A/N - Yawn. School bites the big one . And yes, my English teacher WILL die by my hand, just you wait. ::grumbles:: Anyway, I'm sure you don't care, but I got an A on my research paper. Yippee skippy for me. So, while I go and frolic, my better half will sit here and conduct the Author's Response Corner!

Angel - Glad you liked it! Here's another chapter, and for me, it's coming up pretty quickly! Yay! So, here you go! Enjoy!
AmaiKyuti - Yes, I guess the guy would look like Kenshin except for the different hair color and different patterned scar. His hair color reminded me of Sephiroth's. Whee for Sephiroth! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, so here's a new one!
insanity - Yes, I will continue with the story. Thank you for asking. I'm glad you liked it! :D

Okay, I'm back from my frolicking. I feel so special. Look, 3 reviews! ::points:: That's, like, almost a new record! :D ::is happy:: Yay for ReiRei! So anyway, not much else to say here, except that if you haven't already, check out Nefus de Twilight's "A Rose Turned Real". Sheer awesome-ness resonates from within it :D

Last time . . . I smiled gently, closing my eyes. I felt good about myself. Even though I had this habit, and that it would never help me in the long run, he made it seem like it was okay. I was content with it.


Onegai
Chapter 7 - Rose Beads on a Hospital Bed

I re-opened my eyes with a smile on my face to find that I was no longer in the familiar room, but rather back in the hospital bed. The mattress felt good against my back and the pillow felt more soft now than ever. I was comfortable, save for the gown I was dressed in and the cast on my ankle. I held my eyes half open and smiled at the ceiling aimlessly, having a somewhat happy disposition for a reason I did not know. The silence was broken by a heavy breathing, and I turned to find that the red-haired boy had fallen asleep. He sat in a chair, the same one as before, with his arms crossed on the bed next to me and his head lay flat on top of them, turned towards my face. His eyelids were shut so that I couldn't see the sparkling emeralds that lie underneath, and his hair lie askew in front of his face. He looked so innocent and peaceful just laying there and I was more consoled knowing he was there. I watched him for several minutes, his back arched and slowly rising and falling with every breath he took. Smiling, I turned back to the ceiling and closed my eyes again.

"I see you're awake," a familiar yet agitating voice called from the doorway. I opened one eye to see the nurse, dressed in that same drab uniform and carrying that same stupid clipboard. I closed my eye again and replied.

"What do you want?"

Just then, I felt a hand on my own, and I turned to find that the red-haired boy had grasped it. His head still lay on his free arm next to me on the bed and he still looked half-asleep, but he had the energy to give me a little smile. I smiled in return.

"I hate to break this up, you two lovebirds, but I still need to do some tests." she said, slightly annoyed. I plainly ignored her.

"Don't you have a home to go to?" I said, staring into his beautiful gems that finally came out from their hiding place. They lit with a burning fire as he looked back at me, unable to answer. He picked his head up and looked toward the floor, beginning to stutter an answer before he was most rudely interrupted.

"Hello, I'm talking here!" the nurse stated, still annoyed with how we hadn't acknowledged her presence. I rolled my eyes and turned, as frustrated with her as she was with me.

"Listen, doc," I said, annoyance rising in my voice, "I don't care what in the name of all things holy you're here for, m'kay?" I glared at her for a few seconds before continuing with my rant. "Because personally, it ain't happenin' in the next few minutes. And we aren't 'lovebirds'," I stated, making a motion with my index and middle fingers to emphasis the word, "I don't know what we are, but that's not it. Y'understand?" I gave her one of my you're-stupid-now-go-away looks, but she refused to move from her spot. She firmly closed the door behind her as she walked into the room, threw the clipboard on the open chair, and slammed her fists into an open spot of sheets at the end of the bed.

"Now listen here missy. I've had it up to here with you," she practically screamed, moving her hand up to her throat, "and if you don't cooperate with me, I'll have to call security." The boy jumped a little at her sudden outburst, but I just sat staring at her and grinning stupidly. I felt something tickle at my sides and suddenly began to laugh at her for no apparent reason, and she was deeply hurt. I saw her face turn into a rage and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "That's it girl! I am done with you!" she said as she threw her hands into the air, turned, grabbed her clipboard, and stomped out of the room.

"What did I say?" I said sarcastically, then turned to see my comrade in a sort of daze as he quickly collected his thoughts and looked at me.

"My . . . what a curious nurse . . . " he said quietly, apparently to himself. I replied with another sarcastic remark.

"A real people-person." I sighed heavily and lay back in my bed, snuggling into the pillow. I wondered what my old bed used to be. I didn't remember ever having a house. I didn't remember anything. "So . . . " I said, trying to start a meaningful conversation before another one of the medical personnel came and whisked me away to some strange room for some 'tests', "what's your name, anyway?"

He looked at me curiously. "My name?" he repeated.

"Yes, your name. Everyone has one. Don't you?" I said, with laughing eyes.

He gave me a chuckle before replying, "You first."

I bit the inside of my lip in a fit of anxiety. I didn't know how to answer him, except for what I had been called in the nightmare a few days back. I averted my eyes to the door which had been slammed not too previous to our conversation and thought for a moment.

"Come on, everyone has one. Don't you?" he said, sweetly but in a mocking fashion. I turned back at him and looked at him under my eyebrows, acting like a shy little girl.

"I'm not sure . . . " said I, slowly, biting my lip a little too hard as I tasted a little blood on my tongue. "I think," I continued, "that I used to be named Legna."

"Used to be?" he asked with curiosity. His eyes burned a hole in my skull as I stared down at the bed sheets, unable to look back up at him no matter how hard I tried. I continued to bite my lip as it bled, each time I did a little more blood would come oozing out. A door slammed against the wall stop as I looked up and saw two bulky men and the nurse.

"She assaulted me!" cried the nurse, showing a bruise on her left arm. Happy for something to break up this awkward moment, I was not exactly keen on her lying about me. I had never attacked anything in my life that hadn't attacked me first, or at least I didn't think I did. The two men crossed their arms and glared at me in disgust, my glare matching their own as they would reluctantly deflect their gaze to a nearby wall or paper. The nurse just cried fake tears as the men came closer to me and I backed away to a corner of the bed farthest from the door, knocking the back of my head into the IV behind the bed.

"I never touched you, wench!" I screamed, my voice echoing throughout the halls. Jumping out of the bed, I realized a needle in my hand that was connected to a bag hanging from a iron rod was tugging at me, causing pain. I ripped it out of my hand and threw it down, not in any particular direction. The red-haired boy looked around in a frenzy, trying to take in everything that was going on. One of the bulky men came at me and grabbed both my arms, pulling them behind me. "Let go of me!" I yelled again, kicking as I was pulled from the ground.

"Don't let her go! Strap her down!" the nurse yelled from not too far away as I was carried off into the hallway and thrown on one of those rolling beds they always have laying around. I twisted and turned, trying to get away. They would not let me free.

"Let her go!" the boy said, rushing to my side and trying to push one of the men away from me. The man simply turned and pushed the boy into the wall. I turned my head to see him sitting on the floor, one leg outstretched and one bent, his face beginning to bruise.

My shoulders were being pushed down by one man as another tightly pulled a leather strap over them. The same procedure followed for near my waist and knees, and then my ankles. There was nothing I could do as the men strapped me down in the bed and the nurse shouted commands before I was pushed farther and farther away from the room. I looked back one last time to see the boy still on the floor with a badly bruised cheek as we turned a corner and he was gone.


A/N - Sorry so short X.X It's, like, nearly a thousand words shorter than all the others ::dies:: But it seemed like a good place to stop :D Nice, short and sweet chapter. Yay!

God, I still hate English. I can never express myself properly . Oh well. Fwee for me. I'm still getting a B in that class, I think. Fwee. Anyway, I have quite a few new obsessions. I even started drawing a comic based a little on this where the hospital patient is a needle-phobic. 'Tis funneh :D Yeah, and if you would be so kind, review! Because reviews are always oh-so-cool. Yay!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Look out for the next! :D