Life Will Be What It Was
By Ryoko Kashino & Kitana blade studios
Hi there guys! This Ryoko, I have returned with yet another bebop tale! Okay I hope you guys like this one! I'm posting multiple chapters I hate reading only one chapter at a time. Oh yeah here's the legal crap, I don't own bebop (but wish I did) so don't freakin' sue me! I'm very poor. To all those who flame! Be warned, flame and you will get Budda's ultimate karma smack!
Chp 2 The Hospital Stay
Flash back One month
The extents of his injuries were bad. Even some of the most seasoned doctors in this joint had seemed skeptical about his survival. They'd worked for hours to keep his stomach and bowels in his body while trying to stop the blood from draining out of him. Their persistence had worked, but he'd still fell into a coma from the blood loss. In the frenzy to save him somehow no one was able to find his I.D. So they labeled him John Doe, and no one had even bothered to come looking for him. The first couple of weeks he lay there comatose. Not a movement, not even his eyes had moved like they should've given he'd had to have been in some sort of R.E.M. state some time during his coma. Then one day a candy striper had been changing the bed pan and then was giving him a sponge bath when he'd awakened. He peeked through a barely open eye lid and watch as she lifted the gown a little above his private area. She took a good look at him then blushed. The nurse dipped the sponge into the soapy water, wrung out the excess and was about to bathe him when he spoke, "Hey I generally prefer dinner before I let you get to the best part of me." Then he winked.
The nurse dropped the sponge and bolted out of the room screaming, "The freaking veggie is awake!"
Spike was amusing himself remembering the look on the nurse's face. She hadn't been back to take care of him. Now an older nurse named Chloe was watching him. She had been beautiful when she was young, you could tell that she was one of those rare women that had aged gracefully. Her hair was still blonde and tucked in a bun at the base of her head. Her dark blue eyes told the story of a caring kind spirit. That was something that you never really found in anyone anymore. He tried to flirt just to see if his charms could still work on any woman as they'd clearly done in the past. She smiled and let loose a little giggle but her age had given away that she was wiser than most woman. She didn't fall for the charms of the apparent gentlemen. She shook her head and said "Oh sweetheart, even if I was thirty years younger you'd still stand no chance." Her simple reply had made him chuckle.
Over the last week he'd talked to various doctors that were amazed that he'd survived. He'd given a fake name when he woke then he'd asked for any newspapers that had been out during his nap and he was given all that could be found. He read at least twenty different articles about the night he'd come in this place. Fourteen or so of them claimed listed him as dead. He had seen pictures of the massacre and felt calm for the first time in three years.
Flash to Present
This morning he hoped that he'd be able to get out of this place. The room was white. Plain and ugly, really who decorated hospitals? A goddamn nerd, probably. The beeps and slow dull sound of dripping I.V.'s echoed in his ear. He'd always hated these places. The overbearing smell of bleach and ammonia burned in his nose. He tried to sit up but the stitches in his side felt tighter than they had over the past week. He sighed and wanted, no, needed a cigarette. He looked over the see a no smoking sign he shook his head and whispered, "God damn it."
The door opened and there stood Chloe. She was carrying his breakfast platter. As with every meal she walked over to the table and pushed it towards Spike. She smiled, touched his leg and said, "Sweetie, you'd better eat. The healthier you get the quicker you can get leave here." She smiled then patted his leg turned and left. He waited till she was gone to eat. Spike knew he needed to get out of here.
As the hours past he sat there staring at the wall. Having plenty of time to think his thoughts drifted to her, Julia. The only thing that seemed to matter was gone. He felt numb to the outside world but in his reality the nightmare was still going on. He was still breathing. She was gone. Now he was trying to accept that she was gone, but he knew he never be able to get over it. Why am I still here? Why couldn't I be with her now? He'd ask himself. He was getting angry. He wanted to break something. He heard the beeping of the heart monitor quicken as he started to get more agitated. It was driving him nuts. So he yanked free the cables from the machine. Chloe burst into the room seconds later and saw that her patient was getting dressed.
"Wait! What are you doing?" she tried to grab his arms but instead grabbed the clothing and stared at his face.
"I can't stand this place. I'm healthy. I need to go. Chloe just let me go." His voice was stern sounding and his face had the don't mess with me look on it.
Chloe let go of the clothing. She had never seen this side of her patient. It scared her. He was dressed and as he shoved past the nurse she grabbed his wrist and said in a low shaken voice, "Be careful. I don't want to see you to come back in the same condition."
Spike looked at her. Her eyes looked like Julia's when she pleaded with him not the leave the syndicate. All anger and hurt left his body. He lifted his hand to her cheek and said, "I've just seen a ghost."
"What?" stumbled out from her lips.
Spike searched her eyes for a moment longer. Hoping to glimpse again the one thing he needed, but it was too late. Instead he felt a single tear fall unto his hand. He wiped away the path of the tear and said, "I'll be okay." He gave the grin he'd given a million times before then he turned and walked out of the room down the hall towards the elevators. Chloe ran out just in time to see him vanish. She stood there and just stared. She then reached up to touch her cheek. This time his charming had worked.