Shin opened his eyes. His lids felt like lead. He could see a white ceiling, he could hear some random, faraway sounds. He couldn't move at all. He closed his eyes again.
The Redtail landed hastily in the parking lot of the hospital. A couple of minutes later, Faye was running up the stairs to room 406. When she got to the black door, she took a deep breath, straightened her face, and barged in.
At first, there was too much light for her eyes that had gotten used to the relative darkness of the stairs. She blinked a few times, and looked at the bed. A young man, with black/brown hair, was looking at her. He was clearly surprised, he didn't know who she was. The initial determined look on Faye's face changed into compassion. He was, after all, just a boy. And a pretty handsome boy, too.
"Can I help you?" The question seemed to have come too late.
"Is there anywhere I can sit?"
The young man pointed at a chair on the other side of his bed. Faye went around and sat on it, biting her lower lip. There was a whole cocktail of emotions on her face. For a few seconds, she tried avoiding the young man's glance, then turned abruptly toward him and with a confident, strong voice, finally spoke:
"Did you kill Spike?"
Shin was taken aback. He wasn't expecting this kind of question. Then he recovered from his surprise, and realized the meaning of what she had said.
"So… Spike… Really died?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU WERE ONE OF THE RED DRAGON GOONS WHO KILLED HIM!"
Faye was now on her feet. She was looking at Shin like a lion eyes its prey. Her face was completely red. Shin, on the other hand, hadn't absorbed it all yet. He thought Spike stood a chance against Vicious.
"So… Vicious killed him?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHO KILLED HIM! THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO TELL ME!"
"Well, all I can tell you is that I really liked Spike. I helped him when he was fighting the syndicate. I helped him a few days before in the bar. There was an old man with him who got shot in the leg. You can ask him if you want to"
Faye had trouble believing him. She refused to believe him. But something… Something strange softened her. Maybe it was the look in Shin's eyes.
"You mean… You mean Jet?"
"I don't know if that was his name. But you can be sure of one thing: I wanted Sir Spike to come back to the syndicate. I betrayed Sir Vicious for that reason. And I got shot trying to protect Sir Spike from another Red Dragon"
"I…" Faye realized she couldn't give in. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"
Shin looked at her. His eyes looked so… so… so serene… so peaceful… Those eyes couldn't lie…
"You're free to believe me or not. You can ask the other man about it. He'll tell you." His voice was honest and strong.
"But…" She collapsed on the chair. As she sat there, silently, Shin realized that if Vicious was still alive, his hour was near.
"Miss…"
"Faye"
"Miss Faye…. Forgive me, but what exactly happened?"
"Why should I tell you?"
"Please…" His eyes played that trick again. They were so deep… Deep and sad…
"Apparently, after a huge fight with you, Spike killed Vicious, then died"
A sigh of relief escaped Shin's lips. He felt a huge weight coming off his chest. He was finally free… Free from the syndicate, and under no real danger. But then… Then he remembered… Spike had died… He felt guilty for forgetting that.
"Look, kid" he heard, "I have to go now… I can't waste more time here…"
Shin looked at her, and for the first time, he realized how beautiful she was. Her face, her large, full eyes, her voice… Her body… She was like an angel, but not an innocent one. And again, he felt guilty for thinking such thoughts during such solemn times.
"But… Miss Faye… Why did you come?"
She clearly wasn't prepared for that question. She looked at him in a strange way, then she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. After a few seconds, she finally spoke:
"I don't know… I guess… I guess I wanted to know more about what happened. I guess I wanted to know more about the whole thing. But obviously you're the one who's in the dark"
"But… How do you know Sir Spike?"
"I was a work partner of his. We were bounty hunters together. We lived on the same ship"
She started walking toward the door. To her, the door seemed to be miles away. For him, she was stepping out of the room way too quickly.
"MISS FAYE!"
She turned and looked at him with the same… strange eyes.
"Miss Faye… If you would like me to… I could tell you about Sir Spike. I know more than you think I know…"
She closed the door again.
"Do you… Do you know about Julia?"
"Yes. I can tell you all about it. But…"
"But what?"
For the third time in less than five minutes, he felt a tremendous amount of guilt building up inside his chest.
"I have… I have nowhere to go now, and I have to be out of here by tonight. I was wondering… If you and Sir Spike's other friend could help me a little bit"
Faye grinned. She wasn't expecting this, but it wasn't out of character for people of this kind.
"And you'll tell me all about Spike?"
"Yes. All I need is a few days, a week at most… I have some money, I just need to escape Mars, and establish myself somewhere else. It doesn't matter where."
Faye thought for a second or two. She was sure Jet would mind, but that didn't matter much. The Bebop was operational now, they could give the kid a quick ride. And she would find out all about Spike's past…
Spike. Spike. Spike. There was no other way. She had to know him better. She had always loved him… She had never had the chance to be intimate with him when he was alive… But now that he was dead, she needed to compensate for that.
"When can you leave, kid?"
"Right now, if you just give me a few seconds"
"I'll be waiting for you outside. Be quick"