A/N: Just the usual. I'd like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers! My goal for this fic is to break 50 reviews, and if I can do that, maybe even 100. Who knows? It might happen! (Even though I kinda doubt it… eh, oh well.) In any case, I'm sorry that I don't have time to respond to all of your reviews now, but I may in the next chapter.
This chap. is dedicated to Tellemicus Sundance. Let's give him a big round of applause! Please read his story, The Weak Link, if you haven't already.
Disclaimer: If I had a time machine, I could go back to the time before the show was created and claim it for my own. But, I don't have a time machine, and that would be dishonest anyway. So basically, I don't own Code Lyoko. Nor will I ever. Poo.
One last note: major thanks to peachie bee and Flying Star. They've been around ever since I started writing this fic and have been so supportive!
(Want to be mentioned in my author's notes at the beginning of my chapters? It's simple! Just review, review, review! I'd be most grateful. Thanks!)
Odd's P.O.V.
Bright, angry overhead lights stared me directly in the eyes. I had been sitting in this stupid chair for, god only knows how long… and, to be honest, my butt was getting pretty numb.
Ulrich, Yumi, and I were in the hospital waiting room. The paramedics had carted Aelita away just a few hours ago, after she had apparently collapsed in the hallway outside of Jeremie's dorm. We think Dorothy was the one who called an ambulance in the first place. Not that that information really makes a difference, though.
The scary part of all this (I mean, besides the obvious) was that I don't actually remember ever asking the EMTs who were taking Aelita away if I could ride with them, but then, mid-trip, I found myself with Ulrich and Yumi in the back of the ambulance. It was cramped and hysterical, and the two paramedics working on Aelita were kind of pissed because they didn't have much room to work, which you can't blame them for, with five people in the back all at once. Why Jeremie hadn't asked to come along too is beyond me; I knew they were fighting, but I never imagined that the most kind and gentle group members would ever get as pissed off as they are now, much less at each other.
Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was on my mind. I was even feeling a little guilty for letting myself think about other issues, ones that didn't have anything to do with Aelita.
But I was thinking them, regardless of the fact that I felt badly for not keeping my thoughts on the immediate danger. One question ran through my mind almost non-stop.
What the hell happened this morning?
I didn't know. Now noon, I looked back on the experience, afraid of it. I had been trying, all that time we were in the waiting room, to convince myself that it was nothing. To dismiss it as something that had happened when I was still sort of tired.
Lame. Yes. But I didn't know what else to think. And it was the best I could do, considering that every time I closed my eyes, I saw the image of Xana's eye in my mind, like before.
That morning I had said things that… I didn't want to say. But I said them anyway. And Ulrich and Yumi, who were once concerned about me, had decided I was fine because of the things I said. And that was what I was trying to convince myself of too.
'Whatever. It doesn't matter…'
Ulrich and Yumi were sharing a single seat, Yumi draped over Ulrich, hugging him as though if she let him go she would fall to her death. I rolled my eyes at them, and looked away.
"Oh, I hope Aelita will be okay!" Yumi moaned, squeezing her boyfriend a little tighter.
"Me too," was all Ulrich said. I looked over at the couple just in time to see him press a soft kiss on her cheek.
Angered by the combination of Ulrich and Yumi being affectionate to each other in front of me, and the common annoyances associated with hospital waiting rooms – the lighting, the stench of disinfectant, the noise, the people – I decided to go outside. I had always hated hospitals. ERs were even worse. And the fact that Aelita had been admitted here almost four hours ago and we hadn't heard from any doctors yet was making me even more nervous.
"I'm going out for a while. Maybe back to the school. Call me if you hear anything," I told my friends, who each responded with a nod. I stood, and walked to the exit.
Unaware of a pair of dark blue eyes that were fixed upon me, I pushed my way past a few people to get outside, into the afternoon air.
I sat on a bench near the emergency room entrance, gathering my thoughts. I noted to myself how much it would suck to work here, it being a holiday and all. 'Oh yeah, it is a holiday today…' I thought. I had forgotten. So had Ulrich and Yumi, apparently. I hadn't heard them talk about it yet. Then I remembered that Sissi had made her dad host a big dance at the school to celebrate Halloween. I didn't think any of my friends would attend. I briefly considered going by myself, just to get away from Ulrich and Yumi. But I quickly discarded the thought after deciding that dances were only fun when people you know (and can stand) are around.
Ulrich and Yumi.
Why those two had been bothering me so much, I couldn't say. I had never been the jealous type. In fact, before then, I had been just the opposite.
"It's because you want Yumi, remember?" the Voice in my head sneered.
"What do you want?" I snapped.
"Well, I came back to help you again. I really think we can get Yumi back, and get Ulrich out of the picture. It won't fail this time if you'll just listen to me…" the Voice informed me proudly.
"To help me?! Yeah, whatever. All you've caused is trouble," I said.
"But that's what you want. And that's what I'm here for. To get you what you want," it said.
"Killing my best friend is not what I want!"
"Are you sure? Yumi's right in your reach. Kill Ulrich and she'll be allllll yours. Just let me help you, and everybody wins! Well, except for everyone who isn't you. But they don't count," the Voice added.
"No way! I won't do it!" I said.
"But it's such a good plan! I – I mean, we – took so long to come up with it! It would be the perfect crime! C'mon, at least hear me out…" it pleaded.
"Is this seat taken?" someone asked.
The voice poofed out of my head. I looked up, to see a girl my age looking down at me. She had reddish brown hair that reached her waist, and eyes the color of sapphire. She looked strangely like someone I knew, though I didn't know who it was.
I realized that she was gesturing to the bench I was sitting on. "Eh, it's all yours," I said, getting up and walking away.
"Hey, wait!" she called, catching up to me and walking by my side. "I saw you in the emergency room. You go to Kadic, don't you?"
I kept my eyes straight ahead. I didn't want to have company right then. "Yes. And you are?"
"My name's Rhiné, my mom works here in the ER. You're Odd Della Robbia, aren't you? I've seen you at school before, but we don't have any classes together do we?"
My eyes turned to her face again for a moment, but then, just as quickly, I flicked them away. "No, we don't," I said, trying to get her to realize that I was in a bad mood and didn't want to hang out. "Look, I kind of have to go. Bye," I said, sounding a bit colder than I had intended.
Regardless of the ice in my tone, she didn't take a hint, and kept following me. "Well are you going to the dance tonight? Maybe I'll see you there," she said.
"No," I said plainly, picking up the pace and leaving her behind.
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Ulrich's P.O.V.
Yumi's cold, wet tears on my shoulder were not comforting. Sitting on my lap with her arms around my neck, she wept into me like I was one of those Extra-Large Kleenexes. We had spoken very little all morning, and when we did, our conversations were always the same – depressing, and unhelpful. So we spent it holding each other, and she spent it crying. Her tears would always go away for a while, and then come back a little later.
The truth was, I was ready to cry too. Today had been… well, weird to say the least. First Odd was acting strangely (not that that's very uncommon for our purple-loving eccentric friend, but this was different), and then Aelita just goes out cold in the hallway, which really scared us. And now I'm here, with Yumi in my arms, as she cries all over me. Yumi never cries. And when she does, it's serious.
"God, is anyone going to come out and tell us about what's going on with Aelita?!" I wondered. It had been hours and no one had come out to tell us anything about her condition. I mean, we already knew what was wrong with her. But we wanted to know if she was going to be alright. The long wait wasn't making us very confident.
Just then, as if my thoughts themselves had willed someone to come to us, the ER doors opened, and a woman in green and white surgical scrubs who was maybe in her late thirties waltzed up to us. The woman had short hair that was red enough to catch your eye but not enough to make you think that it couldn't be her real color. She was tall and slender, and her face seemed almost childish, like a young girl's, but her eyes seemed old and wise; they had obviously seen many things, after all, she worked in an emergency room.
"Hi, are you the people who found this Aelita girl?" she asked.
Yumi looked up at her. "Yeah, that's us," she said, forcing any evidence that she had been crying out of her voice.
"Well, we're really sorry for the wait, but this place has been pretty active today. You can go see her now, if you want," the doctor said.
Yumi got off of me, and I stood up. Immediately I realized how stiff I was. I stretched, and then we followed the woman into the back of the ER.
As soon as we were behind the double doors that the doctor had first emerged from, she spoke again. "My name is Dr. Bachelder. I'm the one in charge of Aelita," she informed us. "There has been some confusion at the cause of her illness, but we can talk about that after you see her. I mean, if you want, of course."
Yumi and I exchanged glances. This would be hard. If we didn't supply the doctors with information, Aelita's life would be at risk. But we couldn't exactly tell them about her virus either.
"Does she have any other family? We haven't contacted anyone about this," the woman continued.
Shit. What would we say?
"Uh, no, Aelita's an orphan. My mom and dad take care of her. We're her foster family," Yumi said, hoping that would work.
Nice one, Yumi. I just hoped the doctor wouldn't press her about it.
"Oh, I see. Should I contact your parents, then?" Dr. Bachelder asked.
"No, that's ok, I'll do it," Yumi said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
I think God was in a good mood that day, because it was then that the three of us stopped walking, and the doctor didn't make Yumi answer any more questions.
"Alright," said Dr. Bachelder. She opened the door to the room we had stopped by, allowing us to step inside. "You go see her now, and I'll tell you about her condition after you're done." She gave us a warm smile, closed the door behind us, and then walked back the way we had come, presumably to the main desk.
Inside the small room, Aelita lay on a bed, with tubes sticking out of her mouth and nose, and all kinds of wires attached to her. An IV cord ran into her arm.
I did my best to suppress the lump in my throat. Seeing Aelita like this was such a pitiful sight. I was half expecting her to just wake up and say hello to us, in her usual cheerful manor. But it didn't happen.
Yumi and I walked over to Aelita's bedside. She took the girl's hand. "Aelita?" Yumi's voice was once again stifled with sobs. "Aelita?" she said once more, as if by saying her name enough she could wake her up. "Oh Ulrich…" Yumi let go of Aelita's hand and threw herself at me, and I caught her in a gentle hug.
I felt her tears falling onto my shoulder once again, her trembling form in my arms. I didn't know if I could comfort her or not, and was afraid to say the wrong thing. So I didn't say anything at all.
For a moment, it was silent, except for the beeping of Aelita's heart monitor, and the sound of Yumi crying softly into me. Then she pulled away to look at my face, with puffy red eyes.
"I…I told her it would all be okay…" she whispered, before leaning into me again.
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