Ah, Tohru thought in relief, all I have to do is take this garbage downstairs and I'll be done! Gathering up the heavy bag, she made her way to the stairs, only to pause at the top step to strengthen her grip before starting down.

Something pushed her.

Tohru didn't even have time to scramble for a foothold before she fell, the trashbag falling as she threw out her hands to try to catch herself. Her hands hit the steps and skidded off; she tumbled down the stairs, out of control. There was a crack, and pain flared in her left arm; Tohru clutched it to her as best she could.

She finally hit the bottom, left arm radiating pain like she'd never experienced and the rest of her body aching tremendously. There was something warm on her face, and Tohru noticed a pain in her head as well.

Gathering herself, she tried to stand, only to cry out and collapse; and when the darkness came, she welcomed it.

-

Tohru-kun… Hanajima picked up the phone and called the number Tohru had given her. Shigure answered.

"Has Tohru- kun come home yet?"

"No, but that's not unusual; it takes a while for her to get from there to here. Is something wrong?"

"Yes…" Hanajima said slowly, riding over Shigure's concerned questions with a soft "Goodbye."

-

"Over here." Hanajima said, leading Uotani to a back door near a series of Dumpsters. She pulled it open, only to reveal a small figure at the bottom of some stairs.

"Tohru!" Uo cried, rushing over to her.

"I'll try to wake her up." Hana said, not a crack in her usual composure. "Go call an ambulance and the Sohmas."

As Uo hastened off, with an anxious glance over her shoulder at the other two girls, Hanajima knelt by her friend and took up Tohru's right hand in her own, smoothing back the other girl's bangs with her free hand. Tohru's forehead was bloody; she must have hit her head coming down the stairs.

"Tohru- kun, please wake up. We're worried about you."

"Come on, Tohru. Wake up for us. It's Uo- chan and Hana- chan, remember?"

Hana felt something encouraging; Tohru was coming closer to consciousness. She kept talking to her for a few minutes before Uotani returned.

"The ambulance is on its way; the Prince, the orange- head, and the novelist will meet us at the hospital."

"Good." nodded Hanajima, only to redirect her gaze downward as Tohru groaned.

"Tohru, it's us." Uo told her.

A few moments and anxious encouragements later, Tohru's eyes fluttered open.

"Hana- chan… Uo- chan…"

Hanajima kept her hand on Tohru's forehead, trying to transfer strength to her friend. "It's all right, Tohru- kun. The ambulance will be here soon, and we'll take care of you."

"Ambulance… no, I don't need an ambulance." Tohru protested faintly, only to be interrupted by a siren. She screwed up her face in silent, miserable protest against the noise.

"Finally." Uo breathed in undisguised relief.

-

"Where is she?"

"How is she? What happened?"

"Has anyone contacted her family?"

"I believe the hospital called her grandfather." Hanajima answered Shigure.

"She'll be fine; she fell down some stairs at work and broke an arm. She hit her head, too, so they're keeping her overnight for observation. She's in a room upstairs, but they won't let us in to see her." Uo told them, her anger at being kept from Tohru obvious. "Hana was just about to go to work on them when you three showed up."

A dark- haired man with a handsomeness similar to the cousins' and bangs grown out over his left eye walked past them, straight to the desk.

"Who's that?" Uo asked, a bit irate, as he began talking to the suddenly blushing nurses.

"Sohma Hatori. He's a doctor." Yuki supplied, easing the slightest bit.

Hatori talked a minute more before turning to them and motioning for them to follow him. Nobody said anything until they were crowded into an elevator.

"They've agreed to let you come up, but you must be extremely quiet, leave without protest when they ask you to, and be otherwise unobtrusive."

"We understand." Hana said serenely.

"Thank you." Uo added fervently.

"Yes… I thought I was going to have to do something for a moment there." Hanajima added thoughtfully.

Something like what? the Sohmas collectively thought with a sweatdrop.

-

She was asleep, as they'd expected she would be. Still, it caused both Uo and Hana a pang to see her lying in the bed like that.

Just like Kyoko- san…

Yuki and Shigure noticed the sudden dark cast to both girls' faces but refrained from comment; Kyou was too busy looking stricken to notice or do anything, and Hatori merely helped himself to a seat near the bed.

Silence again ruled the room as Tohru's friends took their positions, settling in for a long night.

-

It reminded her a bit of the night after Tohru had witnessed that accident.

Hanajima sat alone and awake, violet eyes drifting from one companion to the others.

She knew what Arisa had been thinking, when she'd stopped in the door so suddenly. It was a cruel irony, she supposed, that Tohru had never borne such a resemblance to her mother as she did lying hurt in a hospital bed. Tohru had only let them see her mother once before making the difficult decision (with her grandfather's help) to turn off the life support machines, once it was clear that Kyoko wasn't coming back. Hana had never felt such agony as she had in the vibes coming off Tohru that day.

Sohma Yuki was dozing against a wall near Tohru's bed, somehow managing to have better posture asleep than most people did awake. She had sensed that the Prince needed Tohru to an extent that most people probably wouldn't recognize or understand, and wondered what had happened to such an ostensibly perfect boy that would create such a void. She was glad- Tohru always thrived on being needed, and if anyone could help heal someone, it was her- but at the same time, she was the tiniest bit resentful. Hana's friends were few and far between; while her peers at this school were certainly a lot more understanding and less fearful of her than her classmates in middle school had been before she'd transferred, but Tohru and Arisa were something special. Hana was as protective of her friends as a parent might be, and dreaded the thought of something changing that bond (its breaking was simply unthinkable.)

Sohma Hatori was still in his chair, sleeping lightly. Hana wondered what had happened to his eye; she had a gut feeling that it was violent and unpleasant, and perhaps the reason for the sadness that was an almost palpable aura around him. He had the same strange vibes as the other Sohmas, and she made a mental note to investigate the matter. There was no doubt that she and Arisa would be visiting Shigure's residence much more often in future.

Shigure himself was sleeping on the floor, not seeming to mind being there in the least. She didn't know much about the novelist, but he seemed amiable enough; his buying Tohru such a nice bed counted for a lot in Hana's opinion. It really was a nice bed. Not too hard, or too soft… nice pillows and sheets as well…

Sohma Kyou was also on the floor, sprawled out almost like a child. His need of Tohru was perhaps easier to see than Yuki's, and Hana wondered what would happen if Tohru had to choose between them.

A nurse interrupted her musings, poking her head in. Noticing Hanajima, she sighed. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over and I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you and your friends to leave. You'll be more comfortable sleeping in your own beds."

"It's not hurting anything for us to be here. We are merely staying with our friend, not bothering anything. I do not see how that could disturb you. We are the still waters of a pond, not the raging rush of a river, or the mercurial unsettled sea, which can go from pretty and cheerful one instant to an angry storm the next. Yes… we are clear, sparkling water, with the moonlight shining on us. We are not particularly disturbing…"

The nurse, clearly picking up the vibes Hanajima was sending her way, swallowed. "Okay, you're right, you're not disturbing anything. If you want to wake up aching that's fine." She made a hasty retreat, and Hana settled in for another nap before morning came.

That was unusual. Hatori thought to himself, glad that Tohru had such a formidable girl on her side.

-

Tohru took her time waking up the next morning, remembering what had happened slowly.

Hana- chan… Uo- chan…

She opened her eyes, only to find another pair already looking back.

"You all right?" Kyou asked gruffly.

"I'm fine!" Tohru said brightly, smiling and sitting up. She winced slightly at the bruises left from the previous night.

"Tohru-?"

"Tohru- kun?"

"I'm fine!" she smiled again, this time at Uotani and Hanajima.

Shigure rose, taking his head off Hatori's feet, which sometime during the night he had apparently decided to use as a pillow. Hatori himself grimaced and shook them out, not looking forward to when the feeling in them returned.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm fine!" Tohru protested a third time, blushing now. Her voice woke Yuki, who blinked sleepily before glancing over to the bed.

"I'll go talk with the nurses about checking you out; Yuki, Kyou, you brought a change of clothes for her, didn't you?"

"Un." Yuki confirmed sleepily, scooting his butt over to the bed and leaning against it as he closed his eyes again. Kyou made a noise of derision and grabbed a bag, tossing it at Tohru's feet.

This didn't sit well with Uotani. "You could've hit her, you bastard!"

"I wasn't going to hit her!" Kyou retorted with equal fervor. "There's nothing in that bag but clothes anyway!"

"Be quiet." Yuki muttered, leg shooting out and catching Kyou, who fell to the floor and landed squarely on his back. Shigure winced sympathetically.

"That might have been a bit harsh, don't you think, Yuki- kun?"

Yuki made an indistinct noise.

"Tohru, how did you happen to fall, anyway?" Uo asked, now that the annoying orange head had been taken care of.

"Oh! I, um, well, you see, I, um, I slipped…"

Even Yuki stared at her. "Somehow, Tohru- kun, I think there's more to it." Shigure ventured dryly.

"I… um…"

"You were pushed, weren't you?" Hanajima asked, calm to all appearances; but everyone in the room shuddered with a sudden sense of foreboding.

"I- no! I'm sure no one pushed me, I was probably imagining it, I can't think of anyone who would and even if they did I'm sure it was an accident but like I said before I was probably imagining things, you know that I can be clumsy sometimes, I fell down the stairs at home just the other day so like I said I was probably just imagining things!" Tohru protested in a frantic rush.

"I see." Yuki and Hana said together, before glancing at each other.