned into slight happiness when the doctor returned to the bed and started to wipe the blondes sweat off her forehead and cheeks. "I have to thank you again now. Seems like I'm not doing much other things." Haruka mumbled while Michiru put the towel away, smiling at her. "Nothing to thank me for, Tenoh-san. It's is my job after…" "No." Haruka interrupted her, though not in a rude tone. "What are you doing for me is more than doing your job. It's your job to heal people, not to keep them company when they get…down. If you would do that for every patient you got, you would live in the hospital." Michiru blushed and looked down, realizing that Haruka had caught her. "That's true, Tenoh-san…but some patients acquire special treatment. And you are one of them." "I see." Haruka replied thoughtfully, looking at her doctor closely. "And why am I one of them?" "I will tell you later, when you are better." Michiru quickly avoided the subject. "Now we should try and find something to eat for you, I don't want you to starve. I'll be right back." With that, she jumped up and hurried out of the room, leaving Haruka behind slightly surprised – and wondering if maybe she had said something wrong.
