Chapter Ten: Hospital Blues
It's been a couple of hours after Raven arrived to the hospital. The boys are still at the waiting room. All but Kurama are sitting down. Kurama is pacing down the hall. The nurse comes out of the emergency room and arrives in the waiting room.
Nurse: You're the young men who brought the girl, correct?
Yusuke: Yeah.
Nurse: Well… she's going to be okay.
Yusuke: She is?
Nurse: Yes. She'll just have to spend the night here for a couple of days. Her leg will be immobilized for a while, so she needs to get that leg working after she recovers.
Kurama: How long do you think it will take for her leg to start moving again?
Nurse: I'm not sure. It might take a couple of weeks or less. It just depends. Her blood level needs to recover also, and we did fix up the muscles that have been seriously wounded. The cut was really deep.
Yusuke: Can we see her now?
Nurse: She's still in E. R. right now. We're just wrapping her leg up at the moment. It's so strange though.
Kuwabara: What's so strange?
Nurse: She was that very same girl who died and came back.
All: What!
Nurse: A very tragic event happened here in this hospital.
Ren: (head just goes down)
Kurama: What happened?
Nurse: Well, it happened almost two months ago. She arrived with a strange condition. She was very sensitive to light and she couldn't move for five minutes without falling. She was afraid of the medicine we gave her, and she didn't want to be without her dog. We had to leave her room dark so she doesn't suffer blackouts and fever. She was very weak. We couldn't contact anyone because she didn't have a family record or a home address. She was pretty much afraid of everything in this hospital. After she was in here for a week, we thought she was doing well, but she fell ill again. We put her on a certain medication that will help her get well. The only thing is that someone managed to replace the medication with a very deadly toxin, and it ended up getting into her bloodstream. We figured it out immediately, but we were too late. The toxin killed her in a matter of seconds.
Yusuke: But how is she here now?
Nurse: We don't know. We checked all of her status, but it turned out positive. There was no movement or heartbeat, but after seven hours the machine that was still attached to her started to beep. She returned to us. We were very surprised when her heart rate and breathing started to kick in. Somehow the poison disintegrated in her bloodstream. She was so afraid when she woke up that after a couple of days she tried to commit suicide. She kept saying something about shadowy figures killing her. Those might have been hallucinations.
All :( glances at each other)
Kurama: What happened to the doctors who didn't check the medication?
Nurse: They are suspended for the next three months.
Doctor: yelling from E. R. Nurse, we need you please.
Nurse: Alright. I'll talk to you later about her condition. (goes off)
Kurama: That event wasn't an accident.
Hiei: That was an attempt to kill her.
Yusuke: Probably demons controlled the doctors.
Kuwabara: Too obvious.
Ren: That's what happened. All of it. She died and came back.
Kurama: Ceres probably kicked in and eliminated the poison. She's still active even in death.
Kuwabara: So we're dealing with a dead girl!
Hiei: We've been dealing with a dead girl for the past month.
Kuwabara: Oh… I knew that!
Yusuke: (sweat drop) Kurama… do you think they'll capture her?
Kurama: It's a possibility. If they do happen to capture her and get her to the Shadow Realm we'll just have to go in and get her back.
Yusuke: That sounds fun.
Kurama: I'm sure it does.
Raven is in a different room. She's lying on her stomach so the doctors can examine her back. They found a strange looking scare that looks like a waning crescent moon with a flower shape by it. A curved line was running throw the two figures and leafy vines were pointing towards the center. This covered most of her back. They also found a marking on her right arm when they removed her bandages. Raven was still lying there after they examined her.
Doctor#1: What do you think it is?
Doctor#2: It might have been fire branding. Both scares look old, so she might have gotten them when she was young.
Doctor#1: Probably abuse by adults.
Doctor#2: That might be it.
Nurse: Did you need to see me?
Doctor#1: Yes. Look at this.
Nurse: (looks over to Raven's back)Oh my.
Doctor#1: We tried to get answers from her, but she can't remember.
Nurse: It looks as if it was carved in her back.
Doctor#2: It was. We also found a marking on her arm. That one looked carved into her skin also.
Nurse: That must be torture. (goes over to Raven and covers up her back)
Doctor#1: At least it wasn't lethal. Anyway, her leg is still recovering.
Nurse: Can her friends go in and say hi?
Doctor: I guess that's okay. (both doctors leave)
Nurse: (turns to Raven)Would you like to see your friends?
Raven: (opens her eyes a little and nods)
Nurse: Alright then.
The nurse goes to the waiting room to get the boys.
Nurse: You can see her now, but please whisper. She's quite tired.
Yusuke: That's great! Can Ren come along?
Nurse: That's fine.
Kurama: I truly hope she's all right.
Hiei: You worry too much.
Kuwabara: Wait for me!
They all go into Raven's room. The window was slightly open to let a breeze go in, and the white curtains were moving with it. Raven was in the bed with her eyes closed and her hands on her stomach. Her clothes were on a table by the TV. A small vase with a closed flower bud was on an end table by the bed. A little stereo was playing piano music. The boys quietly walked into the room, and Ren went straight to Raven's bed side. The nurse just shuts the door quietly behind them. As the boys enter, they noticed that her hands were bare. The bandages were gone! Raven opens her eyes and turns her head to the guys.
Raven: (whispering)Hi guys. (moves hand to Ren's head) Hi girl.
Kurama: Hey Raven. Are you okay?
Raven: (nods)I'm okay… just a little weak is all.
Yusuke: They said you're going to be in here for a couple of weeks.
Kuwabara: You're lucky… you get to miss school.
Yusuke: Not like that matters to us. We always skip.
Kuwabara: Oh yeah. (sweat drop)
Raven: (small smile) If you guys keep doing that then I'll have to write you up.
Yusuke/Kuwabara: What! OO
Raven: I was just kidding.
Kurama: (staring at Raven while she was talking to the other two) …
Raven: (looks over at Kurama) What's wrong with you?
Kurama: Ah… I'm sorry that this had to happen to you Raven.
Raven: I told you. I'll be okay. I don't see why boys have to worry about girls so much.
Kurama: (blushing) Hmm…
Raven: (looks behind Kurama) Who's that?
Kurama: Huh? Oh… that's my best friend Hiei.
Yusuke: You have to be careful Raven. Hiei can be such a butt when you try to get him to do something that involves socializing.
Kuwabara: And he can bite your head off if you bother him too much.
Hiei: Hmph…
Raven: Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm sure you can't bite anyone's head off due to your height.
Hiei: (angry vein) Excuse me!
Yusuke/Kuwabara: (trying to hold in their laughter, but it fails) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Raven said a joke about Hiei! (continue laughing)
Kurama: (covering his mouth to cover his laugh) Hmm…
Hiei: Don't tell me you're laughing too Kurama.
Kurama: I'm… not. (chuckling) I… wouldn't do… such… a thing. (laughing out loud)
Hiei: (angry vein) Kurama…!
Raven: (smiling) Sorry I started something Hiei.
Hiei: Forget it.
Yusuke: (recovered from laughing) Okay… you know what Raven? You should meet the others sometime.
Kuwabara: Yeah! You can meet my sister and my kitty!
All: (sweat drop)
Kuwabara: What?
Kurama: That would do some good.
Raven: That… would be nice.
